July 12, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Patriots nip Magic in summer hoops
by TOM UTESCHER

The Mount’s Sarah McGorry

In summer basketball action, the week of July 4 started out with some fireworks on Monday evening, when two area franchises faced one another and Germantown Academy pulled out a 51-48 victory over Mount St. Joseph. The following evening, the Mount Magic bounced back to roll over Methacton High School, 53-23.

With the holiday on Wednesday and many out-of-town tournaments getting underway, players were hard to come by later in the week, and Germantown forfeited a scheduled Thursday night bout against Jenkintown High.

Monday’s GA-Mount encounter was about as well-played and well-coached a contest as you’re likely to find in the generally relaxed summer league setting, featuring a series of runs and counter-runs and finally a close race to the finish.

GA’s Caroline Doty and Jesse Carey are not participating in this particular league, and on Monday the Patriots were also missing forward Tori Thierolf and guard Jess Erb, who’d both been performing well at Hatboro Horsham. Germantown did get a boost from the presence of 6’2” center Meredith Carber, a rising junior who’d been unable to make the team’s previous games.

Mount St. Joe was missing two senior guards who are returning from last year’s seven-player primary rotation, captain Laura Johnson and Alexa Buchanan. With her inside moves earning her four early lay-ups, Sarah McGorry paced Mount St. Joe to a 12-6 lead at the outset.

GA’s Laura Karbach, who had four points up to that juncture, continued to contribute, and freshman Alexa Gallagher came on to score ten points before halftime, mostly from the paint. The Magic received a lay-up and two baseline jumpers from Maureen Gribb, and with about seven minutes left in the half, the Mount enjoyed its last lead of the night at 18-17.

GA’s Laura Karbach

Patriots guard Maggie Lucas, in her first game back after a minor knee injury, hit three field goals and two free throws to lead a 14-0 surge, as Karbach, Carber, and freshman guard Monica Schacker joined in on the scoring. Some late offense from MSJ’s McGorry and Colleen Caldwell trimmed the GA lead back to single figures by halftime, 35-26.

After netting two points in the opening period, Elle Hagedorn blended lay-ups with short jumpers to chalk up eight points in a 10-3 run by the Magic early in the second stanza. This brought the Mount within just two points of the leaders, 38-36. GA recovered and was able to retain the lead, and although the Magic cut the spread to two points three more times, they couldn’t draw even.

Carber and Gallagher helped extend the Patriots’ lead to six points on two occasions before the Mount reeled them back in. With 52 seconds remaining in the game, Hagedorn hit the second of two free throws to make it 50-48. Two fouls committed by the Magic lifted their team total to five, but in summer league ball a two-shot bonus begins at ten fouls instead of the usual one-and-one bonus at seven fouls stipulated in the scholastic rulebook.

Germantown was protecting the ball well, and with the score still 50-48 Mount St. Joe called time-out with 29 seconds to go, now forced to foul to keep the Pats from simply running out the clock. On a series of GA inbounds plays at midcourt, the Magic fouled the required five times, eventually sending Lucas to the line with 13 seconds remaining.

After she made the second of two attempts to set the score at 51-48, GA committed its ninth foul to eat up few seconds. Following a Mount time out with nine ticks to go, a three-point shot from the top of the key failed to drop for the Magic, and Germantown came away with the victory.

McGorry finished with a game-high 21 points, and the Magic also received 11 from Hagedorn, six apiece from Caldwell and Gribb, and four from Ryann Gallagher. Germantown received double-digit scoring from Alexa Gallagher (14), Lucas (11), and Carber (10), with Karbach collecting eight points and Schacker and Maggie Ebbott each adding four.

With AAU tournaments and various showcase events getting underway, Mount St. Joe was missing McGorry and Hagedorn for the following night’s game against Methacton. Fortunately for the Magic, they did regain the services of junior Shannon Bridges, who stepped up in the absence of her two teammates and gave a strong rebounding performance that helped offset a height advantage enjoyed by the Warriors.

The Mount enjoyed balanced scoring from Caldwell, Gallagher, Gribb, and Sabia, slowing gaining a modest 12-8 lead over the first 11 minutes. The locals then widened the gap with a 10-1 spurt, displaying sharp ball movement both in transition and in the set offense. In the final minute a Methacton three-pointer brought the lead back down to ten points, but MSJ’s Sabia responded in kind with two seconds on the clock, setting the count at 27-14 for halftime.

The second stanza began with back-to-back lay-ups by Caldwell, and there would be no rally by Methacton, who managed just two free throws and one field goal over the first 13 minutes. The Mount’s team manager, senior Genevieve Dusing, arrived during the first period, and actually played for about ten minutes in the second half. A standout for the Magic soccer team, Dusing may not be a polished basketball player, but she drew cheers from the sidelines as she battled for a few rebounds and knocked down a jumper from the right baseline.