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By Nate Oxman
Rob Mansell admitted that he has been struggling shooting the basketball this season, especially from beyond the arc.
One major weapon in the senior guard’s repertoire throughout his Cheltenham career has been his ability to light it up from beyond the arc. This year, however, Mansell has been mired in what he called a season-long slump.
Thankfully for the 6-foot-4 Mansell and his Cheltenham teammates, there is much more to his game.
He showcased it all Friday night, scorching host Upper Merion for 29 points en route to a 68-54 Suburban One American Conference win for the Panthers, who improved to 8-9 overall, 6-4 in conference play. Upper Merion dropped to 5-12, 2-8 in SOL American play.
Matched up against Upper Merion stud senior forward Francis Rafferty throughout the contest, Mansell used a textbook shot fake to free himself for mid-range jump shots, which he buried with ease, and also showed an ability to put the ball on the floor and lead the fastbreak to create easy scoring opportunities around the basket for himself and his teammates.
“I’ve been in a huge slump all season,” said Mansell, who scored the 1,000th point of his career on Jan. 19 at Norristown. “I think I’m probably shooting like 20 percent from the three-point line. But I was feeling good all day. I actually felt good all week. I felt like my mechanics were back.
With Mansell leading the way from the get-go – he scored nine points in the first quarter – the Panthers pushed out to a 23-6 lead.
“It was a horrible start,” said Upper Merion coach Jonathan Groom. “It’s mind-boggling for our kids to come out and play like that. This was a big game for us, against a team that we played pretty well for a half earlier in the season at their place. The guys just came out tonight tentative and with a lack of confidence.”
The score ballooned to 30-8 midway through the second quarter after Mansell knocked down his only three of the game (on three attempts) and was fouled by Rafferty following the release. Not only did the foul result in a four-point play, but it also sent Rafferty to the bench for the remainder of the half with three personal fouls.
With their top scorer and floor leader out of the lineup, the Panthers kept the Vikings in a 20-point hole, despite the hard work of senior guard Robbie Griffiths.
Griffiths, who was outstanding all game long en route to a career-high 23 points, tallied nine points in the first half.
The versatile Griffith used a quick first step to beat his defender off the dribble and get to the rim and also stepped outside and canned a pair of three’s to help fuel a furious second-half comeback by the Vikings.
“Fran is definitely our best player, so when he’s struggling, it’s my job as co-captain to step up,” said Griffiths.
After trailing by 37-17 at the break, the Vikings began the second half on an 8-0 run that was aided by the return of Rafferty, who notched six of the eight points in the stretch.
The Vikings trailed 37-25 before the Panthers decided to spread the floor and use their athleticism at all five spots to make the Vikings chase them throughout the half-court.
“We know that most of their guys can’t stay in front of our guards, so we were just trying to spread them out and take advantage of that,” said Mansell.
The Vikings had difficulty preventing dribble penetration, and Mansell and senior guard Malcolm Weston (10 points) worked free for three easy buckets to push the Vikings’ deficit back up to 17 at 44-27, before a mini 7-0 run on a pair of buckets by Griffiths and a steal and layup by junior point guard Ryan McGee moved the margin back down to a manageable 10 at 44-34.
“We went into the locker room at halftime and I told them there’s two ways they can approach it,” said Groom. “I said, ‘You can say, well, things went bad in the first half so we’re going to fold, or you can forget about the first half, do your jobs, fight, and get back in it.’ I said if we can get it down to 10 by the fourth quarter we’re in the game, and that’s what we did.”
That margin remained until some full-court pressure from the Vikings led to a series of Panthers’ turnovers and helped pull the hosts within 54-50 with four minutes, 21 seconds to play.
“Defensively in the first half, we were terrible,” said Griffiths. “We weren’t boxing out. We let them have way too many second-chance opportunities, and on offense, we didn’t attack the rim.
“In the second half, we pressured them full-court everywhere and they started to throw the ball away. Then we started to hit our shots, started rebounding again, and we got back in the game.”
But that’s as close as the Vikings would get.
A little more than a minute later – at the 3:07 mark – Rafferty (nine points) fouled out. The Panthers returned to their four corners offense - resulting in either easy baskets or trips to the free-throw line – and the Vikings were doomed.
This game was virtually a must-win for the Panthers as they move toward the final stretch of the season and set their sights on a District One Class AAAA playoff berth.
Next up is a non-league clash with Abington on Saturday night before finishing with four conference games, including the last three vs. Wissahickon, at Plymouth Whitemarsh, and vs. Norristown.
The Panthers dropped all three games to those opponents earlier this season.
Upper Merion is still hopeful that a Class AAA playoff bid is not out of question. The Vikings have four conference games remaining: at Upper Moreland, at Springfield, vs. Wissahickon, and at Upper Dublin.
CHELTENHAM 68, UPPER MERION 54
Cheltenham (68)—Jacob 2 1-2 6; Francis 0 2-2 2; Weston 5 0-2 10; Mansell 7 14-19 29; Myarick 1 0-0 2; Walker 1 3-4 5; Johnson 2 0-0 4; Haywood 1 0-0 3; Bennett 1 0-0 2; Young 0 2-2 2; Davis 1 0-0 3. Totals 21 22-31 68.
Upper Merion (54)—McGee 1 4-4 6; Belford 1 2-2 5; Griffith 8 5-6 23; Rafferty 3 3-4 9; Anderson 0 0-0 0; Kubler 0 2-2 2; Reinert 2 2-6 6; Wilson 0 0-0 0; Mobley 0 0-0 0; Ingram 0 0-0 0; Loane 1 1-1 3; Persuad 0 0-0 0; Kowaslsk 0 0-0 0; Dillhay 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 19-25 54.
Three-point goals: Jacob, Mansell, Haywood, Davis; Griffith 2, Belford
Cheltenham 23 14 9 22—68
Upper Merion 6 11 17 20—54
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