December 25, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

From our readers

Mount gets by Upper Dublin to stay undefeated
by TOM UTESCHER

Mount St. Joseph’s Steph Smith, a sophomore forward, was named MVP of the game in the Magic’s win at the Quaker City tourney last Sunday.  (Photo by Tom Utescher)

Appearing for the second year in a row in the Quaker City Girls Basketball Tournament at Philadelphia University, Mount St. Joseph Academy didn’t bring its best performance to the big show last Sunday, but the Magic fought off a solid Upper Dublin High School team, claiming a 51-40 win and going into the holiday break at 7-0.

Sophomore forward Steph Smith scored 13 points and pulled nine rebounds in a game MVP performance, while senior Elle Hagedorn posted 18 points, four rebounds and four steals. Upper Dublin junior guard Kristen Fuery, who joined the Fort Washington squad after transferring from Springside School last year, led the Cardinals with 16 points, all after halftime.

GA wins battle of unbeatens
by TOM UTESCHER

When two unbeaten teams met last Saturday, junior Maggie Lucas dropped 28 points on the Shipley Gators to lead Germantown Academy to victory.  (photo by Tom Utescher)

Last Saturday’s basketball bout at Shipley School matched up defending league champions who each entered the contest without a loss this season, but observers who had more than a passing acquaintance with the Gators and the visiting Germantown Academy Patriots weren’t expecting the game to go down to the wire.

GA, the defending champ in the Girls Inter-Ac League, scored the first 12 points of the afternoon and never took a backward glance, proceeding to a 79-51 win over Shipley, the titleholder in the Friends Schools League. Junior sharpshooter Maggie Lucas hit four three-pointers and led all scorers with 28 points to help the Pats push their record to 7-0, while Shipley slipped to 8-1 despite 20 points and a dozen rebounds from senior forward Alex Lennon. Each team is off to a 2-0 start in its respective league this season.

The Patriots had crossed the Schuylkill earlier in the week as well, rolling to a 68-28 win in a Girls Inter-Ac League contest at Episcopal Academy. GA took control of that affair at the outset, building an 18-5 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Lucas put up a game-high 20 points and Jesse Carey and Tory Thierolf each scored a dozen, while Meredith Carber and Dana Lotito added eight and six points respectively. The previous weekend, the 1,000-point career scoring barrier had been breached by Lucas, a junior who has made a verbal commitment to Penn State.

Penn Charter rally falls short
by TOM UTESCHER

Trailing by as many as 13 points a few minutes into the third quarter, the Penn Charter girls cut their deficit to three points near the end of last Sunday’s basketball game against Shipley, but the Gators held on to beat the Quakers, 64-57.

The non-league meeting occurred at Philadelphia University in the Quaker City Girls Basketball Tournament, which benefits the One Child Saved Organization founded by Philadelphia sports broadcaster Don Tollefson.