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Cheltenham 48, Abington 36
For years, Bob Schaefer has been shouting the same one-word directive to his players when they pull down a defensive rebound or come up with a steal.
“Go,” the Cheltenham coach shouts, and his players are happy to oblige.
No one, it seems, likes to run as much as the Lady Panthers, and no one wants to get caught in a foot race with them.
In the second quarter, the Lady Panthers were running a lot, turning steals into easy buckets and outscoring the Ghosts 18-6 to take a commanding 29-13 lead into halftime over the defending district champions.
“Our defense brought it today from the beginning,” senior co-captain Tiffany Johnson said. “The whole game – our defense helped us win it.”
The Lady Panthers’ defensive execution against a Ghost squad that had a height advantage at just about every position left even Schaefer smiling.
“It’s been a long time since we had a team actually execute our defensive strategy as well as this team,” the Panthers’ coach said. “We knew their strength inside was incredible.
“To our forwards credit – (Abington) got one or two inside, but they didn’t kill us. We made them work for it. I don’t know how many balls were thrown out of bounds trying to throw a back screen, and our kids were doing a great job of defending it. We were just delighted. The kids just executed.
“Tiffany (Johnson) and Austen (Hamler) really led the team and kept them all in check, sticking to what they were doing. We still made mistakes, but that’s basketball.”
Hamler had three steals, and the senior co-captain, along with teammates Christina Coleman and Jiana Clark - helped negate the Ghosts’ size in the paint.
“We needed to stay in front of them,” Hamler said. “We’re quicker than them, and we used it to our advantage.
“We didn’t let them get position – we got downcourt first, and we got in front of them, so they couldn’t push us around down low.”
No one ignited the Lady Panthers’ defense and offense more than Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews. The junior standout led all scorers with 25 points, and she also had eight steals – six in the first half.
“I said to her in the middle of the second quarter, ‘No one is holding you back as much as you are. You’re the only one stopping yourself,’” Schaefer said.
Andrews obliged by scoring 10 points during a deadly two-minute span. All told, the speedy guard scored 16 points in the second quarter – some on fast break layups and others on her textbook shot off the dribble.
“It was like, ‘We have to get this going. We have to be the engine to the team,’” Andrews said. “You can’t worry about missed shots. Once I’m in the zone – I’m going, I’m going.”
And once she got going, Andrews was unstoppable.
“When you have a kid who can stop on a dime and pull up and hit that shot with people in her face, there’s not much you can do,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “They’re good at what they do.
“They anticipate well, and our kids being passive and a little bit scared today – we have beaten this team before. I didn’t anticipate these kids being scared.”
The Ghosts struggled mightily against the Lady Panthers’ pressure, turning the ball over 31 times with most of those coming in the first half.
“They’re so athletic, and we just didn’t adapt to their pressure,” senior Jessica Schmidt said.
“They were trapping a lot and making it hard for the guards,” teammate Chynna West added. “It was hard for us to start our plays, and that was really getting to us.”
Armed with a double-digit lead, the Lady Panthers went into the delay to score mode in the third quarter. The Ghosts pulled to within nine (39-30) after a Sarah Listenbee bucket at the 5:35 mark of the fourth quarter.
Neither team scored over the next two minutes, but Johnson – who was 5-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch – buried both ends of a one-and-one to put the Lady Panthers on top 41-30.
“Before the season, Schaef said I had to work on foul shots,” Johnson said. “With Shayla (Felder) gone, me and CC will be on the line at the end of games, so I really worked on it in the offseason.”
Johnson finished with nine points while Hamler added six for the Lady Panthers. Aiyannah Peal – who sat the final five minutes of the first quarter after picking up her second foul – led the Ghosts with 16 points, but 12 of those came in the second half. Schmidt added seven points.
“It’s so disappointing,” Schmidt said. “I’m so angry right now.
“We showed we could come back. We made it to within (nine), but it should never have gotten to that point. There’s no excuse– yes, we were tired from last night’s game (against Neshaminy), but we needed to get through it.”
