By Logan Moyer, Assistant Sports Editor
It was a busy four days of basketball in Selinsgrove.
Nine games, eight of which were part of the annual Susquehanna Tip Off Tournament. Susquehanna teams participated in five games from Thursday to Sunday. Here is a recap of all five.
Women’s basketball steamrolls Marywood in season opener
Annie Greek wanted to make her mark in her first collegiate appearance.
The first-year guard from Norristown, Pennsylvania did just that, scoring 12 points off the bench in Susquehanna’s 70-47 season-opening win over Marywood (1-3) on Thursday night in Orlando W. Houts Gymnasium.
“Annie is a kid that I love to coach because she is so coachable,” said SU coach Gabby Holko. “She’s somebody that will do whatever you ask of her. She’ll run through a brick wall for you. Those are the players that you love to coach.”
Greek led a bench unit that scored nearly half (34) of the River Hawks’ points on Thursday night. Also off the bench, junior guard Grace Meehan added nine points, including two three-pointers. All 18 players on the SU roster played in the game.
“We don’t put an emphasis on our starters,” said Holko, who is entering her fourth season at the helm in Selinsgrove. “If your number is called, you just have to be able to come out on the floor, execute, play defense and just be able to put some points on the board.”
“We have 18 players on the roster,” Holko added. “I think that one through 18, every time they got their shot, were able to go in and execute the way we asked them to.”
It is the third season in a row that the River Hawks have opened their season with a victory. Greek said that the team’s Nov. 8 scrimmage against NCAA Division I school Navy helped prepare them for the big win.
“It was probably one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had,” Greek said. “In my opinion, we hung with them. It was a cool thing.”
Holko said that the team struggled to move the ball in the Navy scrimmage, something they did much better on Thursday night. The team combined for 16 assists, led by Kenzi Selvaggi’s four off the bench and Julia Pinckert’s three.
“We asked them to have more than 10,” Holko said. “When we played down at Navy, we obviously were a little bit undersized, and we weren’t able to share the basketball the way we wanted to.”
Susquehanna jumped out to a 17-8 lead in the first quarter after 5-foot-10 sophomore forward Julia Roth (13 points) scored the first five points of the game. Despite the River Hawks conceding 19 personal fouls during the first half, they were able to get out to a 38-23 lead at halftime – mainly since the Pacers missed 13 of their 25 free throws in the half.
“We had more fouls in (the first quarter) than we did all game against Navy,” Holko said. “Against a Division I team that was lengthier, faster and more physical. So, I was a little confused by that.”
Meanwhile, the River Hawks knocked down 15 of their 24 free throws. Graduate student Kaitlyn Lynch went a perfect 6-6 from the stripe on her way to scoring a game-high 14 points.
“Kaitlyn’s money from the free throw line,” Holko said. “We were 15-24. We want to be a little bit better than that. Our goal was to be over 70%, but I think it’s just the first-game jitters. We’ll get this worked out easily.”
The 23-point win shows quite the improvement for the River Hawks, who lost 53-44 to the Pacers last season. Holko began her coaching career at Marywood, coaching the Pacers to a 13-14 record in one season before coming to a landing in Selinsgrove.
“I think our girls took the loss last year pretty hard,” she said. “(Marywood) holds a special place in my heart. They gave me my first chance as a head coach. I’m super grateful to them.”
Ressler wins it for SU men against Cabrini
With the game tied and a few seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter, the ball wound up in the hands of someone who hadn’t made a shot all season long.
Steven Ressler received the inbounds pass at the top of the three-point arc, dribbled a few steps in and then proceeded to drain the shot, giving the River Hawks (2-1) a 61-59 win over Cabrini (0-4) on Friday night in the semifinals of the Susquehanna Tip Off Tournament at Orlando W. Houts Gymnasium.
It was his first made shot from the field all season long; he was 0-14 prior to his decisive shot.
“He was the fourth look,” said SU coach Frank Marcinek. “It was kind of like the parting of the Red Sea. He had a ton of room to go to work. It’s funny how you draw stuff up with a plan a, plan b, plan c, and plan d is what worked.”
With four and a half minutes left in the game, the River Hawks needing a game-winning shot would have seemed unlikely. They led by 14 points after Cooper Haberern and Billy Anderson both made a pair of baskets to push the SU lead to 57-43.
