Point guard Colleen Caldwell brings the ball upcourt for Springside

It’s hard to say which irked the Springside School hoopsters more, last Tuesday’s close loss, or a big-ticket defeat three days later. Unfortunately for the Lions, both a 53-50 shortfall against Episcopal Academy and a subsequent 52-16 setback dealt by Notre Dame occurred in league games on Springside’s home court.

While the Lions slipped to 4-6 within the Girls Inter-Ac League, they were still well into winning territory overall, at 16-8. They will close out the regular season this week with league home games against Germantown Academy and Agnes Irwin, and a non-league contest at Abington Friends School.

The Springsiders had reason to feel they could have done better in both of last week’s contests. They had split a home/away series with a Penn Charter club that beat Episcopal twice, yet the Lions lost to Episcopal both times they faced the Churchwomen. In both EA games, Springside played without senior forward Tori Baggio, who was away on a college visit on the first occasion, and who missed both of last week’s outings due to a pair of broken fingers.

CHA squash ties for title at MASA tourney
by TOM UTESCHER

Chestnut Hill Academy, 2009 Middle Atlantic Squash Association Co-Champion: (Front, from left) Alex McCall, Nick Schreiber, John Canning, Nick DiDonato and Anderson Good. (Rear, from left) Coach Mike Jefferys, Sam Brenman, Jack Maine, Zach Schweitzer, Dylan Tracy and Dylan Ward.

Chestnut Hill Academy seized a share of the 2009 Middle Atlantic Squash Association championship two weekends ago, earning 35 team points to tie for first place at the MASA tournament with the host school, Episcopal Academy.

Mount hoopsters head to league final at 23-0
by TOM UTESCHER

Seen here during a regular-season game against Sacred Heart, Mount St. Joe junior Tara Barr (#11) gave a strong performance as a stand-in for injured starter Elle Hagedorn in the AACA semifinals.

Saying that Tara Barr adequately answered the call is understating the matter.

Normally Mount St. Joseph Academy’s sixth man, the 5’9” junior forward was tabbed to start in last Saturday’s league semifinal after Magic high scorer Elle Hagedorn sprained her left ankle four days earlier. Scoring 10 of the first dozen points for the top-seeded Mount, Barr led the team out to a 14-11 halftime lead over the number four Nazareth Academy Pandas.

It was a low-scoring affair overall, but points piled up late in the contest for Mount St. Joe, who made 13 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter and beat Nazareth, 40-29. The victory moved the Mount into this week’s Athletic Association of Catholic Academies championship game, and also kept the Magic undefeated for the season, at 23-0.

Barr pulled five rebounds and paced the MSJ offense with a total of 14 points, second only to Nazareth center Carleigh Brown, a Rider College recruit who posted 17 points with four rebounds and three blocked shots.

CHC men resist Devils’ advances
by TOM UTESCHER

Several times during last Thursday night’s Central Atlantic Athletic Conference basketball game, host Chestnut Hill College appeared to be firmly in control, only to have the visiting Devils of USP (University of the Sciences in Philadelphia) contrive to climb back into contention.