In a girls basketball game as intense and hard fought as this one, it seemed fitting that it came down to the end.
Delaney McCaffery provided the sweet ending for host Council Rock North, hitting one of two foul shots with 2.5 seconds left to give the Indians a 29-28 win over Central Bucks South in a Suburban One League crossover game on Friday, Jan. 6.
The victory boosted CR North of the SOL Patriot Division to 5-6 while SOL Colonial Division member CB South fell to 3-8.
With the game winding down and tied at 28, McCaffery drove the lane and was fouled. She missed the first free throw but, after a timeout, calmly swished the second. A desperation CB South heave from three-quarters court fell well short at the buzzer.
“During the timeout after I missed the first foul shot, my teammates were telling me how much confidence they had in me,” said McCaffery, a junior guard. “That really motivated me to focus and make the second. I didn’t want to let the team down.”
The game was a defensive battle from the start, with the largest lead enjoyed by either team coming late in the second quarter when a bucket by CR North’s Ruth O’Keeffe gave the Indians an 18-8 advantage.
A 3-pointer from CB South’s Yordana Samayoa drew the Titans to within two, 28-26, about midway through the final quarter. A nice left-handed layup by teammate Casey Balkir tied the score at 28 with 2:52 remaining.
“A big win for us,” CR North coach Jack Kelly said. “In the first half, we were able to get some good post entry passes and spaced the floor well. They made some adjustments in the second half and battled back. Our defense was a constant throughout the game.”
That McCaffery came through at the game’s decisive point was no surprise to Kelly.
“Delaney is a girl willing to make the big play,” the coach said. “She made that second foul shot after missing the first, and that shows the confidence she has in herself.”
With both teams clamping down on D, scoring was at a premium and neither team had a player in double figures. Council Rock North’s Jaden Wan, a senior forward, led all scorers with nine points while also pacing CR North in rebounds with eight. McCaffery and O’Keeffe had six points apiece while O’Keeffe also helped key the Indians’ defensive effort with four steals. Kiera Katz scored four points while orchestrating CR North’s offense from her point guard position.
Samayoa, a junior point guard, led CB South with eight points while adding a team-leading four assists. Mia Klein had six points, and Juliana Tropea paced Titan rebounders with five.
“We were out of sync in the first half and struggled to get going,” CB South coach Beth Mattern said. “We held our opponent to under 30 points, so I have to be happy with our defensive effort, but we need to be able to score more than 30 points ourselves.”
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