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Girls’ Basketball: Gold & Maroon Remain Top Contenders In NCAA Summer League

By Jake Hyman , 07/18/16, 11:15PM EDT

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Hatboro, PA – The Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s NCAA Summer Basketball League is starting to turn into a fight for seeding in the playoffs. While there were five teams entering Thursday’s festivities, there’s a tad more separation among the teams. Thursday was filled with enticing matchups, close calls for some favorites and an overtime game that allowed one of the league’s pushovers to pull off a two-game winning streak.

Also, Chelsea Woods (Saint Joseph’s, 2018) went ballistic on offense to lead Purple to their first victory in three games. What’s new? There is another rising star in the league in Black’s Alynna Williams who toughed out an overtime win over Orange. She’s an incoming freshman packing loads of potential.

Here’s the full slate of scores for Thursday.

Hunter Green 54, Red 45

Hunter Green (2-6) came with five girls, put the pain of playing the entirety of the game in the back of their minds and won an offensive struggle against Red. Stringing together points was difficult but Katherine Feehery, who went to Cardinal O’Hara, lassoed in the troops, commanded the offense and had 15 points. Despite usually playing power forward or center, she brought the ball up and operated as lead playmaker. She felt that everyone had a part in the victory and needed to combat the tiredness late in the game.

“Everybody knew that they had to play their hardest and everyone had to score,” Feehery said. “We have Alexix [Roman] in the post and we rely on her a lot but other people knew that it couldn’t just be on her. People had to step up.”

Roman (Scranton, 2017) was powerful down low, with a game-high 22 points and overmatched the smaller Red team.

Red (3-5) couldn’t find their rhythm late in the game and let Hunter Green build on their lead in the fourth quarter. Both Jean Williams (Pennsylvania University, 2019) and Victoria Smick (West Chester, 2017) had 10 points and need to find some wins late in the season to avoid missing the playoffs.

Mariah Traywick hits a 3-pointer

Black 72, Orange 64

This was a back-and-forth contest before Black (3-5) commanded the overtime period. Alynna Williams (Philadelphia University, 2020) scored a team-high 24 points and sank four three-point attempts. She’s averaging a ridiculous 26 PPG over her last two games. Black won its third straight game and is fighting for a playoff spot. 

Orange (4-4) is fading rather quickly in the playoff seedings. Former Germantown Academy Patriot, Kendall Grasela (Emory, 2020), and Lauren Killion (Albright, 2020) had 11 points a-piece and provided a source of offense. With a young team and lacking the star power of other teams in the league, Orange is going to have to find a way to pull off some victories and upsets in the next couple of weeks.

Kendall Grasela works her way to the basket

Maroon 56, Pink 46

Maroon (6-2) was up 39-19 at the break before Pink made a feverish comeback to make the win seem less impactful. Laura Trisch (University of the Sciences, 2018) led the team with 16 points and Alex Thomas (University of the Sciences, 2020) added 11 points. Maroon seems to be heading for a top seed in the playoffs and features a balanced attack that could startle some teams.

Pink (5-3) couldn’t sink a shot through the first two quarters, as the Maroon machine went on multiple scoring runs. Former Penn Charter star, Hannah Fox (Amherst, 2020), had a team-high 16 points and Mackenzie Carroll (Colgate, 2019) had 10 points. It was a performance Pink would like to push aside, as they try to clinch a playoff berth next week.

Courtney Webster scores despite a foul

Brianna Spector rebounds to score for Pink

Gold 55, Royal Blue 51

Gold (7-1) got its first legitimate scare of the season, trailing Royal Blue by two points at the half. However, Adaisha Franklyn (Saint Joseph’s, 2018), easily the league’s premier post player, had a game-high 15 points and was a force in the paint in the fourth quarter. Both Alex Smith (Holy Cross, 2014) and Shira Newman (Millersville, 2013) had 10 points in the close affair. 

Royal Blue (4-4) almost pulled off the impossible but didn’t have the consistency late in the game to give Gold its first game-action loss. Katie Armstrong (Saint Joseph’s, 2020) had a team-high 15 points in the loss, nailing three three-pointers, and Amanda Fioravanti (Saint Joseph’s, 2017) added 11 points, having to face Franklyn on the block.

Shira Newman drives to the hoop for Gold

White 59, Sky Blue 56

White (5-3) is cruising in the league and overcame a late push from Sky Blue to pull off a three-point win Thursday. Like always, it was a balanced scoring effort, with Kaitlin Kelly (DeSales, 2018) leading the team with 12 points, on three threes, and both Michala Clay (Saint Joseph’s, 2019) and Taylor Thames (Kutztown, 2019) had nine points apiece in the crucial victory.

Sky Blue (4-4) couldn’t get more out of their role players and it taxed Ciara Andrews (Saint Joseph’s) who once again had to play hero for the team. She had 17 points but this slippery slope down the standings could put the team up against a powerhouse in the first round of the playoffs. 

Alexandra Heck hits an outside shot

Purple 85, Kelly Green 78

Purple (5-3) games are quite a simple layout. You come for the Chelsea Woods show, you stay for the Chelsea Woods show and then leave happy after seeing the Chelsea Woods show. She’s easily a candidate to go off on any given night and her league-high 39 points was indicative of that. She also thinks her jumper, which she utilizes aplenty in games, can hold on for the rest of the season.

“I think it can,” Woods said. “It definitely starts with practice and continuing to shoot and work on perfecting my shot. Being more consistent is key.”

Kelly Green (0-8) had zero answer to her offensive spectacle. Even if the score read as a seven-point loss, it was a blowout through most of the game before Purple slowed their momentum at the end allowing a Kelly Green come back. Danielle Skedzielewski (Delaware Valley, 2019) had 17 points to lead the team. Hopefully the team can pull out a win before playoffs commence in two weeks. 

Marah Hayes sinks a 3-pointer

Shayna Rodriguez hits a long jumper