To view action photos of the Cheltenham/Mount and CR North/O’Hara games, visit the photo gallery and click on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
It was a rough night for the SOL. All three of the league’s teams in the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ of the PIAAA Class AAAA Tournament were sent home for the season. Cheltenham hung tough but saw its game against Mount St. Joseph Academy, trailing by just four late in the third quarter before falling 52-37. Council Rock North once again struggled to find its offense, this time falling to Cardinal O’Hara 40-21. Upper Dublin also lived through an offensive nightmare, falling to Wilson-West Lawn 26-21.
(1-3) Mount St. Joseph Academy 52, (1-5) Cheltenham 37
LOWER GWYNEDD - Austen Hamler paused as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Trying to come to grips with the finality of Tuesday’s season-ending loss to the Mount was not easy for the senior co-captain.“It’s really hard,” Hamler said. “I didn’t think it would end this soon.
“I’m sad, really sad, but I’m so glad I got to have this experience.”
Hamler’s sadness – like that of her teammates and coaches – was tempered by a sense of pride at what the Lady Panthers had accomplished.
“It was a really good year,” the senior captain said. “We really played our hearts out every game. To see where we were at the beginning of the year to now – we’re a totally different team. We really did a good job this year. I’m really proud of all of us.”
The Lady Panthers captured yet another SOL American Conference title, won 17 games in a row during one remarkable stretch, finished fifth in the district, advanced to the second round of the state tournament and closed out the year with a 24-5 record. They did all of this despite the loss to graduation of three key starters and a ‘sixth man’ that played more than Cheltenham’s fifth starter.
“I’m very proud of what they’ve done – what a wonderful season for these kids to get this far,” coach Bob Schaefer said. “They have been over-achievers all season.
“We said we were going to be a little rough in the beginning and we’d come on, and they did. They surpassed most people’s expectations getting to this round in the states.”The Lady Panthers might be moving on in the state tournament if the Magic hadn’t had an answer – in the form of a well-timed three – for every one of their comeback attempts. All told, the Mount connected on six three-pointers – four by junior Maddie Kohler. All in the first half.
“That’s what killed us,” Hamler said. “Their three’s killed us. In every other way, I think we were still in the game. That was the downfall of us today.”
The three’s came early and often for the Mount.
It looked like a good sign for the Lady Panthers when Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews – who scored a team-high 12 points - hit nothing but net on a short jumper off the dribble on Cheltenham’s opening possession. Mary Jo Horgan answered with the bucket for the Mount, and after a Lady Panthers miss, Kohler connected on her first trey.
“Maddie Kohler was huge in the first half,” Mount coach John Miller said. “You have a kid hitting three’s like that – it gives your whole team confidence.”
The Panthers answered with a trey of their own – their first and only one of the game – when point guard Tiffany Johnson kicked it out to Shayla Peoples, who connected for the equalizer.
Andrews turned a steal into a layup, and when Johnson took it coast to coast off a Mount miss for a bucket, the Lady Panthers led 9-5.
A basket by senior Steph Smith was followed by a Lady Panther five-second violation. The Magic – or more specifically Kohler – made it hurt when she buried a three to put her team on top 10-9. Christina Coleman turned a save by Hamler under her team’s own basket into two points, but Horgan came back with a basket for the Mount.
Hamler scored over her defender, and after a Mount miss, Andrews scored off the dribble to put Cheltenham on top 15-12. A Smith bucket made it a 15-14 game at the end of one quarter.A Coleman putback upped Cheltenham’s lead to 17-14, but Kohler answered with a trey to knot the score.
“Three’s kept dooming us,” Schaefer said. “Every time we got some momentum, they hit a three that doomed us.”
Kohler’s trey sparked a 6-0 Mount run that put the Magic on top 20-17. Peoples scored on a drive to make it a one-point game, but then came a call that changed everything as Coleman – who already had six rebounds, four points and a steal – was whistled for her third foul.
