Visit the photo gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By Rick Woelfel
Until this season, Christian Santos’ tenure at Cheltenham had been spent in a supporting role. Tuesday night, the senior was the star of the show, scoring 27 points as the Panthers held off host Upper Dublin 66-60 in the American Conference opener for both schools.
Santos spent the spring and summer working on his game and playing in the Sam Rines AAU program.
“I worked all summer,” he said. “Now it just comes natural. They helped me to develop into a different player than I was last year. Last year I was a role player. This year, I’m a different type of player.”
Santos was penciled in as the Panthers’ second option, alongside Rob Mansell. He had to step up, however, after the Flying Cardinals unveiled a box-and-one defense that took Mansell out of his team’s offensive flow for much of the night.
For much of the evening the level of play resembled mid-February, despite the calendar saying December.
The hosts scored the first seven points of the evening and led until Cheltenham ran off 18 straight unanswered points at the start of the second quarter to take a 29-19 lead.
Along the way, Santos got warmed up. He scored 14 points in the first half, nine of them in the second quarter. Meanwhile, he and his teammates were stepping up their efforts at the other end of the floor.
“We knew if we didn’t defend, they were going to keep building on their lead,” he said. “We had to step up and get the momentum going our way.”
Along with Mansell and Naseen Khalid, Santos is one of just three returning veterans on the Cheltenham roster and the only senior in the rotation. His coach, Brian Johnson, says the experience he adds has a big impact on a young team.
“Having anybody with a little bit of experience at the varsity level is a big deal,” Johnson said. “That makes a huge difference.”
Leading 31-27 at halftime, the Panthers went on a 10-4 spurt at the start of the third quarter to extend their lead to 10.
But the Cardinals wouldn’t quit. Junior James Newman scored seven of his 18 points in the third period, while Jason Ehrlich, the only senior on the Upper Dublin roster, knocked down a critical trey, and the deficit was back to four at the end of the period.
The hosts got to within two on two occasions in the fourth period. An Ehrlich three-ball made it 53-51 with 4:50 left, while Jamil Brown (team high 23 points) drained a shot from the right lane to it 58-56 with at the 2:50 mark.
But the Cards couldn¹t get over the hump, in part because Mansell finally got untracked (he scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter) and in part because of some abysmal foul shooting. Upper Dublin was just seven-for
16 from the stripe and only three-for-seven in the second half.
But it’s December after all, and both coaches were focused as much or more on what their teams will become as what they are at present.
“I was extremely proud,” said Upper Dublin coach Josh Adelman. “We’re very young. Our experienced varsity player (Brown) stepped up as a leader. We had a horrible practice last night; I told the guys that as angry as I was last night, how proud I was of the way they came out tonight. If they can give me that effort, we’re going to have a good season.”
“I’m encouraged,” Johnson said. “Upper Dublin is going to be a good team.
They’re a young team also. Once they get a little seasoning they’ll be a little bit better. We’ll be okay. If we continue to grow and learn, we’ll be all right.”
Cheltenham (66)
Keith Coleman 3 2-3 8; Matt Lear 2 0-0 4; Ken Garnett 0 0-0 0; Christian Santos 10 2-2 27; Nick Myanck 0 0-0 0; Robert Mansell 8 4-5 22; Ben Jacob 0 0-0 0; Ryan Francis 0 0-0 0; Naseen Khalid 2 0-1 5. Totals: 25 8-11 66.
Upper Dublin (60)
Jamil Brown 8 3-6 21; Andrew Derr 0 0-0 0; Jason Ehrlich 5 0-1 14; Etan Gregg 0 1-2 1; Kaleel Nash 1 0-0 2; James Newman 6 3-7 18; Khalil Ownes 2 0-0 4. Totals: 22 7-16 60.
Cheltenham 11 20 15 20‹66
Upper Dublin 19 8 15 18‹60
Three-point goals: C: Santos 5, Mansell 2; UD: Ehrlich 4, Newman 3, Brown 2.
- Log in to post comments
0
