Audenried girls go back-to-back as PPL champs

Photo courtesy of John Blanks

Junior Shayla Smith scored 37 points to lead the Universal Audenried Charter School’s girls basketball team to a 55-49 victory over Imhotep to claim its second straight Public League championship at Temple University’s Liacouras Center on Saturday.

In a rematch of last year’s title game, the Rockets (20-5) trailed 12-6 after the first quarter before using a 22-5 run to pull ahead 28-17 at halftime. Smith, who was the first female in Public League history to record her 1,000th career point as a sophomore last season, received MVP honors of the championship game. Junior Senaya Parker, who played at Imhotep her freshman year, scored 13 points.