WHITEMARSH — A stack of gold bars wouldn’t have sufficed.
What about airfare, hotel, and four front-row tickets to see Taylor Swift in Tokyo next week?
Nope.
With all the money in the world, it’s doubtful the Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials could have bought a shot Monday night.
The Colonials had plenty of open looks, but, like the 49ers against Detroit, they just wouldn’t go down.
PW made just 8-of-33 shots overall from the field, including only 1-of-16 from 3-point range, and the Lower Moreland Lions took advantage.
Led by Briana McFerran’s game-high 12 — eight in the fourth period — Lower Moreland held off the Colonials 34-29 in a non-divisional matchup of playoff contenders at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School to begin the week.
“I started off the game a little shaken up, but then I realized my team needed me, and I got my head back in it,” said McFe. “I put all my effort into my team.
“It’s nice, it was great to get back,” she said. “And we all worked really hard tonight.”
McKenna Winland finished with 10 points, Joslyn Perez had eight, and Olivia Patete added seven for Plymouth Whitemarsh (11-6, 7-4 SOL Liberty), which held Lower Moreland scoreless for the first 6 minutes of the game but couldn’t add to a two-possession lead.
The Colonials have shot under 30 percent from the field this season.
“It’s not from a lack of trying,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said. “The kids came in yesterday and we shot for 2 ½ hours. “We really wanted to get this win. You hold that team like that to 34 points, you should be able to win.
“In the first half, we shot 3-for-18 from the floor,” Dougherty said. “You have to be able to make shots to extend your lead. (The Lions) do a good job of rushing you. They’re very hectic defensively. None of the shots necessarily feel comfortable. … We had shots, chances to extend the lead, but you’ve got to put the ball in the basket. We weren’t able to do that.”
For the third game in a row, the Colonials were without their top scorer, point guard A.J. Avery, who makes the offense run and averages 16 per game. She is day-to-day with an ankle injury.
The contest saw 13 lead changes from the second quarter on, but a pair of treys by McFerran in the fourth put the Lions (13-5, 8-3 SOL Freedom) up for good.
Dani Brusha had eight points for LM and Sydney Santora had six.
Plymouth Whitemarsh entered the night around 20th in the playoff picture (24 teams make it) with a handful of games left to play. Lower Moreland was slightly higher.
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Lower Moreland 34, Plymouth Whitemarsh 29
LM 6 11 6 11 — 34
PW 8 5 11 5 — 29
LM: Briana McFerran 3 2 0-0 12, Dani Brusha 3 0 2-7 8, Sydney Santora 0 2 0-0 6, Mollie Martin 1 1 0-0 5, Emma DiJoseph 0 1 0-0 3. Totals — 7-21 6-22 2-7 34.
PW: McKenna Winland 1 1 5-8 10, Joslyn Perez 3 0 2-2 8, Olivia Patete 2 0 3-4 7, Brooke Peduzzi 1 0 1-2 3, Eliza Meersman 0 0 1-2 1. Totals — 7 1 12-18 29.
Rebounds: LM 18, PW 28.
Turnovers: LM 10, PW 14.
Records: LM 13-5 (8-3 SOL Freedom), PW 11-6 (7-4 SOL Liberty).
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Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.