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SOL Liberty/Freedom crossover
CHELTENHAM 66, WISSAHICKON 64 (2 OT)
The Trojans appeared to be on their way to a gutsy win over the visiting Panthers, but Nile Tinsley had other ideas, banking home a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
“With a 56-53 lead and under six seconds on the clock in regulation, Cheltenham threw the ball to Tinsley,” Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson said. “He dribbled across half court and made a heave, and it banked in at the buzzer to put the game into overtime.”
It took two OTs, but the visiting Panthers eked out the hard-fought win in another classic battle between the two schools.
“Nile saved us – it was a 28-30-foot jump shot he banked in and gave us life,,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “The two things that I believe led up to this (win). In the second quarter, we wanted to sub Nile in. The team that was on the floor was on a great run, they were playing well. When I went to go sub Nile into the game, he said, ‘No, it’s cool, they’re playing well. I don’t want to mess up the rhythm.’ Wow, as a senior, you don’t get that very often.’ I was like – ‘The maker is going to reward us for that kind of behavior.’
“At the end of the second overtime, Jo (Josiah Hutson) made two free throws to put us up with 2.5 seconds, and he said (of his senior teammate) – ‘Put Aidan Wilson in’ because Aidan was able to put a little more pressure up front. Just the awareness of doing that is a testament to the selflessness we showed today.
“Wissahickon is good. If you don’t play well, if you don’t give maximum effort, 100 percent out of 100, they’re going to beat you or embarrass you. Kyle (Wilson) is legendary as a coach. He’s not easy to beat. They’re always ready. We just managed to squeeze this one out.
The win brought a welcome end to a string of three straight double-digit losses for the Panthers.
“We needed this bad,” Fleury said. “The last three games, you can ask anyone in our locker room – we were probably the worst team around. We lost to Abington and then had two convincing losses after that.
“Tonight was a little bit more of – ‘Let’s use each other and find joy in that.’ Defensively, we were much more solid. We still had breakdowns. We just have to find value in us. There’s so much going on around us, it’s hard
to focus on the people that really matter. Tonight, I think we focused on the things that really matter. We were down. They could have quit, but they didn’t.”
The Panthers, who trailed 13-11 after one quarter, used a 15-9 second quarter to go into halftime with a 26-22 lead. The Trojans erased that with an 18-13 quarter and took a 40-39 lead into the final quarter where the Panthers needed some late-game heroics to send the game into overtime where – in the second OT – they edged the Trojans.
Tinsley’s 14 points led the Panthers while Hutson added 12. Kevin Addison-Anderson and Osei Johnson both had 10 points while Jabril Blackledge added eight.
“Mark Hill, a sophomore, played amazing,” Fleury said. “I have another sophomore, Chris Harmon, and this week we have to get him going. He’s very talented. Peyton McClendon played well, so the sophomores are growing.”
For the Trojans, Dom Vacchiano’s 20 points led the way while Brayden Ryan added 18 – both players contributed four 3-pointers. Gabe Lassiter had 11 points, and Josh Palutis contributed nine.
Cheltenham (10-4, 7-2 SOL) will host New Hope-Solebury on Tuesday, and Wissahickon (6-10, 5-5) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday.
Cheltenham 11-15-13-17-6-4 66
Wissahickon 13-9-18-16-6-2 – 64
Cheltenham (66) – Kamal Mason 1 1-1 3; Josiah Hutson 4 4-8 12; Mark Hill 0 0-2 0; Kevin Addison-Anderson 4 2-3 10; Osei Johnson 4 0-0 10; Salim Kelly 1 0-0 2; Jabril Blackledge 3 0-1 8; Nile Tinsley 5 2-4 14; Peyton McClendon 3 1-1 7; TOTALS 25 10-20 66.
Wissahickon (64) – Brayden Ryan 7 0-0 18; Nico Vacchiano 1 4-6 6; Gabe Lassiter 5 0-0 11; Josh Palutis 3 2-3 9; Dom Vacchiano 7 2-6 20; TOTALS 23 9-15 64.
3-point goals: Cheltenham – Osei Johnson 2, Jabril Blackledge 2, Nile Tinsley 2; Wissahickon – Dom Vacchiano 4, Brayden Ryan 4, Gabe Lassiter.
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