Council Rock South and Cheltenham both won in Tuesday’s second round action and will advance to Friday’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinals. To view photos of the CR South/Red Lion and Cheltenham/Solanco games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
1-4 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 54, 3-1 RED LION 51
Taylor Dillon is fearless.
And because she is, the Golden Hawks have earned a spot in the state’s elite eight.
“She’s ‘big man’ on campus,” Alexis Hofstaedter said of the Golden Hawks’ diminutive sophomore guard, who is listed at 5-4.
With the Hawks trailing by one and their season hanging in the balance, Dillon displayed the kind of courage usually reserved for seasoned veterans when she put her head down and drove through a pair of Red Lion defenders in the paint for a basket that gave Rock South a 52-51 lead with 20 seconds remaining.
“I don’t even know,” said Dillon when asked to describe her thoughts. “We were all nervous. Every player had to step up.
“With Wheaties (Alex Wheatley) in foul trouble and everything going wrong, we had to block out the crowd, calm down and settle. Since we weren’t able to get the ball inside and weren’t able to get the shots off because they were (guarding) the outside, we needed to drive, and so I did.”
Dillon looked like the calmest player on the court as she stunned the Lady Lions and silenced the decidedly partisan crowd with the drive and bucket, but the game was far from over.
With 14 seconds remaining, Red Lion coach Don Dimoff called a timeout to set up a final play, and the Lady Lions got the ball to the player with the hot hand - Jen Horvatinovic. The junior guard, who has committed to play Division One basketball at Monmouth University and already had 15 second-half points, took a shot that rimmed out, and Wheatley was there to haul down her 10th and final rebound of the night.
“It was really nerveracking,” Dillon said. “There was 14 seconds left, which is plenty of time to get a shot off.
“We just needed to put all of our heart into the last 14 seconds and defend really well. (When she missed the shot), it was a sigh of relief for me. It was great.”
Wheatley, who was fouled immediately with 00.2 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock lined up to take a foul shot that was little more than a formality. The Golden Hawks had won the game, a reality that was hitting home for Red Lion’s Erica Maciejewski.
Tears were streaming down the face of the senior forward, who led all scorers with 20 points, as she took her spot on the foul line. She never so much as made a move when Wheatley’s foul shot came up short, allowing Rock South’s senior standout to pull down the rebound and put the follow in at the buzzer for the 54-51 final.
Talk about ‘the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat’ – this was a moment that effectively captured both. Red Lion, which trailed since the opening moments of the second quarter, had dug its way out of a double-digit hole to take the lead and the momentum only to see the game slip away, bringing to a devastating end a 23-game winning streak for the District 3 champs.
On the other side of the court, the Golden Hawks – who saw their go-to player (Wheatley) saddled with foul trouble the entire game – appeared to be on their way to a heartbreaking defeat, but they willed themselves to a win, their biggest in program history for the win not only kept their season alive but vaulted the team into its first ever Elite Eight.
“We both fought for that game, and they almost took it from us, but the fact that we were able to keep our composure, made that layup at the end and played good defense on that last possession – it proves that...,,” Wheatley never finished the sentence.
She didn’t have to.
The Golden Hawks had proven they are among the state’s elite teams, and this win was a team effort. Wheatley, despite foul woes, finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Rachel Jacob added eight points and was a presence in the paint, and while Dillon, who finished the game with 15 points, stole the spotlight with her game winner, teammate Courtney Brown propelled the Golden Hawks to their double-digit lead with some deadly outside shooting when her team needed it the most.
Brown scored a team-high 16 points, which included four three-pointers. Her second three-pointer spotted the Golden Hawks an early 11-6 lead.
“In warm-ups, I was actually missing all my shots,” Brown said. “I took the first shot, and I made it. I was like, ‘All right, I have to keep going,’ and they left me open.”
With 2:55 remaining in the first quarter, Wheatley was whistled for her second foul and took a seat on the bench.
“I was like, ‘What are we going to do?’” coach Monica Stolic said. “We had the lead, and we kept the lead.”
