Incoming SCH freshman Leajah Sistrunk looks for an open teammate near the basket. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

With the July 4 holiday falling on Monday of last week, the summer basketball action in the Gwynedd Mercy League was pared down from the regular three nights of competition to just a single evening of action on Thursday.

Germantown Academy was idle, but Springside Chestnut Hill Academy engaged Methacton High School, falling 61-32, while Penn Charter faltered in the second half and lost to Souderton High, 42-30.

Although SCH has had trouble turning out an adequate number of its own players over the past few weeks in the league, the Blue Devil coaches have proven adept at recruiting girls from other teams to play for them. This adaptability has allowed the team to proceed with contests that could not have taken place otherwise, and since the added athletes haven’t turned Springside Chestnut Hill into an unstoppable powerhouse, rival summer ball clubs haven’t objected.

For last Thursday’s tilt with the Methacton Warriors, SCH had on hand only two young women who are officially affiliated with the local school, incoming freshmen Katie Reagan and Leajah Sistrunk. They already had a third player lined up in Sistrunk’s cousin, Taylor Sistrunk. Both girls recently graduated from Wyncote’s Ancillae Assumpta Academy, and while Leajah will enter the upper school at SCH, Taylor will attend Mount St. Joseph Academy.

In the game immediately preceding the Blue Devils’ bout on Thursday, one of the participants had been Hatboro Horsham High School. SCH persuaded some of the Lady Hatters to stick around to play another contest, so in this manner the Devils were able to fill out their starting five and even have a few reserves on the bench.

Scoring the first seven points, Methacton would lead the whole way. However, with Leajah Sistruck scoring a bucket in transition, cousin Taylor making three-of-four free throws, and the borrowed Hatters hitting a couple of field goals, the Blue Devils weren’t completely out of contention at the 10-minute mark, when they trailed 16-9.

After that, though, the Warriors scored in transition and also fired accurate jump shots, rolling to a 31-14 halftime advantage. Methacton was more-or-less able to maintain the status quo in the second period, coming away with a 29-point victory.

For SCH, Taylor Sistrunk totaled nine points, Leajah Sistrunk had three, and Reagan added one field goal.

In the following game, Penn Charter senior forwards Mireyah Davis and Julie Webb each deposited a pair of field goals over the course of the first half, and Davis added three successful foul shots. When fellow 12th-grader Abby Cohen hit a lay-up with under four minutes left in the half, the Quakers led 11-8. Later, as the first period wound down, Souderton scored in transition with six seconds left, gaining a 14-13 halftime edge.

Like Methacton against SCH, the Indians shot well from the outside against the Quakers, and in the second stanza PC began to feel the effects of having no subs available. Souderton opened the new period with 17 straight points, and Charter didn’t add to its first-half total at all until Davis drove for a bucket with more than 11 minutes elapsed.

Down by 19 points soon after that, the Quakers were able to reduce their deficit a bit before the final horn, which sounded shortly after freshman Carmen Williams hit a running lay-up. Davis paced Penn Charter with 12 points, while Webb had seven points, Cohen collected five, and sophomore guard Emma Maley added four.