Upper Moreland 47, Harry S. Truman 32
The Golden Bears sprinted to a 21-4 lead at the end of one quarter. It was a welcome change of pace for an Upper Moreland squad that has been on the other end of lopsided scores all too often this season.
“We do know what that feels like, but it feels good to do it to them because we’re always on the other end,” junior Katie Costello said. “It was definitely our defense.
“When we press, that gets us fired up, especially when we get steals.”
“At the beginning of the game, we wanted to get out early,” coach Jane Meade said. “Getting out early gives us the confidence and takes a little bit of their confidence away.
“That helped carry us through the rest of the game. We did very well. Our defensive pressure was great throughout the game. We were pressing them and causing them to make a lot of turnovers. Offensively, we were distributing the ball very well and playing off each other very well. We did a lot of good things.”
Costello led a balanced Golden Bears’ attack with 14 points while sophomore teammates Amanda Getz and Karli Lynch each added nine points.
“We obviously play in a very tough league, so we look at a game like today as a winnable game,” Meade said. “We played Truman last year, and we beat them last year.
“My girls always impress me. They get up and play hard in every game, but these games that we consider winnable games – we get a little bit more up for. Some of our league games are just difficult.”
The win was the second in as many games for the Golden Bears, who downed Academy of the New Church 56-19 in a non-league game on Thursday.
The players, however, hadn’t forgotten Tuesday’s heartbreaking 36-33 loss to Upper Merion in a game they led until the closing seconds.
“This feels really good, especially this week,” Costello said. “We had a really close game with Upper Merion, and that was tough to lose.
“It’s really tough to know that we’re not as good as some of the teams (in our league), but it’s good to go in and just work on our skills because we know what we have to do to get better.”
On the other side of the court, first-year coach Colette Munford – whose team trailed 33-14 by halftime - understands that there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to rebuild Truman’s struggling program.
“We had 22 turnovers in the first half based on our stats and for the game had 25,” the Tigers’ coach said. “If you apply yourself and challenge them to play tight defense, it can go the other way. It doesn’t have to be in the other team’s favor all the time.”
Truman’s roster includes numerous freshmen and only three seniors. Four freshmen saw considerable action in Saturday’s game.
“They have never really been taught,” Munford said. “When I’m talking to them after the game, they’re shaking their heads. It’s registering even though it’s late in the season.
“I have my work cut out for me, but each year I believe it’s going to get better. I have some talent, and I have some talent coming up. I just have to continue doing what I’m doing.”
Shannon McDuffie is the undisputed leader on the court for the Tigers. The senior point guard worked relentlessly at both ends in Saturday’s loss and finished with eight points.
“It’s going to hurt when she’s gone,” Munford said. “She’s tough, and she’s quick. I never take her out – I have yet to take her out. When I call timeouts, most of them are for her.
“I can’t take her out because I have nobody to fill her shoes. We keep saying we’re going to cry when she leaves. I would love to have her for a year or two. I told her, ‘You’re my leader. You’re my coach on the floor. You’re going to help me teach these girls.’ She said, ‘Okay, coach.’ “
Senior Elisha Dupree had a team-high nine points.
“When I can get in her head, she can play really good defense, and she’s a threat when she wants to be,” Munford said.
Khristaijan Jackson added seven points for the Tigers, who received scoring from seven different players.
Upper Dublin 59, Central Bucks South 42
The Flying Cardinals rebounded from Thursday’s heartbreaking loss to Cheltenham to earn the decisive win.
“We started out a little slow tonight but flipped the burners on after that,” coach Vince Catanzaro said. “We didn’t overemphasize (the loss to Cheltenham) at practice the next day. I just went over the basics about not letting a loss like that carry over into the next game because it could.
“The kids were pretty upbeat. They knew they let one get away. Neither one of our teams played really, really well, but there’s a lot of tension when our two teams play. (Thursday’s game) was a good battle even though there were a lot of mistakes in the game.”
