To view action photos of the Cheltenham/CR South game, visit the Photo Gallery.
Cheltenham, Council Rock North and Abington will represent the SOL in Wednesday’s District One AAAA semifinal round. Crashing the SOL’s party will be Downingtown East.Cheltenham and Abington knocked off a pair of SOL squads to get to the semis – the Lady Panthers staged a fourth-quarter comeback to edge Council Rock South 53-48 while Abington bounced Central Bucks East out of the winner’s bracket with a 48-35 win.
Also in quarterfinal action, Council Rock North routed an overmatched Great Valley squad, opening up a 36-7 halftime lead and then coasting to a 59-27 win. Sarah Kiely turned in a dazzling performance, contributing 23 points, 17 rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals. Kelly Scull added 12 points, five rebounds and two steals while Lauren Gold had 11 points, six assists, five steals and four rebounds.
The Indians have earned a date with Abington while Cheltenham will face Downingtown East, a 36-31 winner over Downingtown West.
In playback action for the ninth and final state playoff berth, North Penn and Central Bucks South kept their post-season hopes alive while Upper Dublin saw its season come to an end. The Flying Cardinals fell to Boyertown 61-23.
North Penn found itself on the short end of a 22-15 score at halftime of its game at West Chester Rustin, but sparked by the 17-point second half effort of Steph Knauer – who scored a game-high 23 points, the Maidens outscored Rustin 29-8 in the second half on their way to a 44-34 win
“Our post players just took over the game,” North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire said.
Taylour Alston scored just five points but contributed 14 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Shannon Knauer added seven points.
“Dara Nelson did a really good job of taking care of the ball,” deMarteleire said of her point guard. “We were having some turnover issues, and she stepped up.”
Nelson and Lauren Crisler each scored five points while Mary Ward was 4-of-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.
“Defensively, we played really well in the second half,” deMarteleire said.
Central Bucks South also needed some second half heroics to down Methacton. The Titans trailed 30-25 at halftime but outscored the Warriors 20-10 in the third quarter.
“We lost big on Tuesday, and it took a little bit to get going,” coach Beth Mattern said of her team’s loss to Cheltenham. “Once we got going, I thought we played really well.
“In the first half, we were just a little out of sync defensively. In the second half, we tightened up our defense.”
Katelyn Schneider led the Titans with a glittering 17-point effort. Nicole Mummert had a big day under the boards, pulling down 15 rebounds to go along with eight points. Gab Vass had 14 points, Kaycee Schaefer, 10 points, and Brittany Kaewell, eight points.
CB South will face North Penn in Wednesday’s playback round. It will be the third meeting between the two teams. South won both regular season games.
CHELTENHAM 53, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 48
LOWER GWYNEDD – Shayla Felder dribbled the ball near midcourt as the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock in Cheltenham’s District One AAAA quarterfinal game against Council Rock South.The Lady Panthers’ senior guard wasn’t celebrating. In fact, there was nothing about her expression to suggest that her team had won.
Actually, escaped might be a better word for the Lady Panthers’ 53-48 win over the Golden Hawks. It was a far cry from the regular season meeting between the two squads – a 24-point Cheltenham win.
“We came ready, but I can’t explain it,” Felder said. “It was frustrating because everybody wasn’t in the flow offensively or defensively. “
Rock South’s game plan to pack it in defensively effectively took the Lady Panthers out of the flow offensively.
“I said, ‘I’m not letting them penetrate anymore,’” coach Monica Young said in reference to Cheltenham’s guard penetration in the initial meeting. “We sent two kids back and tried not to let them get fast breaks.”
The Lady Panthers struggled for the better part of four quarters, but in the end, Felder – looking very much the part of two-time American Conference Player of the Year - simply picked up the Lady Panthers on her back and carried them into Wednesday’s semifinals.
The senior captain scored 11 of her game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter.
“She made some big baskets when we had to have them,” Cheltenham coach Bob Schaefer said. “That’s a sign of a good team.”
Sophomore Ciara Andrews added 13 points off the bench for the Lady Panthers, six in a second quarter that saw the Lady Panthers outscore the Golden Hawks 20-13 after falling behind 11-9 in the first quarter.
“Someone had to score,” Andrews said. “If my shot is open, it’s open.
“In the beginning of the game, no one was making their shots, so I decided – when I go in there, I have to shoot and score some baskets.”
Liz Taliaferro added nine points and Kira Ogden eight points for the Lady Panthers.
Sophomore Alex Wheatley led the Golden Hawks with 14 points while Emily Nowicke added 13. Jackie Weber had nine points off the bench, and Chelsea Allen contributed eight.“They killed us inside,” Schaefer said. “Their kids played a lot better this time, and they dominated the boards.
“Let’s face it, that was more than a nail biter.”
The Golden Hawks – who trailed by as many as seven in the third quarter – took a 36-34 lead after Nowicke buried a baseline jumper to open the final quarter. Felder answered with a baseline jumper at the other end.
