Penn Charter Girls' Basketball Claim Key Win Over Academy of Notre Dame
PHILADELPHIA- Penn Charter had it. Then it looked like they might lose it. Then they had it again.
All that mattered in the end was that the Quakers found a way to outscore Notre Dame Academy (43-41) in an Inter-Academic League battle between the two teams that are trying to someway topple Germantown Academy for Inter-Ac supremacy.
"We were up (31-22) after three quarters, and they made a run,” said a relieved Penn Charter coach Joe Maguire. “Up until that fourth quarter, our defense was really good.”
After it took them three quarters to produce a miserly 22 points, the Irish of Notre Dame (13-4, 7-2) outscored Penn Charter (14-7, 6-2) by 19-12 in the fourth, including an 8-0 spurt to begin the fourth. Charter led by four until a meaningless last-second three-pointer at the buzzer.
In defeat, Katie Mayock scored 15 points, with Kristen Rogers and Mandy McGurk contributing eight apiece.
Notre Dame's Alex Kane scores from inside -video by John Knebels
Penn Charter's Mireyah Davis hits a short bank shot -video by John Knebels
For the victorious Quakers, Hannah Fox (13 points, four rebounds, five assists, four steals), Mireyah Davis (nine points, six rebounds), Ayanna Matthews (9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists), and Lexi Hnatkowsky (5 points, 7 rebounds) accrued similar numbers in a balanced attack.
“We want to play hard, slay smart, play together, and have fun,” said Maguire. “I think we were able to do that. It was a very important game for both teams; if we lost, we would have no shot (at winning or sharing the Inter-Ac title).”
This bout was a far cry from the teams’ first meeting, an 18-point Notre Dame victory. In that contest, Penn Charter missed 18 free throws. On Wednesday, the Quakers connected on 14 of 16.
“Miss 18 free throws and lose by 18,” said Maguire. “Just look at the numbers.”
(John Knebels can be reached at jknebels@gmail.com.)