From there, Cabrini went on a 16-2 run to tie the game. Turnovers, sloppy defense and trouble inbounding the ball doomed the River Hawks – not to mention the six missed free throws in six attempts in the final three minutes of the game.
“We just aren’t mature enough right now,” said Marcinek, now in his 35 year at the helm in Selinsgrove. “Tonight, we needed to dominate in the post and we couldn’t dominate in the post.”
Donoven Mack went to the stripe for two shots with 13 seconds left to play. He made the first shot, which tied the game, but missed the second shot that would have put the Cavaliers ahead.
Susquehanna led 32-22 at the half, playing strong defense and draining five three-pointers to build the lead. Coming out of the break in the second half, Cabrini switched to a half-court press on defense – something that heavily frustrated the inexperienced River Hawks.
“We were afraid to throw it to the open guy,” Marcinek said. “The guys were partially open, we need to anticipate it, we got to throw it a little bit early. We waited until the guy was wide open.”
Haberern, who missed all of last season due to a spleen injury, has looked great in his return to the court this season. He scored a career-high 19 points in the win; he’s averaging 16 points per game this season.
“I’m just trying to do what I can do to help the team,” said the redshirt sophomore. “I have a great set of guys around me who make my life a whole lot easier.”
“We need Cooper to score, Cooper’s got to be our guy,” added Marcinek. “Cooper has worked very hard. Cooper’s the epitome of what I want my players to be. He stepped up and had a nice night.”
Haberern spent two weeks in the hospital while dealing with the injury. He ultimately had his spleen removed, though he couldn’t participate in full-contact basketball activities for another four months after his return home from the hospital.
“It was tough,” he said. “There was a lot of emotions, but I have a great system of people around me who are motivated and pushing me to work hard.”
Haberern had 8 rebounds, two shy of his first career double-double. Luke Edwards and Brandon Lavitt each contributed 11 points to the scoring effort on Friday night. AJ Lomax led the team with 5 assists; Lavitt was just behind with 4. SU outpaced Cabrini 16-6 on assists.
Marcinek – now sitting at 497 career wins – is just three wins away from 500. He’s 10 in career wins among active NCAA Division III men’s coaches.
Roth leads SU to win over Penn College
The women’s basketball team overcame a slow start on Saturday evening to defeat Penn College 54-35 in the semifinals of the Susquehanna Tip Off Tournament at Orlando W. Houts Gymnasium.
After scoring just four points in the first nine minutes of the game, two free throws and a buzzer-beating three pointer by Julia Pinckert sparked the River Hawks (2-0) into a 10-0 run that extended into the second quarter.
“We came out with low energy,” said SU coach Gabby Holko. “Shots weren’t falling for us. Layups weren’t falling for us, so it was just overall a hard first half. We needed to see that ball go through the hoop a little bit more. I think our confidence started to dip.”
Julia Roth was all over the court for the River Hawks, stuffing the stat sheet with a game-high 12 points, split team-high eight rebounds, split game-high four assists and a career-high of six steals.
“My teammates put so much pressure on the ball,” said the sophomore forward about her high-water steals mark. “It really gave me an opportunity to just jump in the gap. I have so much trust in them defending their own yard. I knew they would have my back behind me.”
The River Hawks recorded 16 steals as a team. Pinckert and Zoie Maffei each contributed 3 while Lauren Klein added 2.
SU outrebounded the Wildcats (1-3) 39-33, including 20-9 on the offensive end. Roth and Carly George each recorded at least five offensive rebounds, which contributed to a team total of 16 second-chance points.
“We focus on that a lot,” Roth said. “We work on it a lot in practice, just always crashing the boards following our shots.”
“(Rebounding) was a big goal for us,” added Holko. “We wanted to get offensive rebounds. I didn’t think that Penn College was a great boxing out team. I think a goal for us is always that we need to be the tougher team. We need to be winning the rebounding battle.”
Another run at the end of the second quarter sent SU into halftime up 23-14. Susquehanna held strong after that point, keeping the Wildcats from going on a run while cruising to the 19-point win.
“It’s such a great start to the season,” Roth said. “This is another huge team win for us. We’ve seen a lot of those this season where everybody’s contributing, everybody’s doing their role. It’s paying off.”