Wheatley scored to put the Hawks back on top by two. This time, Ogden had an answer, scoring for the Panthers. Allen responded by scoring at the end of a drive to put the Golden Hawks on top 40-38.
Felder calmly buried a baseline three-pointer.
“We packed it in,” Nowicke said of Rock South’s zone defense. “We knew they were athletic, and we knew they wanted to drive it in on us.
“We tempted them to take outside shots. Give them credit – they’re a good team, so we decided to pack it in, and risk giving them the shots.”
Wheatley responded with a bucket at the end of a drive to give the Hawks a 42-41 advantage. Ogden’s putback put the Panthers on top by one, prompting Young to call a timeout.
Tiffany Johnson stole the ball near midcourt, but the Lady Panthers came up empty. The Golden Hawks misfired at the other end, and then Felder nailed a trey from NBA range to put the Lady Panthers on top 46-42 with 2:58 remaining.
Nowicke calmly buried both ends of a one-and-one to make it a 46-44 game, but Felder answered with another trey.
Watching Felder hit nothing but net on one big shot after another, it was hard to believe that she couldn’t buy a basket in a first quarter that saw Rock South pack it in a zone, daring the Lady Panthers to beat them from the outside. “Every time I’m not able to make my shots, I’ll say, ‘I’m not shooting anymore,’” Felder said. “Why have me shooting when somebody else is hot. Give the ball to somebody that’s hot.
“But everybody is like, ‘Keep shooting, keep shooting. We need you out there.’ That’s why I continued to shoot. The coaches needed me, my teammates needed me. I have to do what I have to do to win and for the team.”
Wheatley found Alexis Hofstaedter cutting to the basket for an easy deuce to pull the Golden Hawks within three with 1:35 remaining. Andrews buried both ends of a one-and-one to put the Lady Panthers on top 51-46.
Nowicke answered with a pair from the charity stripe, but Taliaferro returned the favor, burying both ends of a one-and-one to all but seal the Golden Hawks’ fate.
“It wasn’t one of our best wins, but we’ll take it,” Andrews said. “We could have played better, but we did what we had to do and pulled it out.”
For the Golden Hawks, there were a lot of ‘what ifs’ when this one was over. What if they hadn’t turned the ball over on six straight possessions to open the second half – a stretch that saw the Lady Panthers add just two points to their 29-24 halftime lead.
“We just came out slow,” Nowicke said. “We knew we wanted to come out strong, but it just didn’t happen.
“We still played good defense. If we could have scored on three of those possessions, it would have changed the game, but we came through it and tied it. But that could have been a turnaround if we had scored.”
For the Lady Panthers, the win erased memories of Cheltenham’s only loss of the season to Wissahickon on the Trojans’ home court.“My little quote today on FaceBook and text was, ‘Today is the day we’ll turn this bad luck gym into good luck,’” Felder said.
“We needed to show that this wasn’t our unlucky gym and that we can play in any gym,” Andrews said. “We needed to go out hard from the beginning and not worry about our loss here.”
Despite the outcome, the Golden Hawks are confident as they head into the consolation round.
“We knew we could hang with them,” Nowicke said. “This time we knew what they would do. I’m proud of our girls. We gave it our all. We gave everything we had, but it just didn’t go in our favor.
“We still have work to do. We’re playing for the fifth seed, and we know we still have states. Even though we lost, we gained confidence from this game knowing we lost by five to the number one team in the district.”
“I told them afterwards, ‘This is the team we lost to by 24, and we were right there, so you should be proud of yourselves,’” Young said. “We made some mistakes at the end, but this is something to build on.
“We’re not in the top four, but we definitely belong in the top five. That’s one of the top teams in the state, and we were right there. They weren’t afraid. I’m really proud of them.”
CHELTENHAM 53, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 48
Council Rock South 11 13 10 14-48
Cheltenham 9 20 5 19-53
Council Rock South (48) – Lea Britton 0 0-0 0; Jackie Weber 3 0-0 9; Emily Nowicke 3 7-8 13; Chelsea Allen 4 0-0 8; Alexis Hofstaedter 2 0-0 4; Alex Wheatley 6 2-4 14. TOTALS 18 9-12 48
Cheltenham (53) – Liz Taliaferro 2 4-5 9; Monet Constant 0 0-0 0; Ciara Andrews 4 3-6 13; Tiffany Johnson 0 0-2 0; Kira Ogden 4 0-0 8; Shayla Felder 8 3-3 23; Austin Hamler 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 10-16 53.
3-point goals: CR South – Weber 3. Cheltenham – Felder 4, Andrews 2, Taliaferro 1.
ABINGTON 48, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 35
Aiyannah Peal.
Remember the name.
The Abington sophomore was all but unstoppable in Saturday’s District One AAAA quarterfinal game against Central Bucks East, and while the Patriots’ game plan to contain Villanova-bound Emily Leer may have been effective, they had no answer for Peal.The sophomore guard connected on all five of her shots from the field in a first quarter that saw the Ghosts open up a 19-14 lead. Her first miss didn’t come until 1:05 remained in the third quarter, and by that time, the Ghosts led 33-24.
