Kelsey Jones (left), a Mount St. Joe alum now playing at Philadelphia University, is on a collision course with recent Central Bucks West grad McKenzie Carroll (Colgate). (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

Most of the players with local connections were in action as the NCAA women’s summer hoops league entered its second week of competition last Tuesday.

Michelle Boggs, a 2012 graduate of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, was out on the court with Team Sapphire Blue, which is staffed by many of her current East Stroudsburg University teammates. The 6’1” forward and her colleagues lost a close one, 54-49, to Team Pink, which is made up largely of University of Scranton athletes. Sapphire received a team high of 10 points from one of Boggs’ fellow ESU players, Rachel Falkowski out of Central Bucks South.

A number of other graduates of various Central Bucks district high schools have banded together on team Orange, along with a few Upper Dublin additions and Jenkintown High’s Emma Dorshimer (Gettysburg). While they attend different colleges, many of them grew up playing together, and on Tuesday they gave Philly U. Team Black a real battle.

As usual, 2013 Mount grad Kelsey Jones was in action at point guard for the Black bunch. After a 9-9 deadlock in the opening quarter, Orange assumed a 23-19 lead by halftime, when Team Black had eight points in the book for senior forward Mary Newell, a former Catholic Academies player from Villa Joseph Marie.

Former Mountie Jones hit a three-pointer and a lay-up in the second half, as her squad closed to within two points by the three-quarter mark (36-38) and then edged ahead in the fourth frame. With five seconds left and the Philly U. ladies up by just one point, sophomore guard Rachel Day was at the foul line with a chance to make it a three-point game. She made her first free throw and missed the second, but senior forward Alex Heck grabbed the rebound for Team Black and the clock soon expired.

Newell finished with a game-high 14 points, and next was redshirt freshman guard Jess Kaminski, with seven. The Orange ensemble got a dozen points from former C.B. East forward Lindsey Kelly, who will be a senior at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y.

With Team Neon Green aligned against Forest Green, it looked like some former area stars would be squaring off, but while 2014 Mount grad Alex Louin was in the house for Neon, 2013 Germantown Academy product Kiernan McCloskey (Lehigh U.) did not appear for Forest. In addition, Forest was also missing former Academy of Notre Dame sharpshooter Kathleen Fitzpatrick (St. Joseph’s).

The remaining assortment of NCAA Division II and III players struggled against Neon, which was still missing former Mountie Carly Monzo (Loyola) but other wise was fully loaded. It was 24-8 at the quarter and 43-16 at halftime, and Neon continued on to a 91-42 victory. Louin finished with 21 points and the game high belonged to her Villanova teammate Megan Quinn. A redshirt sophomore forward out of Episcopal Academy, Quinn came away with 30 points on the night.