ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON CHESTNUTHILLLOCAL.COM ON FEB. 12, 2025 | BY TOM UTESCHER

Early in the fourth quarter, visiting Germantown Academy appeared to have last Thursday's Inter-Ac League basketball game well in hand. After attaining a 38-27 halftime advantage, the GA girls led host Penn Charter 52-36 a minute-and-a-half into the fourth period.

The Patriots would score only one field goal the rest of the way, though, as the PC Quakers rallied fiercely. A driving layup by guard Kaylinn Bethea with one minute remaining cut the visitors' lead to six points (56-50). On trips to the foul line, Charter added two points and Germantown one, making it a five-point affair with half-a-minute remaining.

GA was in the foul bonus, however, and seniors Gabby Bowes (Millersville University) and Jessica Kolecki each made two free throws to get the Patriots out of the Graham Athletic Center with a 61-52 victory.

The following day, both teams won the 11th game of their 12-game Inter-Ac schedules. Penn Charter defeated Baldwin School, 46-38, while GA beat Agnes Irwin, 56-42. The Patriots have clinched second place in the league (9-2), behind the undefeated champion Academy of Notre Dame.

Penn Charter (6-5) has battled for the middle ground in the league with Episcopal and Agnes Irwin. The Quakers, who lacked Bethea for a short spell due to injury, split their home/away series with both of those schools. Episcopal (6-5) beat Irwin (5-6) the first time around, and they'll play again on Feb. 11.

In last Thursday's clash between historical rivals PC and GA, Bethea scored a game-high 22 points and sophomore Laila Sharp added 15 for the Quakers, while GA received 21 points from Bowes and 10 from eighth-grader Azzure O'Connor.

For most of the season, the Quakers have made do without injured sophomore guard Mia DiBenedetto, a varsity veteran.

Bethea launched the contest with a three-pointer from the left of the keytop, and GA freshman forward Taylor Williams quickly tied it with a layup and a free throw. The period proceeded in a similar manner, with Bethea totaling nine points for the quarter but GA displaying better balance with seven different players scoring.

Junior Molly Dougherty's short baseline shot put PC up 18-14 with under 40 seconds to go. The Patriots had sophomore forward Jo Owens counter with a layup, and after Williams blocked a shot by Bethea at the other end, a transition basket by junior forward Sylvie Harrington tied the contest, 18-18.

A baseline drive and a three-pointer from the left wing by Bowes helped Germantown make an 8-0 run to start the second quarter. Three baskets by sophomore forward Claire McKee (two off of rebounds) helped keep GA going, along with a successful drive and three-for-three foul shooting by O'Connor. Junior forward Marleigh Jackson produced a pair of layups for the Quakers, but they were outscored 20-9 for the second round as the Pats fashioned a 38-27 halftime lead.

Jackson gave the hosts two more layups in the third quarter, but Bowes hit a "three," scored on a drive and made two free throws. Williams helped out inside as GA gradually added a few more points to its lead. Kolecki displayed her usual good court vision and delivered the ball to her teammates for assists on transition baskets. She assisted on junior Jennifer Fox's buzzer-beating layup that put the Pats up 50-36 at the three-quarter mark.

When McKee scored in transition more than a minute into the final round, Charter called time out, facing a 16-point shortfall with 6:23 on the clock. Over the next minute, GA's O'Connor scored on a drive, but that bucket was sandwiched between two three-pointers by Sharp, who struck from the right flank and then from the top of the key.

Sharp then penetrated for a layup, closing up the score to 54-44 in the middle of the quarter. After two free throws made by O'Connor for the visitors, Bethea rattled off two layups and two free throws, bringing the Patriots' margin down to six points.

PC pressed all over the court, and O'Connor was fouled. This put Germantown in the bonus, and O'Connor made one of her two shots. With 32 ticks left, the Quakers' Sharp was fouled, sinking both shots from the stripe to make it 57-52.

PC fouled Kolecki, and she made both shots with 25 seconds to go. When the Quakers missed a layup at the other end, Bowes grabbed the rebound and was fouled. She scored the last two points with 16 seconds left, and two three-point shots missed the mark in Penn Charter's final possession.

McKee came away with nine points for GA, which received seven from Williams, four apiece from Kolecki, Fox, and Owens, and two from Harrington. Jackson scored 13 points for PC, and Dougherty added two.