The Flying Cardinals, who held a tenuous 28-25 lead over South at halftime, blew open a close game by outscoring the Titans 31-17 in the second half – 21-11 in the third period.
“In the third quarter, we started off with an isolation play right off the bat and took it right down their throats,” Catanzaro said. “(Goff) hit Taylor with a backdoor cut. It was unbelievable. It jump started us.
“This is probably the first team that has ever played us man-to-man the whole game, and that’s where we won the game because they couldn’t stop (Curtrena Goff), Taylor (Bryant) or Sarah (Hallowell). We kept taking them in, taking them in and kicking it out to Sarah who had two or three three’s.”
Bryant once again led the Flying Cardinals, scoring a game-high 22 points. Hallowell added 16 while Goff had 12. Tyler Vitelli scored 14 points to lead the Titans, who scored just 17 second-half points.
“We didn’t even press,” Catanzaro said. “We played halfcourt matchup man like we did against Cheltenham. We’re playing really good matchup. Even though Cheltenham wasn’t on their game – you hold Cheltenham to 19 points in a half, you’re doing something right. We played really well today. It’s a good win for these kids.”
Souderton 39, Pennsbury 29
The Indians rebounded from back-to-back losses to earn a non-league win over the Falcons, opening up a 17-11 lead at the end of one quarter and stretching that to 28-17 by halftime.
“Gabby (McAndrews) had three three’s in the first quarter,” coach Lynn Carroll said. “It gave us the lead that we needed because we didn’t score a lot in the second half.
“We had a tough time getting the ball inside, so a lot of our game was on the perimeter. It worked great in the first half, but we just weren’t making as many shots in the second half.”
The Indians had just one field goal in the second half that saw them score only 11 points, and that came in the third quarter when Carley Kendall, who was held to five points, connected.
“They did a good job of adjusting, and the shots we had in the first half were no longer available,” Carroll said. “They’re a good team. Their record doesn’t show how good they are.
“They play in a brutal conference, and they hang with some really good teams.”
Giving the Indians a tremendous lift was freshman point guard Bianca Picard, who shared game scoring honors with 13 points. She also had 10 rebounds and four assists. Picard connected on 5-of-6 from the foul line down the stretch and 7-of-8 in the game.
“Bianca played great,” Carroll said. “She hurt her back in the second quarter, and as the game went on, it became more and more obvious that she was in pain. I asked her, ‘Are you able to continue?’ She said, ‘Absolutely,’ and it was a gutsy performance by her.
“She’s looking less and less like a freshman every time out at this point in the season. I was really happy to get this win. It was good for us moving forward to put last week behind us.”
Lindsay Bolger led the Falcons with 13 points while Sajanna Bethea added eight points.
Council Rock South 38, Central Bucks West 31
In what has been a rare – if not unheard of – occurrence, Alex Wheatley found herself in foul trouble in the second half of Saturday’s game, forcing the junior star to take a seat on the bench. She still led the Golden Hawks with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
“This is the first time she got in foul trouble,” coach Monica Stolic said. “I had to sit her for six or seven minutes until they cut it to six, and I put her back in with seven minutes left, and she didn’t foul out.
“I said, ‘We can’t play without you,’ and I put her in, but somebody else has to step up.”
Alexis Hofstaedter scored seven points while Brooke Beidler had six for the Golden Hawks. West was led by the 11-point effort of Jen Fabian.
“We’ll take the win, but I kind of feel like we lost,” Stolic said. “Nothing against CB West – they played hard, but we didn’t play as well as we can.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 71, Hatboro-Horsham 50
The Colonials – despite the absence of Alyssa Butcher (dislocated shoulder) – exploded out of the gate in Saturday’s game against the Hatters, opening up a 23-7 lead at the end of one quarter and extending that to 43-20 by halftime.
“We were rolling,” coach Becky Duffy said. “They just did a great job.
