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“It was a great night for Cheltenham basketball.
Those sentiments by a Cheltenham fan leaving Tuesday night’s game against Plymouth Whitemarsh just might have said it all.
It’s a safe bet that fan wasn’t talking about the Lady Panthers 70-27 win over the Colonials that saw three players finish in double figures – Kira Ogden (12 points), Shayla Felder (11 points) and Ciara Andrews (10 points) – and 11 players put their names in the scoring column.Rather, it was the festivities that easily overshadowed the game.
For starters, the team’s six seniors were honored, and then Felder was recognized for surpassing the 1,000-point milestone.
But the big event of the night and the reason for the large crowd on a snowy winter night was the fact that Tuesday’s win was number 700 of the unparalleled coaching career of Bob Schaefer. When the final horn sounded on the Lady Panthers’ win, fans raised paper basketballs that read:
Admission to the girls’ basketball game - $4
Warm-up suits - $80
Team sneakers -$100
Bob Schaefer getting his 700th win as the Cheltenham Lady Panthers’ basketball coach – ‘Priceless’
Former players – some driving several hours, parents of formers players as well as fans and school officials turned out in force to honor the man they refer to as simply ‘Schaef.’
The legendary coach boasts a career mark of 700-151, which includes 21 SOL titles in the last 23 years, four district crowns and two state championships, and that doesn’t begin to the tell the story of a career that spans three decades.
This season, the Lady Panthers – winners of the American Conference crown – are 12-0 in league play and 20-0 overall.
A feature recapping Schaefer’s stellar coaching career will follow on the web site.
Titans back on track – Central Bucks South appears to be alive and well after a difficult two-week span
that saw the Titans drop three games and fall out of the hunt for a Continental Conference crown.
Twenty-four hours after notching an important non-league win over Upper Dublin, the Titans downed
North Penn 45-39 to gain a leg up in the battle for second in the conference standings.
“We hit five three-pointers, which is a sign to me we’re coming around again,” coach Beth Mattern said.
As big as those three-pointers were, even bigger was the Titans’ perfect 10-for-10 effort at the foul line in the fourth quarter.
“We were 3-for-10 from the foul line in the first half,” said Mattern of an opening half that saw the Maidens take a 17-16 lead into the intermission. “Kaycee Schaefer and Nicole Mummert both picked up two fouls in the first half of the first quarter.
“Both teams came out really playing hard and wanting to win, but we couldn’t hit shots at times. I told them at halftime, ‘I know you know how to make foul shots. It’s just that focus, it’s just that desire.’”
Things changed dramatically in the second half, most notably the fourth quarter when the Titans outscored the Maidens 18-12 to come away with the big win.
“They’re tough to defend,” Mattern said of the Maidens. “They’re big, but the second half we got more second chance opportunities on the offensive boards. We had 17 shot attempts in the third quarter, and we did a much better job on the boards.”
Schaefer was a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final quarter while Katelyn Schneider, Brittany Kaewell and Gab Bass each went 2-for-2.
“I was really happy with our composure, and I thought we finished strong,” Mattern said.
Schaefer led the Titans with 15 points while Vass added 10. Both had a pair of three-point baskets.
Steph Knauer led the Maidens with 13 points. Taylour Alston added 10.
The win upped the Titans’ league mark to 10-3 while the Maidens are 9-4.
Rams continue to roll – Jordan Dominic buried a three-point bucket from long range with less than three seconds remaining in regulation to propel Pennridge to a dramatic 36-33 win over Souderton.
It was Dominic’s fourth trey of the night as she finished with a team-high 16 points. She connected on all four treys in the second half.
“That definitely changed the momentum,” coach Brooke Martin said.
The game was tied 33-33 after Souderton’s Emily Price buried a pair at the foul line with less than a minute remaining in regulation.
“We wanted to hold for the last shot,” Martin said. “Sam (Simononis) dribble penetrated and kicked it out to Jordan for an NBA three, and that pretty much was the ballgame.”
The win was the fourth in five games for the suddenly streaking Rams.
“I wouldn’t say we changed much,” Martin said. “We definitely have focused on our defense, which is
what our strength is, but really, it comes down to our offense. If we can score, we can win games. It makes or breaks us.”
The win avenged a 34-29 loss to the Indians that saw the Rams score six points in the second half after leading by five at halftime.
“Our offense was horrendous that night,” said Martin, whose team trailed 17-9 at halftime on Tuesday. “The first half tonight was reminiscent of the second half of that first game.
“The good thing is we knew our first half was out of the way, and we were going to have a much better second half. We had the shots, but they weren’t falling.”
With the win, the Rams improved to 5-7 in league play (10-10 overall).
“It was big,” Martin said. “It was good to get out of that slump we were in when we play them, but it was a very unexciting game.
“You could fall asleep. There was no enthusiasm on either side. We were kind of going through the motions, so it was nice to get some excitement on the court at the end.”
The Indians dropped to 7-6 in league play (11-9 overall).
Wheatley unstoppable – Sophomore Alex Wheatley scored 29 points and also pulled down seven rebounds to lead Council Rock South to a 51-30 win over William Tennent. The big performance came on the heels of some encouragement from her coach.
“I had said to her I just didn’t think she was aggressive against Pennsbury,” coach Monica Young said. “She was passing up good shots, and I talked to her and said, ‘I need you to be more offensive-minded. Our team needs you to be more offensive-minded. You need to shoot more. You need to be a shooter.’”
Freshman Alexis Hofstaedter had 10 assists. Emily Nowicke had nine points. Emily O’Donnell led the Panthers with nine points.
The Golden Hawks improved to 11-2 in league play while the Panthers are 6-7.
Around the league – Neshaminy received a glittering 29-point effort from Kelsey Ryan in its 51-38 win over Bensalem. Alexia Ewing and Ashleigh Spence each scored 10 points to lead the Owls.
Liz Martin scored 18 points while Kristina Pogue had nine in Central Bucks East’s 57-35 win over Central Bucks West. The Patriots led 12-8 at the end of one quarter but seized control with an 18-8 second quarter to go into halftime with a 30-16 lead. Bia Jurema led the Bucks with 12 points.
Wissahickon received 15 points from Colleen Hinde and 11 points from Kristy Ragbir in its 37-20 win over Upper Merion. The Trojans led 11-4 at the end of one quarter and upped that lead to 22-12 by halftime. The Vikings, who were led by the six-point effort of Cassidy Koenig, scored just eight second-half points.
Pennsbury notched a 54-38 win over Harry S. Truman. Lacey Balascsak (11 points) and Molly Phillips (nine points) led a balanced Falcon attack. Selinda Killing (11 points) and Shalaya Lynch (10 points) led the Tigers.
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