All four SOL teams in action on Friday night advanced to the second round of districts. To view photos of the Cheltenham/PW and CB South/Great Valley games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#19 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 42, #14 GREAT VALLEY 39
The environment was hardly conducive for a Titan comeback.
Not only were they playing in front of a packed house – which included a large student section, the Titans also found themselves staring at a 28-18 deficit in the opening moments of the third quarter.
In the end, they simply would not be denied.
“To be an away team and get a ‘W’ on their home court makes you feel good,” coach Beth Mattern said. “They had a great crowd. It was definitely a hostile environment in that fourth quarter, and we really stepped up to the occasion.”
The Titans still trailed 39-32 after Danielle Strang scored on a wild drive at the 5:15 mark of the fourth quarter, but that’s when the points stopped coming for the Patriots. Literally. They did not score a single point over the final 5:15 as the Titans rallied for the dramatic win that silenced the full house.
In the final 5:15, the Titans’ defense forced six turnovers.
“I think we got the timing right in the second half because we knew what they were doing,” senior Tori Steinberg said. “We knew their whole offense. It took us a while to get the timing.”
It was sophomore Alysha Lofton – who had a monster second half – starting South’s comeback rally with a putback, her third of the second half. A steal by Shannon Senour set the stage for perhaps the game’s biggest bucket, a trey by Steinberg that hit nothing but net.
It was Steinberg’s third three-pointer of the night, and suddenly, it was a two-point game (39-37).
“That was the one that broke their backs,” Mattern said. “She’s been playing well defensively and rebounding, and I thought everything came together for her tonight. It was awesome.”
The score was deadlocked when point guard Madi Vitelli penetrated and dished to Lofton for an easy bucket at the 3:59 mark of the quarter. Neither team scored until – with 1:06 remaining – Vitelli scored on a drive out of a timeout, receiving the inbounds pass and taking it all the way to the basket.
“It wasn’t a called play,” Vitelli said. “We just broke their press. It fell apart a little bit. I was trying to look for the dish – I was waiting for someone to come at me, but I saw the hole, so I just took it.”
With 43 seconds remaining, Great Valley’s Kelly Sugaliski, who was a perfect 6-for-6 at the foul line, misfired on the front end of a one-and-one. The Titans hauled in the rebound but turned the ball over, prompting the Patriots to call a hasty timeout.
That timeout worked to the Titans’ advantage as they forced a five-second call on the ensuing inbound. Kate McMenamin, who was fouled, sank the front end of a one-and-one to make it a 42-39 game.
A pair of desperation three-pointers by the Patriots didn’t come close to finding the net, and the big win was in the books.
“It just feels good,” Mattern said. “It feels like their hard work is validated.”
Lofton led the Titans with 12 points and 10 rebounds, six on the offensive end. Steinberg added 11 points.
Friday’s win will set up a potential rematch with Spring-Ford in a second round game. The Rams, who defeated the Titans 68-29 over the holiday break, are heavily favored to make easy business of Chichester in Saturday’s opening round game.
The Titans will welcome the challenge.
“I think the playoffs are a whole different ballgame,” Steinberg said. “It’s great momentum that we’re starting off with, but we still have a long way to go.”
#13 ABINGTON 50, #20 BAYARD RUSTIN 46
Aiyannah Peal exploded for 11 fourth quarter points, singlehandedly allowing a shorthanded Ghost squad rally for the big win. Peal finished the game with 23.
“They actually had the lead with three or so minutes to go,” coach Dan Marsh said. “Aiyannah basically said, ‘I am not ready to end my high school career’ and took over in the fourth quarter.
“She did everything – she hit a three, she had four free throws down the stretch.”
The Ghosts opened up an early double-digit lead and took a 13-8 lead into a second quarter that saw Rustin outscore Abington 18-12 to go into halftime with a 26-25 lead.
“They went into a zone, and they caught up,” Marsh said. “They’re actually pretty good. I was impressed with them. They battled the whole time. They were a solid team.
“They’re athletic, and they don’t quit. They’re very tenacious on the boards.”
Rustin also had an intimidating presence in the paint in 6-2 sophomore Adeja Franklin.
“She’s a very good shot blocker, and we knew that coming in,” Marsh said. “She probably had five or six blocked shots, and it made their zone that much more effective.
“We have been much better attacking the zone. Deja (Rawls) and Aiyannah were attacking the gaps, but they would get in there, and she would block the shot or at least alter it. We were able to overcome it.”
The Ghosts – who already lost sophomore Michael Harris for the season to a knee injury – were without starter Joslin Poole (concussion). Sarah Listenbee, who sprained her ankle on Monday, did not practice all week but was in the starting lineup.
“We only had nine kids at practice all week,” Marsh said. “I had to bring a couple of jayvee kids up to try and make it a full practice.
