It was a good weekend for Archbishop Wood basketball. It wasn’t so good for Central Bucks East basketball.
And for the New Hope-Solebury Lady Lions, it was a little weird.
NH-S (14-10), the District One champion, got a forfeit win in Friday’s opening round of the PIAA tournament against District 12’s Mastery Charter North. While a win is a win, it also meant the Lions hadn’t played in 17 days when they faced an already tough out in District Three champion Lancaster Catholic in Tuesday’s second round at Pottstown. The Crusaders’ lone two losses came at the hands of excellent 6A teams.
The Lions ended their season with a 64-33 defeat; Kayla Fennel led NH-S with 10 points. 2024 marked New Hope-Solebury’s second straight trip to the second round of states.
Both Archbishop Wood Viking ships sailed to Saturday PIAA first-round wins. The District 12 and Philadelphia Catholic League girls champion Vikings (22-5) beat Radnor 55-43 in 5A. The Raptors opened the game with an 8-0 lead before Wood countered with a 19-2 run to take command of the game. Emily Knouse and Lauren Greer both scored 15 points; Ava Renninger added a dozen.
Wood, the defending state champion, played District Two’s Dallas at Catasauqua in a late Wednesday second-round game.
Methacton had a 66-64 lead with 5:15 left in Saturday’s 6A first-round game, but Jalil Bethea’s monster, 14-point fourth quarter helped the Wood (17-8) boys advance 81-73. Wood battled District One champion Lower Merion in Wednesday’s late second-round game.
Both CB East basketball teams bowed out in the first round of 6A states. Both coincidentally closed their season with a 20-9 record.
The East girls fell at District Three runner-up Dallastown 43-36 on Friday. The Patriots ceded size to the Wildcats but hung tough the entire evening. Haley Moran’s 10 points led the Patriots; Natalie Berndt added eight. Co-captain Anna Barry ended her stellar East career with nine points. East’s other co-captain Chantal van Dongeren had one lone 3-pointer, but it was a big one, as it put East within three with a minute left. The Patriots were runners-up in the SOL Colonial this year.
The CB East boys had a strong season – they repeated reaching states and won the SOL Colonial for the fourth straight year – end in disappointing fashion. District Three runner-up Chambersburg rolled to a 72-41 win at home. Tyler Dandrea and Jake Cummiskey both scored a dozen for the Patriots. In doing so, Cummiskey became CB East’s second all-time career scorer.
Chambersburg played District 11 champion Parkland in Wednesday’s late second-round game.
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