Girls BAsketball: Mulhearn, Russo team up to carry Penncrest

MIDDLETOWN >> Penncrest guards Corinne Mulhearn and Katie Russo always have shared a special connection. “She’s like a sister to me,” the junior Russo said. “She’s from Russia and I’m from Ukraine.”

Mulhearn was 2-years-old and Russo was eight months old when they came to the United States.

“We were young, but we have that in common,” Russo said. It would explain why they speak perfect English …

“It was kind of meant to be,” added Mulhearn, a senior.

Mulhearn and Russo are having fun helping a young Penncrest team to some impressive victories early in the season. After Friday night’s 40-26 Central League decision over Marple Newtown, the Lions improved to 3-1 at the one-week mark of the new campaign. That’s a positive start for program that has struggled to compete in recent years .. With an interesting collection of underclassmen, including freshman wing Kylie Chelo (six points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals) and sophomore forward Grace Harding (seven points, six rebounds, one steal), the Lions are moving in the right direction

“We have more team chemistry this year because we’ve been working for over a year now and have been practicing a lot in the offseason,” said Russo, who scored a game-high 15 points.

Mulhearn came close to triple-double territory Friday night. She was excellent on offense and defense, with eight points, 11 rebounds and eight steals. She and Russo connected on a handful of scoring plays as Penncrest (3-1, 1-1) shot 48.5 percent (15-of-37) from the field and forced Marple Newtown into 27 turnovers.

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