Photos: Zamani Feelings, Ryan Nix, James Quinn & Krystal Williams
By: John Knebels
PHILADELPHIA – No drama.
With one fourth of the season remaining, Penn Charter has virtually locked up the Inter-Academic League title for a second straight season. With a 9-0 record, the Quakers own a commanding two-game lead with three to play.
Technically, anything could happen over the course of the final stretch, and mathematically, two other teams are still alive. But Penn Charter losing two of its final three league games, let alone dropping three, is an extraordinarily unlikely occurrence.
The Quakers put themselves in such favorable position by handling visiting Germantown Academy, 54-39, on January 20, marking the fifth time in the last six games that Penn Charter has defeated the Patriots. The loss dropped Germantown Academy to 5-2.
“It was very big for us both in terms of trying to win the league and emotionally,” said Penn Charter coach Joe Maguire, who stressed the point of not having clinched anything quite yet. “We’ve played a very challenging (non-league) schedule, and losing games takes a toll on you.
“It was great to have so many people from the Penn Charter community in the Graham (Center). It was a true home-court advantage.”
Key contributions from senior Aleah Snead (17 points, nine rebounds, five assists, three steals), Bella Toomey (11 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks), Kaylinn Bethea (eight points, six rebounds, five assists), Ryan Carter (eight points, three rebounds, three assists), and Gracie Shoup (seven points, six rebounds) helped the Quakers build a double-digit halftime lead.
Penn Charter vs. Episcopal Academy - PSD Photos by Zamani Feelings
Penn Charter senior Aleah Snead - PSD Photo by Zamani Feelings
Toomey reminisced about her younger days and relished how far her program has succeeded over the past four years, especially the Quakers’ 37-4 league record.
“As a freshman I think I knew that GA would always be our big rival, that they would always be good competition,” said Toomey. “But I knew that as we got older we could beat them. As we became seasoned players through the years, I knew how good we would be and that we would beat them.
“I think it’s a testament to the work we have put in over the years and a perfect example of how far we have come as a team, especially for us seniors, looking back on our freshman year and seeing GA as that huge powerhouse. Now we are the team everybody wants to beat in the Inter-Ac, so I’d definitely say it is a full-circle moment.”
Penn Charter vs. Germantown Academy - PSD Gallery by Krystal Williams
Notre Dame Academy has won five straight games, including an impressive 49-28 victory last week at Episcopal Academy, followed by a 60-37 win over Agnes Irwin. Now 7-2 in the Inter-Ac with a visit to Penn Charter this afternoon, the Irish built a commanding 45-17 lead after three quarters.
Junior Lizzie Halligan led the Irish with 15 points while sophomore Chloe Knox (eight), senior Annie Greek (seven), senior Katie Halligan (six), sophomore Catie Kelly (five), sophomore Sophia Hall (three), freshman Alex Gillin (three), and freshman Morgan Kelly (two) rounded out offense.
“I think we are just focusing right now on league play, but we know performing well in conference will help take us far in the PAISSA tournament,” said Greek. “We want to make a big run in PAISSA this year and our goals are to make it as far as we can. This is (Katie Halligan and her) last year, so I also think we are extra focused on making our final season last as long as possible.”
Among Notre Dame’s season highlights was a 50-36 win over Sanford (DE) January 22 in the Maggie Lucas Showcase at Jefferson University.
Academy of Notre Dame vs. Springside Chestnut Hill - PSD Gallery by Ryan Nix
“That was a great win, and our past few practices we have really been stringing all the little things together and are starting to reach that high level,” said Greek. “As for teams like PC, we shocked a lot of people the last time we played them. We were up the majority of the time and lost a close one. I know even PC said they were impressed with our showing and with the growth we have been having.
“Our goals this year haven’t changed. We just want to compete against the best and hold our own and prove ourselves. We have been given the ‘underdog’ title a lot this season, and I think we just want to prove people wrong and show that we can hang and beat any of these high-caliber teams.”
In defeat, Episcopal Academy senior Gaeli Keffer-Scharpf scored eight points.
Although the Churchwomen struggled against Notre Dame, they have won four of their last eight after a rough winless start to the season.
“It’s great to see what we can do when we all work together,” said Keffer-Scharpf. “I don’t think we were putting too much pressure to beat Notre Dame, but obviously we wanted to win. It definitely would have been validating to see our hard work over the past few weeks pay off and allow us to keep our momentum going.”
Before losing to Notre Dame, Agnes Irwin raised its record to 3-4 by beating Springside-Chestnut Hill Academy, 45-30. Senior Madigan Morrissey and eighth-grader Simone Harvey finished with 11 points apiece. Sophomore Gabrielle Seibert chipped in with seven points while sophomore Mairyn Dwyer and junior Amelia Bagnell added six and five points, respectively.
Episcopal Academy vs. Springside Chestnut Hill - PSD Photos by James Quinn
SCH junior Zahkiyyah Frazier scored an impressive 18 in defeat.
“I wouldn’t say there was a time until the third or last quarter I thought we’d definitely win,” said Agnes Irwin junior Chloe Costello. “It was a well fought game by both teams and was pretty close first three quarters, but we were able to lock down on our defense in the fourth quarter and make a lot of shots that led to our win.
“We have been working on our defense a lot and that definitely came into play in the game. Our pressing worked out really well and gained a bunch of steals from it as well. We were all working very hard and wanted to have a good game for our seniors (Kennedy Kelleher, Jessie Stoudt, and aforementioned Morrissey) on senior night.”
(Contact John Knebels at jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)