Upper Dublin's season ended in a 47-23 loss to the Central Dauphin's in the first round of the PIAA-6A state playoffs at West Hanover >> Central Dauphin High School on Tuesday night.
The Cardinals went 3–0 in the first possession of the game and were trailed all the way. The Rams started the game with eight straight points - two Megan Cavoli threes and a Marley Dickerson layup.
"It's a pick-your-own poison with (Central Dauphin)," said Upper Dublin coach Morgan Funston. "They're huge. If they have a weakness, it's their perimeter shooting. We come out into the zone, dare them to shoot, and they did. It looked like they did the first nine minutes of the game." I hit four fours. On top of that when he missed, we had trouble rebounding the ball. We knew it would be a huge challenge to try to rebound the ball with his incredible size and athleticism."
(1-12) Upper Dublin responded with five straight points - all three from senior Gina Sarnoski - to get to within 8-5, but that's as close as they'll get. (3-1) The Central Dauphiné went 28-1 from the end of the first quarter to the start of the third and converted an 8-5 lead to 28-6.
"Even if you're firing the shot," Funston said, "(Central Dauphin's) lengths are so difficult to hit or score because they're so athletic. They can put pressure on the ball and Can challenge you on the rim. They almost dare you to take the ball to the basket because they know they have a lot of help waiting - great shot-blockers and all that.
"(Central Dauphin's) have a very long team," said upper Dublin point guard Bliss Brenner. "We've been challenged with our height - we really don't have a lot of big guys. It was tough driving in the lane because then you just get blocked. They were playing Gina (Saranosky) really tightly and She is mostly our shooter with Amy (NGO). It was a bit difficult to start with Amy's injury.”
The Cardinals (17-11) did most of their scoring in the third quarter. Brenner, Sarnoski and Colleen Chalmers each scored three points each, while Chalmers and Aditi Foster held up each in a 13-point frame.
"The girls delivered exactly what they always do," Funston said. "It's nice to see him come out in the second half and shoot some shots and get a little more aggressive aggressively."
The defeat sent Upper Dublin into the off-season, while Central Dauphin advanced to face 60-18 winner Abington on Northeast in the second round on Friday. The Cardinals arrived in the States despite being a youth team and losing their leading scorer to the NGO during the district playoffs.
"We just kept fighting with whatever we faced," Brenner said of the season. "Especially in our CB West game - our season could have ended then but we kept fighting to win that game. I think it shows what this program is about - determination and just keep fighting. We kept fighting tonight. We didn't get the result we wanted, but I think it shows how much of a fight we have and we worked hard."
"I thought we traveled to the States this year and we really had to fight for it," Funston said. "It should be a great experience for the little girls and we're really going to miss our three seniors."
Brenner, Sarnoski and Chalmers are three of the Cardinals' upper-class players moving up after this season.
"I've been playing with two other seniors since the age of five," Brenner said. “It is more disturbing now because it was our last game after so many years. This year our team was really close and I think it started with the three of us being super close and playing together for so long. Looking back was a lot of fun and it was disturbing, but looking back there is so much more. ,
"They've all been program players for four years," Funston said. "Bliss Brenner has been an elusive starter for four years. She started the last two years, starting a few games as well as the year. She was very important to us - the best defender, point guard, post-defender. She Has done everything for us for four years.You can't measure what she gives us.
“Gina Sarnoski came off the bench and gave us some good minutes last year, but this year was thrown behind Amy Ngo in a secondary scorer role. She was our goalscorer once Amy went down and her average That was double. He had 55 threes in the season. He had such a great senior year.
“Colleen Chalmers needed to be our big girl this year and she is 5-8. She is battling, night and night, and she was very important to us this year.”