Springside spilts four games in one week
By Joseph R. Turkos |
PUBLISHED: January 27, 2009 at 10:00 p.m. | UPDATED: September 24, 2021 at 9:59 a.m.
Springside School's 45-23 non-league win over the Delaware County Christian School Knights Saturday afternoon capped a grueling week for the Lions, a week that included four straight games away from Chestnut Hill, against some of the Inter-Ac's top teams.On Jan. 20, Spring-side (16-6, 3-4) blanked Baldwin (0-10, 0-7), 48-34. But the following day, the Lions fell to Notre Dame (14-4, 4-0), 50-27. And on Friday the Lions dropped their second-straight league game to the undefeated Germantown Academy Patriots (18-0, 7-0), 66-33.
Unable to hold normal practice sessions during the week, the team's play pleased Springside School head coach Brian Morris.
"Playing Notre Dame and playing GA back-to-back is like a nightmare," Morris said. "I'm proud of the kids and the way we played in both of those games. [Notre Dame and Germantown Academy] are elite programs that have very good teams and they do a terrific job."
On Saturday the Lions put Friday's loss behind them when they stepped onto the Knights' court in New-town Square.
"They have a nice team; they did a good job," Morris said of Delco Christian, "We were able to get some things [done] when we moved the basketball."
Delco Christian (10-5, 7-2 Bicentennial Athletic League) senior guard Emily Holman led all scorers with 16 points.
With the exception of falling behind early in the game, Springside led 12-6 at the end of the first quarter and never looked back.
Springside junior Colleen Caldwell led Springside scorers with 14 points. The Lions leading scorer senior Katie Rutan (21 points per game) scored eight points along with senior Tori Baggio, who also netted eight points.
When Rutan left the game in the fourth quarter, she limped off of the floor. This was due to a pulled quad muscle she suffered during the Baldwin win. Rutan's eight points was less of a result of her injury than the attention paid to her by the Delco Christian defense.
"Defensively, I think they did a very good job on Katie," Morris said. "But what's so great about her is that it's not about points with Katie. She's very unselfish and she got everyone else involved. And we moved the basketball. So I was proud of that."
The Lions led by 10 at the half and managed to pull away in the second half. Morris felt that the difference in the second half was that while Rutan ran the offense, the rest of the team responded.
"Everyone stepped up," Morris said. "Amanda Walker's been playing terrific the last two games, on the offensive end. And her Achilles heal has been defense but she's really stepped up in the last two games. Colleen [Caldwell] is doing a better job of handling the ball. Tori Baggio's really stepped up on both ends of the floor. Teghan [Boyle] and Courtney [Caputo] are the assassins on defense, like always. So they've been doing a terrific job. I'm just so proud of all of them."
By the fourth quarter, Morris was able to pull his starters to allow his bench to see some playing time.
Considering the stretch of games that Springside faced last week, Morris and his coaching staff felt that splitting the week at 2 and 2 was a plus. He was also happy with the manner in which the team responded after two losses.
"You gotta bounce back. Life's too short," Morris said. "We gotta come back and just get prepared for a great opportunity to turn around and get a win."
With a week of tough games behind them, the Springside squad will have a break of sorts this week as students take mid-term exams. The Lions will return to the court on Feb. 3 when they host Episcopal Academy (7-9, 3-4).
Even though the week off from basketball includes exams, the break from the court is welcomed.
"We need it," Morris said.
Montgomery News Media
Joseph R. Turkos
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