Council Rock South and Cheltenham both saw their seasons come to an end in Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinals. To view photos of the Cheltenham/Spring-Ford game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
(1-1) SPRING-FORD 71, (1-7) CHELTENHAM 44
With just over two minutes remaining in regulation and the outcome long since decided, Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews scored on a drive to the basket and then – seconds later – walked off the court for the final time in her high school career to appreciative applause from the large crowd that packed the stands at Norristown High School.
The senior standout – after connecting for 32 points in each of first two state games - scored a game-high 23 points in Friday’s state quarterfinal game, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep the Lady Panthers afloat against the district champion Rams.
“CC has been carrying us, and we just had to get some help tonight,” coach Bob Schaefer said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get much help for CC on the scoring end of it, and they really beat us up all over the court and under the basket.
“It wasn’t our style of play. I credit them and their defense was tenacious. I would have hoped the calls would have been made a little closer, but they weren’t, so that made it even harder for CC.”
Andrews – who found herself playing point guard a good portion of the game - acknowledged that it was a tough night on the hardwood.
“You’re on the ground, you’re hoping you’re going to get the call, but you can’t rely on that,” she said.
Andrews scored the first 10 points for the Lady Panthers, and her three-point play after a steal actually gave Cheltenham a short-lived 10-9 lead. Mariah Traywick scored on a putback at the other end, and the Rams had a lead they would not lose.
The Lady Panthers kept it interesting for a half. They trailed 16-14 at the end of one quarter, although the Lady Rams opened up a 28-18 lead with 2:18 remaining in the half.
The Lady Panthers – despite misfiring on the front end of back-to-back one-and-one’s - trimmed that lead to six by the intermission (28-22), thanks to a pair of foul shots by Jiana Clark, who finished with 10 points and six rebounds, and an impossible jump shot by Andrews off the dribble in traffic.
“It’s tough,” Andrews said of playing against the Rams’ non-stop pressure. “You have to keep running, you have to be aggressive, and you can’t be soft with the ball. You have to match their intensity, and it’s hard.
“We were in foul trouble so (point guard) Shayla (Peoples) was out, so it was pretty hard.”
Things went downhill in a hurry in the second half as the fouls and turnovers continued to mount for the Panthers, who saw both Clark and Christina Coleman whistled for their fourth fouls early in the third quarter.
By the time the quarter was over, both Clark and Coleman were on the bench with five fouls, and the Rams – after a 31-11 explosion – led 59-33.
“We could have handled the pressure a little better,” Andrews said. “We had a lot of turnovers, and that happens when they pressure like that.
“I think we played hard. We just couldn’t finish at the end.”
“Their very physical style certainly threw our game off,” Schaefer added. “We’re not a strong, physical team. CC should have shot 30 foul shots today if they called fouls on them like they called fouls on us. She did everything she could there, but they just overwhelmed us with their hustle, their size and their skill. They just clamped down on us.”
The Rams’ win avenged a 60-46 loss to Cheltenham in the season opener for both teams at the Hazleton Tournament.
“First of all, I think we caught them off-guard up there,” Schaefer said. “They had beaten us the year before, and they weren’t expecting us to come out so hot up in Hazleton, and we were kind of prepared for them.
“The problem is they’ve improved an awful lot, and we’ve maintained our level of play. That’s the trouble when you get into the playoffs – you run into teams that have improved and grown as a team.
“We’ve been struggling much of the season. We weren’t really happy with our game, but that’s what it was.”
The Lady Panthers closed out the year with a 26-4 record and another SOL American Conference crown. It was their third trip to the state quarterfinals in four years.
“We have gone further this year than anyone anywhere expected us to,” Schaefer said. “That’s a real tribute to the kids that they made it happen. We found ways of beating teams that maybe had more talent than we did.
“Certainly CC is a phenomenal player and will be in college. The rest of the players were trying to complement her efforts on the court.”
As Andrews stood in the hallway after her team’s final postgame meeting, a Spring-Ford partisan walked by and said, ‘I’ll look forward to seeing you on TV next year. Good luck.’
