The Cheltenham Lady Panthers are giving new meaning to the concept of saving their best for last.
In Friday night’s season opener against Spring-Ford at the Hazleton Tournament, the Lady Panthers found themselves staring at a seven-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter.
Not to worry – they rallied for the win, outscoring the Rams 24-8 in the fourth quarter.
On Saturday night, the Lady Panthers were back at it again, this time digging an even bigger hole for themselves as Hazleton opened up a 33-24 lead early in the third quarter Again, it was hardly reason for concern. The Lady Panthers had their hosts exactly where they wanted them.
With senior Shayla Felder once again working her late-game magic and the rest of her teammates chipping in, Hazleton never stood a chance.
The Lady Panthers, who still trailed 35-30 heading in the final frame, went on a 23-10 fourth quarter tear on their way to a 53-45 win and the tournament title. In case you haven’t done the math, Cheltenham has outscored its opponents 47-18 in the fourth quarter of its first two games.
Felder, an automatic choice for tournament MVP, turned in a dazzling 27-point effort that included a near-perfect 15-for-16 effort from the foul line – 6-for-6 in the fourth quarter.
“They had to foul her to stop her,” coach Bob Schaefer said of his senior guard.Ciara Andrews, who also seems to have an affinity for the fourth quarter, had six of her eight points in the final frame. Monet Constant scored eight points and had a team-high 11 rebounds – 10 in the pivotal second half. Christina Coleman had seven rebounds and four points.
“They started to wake up,” Schaefer said. “Monet Constant came out of her shell a little bit and had two big baskets.
“The kids hung together really well.”
Cheltenham will travel to Bensalem for a non-league contest on Tuesday.
Ghosts get sweet revenge – In the title game of last year’s Ghost Tip-Off Classic, Abington fell to St. Basil Academy by one point in a game the Ghosts led for most of the way.
On Saturday, the Ghosts returned the favor, rallying from a 10-point third quarter deficit to earn a hard-fought 34-32 win.
“I’m so proud of them because we just battled the whole game,” coach Dan Marsh said. “We had one mental lapse at the end of the first quarter when they ran off 10 straight points, but we regrouped and kept fighting – bucket by bucket, point by point.”
The Panthers scored just two field goals in the second half – none in the third quarter.
“That’s defense,” Marsh said. “That’s what we’ve been preaching, and I’m so proud of them.”
Leading the defensive charge was tournament MVP Emily Leer, who finished the game with six blocks – three in the fourth quarter. She also had 12 points, 12 rebounds, five steals and one assist.
“Our offense last night and tonight was a struggle for us,” Leer said. “We have a hard time setting things up because we have girls out of position, but I’m really proud of our guards for stepping up and taking over their new roles.”
The Ghosts were without junior point guard Sheila Longo, but Chynna West stepped in and not only ran the point but delivered two of the game’s biggest buckets, scoring at the buzzer on a running hook shot at the end of a fast break to pull the Ghosts to within one at the end of three quarters (27-26).
At the 3:27 mark of the fourth quarter, Leer – surrounded by a throng of defenders in the paint – kicked the ball out to a wide open West, who hit nothing but net on a trey that put the Ghosts on top 33-32. The Ghosts were able to maintain that lead.
“I’m more of a passer,” West said. “I would rather pass to my teammates and spread out the points with them, but I was wide open, and Marsh tells me – if you get the open shot, take it. I shot it, and it went in.”
“That was an awesome play,” Leer said. “She really stepped up. Those are the plays we have to make if we want to be good this year.”
Abington returns to action on Friday when the Ghosts will travel to Neshaminy for their league opener.
Spartan Pride – Sarah Constable doesn’t know the last time Springfield won the Oreland Lions Tournament, but the Spartans’ coach knows it wasn’t during her five-year tenure at the helm.
That streak changed on Saturday when the Spartans didn’t just win the tournament, they literally demolished their competition.
One day after defeating Marple-Newtown by 20 points, the Spartans crushed Jenkintown 60-21 in the title game. In their two tournament games, the Spartans scored 122 points.
“That was one of the biggest things we talked about because we had a scrimmage and barely scored any points at all in five quarters, so that was one of the things we’ve been working at the last week – we have to be able to put points on the board,” Constable said. “They definitely followed through on that.”
Point guard Elise DiFillipo, who had a game-high 22 points, walked away with tournament MVP honors while teammate Annie Crudele also earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
Crudele was the hero in the Spartans’ opening round win when she scored a game-high 27 points. She had five points in Saturday’s win.
