GA girls close out summer hoops action with two wins

by Tom Utescher
Posted 8/5/21

Last Tuesday evening the girls of Germantown Academy finished out their summer basketball season on an "up" note, defeating Upper Dublin High School, 34-20, and then outscoring Upper Moreland High, 40-26.

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GA girls close out summer hoops action with two wins

Posted

Tuesday evening, July 24, the girls of Germantown Academy finished out their summer basketball season on an "up" note, defeating Upper Dublin High School, 34-20, and then outscoring Upper Moreland High, 40-26.

Due to various club tournaments and vacation trips, few teams have all their players in action on a given night of summer ball. On this occasion, GA had to go without junior post player Kendall Bennett, who was on hand to cheer on her teammates, but was sitting out after taking some hard knocks in AAU competition.

Helping to make up for Bennett's absence on the inside were fellow forwards Josie Munson (a junior) and C.J. Thomas (a freshman). In Tuesday's first game Upper Dublin registered the first field goal, but GA then ran off the next 11 points, thanks to scoring from a number of players, including Thomas and sophomore Jessica Aponik, one of several tall guards for the Patriots who can also help out with rebounding. Freshman Jessica Kolecki netted a three pointer after that, but much of the scoring late in the first half came from Upper Dublin, which was back within six points at halftime (14-8).

Over the first dozen minutes of the second half, Aponik and her classmates Sam Wade and Izzy Casey filled the net to give Germantown a 14-point advantage at 25-11. The Patriots could go into maintenance mode for the remainder of the contest.

Sophomore Basha Harrington is one of the tall guards mentioned earlier, and while smaller in stature, junior Abby Marino and sophomore Madison Kerest played tough defense and gave the Pats some good minutes overall coming off the bench. Senior leadership came from veteran guards Lilly Funk and Alex Goodridge.

GA sprinted to an 8-0 lead in the second game, but Upper Moreland got on the board with a trey and then scored twice from closer in, making it a one-point contest at 8-7. A three-pointer by Thomas helped restart the Patriot offense, and there was input from fellow freshman Gabby Bowes, who scored off a steal early on and then shot three-for-three from the foul line.

As the half began to wind down, a "three" from the top of the key by Casey allowed GA to double up the Bears at 18-9. Kolecki made good on a drive and then scored off a steal. She missed a free throw tacked onto the second of these plays, but Munson converted off the rebound.

Upper Moreland didn't go quietly into halftime, bagging a three-point buzzer-beater to make the tally 24-12 at the break.

Bowes started GA off in the second half with a three-pointer, but the Bears answered with two treys of their own. That brought the Germantown lead back down into single figures, 27-18, but Upper Moreland wouldn't get any closer the rest of the way.

Wade came on again to score twice in transition and then add a 15-foot jumper. At the end, Casey scored on a sort of running hook shot to stamp the final score in the book, 40-26. Operating the scoreboard console was Aponik's twin sister, Jenna, out of action for the time being due to injury.

Germantown Academy, Upper Dublin High School, Upper Moreland High School