GA locks up 11th straight Girls Inter-Ac league title
by TOM UTESCHER

Productive in the post, junior forward Tory Thierolf led Germantown Academy in last Thursday’s victory at Notre Dame.

There was good reason for the signs and banners that festooned the walls and for the capacity crowd that filled the gym at the Academy of Notre Dame last Thursday afternoon. Two weeks earlier at Germantown Academy, the visiting Irish had almost knocked off the undefeated Patriots, but fell, 28-27. Now, the rematch at Notre Dame would determine whether GA would win the Girls Inter-Ac League championship outright, or share the title with the Irish.

In the end, undefeated GA (28-0) seized the Inter-Ac crown for an 11th straight year with a 51-36 victory. The Pats completed their league schedule at 12-0, while the Irish (21-7 overall) finished 10-2.

Junior forward Tory Thierolf rang up a game-high 17 points for Germantown, more than double the eight points she scored in the first bout between the two Inter-Ac powers.

After Notre Dame had succeeded in slowing down the pace of that earlier game, Thierolf said that GA’s approach to the rematch was to “take our time, but still look for the fast break when it was there. Our focus this week was to get the ball down low. We’re a great guard team, and to round out our offense we wanted to have a threat in the post as well. Notre Dame doesn’t have a lot of size, and we wanted to take advantage of that.”

Gwynedd slips by Springside swimmers
by TOM UTESCHER

After Gwynedd Mercy Academy won a very close swim meet over Springside School back in December, the two squads agreed to meet again. In their respective leagues, the Girls Inter-Ac (Springside) and the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies (Gwynedd), the Lions and Monarchs can often be overwhelmed by rivals with much larger rosters, so both squads were looking forward to their rematch last Wednesday.

Chasar sisters boost Springside swim team
by TOM UTESCHER

Springside’s senior swimmers were recognized at last Wednesday’s meet. Front: Katie Chasar; rear: Asst. Coach Brielle White, Head Coach Amy Carolla, Julie Stepanuk. A third senior, Mel Bavaria, was out with an injury for last Wednesday’s meet.

Among the four sets of siblings on the Springside School swimming team are the Chasar sisters: Katie, a senior, and Becky, a sophomore. Although Katie was born with spina bifida, which affects her use of her legs, she has participated in myriad athletic endeavors over the years, even traveling abroad to compete in wheelchair basketball and in swimming and track-and-field events.

Still, it was a special moment for her when Springside started a swimming program last winter.

“It’s the one sport where I can compete for my school,” she explained.

After GA loss, Lions top Irwin, AFS
by TOM UTESCHER

Springside’s seniors were honored at last Tuesday’s basketball game. From left, Katie Rutan, Tori Baggio, Amanda Walker, Jenny Sternfeld, Teghan Boyle and Coach Brian Morris.

Like many teams, Springside has had players laid low by colds and by the flu virus that is making the rounds, but the Lions still prevailed in the basketball games they expected to win last week.

The odds were long against the Lions in Monday’s match-up with visiting Germantown Academy, and there was no upset here, as the Patriots cruised, 64-34. Home again on Tuesday, Springside topped Agnes Irwin 69-53 in the Girls Inter-Ac finale, and on Thursday the Lions wrapped up their regular season schedule with a 39-27 non-league victory at Abington Friends.

Springside headed into the PA Independent Schools Tournament with an overall record of 18-9, and in the Inter-Ac a 5-7 mark placed the Lions fifth, behind GA, Notre Dame, Penn Charter, and Episcopal, and ahead of Irwin and Baldwin.