“Annie didn’t have as big a game scoring tonight, but we talked about how many other things she did that were just unbelievable,” Constable said. “She had a lot of rebounds, and she did a lot of good things defensively.”
DiFilippo followed her 17-point effort on Friday with another big effort on Saturday.
“She just did amazing all around,” Constable said. “She did everything tonight.
“In the first 40 seconds of the game, she had two steals and five points. She had some amazing assists, and she had five three-pointers in the first quarter.”
Morgan Smith added 14 points for the Spartans while Syd Tustin had seven.
Constable is hoping her team will build on its strong tournament showing.
“This is huge,” she said. “We have never started a season 2-0, so it’s a really positive start for us.
“It’s big for us to get our confidence up and get some practice in before we start our league games.”
The Spartans return to action on Monday when they will host Lower Moreland in a non-league contest.
Rams defend tournament title – Pennridge defended its title in its own tournament on Saturday night with a 53-48 win over Lansdale Catholic.
The Rams opened up a 32-26 halftime lead and then played the Crusaders even in the second half. Senior Sam Simononis once again led the Rams – this time scoring 15 points.
Jordan Dominic and Alyssa Marchunsky each added 11 points while Katie Franchois had eight points for the Rams, who improved to 2-0.
Pennridge will travel to Council Rock South on Tuesday night for a non-league tilt.
Coming up just short – Council Rock South was doomed by a slow start in Saturday’s title game against Methacton in the Warriors’ own tournament. The Golden Hawks found themselves in the short end of a 23-13 halftime score.
“We played a horrible first half,” coach Monica Young said. “I told them – the good point is we played the worst first half we ever played, and we’re only down 10.”
The Golden Hawks rallied to go on top 30-25 but could not hold onto that lead, eventually falling 33-32.
“Obviously, we can learn from this,” Young said. “Methacton is well coached, and they have Lauren Ruhl. It was on their home court, and they took us out of our game.
“We didn’t have any transition points.”
Alex Wheatley, who scored eight points, earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Freshman Alexis Hoffstaedter led the Golden Hawks with nine points.
Growing pains – One night after defeating Northeast handily, Hatboro-Horsham battled Nazareth tough before falling 45-35. The Hatters trailed by just five (36-31) midway through the final quarter before the Pandas closed it out with a 9-4 surge.
The Hatters , who fell behind 10-3 after one quarter, spent the entire night fighting an uphill battle.
“We didn’t execute one thing in the first quarter,” coach Eric Glemser said. “We were lucky to only be down seven.”
“We’re still trying to find our bench and starting five. Everybody is competing for those starting spots.”One starting spot that has been taken is the one occupied by senior Kate Romano, who returned after sitting out the entire season last year with a knee injury. The senior captain, who scored nine points, joined sophomore Cailin Schmeer (eight points) on the all-tournament team.
“It’s kind of stressful,” Romano said of returning to the starting lineup. “I haven’t played in a year, but once you step on the court, it all comes back to you.”
Glemser is happy to have his veteran back.
“She gives us an inside presence,” he said of Romano. “Losing her last year was tough – she was a big scorer for us as a sophomore. She’s getting back into the flow of things.
“She’s a little rusty in some parts of the game, but just her leadership – she has a real positive attitude.”
Alicia Hayes, who had a team-high 12 points, won the sportsmanship award.
The Hatters will travel to Souderton for their SOL opener on Friday. Romano is optimistic about the season.
“I think if we work really hard and we play together and rebound – we’re short, there are games we can win,” she said. “A lot of the girls have been playing AAU, which helps, and we have a lot of athletic girls.”
*To view action photos of the Hatboro/Nazareth game, please visit the photo gallery.
Around the league – Harry S. Truman rebounded from its 48-40 loss to Morrisville in the opening round of the Bristol Tournament to defeat Faith Christian 52-36 in Saturday’s consolation game. Shalaya Lynch earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
Daniella Ciccarone reached the 1,000-point plateau in Quakertown's 48-35 loss to Conestoga in the title game of the Upper Merion Tournament on Saturday. The senior guard had 12 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Lauren Starzecky led the Panthers with 17 points and six rebounds. Both Cicarone and Starzecky were named to the all-tournament team.
Springfield (Delco) captured the title of its own tournament with a 48-36 win over Central Bucks South on Saturday.
One night after its impressive 64-60 win over Central Dauphin, Council Rock North fell to Downingtown East 38-25 in Saturday’s title game of the Central Dauphin Tournament. In Friday’s big win, Kelly Scull led the Indians with 24 points and nine rebounds.
Souderton scored just three points in both the first and fourth quarters, dropping its non-league opener to Boyertown 33-31.
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