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T
alk about an interesting night of basketball - 'Semifinal Wednesday' certainly would fit the bill.
Downingtown East took what appeared to be a commanding 17-4 lead over Cheltenham after Melissa Hummel connected on a pair of foul shots in the closing seconds of the first quarter in Wednesday’s District One AAAA semifinal game.
In truth, things couldn’t have looked much bleaker for the top-seeded Lady Panthers.
“I have no explanation for people not being able to shoot the ball, not wanting to shoot the ball and standing out there like they’re in a daze,” coach Bob Schaefer said. “We went over everything we wanted to do. We should have been prepared.”
If the Lady Panthers weren’t prepared in the first quarter, they were in the second, outscoring the Cougars 17-7. It marked the beginning of a remarkable comeback that saw the Lady Panthers rally for a 55-47 win.
Once again, it was Shayla Felder carrying the bulk of the scoring load for the Lady Panthers. After being shut out in the first quarter, the senior captain scored five points in the second and then exploded for 21 of her game-high 26 points in the second half. Included in that performance was a dazzling 17-of-19 effort from the foul line.
“The game changed when we made Shayla take the ball to the hoop,” Schaefer said. “They just started fouling her.
“Shayla shot great foul shots, and like she usually does - finished the game real strong in the second half.”Ciara Andrews added 15 points and five rebounds while Tiffany Johnson contributed 12 points, five rebounds and four steals. Kira Ogden led the Panthers under the boards with 16 rebounds.
“CC played a great game,” Schaefer said of Andrews. “And Tiffany Johnson played a real nice game.
“Tiffany played a good floor game, a good, physical game. She pushed the ball at them and just plays harder in the playoffs.”
Despite turning the ball over four times in less than four minutes, the Lady Panthers trailed by just a 4-2 count as both teams stumbled out of the gate, but there appeared to be genuine cause for concern when the Cougars capped a 13-0 run on a basket by Alicea Noelie before Andrews turned a steal into a layup.
“We looked like it was the first day of practice,” Schaefer said. “To their credit, they made most of their shots.”
“I’m not really sure what happened,” Johnson said. “I think some people just came out pretty nervous about the game, and we weren’t attacking them, but we picked it up in the second quarter.”
Momentum began to swing in Cheltenham’s favor in the second quarter. Johnson got things started with a bucket, but the Cougars still held a 21-13 lead after Ro Gentry scored with just under three minutes to play in the opening half.
Felder buried both ends of a one-and-one, and after a Cougar miss, Andrews sank a pair from the foul line. Gentry connected on a three for East, but Johnson scored for the Lady Panthers, and after another Cougar miss, Felder scored on an impossible underhand scoop shot to make it a 24-21 game at halftime.
“I wanted revenge against them,” Johnson said in reference to last year’s loss to the Cougars in the district title game. “When they came out strong and hit a couple of three’s early, some people were like, ‘Oh no, this is going to be a repeat of last year.’”
The Cougars still led by one heading into the final quarter (36-35), but the Panthers would not be denied, outscoring their archrivals 20-11 in the final quarter for the big win and earning a date with Abington in Friday’s district final.
“As we started loosening up, they started getting more tired, and they got a little hectic with their ball handling, which ultimately is what did it,” Schaefer said. “They got tired and started fouling us, and once we got to a one-and-one, we made it real hard on them.
“This has been a team – they play like there’s always a chance. They never give up. They keep playing until the end. If the truth be told, the one game we lost against Wissahickon – if we could have played another minute, we might have won that one too, but we ran out of time.”The Lady Panthers will face neighboring Abington – a 43-38 upset winner over second-seeded Council Rock North – in Friday night’s title game at Villanova University at 7 p.m.
“I’m very proud of them,” Schaefer said. “Certainly that was one of our goals. So far we have met every goal that we’ve established – winning the Hazleton Tournament, winning the league, getting a good seed in districts and getting to Villanova. The next step, of course, is to win at Villanova. We haven’t done that in a while.”
Spartans advance to title game – Springfield will return to Saturday’s District One AA title game at Villanova University. The Spartans seized control of their semifinal contest against New Hope in the second quarter, outscoring the Lions 19-3 to turn a 12-10 lead into a 31-13 halftime advantage on their way to a no-doubt-about-it 50-23 win.