The Magic outscored the Lady Panther 10-3 the rest of the way to go into halftime with a 30-22 lead.
“It felt like they got us scared,” Johnson said. “I think I’d put that all on us because – yeah, they play good defense, but our players weren’t getting open. We were just letting them do whatever they wanted.”
In the third quarter – with the Magic still on top by eight (34-26), Coleman was whistled for her fourth foul. Smith, who began to dominate the paint, connected on a pair of foul shots after an offensive rebound to put the Magic on top 36-26.
“I knew they were a good team, and they were just better than us today,” Hamler said. “They did a really good job on defense. They really worked hard to stop us and grab the defensive rebounds. They did a really good job.”
Johnson scored out of a Cheltenham timeout, and after a pair of rare misses at the foul line by the Magic, Hamler connected on a basket for the Lady Panthers. A putback by Andrews made it a 36-32 game with 1:25 remaining, and a Cheltenham comeback seemed possible.
Until the Mount’s Bridget Higgins buried a trey to make it a 39-32 game.“It was very hard,” Johnson said. “Every time we would get (the deficit) down, it would be like ‘Let’s go – we have a chance,’ and they would make a three, and it would set you back a little bit more every time.”
The Lady Panthers trailed by seven at the end of three quarters and then misfired on one chance after another to get closer, connecting on just one field and scoring only three points in the final quarter.
“It’s tough when you’re missing 12 footers and they’re making 22 footers – to their credit,” Schaefer said. “They had a couple of other kids making nice long shots just when it looked like momentum might change a little bit.
“We weren’t missing shots because we couldn’t shoot. They were making us miss shots, and that’s what a good team does. They’re a wonderful team. I told the kids – you gave everybody a good game until the last four minutes of the game. It still wasn’t nailed down.”
The Lady Panthers scored just 15 points in the second half.
“We have been playing good defense all year,” Miller said. “Cheltenham did a very good job of playing a matchup zone. They took us out of our comfort zone, but I thought we did a good job of spreading them out and playing some one-on-one basketball and isolating Steph.
“Our girls played with confidence the whole game.”
The reality that it was over began to set in midway through the fourth quarter when the Lady Panthers – trailing by nine – were forced to foul.
“We had to foul, and they made their free throws,” Johnson said. “I looked up – there’s not enough time, and they’re holding the ball. I was like, ‘It’s over.’ That’s why I’m not crying now. When I realized it on the court, there’s really nothing you can do. You just have to keep going at them, but it’s very hard – it’s my last high school game.
“It’s sad now, but I realize we had a good season. Most people didn’t expect us to go this far, and I still think we did a good job.”
“I told them to hold their heads high,” Schaefer said. “They have nothing to be ashamed of.”
MOUNT ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY 52, CHELTENHAM 37
Cheltenham (37) – Ciara Andrews 6 0-0 12; Tiffany Johnson 3 0-1 6; Christina Coleman 2 0-0 4; Shayla Peoples 2 0-0 5; Austen Hamler 3 1-4 7; Jiana Clark 1 0-0 2; Asia Dan 0 0-0 0; Sabrina Cassius 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 17 2-7 37.
Mount St. Joseph (52) – Maddy Kohler 4 0-0 12; Mary Jo Horgan 4 1-4 10; Cailin Schmeer 1 1-2 3; Bridget Higgins 2 2-4 7; Steph Smith 5 6-6 16; Alex Louin 0 2-2 2; Meg Black 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 17 12-18 52.
Cheltenham 15 7 12 3-37
Mount St. Joseph 14 16 11 11-52
3-point goals: Cheltenham – Peoples 1. Mount – Kohler 4, Horgan 1, Higgins.
