PC tops SCH in Inter-Ac girls' hoops, 67-48

Posted 1/23/17

SCH junior Nya Searight (center) goes up for a shot between Penn Charter seniors Lexi Hnatkowski (left) and Julie Webb. (Photo by Tom Utescher) by Tom Utescher Providing half of the offensive output …

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PC tops SCH in Inter-Ac girls' hoops, 67-48

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SCH junior Nya Searight (center) goes up for a shot between Penn Charter seniors Lexi Hnatkowski (left) and Julie Webb. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

Providing half of the offensive output for host Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, junior forward Nya Searight powered to the hoop for a game-high 24 points in last Tuesday's Inter-Ac League clash, but it wasn't enough to prevent visiting Penn Charter from securing a 67-48 victory.

The Quakers (who were up 32-19 at the half) received 23 points from freshman guard Kait Carter, who made the Blue Devils pay for their fouls by going 11-for-11 at the free throw line. Overall, PC climbed into double figures in the win column at 10-7, while improving to 4-1 in league play. The previous week, Charter had suffered its first Inter-Ac loss against league leader Episcopal Academy and then roared back to slay Agnes Irwin.

SCH came into last Tuesday's game off of Inter-Ac losses to Germantown Academy and the Academy of Notre Dame, and the encounter with Penn Charter lowered the Blue Devils to 2-4 in the league and 5-11 overall.

PC's Carter began her superb day at the free throw line immediately, putting the first two points on the board before a medium-range jump shot by Searight broke the ice for Springside Chestnut Hill. Carter and fellow freshman Carmen Williams both scored on drives, and from there on out the Quakers led the rest of the way.

Carter had earned a starting role as a ninth-grader early in the season.

Lately, PC head coach Joe Maguire related, "She had been going through a little bit of a slump, so yesterday I challenged her to get back to the way she was earlier in the season. Today she was focused right from the start and she finished her foul shots."

Despite eight points on four field goals by Searight, Springside Chestnut Hill trailed 16-8 at the end of the opening period. Junior Joelle Bridges and sophomore Kara Kniezewski each canned a three-pointer during the second round, and midway through the quarter the Blue Devils' deficit was down to five points at 24-19.

The rest of the half, though, it was all PC; freshman Lizzie McLaughlin hit a baseline jumper and at the foul line Carter went four-for-four and senior Mireyah Davis was two-for-two.

For the game, Charter would make 18 of its 19 free throw attempts.

"We really made our foul shots count today, unlike some other games," said Maguire, who was happy to see his team shrug off a little bit of a midseason funk.

"We've been playing our regular games and a lot of these showcase games, and we sort of hit sort of a wall," he related. "We always want to have our defense lead to our offense, but we had been giving up a lot of points in some games. We wanted to really focus on our defense and to capitalize on turnovers - if we get a steal, finish. If we were in our set offense, we wanted to move the ball around, because we know that Springside likes to play a zone."

As the second half got underway with a 32-19 Penn Charter lead, two early three-pointers by senior Lexi Hnatkowsky helped the visitors keep the Blue Devils at bay. Haley Hunt, a freshman who is a talented lacrosse goalie, came off the bench to contribute five points.

"She had missed some time with some of her lacrosse activities, so it's good to have her back," Maguire noted. "When we have everybody, we're able to match up with teams in different ways; we can go with a pretty big line-up or go with more guards, or we can just put five mentally-tough kids out on the floor."

SCH senior post player Chloe Burns scored all of her nine points in the second half, but after the Quakers got off to a strong start in the third quarter, the hosts were never able to get the margin back down to where it had been at halftime. Late in the third, Charter's Williams stuck a 15-footer from the left wing to put PC up by 21 points, then at the buzzer SCH's Searight made good on a drive for a 50-31 tally heading into the fourth quarter.

The Blue Devils made their best offensive showing in the fourth quarter to match the visitors 17-17, but that really didn't bother the Quakers, who'd begun the period with a 19-point advantage.

Carter's team-high effort in the winning cause was complimented by 10 points from Hnatkowsky, eight from McLaughlin, and seven from Williams.

Six apiece from Davis and sophomore Emma Maley, five from Hunt, and two points from junior Grace Stansfield rounded it out for Penn Charter.

After the totals for Searight and Burns on the SCH scoresheet came six for Kniezewski, five for Bridges, and four for sophomore Caroline Clark, who was under the weather and didn't enter the game until the middle of the third quarter.

UPDATE - Penn Charter had its first Inter-Ac meeting with Germantown Academy on Friday, when host GA pulled away in a 14-4 fourth quarter to win, 47-33. PC's Davis gave a strong performance at the free throw line to net a game-high 17 points, while GA got a dozen points from senior Lilly Bolen (four assists, four blocks) and 10 from freshman Jaye Haynes.

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