What happened in the second quarter?
“Annie Crudele happened in the second quarter,” coach Sarah Constable said. “She was just playing so well. She was seeing the right drive. Not only that, but she also had a lot of good passes. She really just put us on her back and pulled us ahead with the lead.”
The Lions scored only three points in the second quarter and none in the third as the Spartans opened up a 41-13 lead.
“Defensively everybody was stepping up and doing the right things,” Constable said. “Molly Wheatley was responsible for guarding Alyssa Isler, who is a phenomenal player. She did an absolutely tremendous job of frustrating her and making her work for everything she could get.”
Isler is one of the top scorers in the State of Pennsylvania, averaging in the neighborhood of 25 points a game. She had only 13 points in Wednesday’s loss.
Morgan Smith scored eight of her 12 points in the third quarter as the Spartans rolled to the big win and their second trip to Villanova in as many seasons.
“It’s just so exciting,” Constable said. “This is exactly what we wanted, and they came out playing like this is exactly what they wanted. I’m so proud of them and just so happy to be in that spot.”
The Spartans will face St. Pius X in a contest that is tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m.
Maidens stay alive – North Penn remained in the hunt for the ninth and final state playoff berth, thanks to its 48-34 win over SOL rival Central Bucks South. The Maidens took a 19-16 lead into halftime only to watch the Titans go on top 22-21 early in the third quarter.
“I thought ‘Uh oh, here we go,’ but Dara Nelson hit two three’s,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “She had eight points in the third quarter to keep us in the game.”
The two teams were deadlocked 31-31 heading into the final frame when the Maidens exploded to seize control of the game. Brenda McDermott was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line in the quarter while Nelson was 2-for-2. All told, the Maidens were 11-for-14 from the line in the quarter.
“Honestly, it was probably the best quarter of basketball we have played,” deMarteleire said. “I don’t think we turned the ball over one time in the quarter, and we got every defensive rebound.
“We played good defense. They only hit one three, and we made good decisions and took care of the ball. It was a near perfect quarter of basketball. I was very, very pleased with the overall performance of everybody.”
Nelson finished the game with 13 points – 10 in the second half. Steph Knauer led the Maidens with 15 points. Brenda McDermott added eight points – all at the foul line for the Maidens, who connected on 17-of-21 foul shots in the game).
Taylour Alston scored just three points but had seven blocked shots and was a presence on the boards.
“She just does a great job of protecting the basket, and against a team like that that attacks the basket so well – that’s so important,” deMarteleire said. “She dominated the game on defense.
“Steph Knauer did a great job on Gab Vass – she didn’t score.”
North Penn – which lost both regular season games to South - will face Spring-Ford on Friday at 8 p.m. at Norristown High School to determine which team will advance to states and which one will go home.
Brittany Kaewell scored 12 points to lead the Titans, who closed out their season with a 15-11 record.
Rock South rallies for win over Whippets – Falling behind apparently was the popular thing to do on Wednesday night. Council Rock South found itself staring at a 31-22 halftime deficit in its game against Downingtown West but outscored the Whippets 36-21 in the second half to earn a 58-52 win.
The Golden Hawks still trailed by seven (44-37) heading into the final frame when they went on a 21-8 scoring tear.
“We played two quarters of the game,” coach Monica Young said. “In the second half, we got the ball inside more, and we made some defensive stops.
“Our defense did pick it up, and we shot better from the foul line in the second half. I think we were just going through the motions a little bit, but then they decided to play.”
Alex Wheatley led the Golden Hawks with 27 points and 10 rebounds.
“They couldn’t stop her inside,” Young said.
Emily Nowicke had 13 points for the Hawks.
Rock South will face Central Bucks East in a battle for fifth place on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
East stages second-half comeback – Central Bucks East found itself on the short end of a 30-20 halftime score in Wednesday night’s playback game against Great Valley. East allowed just 13 second-half points, rallying for a 47-43 win.
Liz Martin led a balanced attack with 14 points while Sarah Martin and Courtney McManus each added 10 points. Melissa Remmey chipped in with eight points – all in the second half.
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