“Sarah’s conditioning wasn’t where it needs to be, but she just battled the whole time. She only had eight points, but she had a great game.”
The story of Friday night’s win, according to the Ghosts’ coach, was his players’ ability to overcome adversity.
“We were not only down two starters (Poole and Harris) but we also were down in the game,” Marsh said.
In addition to Peal, Rawls added 12 points and freshman Gabby Nolan had six points on a pair of big three-pointers.
The Ghosts, who avoided a rerun of last year’s first round exit at the hands of North Penn, will face the winner of Saturday’s Downingtown West/William Tennent game in a second round game on Wednesday.
#15 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 80, #20 GARNET VALLEY 48
The Bucks put on a clinic in Friday’s opening round game, outscoring the Jaguars 49-25 in the middle two quarters to turn what figured to be a tightly-contested game into a rout.
West led 15-10 at the end of one quarter but blew things open with a 22-13 second-quarter surge to go into halftime with a 37-23 lead.
“In the first quarter, they probably scouted us and were trying to take things away, and they did,” coach Terry Rakowsky said. “In the second quarter, they weren’t able to take away the pass down the floor, then they couldn’t take away the post slashing in, then they couldn’t take away us rebounding.
“Eventually, we sort of wore them down. We kept coming at them and coming at them.”
Four West players finished the game in double figures, led by a pair of freshman. Mackenzie Carroll scored a team-high 14 points while Nicole Munger added 12 points, three assists, five rebounds and three steals.
“Nikki has been playing great for us all year, and Mackenzie also has been,” Rakowsky said. “I think what’s helping us a little bit now is Mackenzie’s not playing in the jayvee game before, and she’s a lot fresher. She’s got a lot of energy. I think that’s helped us a lot.”
Senior Jen Fabian collected a double-double, contributing 10 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow senior Sam Colloi added 11 points, which included three three-pointers.
“There was a point where we were knocking down three’s, we were getting rebounds, we were changing defenses,” Rakowsky said. “By the third quarter, we really put them away.
“We tired them down. They had one kid (Coley Ricci) who is very, very good, but we denied her the ball in the third quarter and made her work real hard, and she was getting tired also.”
Ricci led all scorers with 21 points.
Making West’s win every more impressive was the fact that they lost junior Calypso Carter to a knee injury.
“We had to shift our lineup around to cover that position,” Rakowsky said. “Katie McLaughlin stepped up. Caitlyn Mautz played a lot of extra minutes for us and did a really good job.”
“We have played very well. If we get down, I think they know we can get back into the game. They’re executing very well, they’re following what we tell them really well. I have always said, ‘If you execute and do the best you can, you’ve won even if you don’t win on the scoreboard.’ I think they’re taking that approach, and things are working out for them.”
The win most assuredly will set up a rematch with second-seeded Council Rock South, a prohibitive favorite in Saturday’s opening round game against Interboro.
#1 CHELTENHAM 55, #32 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 39
The Colonials were without a pair of starters, but that didn’t prevent them from making Friday’s opening round game more interesting than most expected. They trailed by just a 10-8 count at the end of one quarter and battled to the final whistle.
“Their kids played really hard,” Cheltenham coach Bob Schaefer said. “My hat’s off to them. They dominated under the basket.
“It’s nice to win a game, but to win a game playing as poorly as we did is very disappointing.”
Senior Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews all but willed the Lady Panthers to the win, scoring 10 of her game-high 23 points in a second quarter that saw Cheltenham outscore PW 19-5 to go into halftime with a 29-13 lead.
“She carried us on her shoulders,” Schaefer said. “She got tired at the end, and who wouldn’t get tired at the end doing the yeoman’s job she did.”
It certainly didn’t help that Andrews fouled out in the fourth quarter as did teammate Christina Coleman, who spent the majority of the game on the bench plagued with foul woes. She had just two points.
Jiana Clark and Shayla Peoples, who played less than two quarters, helped pick up the slack with 10 points each.
It was the shots the Lady Panthers didn’t make that concerned Schaefer.
“We can’t make one-footers, and our opponents are making 15, 20-foot shots,” the veteran coach said. “We’re working hard to get the ball to the person one foot away from the basket, but then we miss the shot.
“We’re 23 games into a season, we’ve only lost one game, and we can’t put together a couple of defensive and offensive plays that look as though we’ve been coached the whole season. If some kind of light bulb doesn’t turn on soon, we’re going to be in trouble.
“In reality, our score was very close to what it was the other two times we played them, but this was without three of their players.”
Erin Martin led PW with 12 points while Simone Jacques and Gabby Schumacher each added eight points.
The Lady Panthers will return to action on Wednesday when they will face the winner of Saturday’s Downingtown East/Avon Grove game.
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