It wasn’t looking like it would be a fortuitous start to the Inter–Ac League basketball season for the girls of William Penn Charter School. Going into last Saturday’s league opener, the Quakers were coping with the fact that they’d be missing two seasoned starters. Senior Marleigh Jackson was out of commission due to a concussion, and junior Mia DiBenedetto had suffered a broken nose.

On the positive side, the Quakers would be playing at home, and would face a team which finished 0-12 in the Inter–Ac last season. The Baldwin School’s Matt Birch has ascended from assistant coach in 2024-25 to head coach this winter, and he has a tough rebuilding process ahead of him at the Bryn Mawr school. Many years ago, Birch coached at Germantown Friends School, leading the girls’ soccer team to a Friends Schools League championship.

Last Saturday, Penn Charter built a 10-point lead by halftime, then played a very strong third quarter on the way to a 48-30 victory.

Going into the contest, Baldwin (5–5) overall, had already played one Inter–Ac game, falling to Germantown Academy, 70–10. Penn Charter, 7–5 overall, was coming off of a post–Christmas loss to Virginia Academy, the sixth–ranked team in Virginia.

On Saturday morning in PC’s Graham Athletic Center, there was little danger of the scoreboard overheating after the first seven minutes of competition. The two teams had managed just three field goals between them, and the score was tied at 6–6.

Penn Charter moved ahead for good when senior Molly Dougherty netted the first of two free throws with 36 seconds left in the opening quarter. The Quakers quickly reinforced their lead as sophomore Aubrei Smith drove for a layup, then stole the ball back and scored again to give the hosts an 11–6 advantage.

The visiting Bears scored first in the second quarter, as Milan Moriniere made one of two shots from the free throw line. The Quakers responded with a three–pointer from the left wing by junior Laila Sharp and a layup by senior Cailyn O’Brien. When Smith made a successful drive, PC led 18–7 with five minutes still remaining in the second period.

The visitors generated a little more offense after that, and the Quakers were up by 10 points at halftime, 23–13.

Penn Charter really took control in the third quarter. Baldwin had two players make one free throw apiece, but the Bears did not score a field goal until Moriniere hit a jumper with three seconds remaining in the period.

Meanwhile, PC’s Smith scored on a drive and shot four–for–four from the foul line, while Dougherty netted a jumper, a layup, and two free throws. O’Brien, Sharp, and junior Katie Shoup also scored for the home team, and Charter took a 41–17 lead into the fourth quarter.

With the game well in hand, PC head coach Erin Martin gave every player on her bench a good deal of playing time in the fourth quarter. Baldwin started off with a 7–0 run, but then the Quaker subs found their footing and the scoring was fairly even the rest of the way.

Dougherty finished with 13 points, Smith had 12, and Sharp produced nine points for the winners. After them came O’Brien, with five points, senior Maddie Wray, with four, Shoup and sophomore Leah Tyler with two points apiece, and sophomore Eloise Oberfield, with one free throw.

Baldwin received 11 points from Moriniere, 10 from Anaka Boyd-Volz, six from Sophia Papatheoharis, and three from Isabella Berger.

After a pair of non–league outings, Penn Charter is getting back into league play on Jan. 8, when the Quakers host the defending Inter–Ac champion, Academy of Notre Dame.