While the future of the Lady Panthers – who lose their entire starting lineup to graduation – is uncertain, Andrews future is ensured. The senior star is signed, sealed and delivered to St. Joseph’s University, the recipient of a basketball scholarship.
On Friday night, that didn’t make the ending any easier.
“It’s sad to a point because this is my last game, but at the same time, I know I had fun with my team, I had fun with Schaef, and it’s been a pretty good career for me and the team,” Andrews said. “I’m sad it’s over because I wanted to make it to the Final Four, and I wanted to keep going. It was good while it lasted. It was good.”
Cheltenham (44) – Andrews 8 6-7 23; Clark 4 2-2 10; Coleman 0 0-1 0; Peoples 0 0-0 0; Seawright 2 0-0 4; Casseus 2 0-1 6; Wing 0 0-0 0; Graham 0 0-0 0; Trueheart 0 0-0 0; Robinson 0 1-2 1; Petty 0 0-0 0; Nalley 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 9-13 44
Spring-Ford (71) – Stipa 8 8-10 18; Traywick 7 6-7 17; Hinnant 5 3-3 13; Mueller 2 0-0 4; Moore 2 0-0 5; Payonk 2 1-2 5; Landis 0 0-0 0; Lynch 1 1-2 3; Locke 0 0-0 0; Burgess 1 0-0 2; Haas 0 4-6 4; Puckett 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 19-17 71.
Cheltenham 14 8 11 11-44
Spring-Ford 16 12 31 12-71
Three-point goals: Casseus 2, Andrews; Stipa 2, Moore, Lynch.
(3-6) GOVERNOR MIFFLIN 37, (1-4) COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 35
The Golden Hawks suffered a big setback when sophomore Caitlin Jackson went down with a torn ACL at the beginning of the district tournament. Things got even tougher for the Golden Hawks when they were forced to go into Friday’s state quarterfinal game without yet another starter, this time losing Taylor Dillon to illness.
Making Dillon’s absence even more difficult to swallow was the fact that the sophomore guard had just turned in a gutsy 15-point effort in Rock South’s 54-51 win over Red Lion, which included the game-winning basket with 20 seconds remaining.
“I thought we still had a chance, and we did,” coach Monica Stolic said. “But she (Dillon) is such a sparkplug. She’s fearless going to the basket. I put people on the court in positions they’re not used to playing.”
If that wasn’t enough that the Golden Hawks were playing shorthanded, there also was the little matter of fouls – or the absence of fouls – in Friday’s game. Governor Mifflin was not whistled for its first foul until the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
By that time, the Golden Hawks’ senior star – Alex Wheatley – was in foul trouble. She eventually fouled out but still scored a team-high 21 points.
Despite all of that, the Golden Hawks still had a chance to win it at the end.
“We turned the ball over on our last three possessions of the game,” Stolic said.
The two teams battled to a 9-9 tie at the end of one quarter, but the Mustangs took a 21-18 lead into halftime. The Golden Hawks trimmed that lead to one (28-27) at the end of three quarters.
“We had a chance,” Stolic said. “We were actually up one with over a minute left, and we went into a stall, and we turned the ball over. They made a layup, and they went up one.
“Then we had to foul them, and they made the front end of a one-and-one, but we still had our chances at the end. You know what – the stars weren’t aligned up for us.”
The Golden Hawks received scoring from just three players. In addition to Wheatley, Courtney Brown scored eight points and Alexis Hofstaedter added six. Ashley Espinosa led the Mustangs with 21 points.
The Golden Hawks, winners of their first National Conference crown, closed out their season with a 27-3 record.
“I feel real bad for Alex and our other seniors - Rachel Jacob and Taylor Hunt,” Stolic said. “It’s really disappointing.”
To read Dan Dunkin’s complete game story in PhillyBurbs.com, please click on the following link: http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/basketball/golden-hawks-fall-in-heartbreaker/article_347191ae-9e45-574b-a16e-c2916245deed.html
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