Kaitlyn Lynch (11) and Pinckert (10) were both scored at least 10 points for the River Hawks, who shot 42% from the field in the second half. Compared to Thursday night’s win over Marywood, where SU fouled Marywood 29 times, the River Hawks did a much better job of staying out of foul trouble. The River Hawks recorded 17 fouls; only one player had more than two.
“A big thing we said to the girls is (that) we needed to play hands off,” Holko said. “That was something we really wanted to express, and we wanted to show that we can move our feet.”
Snyder County native Rachel Teats led the Wildcats in scoring with 8 points. Lexi Troup recorded a game-high 10 rebounds for Penn College.
Men’s basketball falls to #3 John Carroll
The River Hawks gave the Blue Streaks a scare, but ultimately fell short on Saturday afternoon at Orlando W. Houts Gymnasium in the finals of the Susquehanna Tip Off Tournament.
Susquehanna (2-2) led 35-34 at halftime but fell apart in the second half as John Carroll (4-0) raced to a 83-73 victory.
John Carroll is ranked by D3hoops.com as the #3 team in the nation. The experience playing such a tough team will help the River Hawks as they enter conference play, said head coach Frank Marcinek.
“It’s a good opportunity for us,” Marcinek said after SU’s semifinal win over Cabrini. “They’re good.”
Marcus Mitchell led the River Hawks in the loss, scoring a career-high 17 points on 70% shooting from the field. Mitchell was named to the all-tournament team following the game. Cooper Haberern also continued his strong start to the season, scoring 12 points on four three-pointers. He also contributed six rebounds to the effort.
Two players, Luke Chicone and Luke Fraizer, scored 24 points for the Blue Streaks. Chicone was a perfect 7-7 from the line.
Sophomore forward Audric Washington led the team with seven rebounds, while AJ Lomax dished out a game-high four assists. Washington also blocked two shots.
Next up for the River Hawks is the Landmark Conference opener Nov. 29 on the road at Goucher. The game will be livestreamed on FloSports. The Gophers are 1-1 to start the season with a 76-66 loss to The College of New Jersey and a 71-60 win over Mount Aloysius.
Susquehanna defeated Goucher 67-58 and 89-70 last season. The Gophers were picked to finish last in the Landmark in the annual preseason coaches’ poll; Susquehanna was picked to finish 3 behind Catholic and Juniata.
Women’s Sunday coverage
The SU women’s basketball team played nationally-ranked DeSales tough, but ultimately fell short on Sunday afternoon at Orlando W. Houts Gymnasium in the finals of the Susquehanna Tip Off Tournament.
Susquehanna (2-1) had the Bulldogs within two possessions going into the fourth quarter, but DeSales (2-1) ultimately won the game 58-41.
DeSales is ranked by D3hoops.com as the #14 team in the nation. The experience playing such a tough team will help the River Hawks as they enter conference play, said head coach Gabby Holko.
“DeSales is a wonderful team,” Holko said after Saturday evening’s win over Penn College. “(Head coach) Fred Richter does a wonderful job.”
Julia Pinckert led the way for the River Hawks in the loss, scoring a season-high 15 points on 5-7 shooting from the field. She finished with nine rebounds, just one away from a double-double. Pinckert has two double-doubles in her career, both last season.
Lindsey Welsh and Megan Bealer each scored 14 points for the Bulldogs, while Mikaela Reese was just behind with 13. The Bulldogs recorded 20 steals as a team; Welsh led the way with nine.
Just one day after suffering a facial injury and exiting in the first quarter of Saturday’s win over Penn College, Annie Greek played for 13 minutes in Sunday’s loss. The first-year guard recorded five points.
Following a non-conference game on Tuesday against York, the River Hawks will open their conference schedule against Goucher, 7:00 p.m. at Orlando W. Houts Gymnasium on Nov. 29. The Gophers are 0-4 to start the season.
Susquehanna defeated Goucher 61-47 and 61-51 last season as the Gophers went winless in Landmark play. The Gophers were picked to finish last in the Landmark in the annual preseason coaches’ poll; Susquehanna was picked to finish 4 behind Catholic, Scranton and Elizabethtown.