Gabby Schumacher once again had the hot hand, scoring a game high 26 points. Lex Borkowski and Erin Martin both scored 12 points. Martin pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds while Borkowski added nine. Maya Thomas, stepping in for the injured Butcher, had nine points and four steals.
“She (Schumacker) is a kid who’s just on fire, and she’s doing what she needs to do every game,” Duffy said. “You look across the board, and we had three kids in double figures and another with nine.
“Maya Thomas came in and did a nice job filling in for Butcher.”
The win was the sixth in a row for the suddenly red hot Colonials, and winning streaks are not something this program has known a whole lot about in recent years.
“We were talking about that, and the last time PW had a winning record was when Jenna Locshavio – my jayvee coach – played in 2004,” Duffy said. “It’s a lot of fun.
“They’re doing great, they’re stepping up. I was a little worried without Butcher out there, but it was just another day at the office. They never looked back. It was just a great win.”
North Penn 54, Bensalem 41
Steph Knauer turned in an overpowering 23-point, 10-rebound effort in the paint to lead the Maidens to the win. Lauren Crisler added 10 points, and Erin Maher, eight points.
"They had some big girls, and Steph really did a good job of playing tough under the basket," coach Maggie deMarteleire said. "Lauren Crisler did a great job of attacking the basket.
"(Point guard) Brenda McDermott played really good 'D.' Their big girls were bigger than ours, and they kept trying to get it into the post. Brenda would double team and anticipate and get the steals."
The Maidens led 10-8 at the end of one quarter and took a 24-17 lead into halftime. They put some distance between themselves and the Owls with a 22-15 third-quarter effort.
Maxine Dixon led the Owls with 11 points while Ashida Cooper added nine points and Ashleigh Spence, seven points.
William Tennent 70, Norristown 27
Ashley Alden played just three quarters, but that was still plenty of time to turn in a dazzling 30-point effort. The senior standout had 20 points by halftime and added 10 more in the third quarter before watching the rest of the game from the bench.
Melissa Horn and Liz Koval both added 10 points while Allison Chatburn and Rachel Mueller each contributed eight points.
The Panthers, who jumped out to a 21-8 lead at the end of one quarter, found themselves on top 43-14 at the half.
“We put pressure on them fullcourt, and right away they turned the ball over quite a bit, but then they handled it,” coach Paul Veltre said. “We took away the halfcourt and beat them down the floor.
“We were very pleased. We were very aggressive, and we got some balanced scoring.”
The Panthers will face Christopher Dock in a non-league game on Monday.
Central Bucks East 31, Neshaminy 21
The Redskins jumped out to a 10-8 lead at the end of one quarter but then scored just three points in the next two quarters combined as the Patriots won the defensive battle, outscoring the Redskins 15-3 during that pivotal span. The Redskins were playing without freshman point guard Megan Schaefer.
Lori Paulits – who had five first-quarter points – led the Redskins with eight points while Courtney McManus topped the Patriots with 11 points. Shannon Devlin added seven points and Melissa Remmey, six points.
Council Rock North 64, Lansdale Catholic 43
The Crusaders battled the Indians tough for one half, trailing 27-25 at halftime, but the Indians blew the game wide open in the second half, outscoring LC 13-5 in the third quarter and 26-11 in the final quarter to earn the decisive win.
Junior Emily Grundman once again led the Indians, this time scoring a game-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds and three blocked shots. Lauren Gold – despite playing on a sore ankle – added 16 points, four rebounds, two steals and four assists while Alyssa Dumont continued to give the Indians valuable minutes off the bench, contributing 15 points, five rebounds, three steals, one blocked shot and two assists.
Devin Gold added seven points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists, and Helena Gemmell had five points to go along with five rebounds, four steals and two blocks.
The Crusaders were led by the double-figure efforts of Shea Wassel (14 points), Jackie McCarron (11 points) and Mary Kate Brokans (10 points).
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