Peal led all scorers with 16 points as the sixth-seeded Ghosts defeated the third-seeded Patriots 48-35 to advance to Wednesday’s district semifinals.
“When Aiyannah is focused, she’s as good as anybody,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “As a sophomore, her maturation has been tremendous.
“When she’s like that – what are you going to do with her? She’s so big, so strong and so fast, and when she can get into the lane like that, it’s tough for people to defend. That’s just Aiyannah playing the best she can play right there.”
Peal acknowledged that she benefits from the attention Leer draws defensively.
“Since they were packing it in on Emily, I tried to attack the gaps,” she said. “I looked to pass first, but since they weren’t really playing me, I decided to take the shot.
“In the second half, they started closing on me, so I looked to pass it more. It was a lot of fun. We had a lot of energy coming out. We wanted to come out harder than they came out.”
While Peal stole the spotlight, this was a team effort by the Ghosts. They received 12 points from Leer, who was under the weather, and 11 points from Chynna West. Jamie Shectman buried three well-timed three-pointers for nine points.
No one scored in double figures for the Patriots, who were led by the nine-point efforts of twins Liz and Sarah Martin.
“Our defense was so important,” Leer said. “We didn’t get to practice the last two days, and we needed to go over what the other team does.
“We walked through what they do, and we came out and executed it perfectly. I’m so proud of the team. In all of our playoff games so far, we’re executing our defense.”
On the subject of execution – both teams were impressive in a blistering first quarter of action.
Shectman hit nothing but net on a three to get things started, and Courtney McManus answered with a three at the other end. Peal scored off the dribble, but Melissa Remmey sank a shot from just inside the arc for East.Peal scored on an impossible drive, and after an East turnover, it was Peal banking one home at the end of a fast break to put the Ghosts on top 9-5.
“That was amazing,” Leer said of Peal’s dazzling first-quarter effort. “That’s what we need to do. Teams are going to focus on me, and it’s silly that they don’t realize how much talent is on this team.
“If they’re stupid enough to think I’m the only player Abington has, they’re completely wrong. We showed everyone that tonight. They need to pay attention to our other players. Aiyannah showed her ability today, and I hope we just keep bringing it like that.”
The Ghosts led by five at the end of one quarter (19-14), and when Leer buried a three to open the second quarter, they extended that lead to 22-14. After a pair of East misses, Shectman connected on a three to give the Ghosts a 25-14 edge. They took a 27-19 lead into halftime.
Peal scored off the dribble to open the third quarter, but the Patriots used back-to-back baskets from Remmey and Sarah Martin to make it a 29-24 game. Another bucket by Peal – this one at the end of a fast break after a West steal – put the Ghosts on top 31-24. While Peal was leading the charge offensively for the Ghosts, West was setting the tone defensively, collecting five second-half steals and scoring nine of her points in the half. She also had five rebounds in the second half.
“I got a boost at halftime, and after halftime, I had energy,” West said. “I was looking where the person was passing, and it just worked out.
“They were very aggressive, and we just worked on our help defense. We always had help defense, and we haven’t boxed out all season – that’s been our Achilles heel all season, but we boxed out this game.”
The Ghosts took a 33-26 lead into the final quarter. The Patriots trimmed that lead to five after a Sarah Martin bucket, but Leer answered with a baseline shot. Liz Martin sank a pair from the foul line, but Shectman connected on a trey, and when West scored after picking up a steal at the defensive end, the Ghosts led 40-30.
They never looked back.
“They’ve matured,” Marsh said. “They don’t panic any more.
“When you lose games like we did early in the season (losing a late lead), it’s not what happens to you. It’s how you handle it. They’re understanding that when you have a lead, you’ve got to be smart, you’ve got to be mature. I am super, super proud. They’ve matured. We’re a tough team right now.”
The Ghosts (21-4) will face Rock North in what promises to be a fascinating showdown. Rock North has won both regular season meetings between the two teams.
ABINGTON 48, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 35
Abington 19 8 6 15-48
Central Bucks East 14 5 7 9-35
Abington (48) – Sheila Longo 0 0-0 0; Jamie Shectman 3 0-0 9; Carli Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0; Chynna West 3 5-7 11; Jess Schmidt 0 0-0 0; Aiyannah Peal 7 2-3 16; Emily Leer 4 3-8 12. TOTALS 17 10-18 48.
Central Bucks East (35) – Lexi Scrivano 0 0-0 0; Melissa Remmey 2 0-0 4; Kristina Pogue 0 4-4 4; Shannon Devlin 0 0-0 0; Sarah Martin 3 3-4 9; Liz Martin 2 5-6 9; Jenna SanFilippo 2 1-2 5; Courtney McManus 1 1-2 4. TOTALS 10 14-18 35.
3-point goals: Abington – Shectman 3, Leer 1. CB East – McManus.
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