August 12, 2004 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Balanced scoring fuels Springside comeback
by TOM UTESCHER

After forfeiting a game on Monday (too many players away at camp) and having last Wednesday’s session rained out, the Springside United summer basketball team finally took to the court on Friday night for their only game of the week in the Upper Gwynedd league.

Their rivals from Team Seven, a squad built around players from North Penn High School, scored the first three field goals of the night and later went up by ten points, but Springside United recovered to lead by three at halftime. All nine players made their mark in the scoring stats as the locals fought off a second-half rally by their rivals to prevail, 41-35.

Joelle DeCarlo rang up 11 points and Jennie Heston and Liza Leyes notched eight and six points, respectively, for the victorious summer Lions.

At the outset of the contest, the Springside offense consisted largely of willy-nilly dashes at the basket that produced neither quality shots nor points. Team Seven got off to a 6-0 lead before Springside got on the board with Amanda Schaupp’s short jumper from the lane about five minutes into the bout. When time-out was called with 8:59 to go in the first period, Team Seven was up 14-4.

Springside United began to settle down on offense, working the ball around before shooting and improving their rebounding to give themselves second chances. They also tightened up their defense to prevent Team Seven’s quick guards from penetrating to the basket so easily. Three field goals apiece by DeCarlo and Heston (one of DeCarlo’s was a three-pointer) drove the rally, and Suzanne Birely, Lauren Peters, and Krystin Walker each contributed a bucket during the team’s 20-4 counterattack. A lay-up and free throw by Team Seven ended the half, and Springside led 24-21 at the break.

As the second stanza unfolded, DeCarlo, Heston, Leyes and Amanda Walker all hit for the locals as the Springside lead peaked at 33-23. Now it was Team Seven’s turn to put together a run, tightening the score to 33-30 midway though the period. They couldn’t get over the hump, though, as Schaupp sank two free throws and DeCarlo drove down the lane to score, reviving the Springside offense.

Down the stretch, Springside added a couple of free throws, and Alex Hackett snuck in for a backdoor lay-up to seal a six-point victory.