July 26, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Locals in action in NCAA summer league
by TOM UTESCHER

Katelin Formica   Carley Glass  Jenna Beck

Chestnut Hill College’s women hoopsters are keeping in game shape by participating in the NCAA Summer Basketball League operated by the Philadelphia Department of Recreation, and another team that’s involved features former Germantown Academy, Mount St. Joseph, and Penn Charter players.

The CHC Griffins, who are just making the transition from NCAA Division III to Division II, dribbled into a buzzsaw in last Wednesday’s action at La Salle University. Designated the “Gold” team in this league, the Griffins lost 63-36 to the first-place Columbia Blue team, made up of Division I players from schools such as La Salle, St. Joseph’s and Drexel.

The former area high school standouts on the “Royal Blue” team laid a 79-41 beating on the Kelly Green squad, which consists of athletes from Division II University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (formerly Philadelphia Pharmacy). The Royal roster includes current Penn Charter coach and GA graduate Diana Caramanico, fellow former Patriots Laura Kurz and Joey Rhoads, Mount St. Joe grad Kate Carlin and Charter alumna Virginia McMunigal.

Kurz, who transferred from Duke to Villanova, is going into her junior season, and McMunigal will be a sophomore at Cornell University. Carlin and Rhoads graduated this spring from Georgetown and Penn, respectively.

In the early game, Chestnut Hill “Gold” got off to a 5-0 lead as Jenna Beck drained a pair of free throws and fellow sophomore Katelin Formica hit the first of her two three-point field goals in the game. Addie Micir, a Council Rock North star headed for Princeton, got Columbia Blue going with a short jumper, and then La Salle guard Tara Lapetina rang up seven straight points to move the Blues ahead for good.

Down by eight at halftime, Gold got a free throw from incoming freshman Jill Sanger (Garden Spot H.S., Lancaster County) and a three-pointer from Beck to make it 24-20 early in round two. A power forward who was giving away five or six inches to several Columbia Blue players, Beck finished with a game-high 19 points, shooting eight-for-11 from the foul line.

Still, Gold began to wear down, as only one sub was available. The other Griffins on hand were sophomore Carley Glass and freshman Samantha Dodds (Ridley), and the sixth player was Millersville University sophomore Kate Shaffer, a St. Basil Academy grad.

After the locals got back within four in the second stanza, the Blue ballclub erased all doubt as to the outcome by going on an 18-2 tear. They were up 63-33 before Gold’s Glass completed the scoring with a three-pointer from the right wing. Dodds hit a three-pointer and a shorter jumper, and Shaffer finished with two points.

In the Royal Blue – Kelly Green game, the first-half charge for the former group was led by Plymouth Whitemarsh alum Stacie Whitman (Villanova ’07) and Kurz, who deposited 15 and 14 points, respectively, in the first half. Whitman’s opening drive was answered immediately by the Greenies, but after that the Royals registered 27 straight points. Rhoads notched two lay-ups and a “three” as her squad secured a 44-11 halftime advantage.