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WYNCOTE – There was an unusual mix of emotions after Friday night’s regular season finale between Wissahickon and Cheltenham. The Lady Panthers had just put an exclamation point on a perfect American Conference season with their 74-39 win over the Trojans, but the mood was relatively subdued.
With blue and gold balloons as well as almost life-sized cutouts of themselves serving as a backdrop – reminders of the Senior Night celebration that preceded the game, Austen Hamler, Tiffany Johnson and Asia Dan talked about their emotions as they approach the final leg of their journey as Lady Panthers.
Listen in on the conversation between the three seniors.
“It feels unrealistic,” Dan said.
“I don’t even have no words,” Johnson said.“It’s real now,” Hamler said. “That's the only way to describe it. It’s really over now.”
“Technically, it’s not over because we have the playoffs, but as soon as the playoffs are over, it’s done,” Johnson said.
“We don’t have spring league, fall league,” Dan said.
“Or open gyms,” Johnson interjected.
“Nothing,” Hamler added.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do in school,” Johnson said. “I go to school to play sports.”
“Basketball is everything,” Hamler said.
And Hamler – in those three words – effectively summed up just how much basketball and being part of the Lady Panthers’ program means to these three seniors.
Talk to coach Bob Schaefer, and he is quick to credit his seniors for their role in his team’s perfect league season and 19-3 record overall.
“I’m very proud of them,” the veteran coach said. “I give them all the credit in the world.
“I remember a day this summer when I pulled them together and told them they stink and the reason they stink is because they weren’t practicing their shooting. I challenged them that they better start working harder or we were going to have a lousy season.
“From the middle of the summer right through the fall, they were playing harder, working harder in practice, and they just showed what putting your nose to the grindstone can accomplish. I give them all the credit in the world.”The importance of the seniors is not lost on their teammates.
“They bring the energy,” junior Christina Coleman said. “They’re role models for us. They show us what we need to do on the floor.”
“They mean a lot,” junior Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews added. “They’re just leaders, and once they leave, it’s going to be a totally different game, especially playing with Tiffany. She has played since she was a freshman.
“They know how to keep us encouraged. They’ve taken the role of captains, and they really made this a fun unit to play with. Asia didn’t play that much at the beginning of the season, but she still had a positive attitude. She knew – even if I’m not in the game, I’m still going to be positive, and when I get in the game, I’m going to act like a captain too and just play hard.”
On the other side of the court, the Trojans bid a tearful farewell to the lone senior in their lineup – Casey Bill, who has been a four-year starter at point guard. The senior captain took her final curtain call with under a minute remaining in regulation when she was replaced by her younger sister, sophomore Maddy Bill.
“It’s rough,” Bill said. “I have been playing my whole life, and endings are kind of tough for me.
“Our team grew really close over the season. We all are in different groups in school, but basketball brought us together. We’re like family.”
Coach Jerry Hartman acknowledged Bill’s significance to his young squad.
“She sacrifices her game for the betterment of our team,” the Trojans’ coach said. “I thought she played a phenomenal game tonight, especially in the first half.
“We’re going to miss her next year. She’s a great person, and she sacrificed offensive statistics for our team.”
Andrews led the Panthers with 24 points while Hamler added 17 and Coleman 15 points. The Trojans were led by sophomores Dominique Earland (17 points) and Kim Schwemmer (13 points).
“They’re a young team, and they have a lot of potential, so I’m really excited to see how they will do in the future,” Bill said of the Trojans.
For one half on Friday night, the Trojans held their own against the Lady Panthers.
It was a 6-3 game after a bucket by Schwemmer three minutes into the game, but Hamler answered with a three-point play at the other end. Earland connected for the Trojans, and it was a 9-5 game midway through the opening quarter.
A bucket by Coleman sparked a 10-5 Lady Panthers’ run to close out the frame. Andrews scored the final eight points of that run, which included a baseline jumper at the buzzer to make it a 21-10 game.
The Trojans outscored the Lady Panthers 15-13 in the second quarter, sparked by a pair of Rachel Stone treys as well as a Schwemmer trey and six points from Earland to make it a 34-25 game at the intermission.
“(Coach) always says – expect to win every game,” Bill said. “Last year we 
lost to them by 40, so this year we weren’t really expecting that much, so when we were only down by nine, we said, ‘We’re still in this. We have a chance.’”
lost to them by 40, so this year we weren’t really expecting that much, so when we were only down by nine, we said, ‘We’re still in this. We have a chance.’” “That’s a tough defense, trapping all over the court, and Casey did a wonderful job,” Hartman said. “We have three sophomores out there that played well in the first half.”
According to Johnson, the Panthers were out of sync defensively.
“We were running around, and we weren’t communicating well,” Cheltenham’s senior co-captains said. “We were confused.”
“We’re not where we need to be when we go up against the big teams,” Schaefer said. “We can’t come out and stink the place out in the first half.”
Whatever Schaefer told his team in the halftime locker room - it worked.
A Schwemmer drive early in the third quarter made it a 35-27 game, but then the Lady Panthers went to work. Shayla Peoples drained a trey, and then Hamler scored from the outside. Earland broke the run with a bucket, but the rest of the quarter was all Cheltenham.
The Lady Panthers outscored the Trojans 17-2 in the final five minutes of the third quarter to go on top 57-31. The mercy rule went into effect when Dan sank both ends of a one-and-one with 5:01 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Lady Panthers closed out the game looking very much like a team that has won 15 straight games.
“In the second half, they got 12 offensive rebounds in the first few minutes of the third quarter, and you can’t keep coming back from something like that,” Hartman said. “Their game is predicated on pushing the ball. When you get into a transition game with them – that’s not the kind of game you can play against them. They’re too quick, and they’re too good.”
The Trojans closed out their season with a 4-8 mark in league play (9-12 overall) while the Lady Panthers closed out league play with a 14-0 mark (19-3 record overall).
CHELTENHAM 74, WISSAHICKON 39
Wissahickon (39) – Rachel Stone 2 0-0 6; Casey Bill 0 1-2 1; Sierra Eskridge 0 0-0 0; Dominique Earland 6 5-7 17; Kim Schwemmer 5 2-2 13; Dominique Weiss 1 0-0 2; Maddy Bill 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 14 8-11 39.
Cheltenham (74) – Ciara Andrews 10 4-4 24; Tiffany Johnson 1 0-0 2; Asia Dan 1 2-2 4; Austen Hamler 6 5-7; Christina Coleman 7 1-4 15; Shayla Peoples 3 0-0 8; Jiana Clark 2 0-0 4; Ming Seawright 0 0-0 0; Sabrina Cassius 0 0-0 0; Javon Petty 0 0-0 0; Taylor Wing 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 30 12-17 74.
Wissahickon 10 15 6 8-39
Cheltenham 21 13 23 17-74
Three-point goals: Wissahickon – Stone 2, Schwemmer. Cheltenham – Peoples 2.
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