PC girls fall to Ryan, 50-37

by TOM UTESCHER

A short-staffed Penn Charter girls basketball squad was outmuscled in the paint and outrun on the open floor last Tuesday, and the result was a 50-37 setback at the hands of visiting Archbishop Ryan High School.

Coming off of a pair of losses at Germantown Academy's tournament the previous weekend, Ryan (3-4) was hungry for a win, and Charter (5-2) was playing without regular starter Julie Bown, a junior forward who was out sick.

"With Julie out we're an even younger team," noted PC Head Coach Kim Morris. "We started a senior, a junior and three sophomores, and the two girls off the bench were freshmen [guard Nora McGurkin from Norwood Fontbonne and center Caroline Huber from Ancillae]."

Lay-ups by Audra Hugo and Virginia McMunigal gave the Quakers a 4-3 lead five minutes into the game, then Ryan went ahead for good when Kaitlin Ryan stole the ball and scored on the break. Erica Fulforth and Megan Gibson reinforced the Ragdolls' lead, and in the final minute Charter sophomore Emily Brown, who started in place of Bown, hit a baseline jumper to make it 9-6 at the end of the first quarter.

After that though, the hosts managed just one more field goal the rest of the half, a midrange jumper by Marie McKenna. Ryan received points from seven different players during the second frame, and at the interlude the visitors were ahead, 29-12.

"We got a little bit outhustled defensively and they beat us down the floor," admitted Morris. "We had trouble boxing out and we gave up a few too many easy baskets, and when we got down we just couldn't quite get out of it. But we're young and we're getting better, and I was happy to see Emily step in and get some nice baskets."

The sophomore added two more field goals in the second half to finish with six points, and the last two quarters also yielded 11 of the 13 total points for McMunigal (five rebounds, two steals) and seven of nine for McKenna (six rebounds, three steals).

This allowed the Quakers to draw a few points closer in the final reckoning, but it was not enough to mount a serious comeback. The lead for the Ragdolls ranged from 12 to 21 points in the second half before the margin was locked in at 13 by the closing horn.

Katilin Ryan's 11 points led the winners, who also received nine points and eight rebounds from Kristen Gibson, eight points from Megan Gibson, and six points apiece from Nina Bracetta (three steals) and Melissa Wunder (four rebounds). Penn Charter reserves Huber and McGurkin added three and two points, respectively, for the Quakers.