After watching his New Hope-Solebury girls basketball team eke out a 49-47 win over visiting Quakertown in a Suburban One League crossover game, Lions coach Steve Polinsky had perhaps the best summation of the Friday, Jan. 20 contest.
“It was sad someone had to lose,” he said. “It was a great game. They are a well-coached team. We knew it would be a dogfight, and it was.”
The win pushed SOL Freedom Division member New Hope-Solebury to 9-6, while Quakertown of the Liberty Division fell to 9-7.
Senior forward Reagan Chrencik paced NH-S with 17 points and 12 rebounds but got plenty of support from her teammates, especially in the second half when Chrencik managed only three points after scoring 14 in the first half.
“It was a great team win,” said Chrencik, who will continue her basketball career at Gettysburg College. “I was definitely getting frustrated in the second half but my teammates picked me up. We win as a team and lose as a team.
“When something doesn’t go well for me, I don’t dwell on it. It’s always about the next play, the next shot, the next turn on defense. You can’t let things get into your head.”
Sophomore Emily Wilson added 14 points to join Chrencik in double figures for the Lions. Freshman guard Gabby D’Agostino chipped in with seven points and added eight assists. Sophomore Izzy Elizondo hit seven crucial free throws in the second half, including five in the fourth quarter.
Quakertown junior guard Ava Pistone led all scorers with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while teammate Carolyn Sipprell, a senior center, joined Pistone in double figures with 15 points. Addyson Davis led the Panthers in both rebounds (11) and assists (four) while Sipprell pulled down 10 rebounds.
New Hope-Solebury grabbed the largest lead of the game for either team when a Wilson 3-pointer gave the Lions a 22-9 advantage with 3:30 left in the first half. But Quakertown fought back steadily and finally took a lead, 41-40, on a Kayla Sicher bucket with 3:30 remaining in the game.
After Wilson hit one of two free throws to put NH-S up, 49-47, with only 11 seconds left, Quakertown had a chance to tie or take the lead. But a pass into the post was wrestled away from Sipprell and the steal clinched the game for the Lions.
“Reagan is our leader, but we had a lot of other players step up tonight and we moved the ball really well,” Polinsky said.
“Carolyn (Sipprell) is always the backbone for us and Ava (Pistone) had a good night shooting,” Quakertown coach Brittany Bamford noted. “I was proud of our players for not giving up and continuing the comeback. We had spurts of being aggressive and hitting big shots. I didn’t like some of our forced shots, and our defensive rebounding off their missed free throws was not good.”
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