Girls' Basketball: Teams Gold & Sky Blue Make Impressions In NCAA Summer League

By Jake Hyman , 06/17/16, 4:00PM EDT

Hatboro, PA – Even though Thursday was the second set of games in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s NCAA Summer Basketball league, you got the impression that there are a few powerhouse-teams that have ample amounts of talent. Two teams won by 27 points or more and by halftime, had the game already decided.

Head coach Keith Woods parlayed a 90-63 thrashing, leading the Gold team, to a convincing victory. The score replicated his game plan heading into the contest.

“The game plan was to push the ball up the floor,” Woods said. “If we didn’t have anything in our initial break we go into our secondary break, if not, we pull it out and run our motion offense.”

While some teams lack coaches in the league, Woods looks to be seasoned in the department with a feel for how a team should play offensively. The break-neck pace also is exciting.

All Game Photos (15)

Another team went 2-0 Thursday. Sky Blue’s seesaw battle with Hunter Green resulted in a 67-66 nail biter, with head coach Chuck Kuntz having to contain the paint late in the game.

“They started going to their bigs in the fourth quarter,” Kuntz said. “We have one natural big on our team, so we had to help out on the weak side and play good team defense.”

The mix of results Thursday made for enticing indoor basketball.

Here’s how Thursday’s results unfolded:

Sky Blue 67, Hunter Green 66

In arguably the top game of the night, Hunter Green (1-1) controlled most of the first half. Alexis Roman (Scranton University, 2017) was a force in the paint for Hunter Green, scoring 26 points and couldn’t be contained by the Sky Blue (2-0) bigs. However, Sky Blue had an answer in Ciara Andrews (Saint Joseph’s, 2016).

Andrews, offensively, showcased her versatility on the court, sinking mid-range jumpers and driving to the basket. With four years experience playing in the league, Andrews is one of the most offensively polished wings in the league.

“I know I’m a scorer so I know that I can get my teammates also involved and get their own shot,” Andrews said. “Not everyone can do that. Some times you have to pick your spots. It’s all about timely scoring and knowing what you need to do.”

Ciara Andrews (St. Joe’s ’16) gets fouled

She scored 25 points and was clutch late in the game. Former Penn Charter athlete Ayanna Matthews added nine points for the 2-0 Sky Blue team.

Royal Blue 56, Kelly Green 44

Molly Rubin (Kenyon College ‘16) stands at the line after getting fouled making a lay-up

No team jumped out with a big lead early but Royal Blue’s size and outside scoring was too much for Kelly Green (0-2) to contain. Katie Armstrong (Saint Joseph’s, 2020) led Royal Blue (1-1) with 13 points and former Archbishop Wood star Madison Tamburini (East Stroudsburg, 2017) added 10, while sinking multiple threes in the contest.

Former Archbishop Ryan talent Danielle Skedzielewski (Delaware Valley, 2019) led Kelly Green with 13 points and Zoey Hahn (Stevens Institute of Tech., 2020) put in 10 points. Overall, Royal Blue looked lethal from deep.

Purple 88, Orange 45

This was ugly from the start, with Purple (1-1) winning by over 30 points before halftime and looked like the more dominant team on both ends of the floor. Chelsea Woods (Saint Joseph’s, 2018) paced Purple with 23 points, tying in three three-point shots made.

Shayna Rodriguez (PSU-Abington, 2019), who formerly went to Archbishop Ryan, added 17 points in the romp.

There were some positives for Orange (0-2), as former Germantown Academy talent Kendal Grasela (Univ. of Penn, 2020) had a team-high 15 points and went 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. It was a more favorable result than Wednesday night, when they had to forfeit due to a lack of players.

Arch. Wood grad Marah Hayes makes a lay-up

Maroon 59, Red 53

The only overtime game of the night, Maroon (2-0) had a versatile attack that outscored Red 6-0 in overtime. Micah Morgan (University of the Sciences, 2018) had a game-high 20 points. Another University of the Sciences student Alyx McKiernan had 12 points to help the Maroon victory. Former Archbishop Wood player Laura Trisch (University of the Sciences, 2018) added seven points.

The Red (1-1) team, housing eight West Chester students failed to score in overtime, after dominating the first half. Victoria Smick (West Chester, 2017) led the team with 17 points and Gabby Troisi (West Chester, 2020) put up 14.

Pink 63, 51 Black

Pink (2-0) was always in control of the contest, manifesting leads that were too difficult to overcome for Black (0-2). Mackenzie Carroll (Colgate, 2019) had a game-high 16 points and Lauren Rothfeld (Salisbury, 2017) added 12 points to push the winning streak for Pink to two games.

Black had three double-digit scorers on the night, but couldn’t push through that ceiling in order to take a necessary lead in the contest. Erin Rafter (Philadelphia University, 2018) paced the team with 11 and former Lansdale Catholic big Jacqueline McCarro (Philadelphia University, 2017) had 10 points.

Brianna Spector (SUNY Oneonta ’17) gets fouled

Lauren Rothfeld (Salisbury Univ.’17) shoots a 3

Gold 90, White 63

Physically dominating the contest, Gold (2-0) looks like the premier team so far in the league. With a 90-63 thrashing of White, two players stood out. Alex Smith (Holy Cross, 2014) had 28 points, the highest among players in the league Thursday, and Adaisha Franklyn (Saint Joseph’s, 2018) added 22 points in the blowout.

Kelsey Watson (Kutztown, 2018) had a team-high 23 points and Taylor Thames (Kutztown, 2019) put up 18 points. Down to two losses in the league, White has to start progressing.