A basket by Jacob (Taylor Hunt assist) put the Golden Hawks on top 13-8, but Maciejewski scored in the closing seconds of the quarter to make it a three-point game. Another Maciejewski bucket put the Lady Lions on top 14-13 early in the second quarter, prompting Stolic to insert Wheatley back in the lineup.
The Golden Hawks responded with an 8-0 run that began with a Dillon trey and was followed by a Wheatley three-pointer. A putback by Jacob gave Rock South a 21-14 lead.
“I thought Rachel Jacob did a great job,” Stolic said.
Red Lion trimmed that lead to four only to watch Dillon score on a drive, and then Wheatley – after coming up with a steal – buried a pair from the foul line. Hofstaedter found Jacob for an easy bucket, and when Dillon buried both ends of a one-and-one with five seconds remaining in the half, the Golden Hawks led 29-18 heading into the locker room.
Wheatley was whistled for her third foul just over a minute into the third quarter, but a Brown trey put the Golden Hawks on top 36-26 with three minutes remaining in the quarter.
“I tell you what – wow, they hit some big shots for us,” Stolic said of Brown and Dillon. “They left them open a little bit. I was surprised, but I guess everyone does worry about Wheatley. Courtney can shoot the ball, and so can Dillon.”
Rock South stretched its lead to 41-30 after Dillon – with the Lady Lions daring her to shoot – hit nothing but net on a three-pointer.
The Golden Hawks, who took a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter, still led 50-42 after a Wheatley bucket on the low post with 5:50 remaining, but on Rock South’s ensuing possession, the Princeton-bound senior was whistled for a charging foul, her fourth of the game.
Things went downhill in a hurry for the Golden Hawks after that.
A three-point play by Horvatinovic marked the beginning of a 9-0 Red Lion run that culminated when Maciejewski buried a pair at the foul line with 54 seconds remaining to put the Lady Lions on top 51-50, setting the stage for the fantastic finish.
“It was scary, but we kept it under control, and we’re one step closer to our goal,” Brown said of a trip to Penn State for the state title game. “We’re working hard, and we’re playing until the buzzer sounds.”
Anything less would not have been enough against a Lady Lions squad that had not lost since falling to Allentown Central Catholic on Dec. 27.
The Golden Hawks (27-2) will continue to make history when they face Governor Mifflin in Friday’s state quarterfinal game.
“We’re in the top eight in the state – this means everything,” Hofstaedter said.
Rock South had just faced its toughest test of the post season and passed with flying colors.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH (54) – Taylor Dillon 5 3-4 15; Courtney Brown 6 0-0 16; Alexis Hofstaedter 0 0-0 0; Alex Wheatley 6 2-3 15; Rachel Jacob 4 0-0 8; Taylor Hunt 0 0-0 0; Allison Taub 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21 5-7 54
RED LION (51) – Janay Truiett 1 0-0 2; Shanley Harlacker 1 1-2 3; Erica Maciejewski 9 2-3 20; Jen Horvatinovic 8 1-1 17; Kelsey Wolf 1 0-0 2; Kasey Setiz 2 0-0 4; Kayla Wolf 1 0-0 3; Morgan Kuehne 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 23 4-6 51.
Council Rock South 13 16 14 11-54
Red Lion 10 8 16 17-51
3-point goals: CRS – Brown 4, Dillon 2, Wheatley; Ka.Wolf.
1-7 CHELTENHAM 65, 1-4 SOLANKO 36
Early in the second half of Tuesday’s second round game against Solanko, Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews came up with a steal on the defensive end. Moments later, the senior sharpshooter hit nothing but net on a three-pointer. The basket, which gave the Lady Panthers a commanding 41-15 lead, was the third trey of the night for Andrews, who has six three-pointers in the last two games after connecting on just four the entire season to that point.
The secret to her sudden success from long range?
“Confidence, I guess more than anything else,” Andrews said. “If I’m open, I’m going to shoot it. At practice, I’ve been working on it, and I’ve been feeling it, and they’re going in. I’m very happy that they’re falling at the right time.”
