January 17, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Tough week in Inter-Ac for Springside basketball
by TOM UTESCHER

Springside School’s Tori Baggio led Springside in both points (nine) and rebounds (nine) while GA’s Alexa Gallagher earned the Patriots eight points. For more photos visit www.chlocalphotos.com. (Photos by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

Last week, the Springside School basketball team passed through the meatgrinder portion of the Girls Inter-Ac schedule, losing to each of the top three teams in the league.

The Lions played well during the first half of Tuesday’s game, eventually bowing to visiting Episcopal Academy, 55-45. In another home game two days later, Springside just did not have the weapons to match up against league runner-up Notre Dame Academy, which won 42-18.

On Saturday, the Lions made the short trip out to Germantown Academy, where they experienced a 48-24 setback against the nine–time defending Inter-Ac champions. At week’s end, Springside owned a record of 3-12 overall, and 0-6 in league competition.

On Tuesday, the local ballclub was coming off of a 35-point loss to Penn Charter, a team Episcopal had beaten Back in December. The Lions looked like a different team early in Tuesday’s game, though, hanging right with the EA Churchwomen until halftime.

With a three-pointer and a regular field goal from freshman Katie Miller, a “three” from Tori Baggio, and a lay-up and a free throw from Courtney Caputo, Springside led 11-8 at the end of the first quarter. Springside’s Amanda Walker (18 points) hit two of her four three-pointers during the second quarter and the Lions were up 18-15 with three minutes to go, but Episcopal ended the half with an 8-3 surge and was up 23-21 at the break.

The hosts had held EA scoring machine Brittany Perfetti to seven points in the first half, but in the third quarter she snapped a 25-all tie with a jumper from near the foul line, and she added seven more points in the period. A trey by Allie Clark (five points) with four seconds left sent the Churchwomen into the fourth quarter with a 44-31 advantage.

The visitors were up 55-40 with a minute left in the game, then Springside’s Miller made two free throws and Walker banked in a long three-pointer at the buzzer. Perfetti finished with 20 points and Alex Chambers had 18 for the winners, while Walker’s efforts were complemented by nine points from Miller, seven from Baggio, and six from Caputo.

For Thursday’s game at Springside, visiting Notre Dame had two of its best athletes on the injured list, but eight other players scored for the Irish. The Lions, unable to muster more than seven points in a given quarter, fell 42-18 despite another nine-point outing from Miller and a six-point performance from Baggio. Senior Breanna Ockimey led Notre Dame with 15 points for the afternoon.

Springside visited Germantown Academy on Saturday, a day after the host Patriots pounded Episcopal, 64-24. After going 2-2 at a tournament in Naples, FL in the last week of December, GA had a record of 7-5, but since then the Pats have won five straight games while achieving a mark of 5-0 within the Inter-Ac.

High-scoring sophomore guard Maggie Lucas sat out Saturday’s game with a sore hip, while Springside was also down a player, with Miller taken ill. Germantown led the whole way after junior Jesse Carey launched the proceedings with a three-pointer, and eight points from freshman Alexa Gallagher and four each from junior Jess Erb and freshman Monica Schacker helped the Patriots gain a 22-6 advantage by the end of the first quarter.

The hosts were up 36-11 at the half, when Carey and sophomore Tori Theirolf each had seven points, while Amanda Walker led the Lions with a pair of three-pointers.

Battling hard throughout the game, Springside’s Baggio scored six of her team-high nine points after the intermission, and she finished with nine rebounds, as well. GA didn’t score a field goal in the second half, partly because the visitors played better defense, and partly because the Lions fouled Patriot shooters a number of times. The hosts connected on 12 of 20 free throws during the final two quarters.

GA got 10 points and four steals from Carey, eight points each from Gallagher and Meredith Carber, and seven apiece from Thierolf and Erb, while Schacker scored six points and Andi Stampone and Dan Lotito each added a free throw. Forward Bri Cowden pulled five rebounds and blocked three shots for the winners.

Complementing Baggio’s performance for Springside were Walker, with eight points, Teghan Boyle, with four, Caputo with two, and freshman Taylor Ellis-Watson with one point and six rebounds.