Mount humbles Hatters, is toppled by Trojans

by TOM UTESCHER

Mount St. Joseph Academy faced a pair of nearby suburban public school rivals during the final week of play in the Hatboro Horsham Summer Basketball League.

Last Tuesday, the Magic had an easy time of it against league host Hatboro Horsham High School, breaking the bout wide open in the second half to triumph 52-22. Thursday’s game against Wissahickon was much closer, and in the last four minutes the Mount fumbled away a six-point lead and wound up losing 29-24.

Nine MSJ players scored in the first half of the Hatboro Horsham game, as Aubrey Barrett and Sarah McGorry led the way with four apiece. The Magic owned a healthy 16-5 lead with eight minutes remaining in the period, but the Hatters canned a three-pointer, picked up three more points at the foul line, and penetrated to the hoop for a few more baskets, outscoring the locals 12-6 the rest of the way to make it 22-17 at the half.

Mount St. Joe shifted into a higher gear when play resumed, and meanwhile Hatboro Horsham found the cylinder sealed at the other end of the court. The Hatters hooped their first (and only) field goal of the second half with 1:09 left to play, and up to that point three free throws accounted for all the movement on their side of the scoreboard.

All the Magic players who’d scored in the opening period found the net again in the second stanza, and joining in on the pointmaking was Claire Kueny, an incoming freshman out of St. Bede’s in Holland, PA. She finished with four points for the winners, as did Jen Fedyna, Kate Hagedorn, Rachelle Hill, and Allison Keane. McGorry and Rebecca Naab led the Magic with ten and eight points, respectively, while Barrett and Katie Kerr each had six.

On Thursday the Magic’s midcourt trapping led to turnovers by the Trojans, and a three-pointer by Lauren Kummer and a shorter jumper by McGorry got the locals off to a 5-0 lead. With two lay-ups and a trey of its own Wissahickon caught up at 7-7, and the teams were tied again late in the first period before a Naab free throw gave Mount St. Joe a 14-13 halftime edge.

MSJ’s Kristen Swamer, who suffered a concussion during a game early last month, was back in action and was apparently undaunted by her mishap. Her hustling, scrappy play would produce a team-high nine points for the Magic.

Kummer was next in scoring, with seven, but all of her points came during the first half.

Ten minutes into the second period the Magic were up 19-17, and they would’ve been farther in front if they’d put in more than one of the six free throws they shot. Over the next few minutes the Trojans added a free throw, but Swamer hit a baseline jumper and then nailed a “three” from the right wing to give the Mount a 24-18 lead with 4:43 remaining.

Following a time-out, the Magic brought the ball down on offense and took almost a minute off of the clock, but ultimately a bad pass led to a fast break lay-up for the Trojans. Next time downcourt, the Mount flung the ball at the basket at the first opportunity and Wissahickon grabbed the rebound.

Sensing the opportunity to make a decisive run, the Trojans scored nine more unanswered points to claim a 29-24 victory.