Everything was once again falling for Andrews, who scored a game-high 32 points in three quarters and had 24 of those by halftime as the Lady Panthers rolled to a 36-15 lead.
“We came out hard,” Andrews said. “We knew what we had to do, and we got it done.”
Tuesday’s game was a marked contrast to Friday’s sweat-it-out, come-from-behind win over Bangor.
“It wasn’t like the last game where we were pressured to come back,” junior Sabrina Casseus said. “It was more relaxing, but even if it was relaxing, we knew we had to work hard.”
The Lady Panthers owned this one from the outset, opening up a 10-0 lead after an Andrews three-pointer. Solanko didn’t get on the scoreboard until four minutes had elapsed, but the Lady Panthers led by just seven (15-8) at the end of one quarter.
The second quarter was another story entirely as Andrews was unstoppable, torching Solanko for 17 points as the Lady Panthers sprinted to a 36-15 halftime lead.
“It was wonderful to come out and us actually being the ones to score eight or 10 points right off the bat,” coach Bob Schaefer said. “Of course, CC did her thing, but the others played good defense. We were just a little bit too much for them. They probably haven’t played a team like us all year.”
Schaefer used the game as an opportunity to give all the players on his roster playing time. All told, 13 players saw action in Tuesday’s state playoff game. Nine contributed points. Senior Jiana Clark collected a double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
“Jiana played well,” Schaefer said.
Shayla Peoples buried a pair of three pointers and had seven points. Christina Coleman added nine rebounds while Ming Seawright added six boards.
Tuesday’s win vaulted the Lady Panthers into the state quarterfinals – a spot perhaps few expected to find them in after they dropped back-to-back games in the district tournament and finished seventh.
“After we lost those games, we were kind of down, but the coaches came to us and said, ‘Hey, we’re still in it,’” Andrews said. “The seniors, of course, didn’t want it to be our last game, so we all came together and decided we were going to play hard, and it’s paying off. We’re one step closer than we were last year.”
“I think we just wanted to prove everybody wrong,” Clark added. “Even last year when all our stars left, everyone really doubted us and didn’t think we would get far. They didn’t think we would be anything this year, and as a team, we really wanted to prove them wrong.
“We’re in the final eight – it’s a great feeling. It’s really exciting.”
The Lady Panthers took 25 trips to the foul line while Solanko took just 12 in a contest that saw the officials allow both teams to play aggressively.
“I like it better than when we have refs that don’t let us do anything,” Casseus said. “It’s a physical sport, so there’s going to be contact. To be able play to that extent without being called every five seconds – it was good.”
The Lady Panthers will face District One AAAA champion Spring-Ford in Friday’s quarterfinal game, but for one night, the players were just enjoying their team’s big win.
“States – I love this feeling,” Casseus said. “It’s great.”
SOLANCO (36) – Makenzie Keys 6 2-2 15; Jillian Eberly 2 1-3 5; Emily Allport 1 0-0 3; Jocelyn Mendez 0 0-0 0; Claudia Buzzard 1 0-0 2; Gillian Glackin 2 2-4 6; Siebrist 0 0-0 0; Haga 1 0-1 3; Battiste 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 13 7-12 36.
CHELTENHAM (65) – Ciara Andrews 11 7-8 32; Sabrina Casseus 1 0-1 2; Shayla Peoples 2 1-2 7; Christina Coleman 2 0-4 4; Ming Seawright 2 0-0 4; Jiana Clark 3 4-6 10; Seriah Robinson 1 0-2 2; Jovon Petty 0 0-0 0; Amarri Trueheart 0 0-0 0; Kristina Nailey 0 0-0 0; Taylor Wing 0 2-2 2; Rebecca Simms 0 0-0 0; Kelly Graham 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 23 14-25 65.
Solanko 8 7 8 13-36
Cheltenham 15 21 16 13-65
3-point goals: S-Keys, Haga, Allport; C-Andrews 3, Peoples 2.
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