Cheltenham was a winner in SOL girls’ basketball action on Monday.
CHELTENHAM 54, COLLEGIUM CHARTER 51
Kai Williams scored a team-high 16 points and also pulled down 14 rebounds. Included in her 16 points was a 6-for-9 effort at the foul line. The junior forward scored nine of her points in a second quarter that saw the Lady Panthers outscore their hosts 17-12 to go into halftime with a 29-25 lead.
“Kai is probably around 5-10, but she’s strong, and she takes space up in there and mixes it up with kids much bigger than her,” coach Brendan Nolan said.
Senior Savannah Roberts – a welcome addition to the squad after not playing last year - also had a big night for the Lady Panthers, finishing with 10 points. 13 rebounds and nine assists.
Creating matchup issues for the Lady Panthers was Destyni Wood, who scored a game-high 26 points. She was 12-of-19 from the foul line.
“It was kind of an ugly game – a lot of fouls,” Nolan said. “We really tried to limit their best player (Wood).
“She just put her head down and went to the basket and just kind of kept flailing into our defenders, hoping to get fouled. She got to the line 19 times, and that was a little frustrating.”
Cheltenham, which led 12-11 after one quarter, took a 40-37 lead into the final quarter and then held off their hosts to earn the non-league win.
“We still struggled a little bit with the pressure they put on us, and we are still very prone to turning the ball over, which is kind of a carryover from last year,” Nolan said. “We kind of got better at it as the game went on. Some girls are playing minutes they never saw before.”
Cheltenham will take a 3-0 record into Tuesday night’s SOL opener at Upper Dublin.
“I’d like us to be a little more polished, I’d like us to turn the ball over a little less, I’d like us to be a little more disciplined on defense, but we’re playing the game we have to play,” Nolan said. “We’ve made the first three games into very chaotic games, and that’s kind of how we have to do it right now.
“It’s not going to look pretty for us right now. We’re not at that level. We’re playing to what our strengths are, and hopefully, as the season goes on, we can develop a little more defensively, execute a little better offensively and maybe change the way we’re playing a little bit.”
Cheltenham 12-17-11-14 54
Collegium Charter 11-12-12-14 51
Cheltenham (54) – Savannah Roberts 10, Yanisha Dormil 3, Taylor Johnson 5, Courtney Murray 9, Madison Rorer 4, Kelia Holmes 7, Kai Williams 16.
Collegium Charter (51) – Brown 11, Cheyenne Rivas 6, Maclachlin 2, Aceveda 2, Destyni Wood 26.
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