(12-1) Cardinal O’Hara 40, (1-2) Council Rock North 21
Rock North returned to the site where its dream season began to unravel when the Indians traveled to Norristown for a second round state showdown against O’Hara on Tuesday night. Thirteen days earlier, junior Lauren Gold went down late in the Indians’ district semifinal win over Lower Merion at Norristown, suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Things were never the same again for the Indians.They struggled in a lopsided loss to Mount St. Joseph Academy in the district title game and then rebounded to gut out an opening round state tournament win over Daniel Boone.
In Tuesday’s second round game, the Indians once again struggled. They fell behind early and were no match for O’Hara, which led 10-4 at the end of one quarter and upped that lead to 22-7 by half. Rock North had just 12 points heading into the final quarter and trailed District 12’s third place team by 20 points.
Devin Gold scored a team-high eight points in her final game for Rock North while junior Helena Gemmell added six points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. The rest of the Indians combined to score just seven points.
The Indians closed out a highly successful season with a 26-3 record. They captured another National Conference title, won 16 games in a row to open the season, earned the district’s top seed and finished as the district runner-up before seeing their season end in the second round of states.
(3-2) Wilson-West Lawn 26, (1-6) Upper Dublin 21
“We didn’t shoot well.”
In those four words, coach Vince Catanzaro summed up exactly what went wrong in Tuesday night’s second round state game against the Bulldogs.
“They actually went big tonight,” the Flying Cardinals’ coach said. “They put a big girl on Sarah (Hallowell), which caused a lot of problems because she couldn’t get open.
“The only person that really could generate anything was Jen Myers. The biggest problem again was our nemesis rebounding. That’s really what killed us.”
Myers led the Flying Cardinals with 11 points. No other Flying Cardinal had more than four points.
Despite their shooting woes, the Flying Cardinals still found themselves in the game down the stretch, but with Upper Dublin trailing by three, the Bulldogs misfired on the front end of a one-and-one but then came up with the rebound.
“We fouled again, and they made both shots and went up by five,” Catanzaro said. “It was very methodical with them. We needed a shot clock in this game.
“They were very, very methodical moving the ball, and they were a tall team. They were bigger than I thought they would be.”
Upper Dublin trailed 4-3 at the end of one quarter but then ‘outscored’ the Bulldogs 8-3 in the second quarter to go into halftime with an 11-7 lead.
“We weren’t trying to slow it down,” Catanzaro said. “We just weren’t making anything.
“Mainly, he put a defensive squad out there. He didn’t really go for offense. We forced six or seven turnovers in the first quarter, but we could not make a shot. If you’re going to let them stay in the game when you’re stealing the ball off of them, you’re wasting your time.”
In the third quarter, the Bulldogs outscored the Flying Cardinals 8-5 to trim Upper Dublin’s lead to 16-15 heading into the final quarter. The Bulldogs outscored the Flying Cardinals 11-5 in the final quarter to earn the win.
“If I’m in a 26-21 score – it’s not good, period,” Catanzaro said. “Nobody is generating anything out there.
“We had some timely calls go against us. We had a five-second count and a couple of walks that were close. It basically led to our own doom. They played solid defense, but we couldn’t make a shot to save our life.”
The Flying Cardinals closed out the season with a 23-6 record, a second place finish in the American Conference, a sixth place finish in districts and a trip to the second round of states.
“There wasn’t one tear after the game tonight, believe me,” Catanzaro said. “These kids were very, very happy with how they did. They elevated themselves to play above everything, no matter what the other team had as an advantage.
“These kids stepped it up and throughout the whole year showed they could play with some intensity. Even though we lost tonight, it wasn’t like someone shellacked us. We just couldn’t generate any points.”
Catanzaro bids farewell to regulars Hallowell and Tori Waters.
“If you take kids like Sarah and Tori, they just had incredible years this year,” Catanzaro said. “Tori doesn’t really play basketball, but she was our sixth man off the bench.
“For Sarah, her last year was her best year. She took every ounce of it and ran with it and had a great year. These kids played as a team, and that was the main thing. Overall, we’re sad that we’re not still in it, but we’re realistic. It’s been a good year, and it was going to end somewhere.”
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