Saturday was not an especially good day for SOL teams. Fourth-seeded Cheltenham and seventh-seeded Upper Dublin both were knocked out of the winner’s bracket while William Tennent saw its season come to an end when the Panthers lost in a playback game. North Penn and Council Rock South were the only SOL winners on Saturday. Both won consolation round games and remain alive in the battle for the ninth and final state playoff berth.
#5 Lower Merion 50, #4 Cheltenham 47 (OT)
This game was the shocker of the tournament, and while a five seed defeating a four seed might not seem like big news on most occasions, it was this time around. Not many people would have picked Lower Merion to defeat Cheltenham on its home court, much less in a game the Lady Panthers – who had won 17 in a row - led until the closing minutes of regulation.
But that’s exactly what happened.
“Basically, we blew a six-point lead,” coach Bob Schaefer said. “A lot of bad things had to happen.”
In truth, according to Schaefer, a bad play at the end of the first half might well have been an omen of things to come and – in the end – proved very costly.
“We had them down, and we called one-four low for the last shot,” Schaefer said. “We take the shot with 13 seconds and miss. They get it, take it down and score a three at the buzzer.”
Just like that, a nine-point Cheltenham lead had been trimmed to six (24-18). The Panthers still had that six-point lead in the closing minutes of regulation.
“We made bad decisions,” Schaefer said. “It was a series of events.
“Their kids came down and made baskets, and we couldn’t. They had big kid (6-2 Carmen Torres), and we just couldn’t stop her. She just killed us inside. Their sophomore guard (Lila Jones) made the three to end the first half and had a three to start overtime.”
The Aces tied the game in the closing seconds, and the trey by Jones (18 points) to open OT gave Lower Merion a lead it would not lose.
“We just couldn’t get it back,” Schaefer said. “Every time we got the ball in overtime to try and get back in the game – we just made an awful lot of bad decisions.”
Torres came off the bench to score 17 points and dominate the paint. It didn’t help that junior Christina Coleman – a standout rebounder – was hampered by a shoulder injury that sidelined her for the second half of Wednesday’s win over William Tennent.
“We didn’t know if Christina was even going to play,” Schaefer said. “She played and she gave it a good try, but she wasn’t the same.
“They killed us inside, just killed us inside.”
Junior Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews scored 26 points to lead all scorers, but she didn’t receive a whole lot of offensive support. No one else had more than six points.
“We had the lead, and we blew it,” Schaefer said. “That’s the only way I can say it. Even at the end – when the ball was four feet from us, we didn’t get to it. They have a nice team. I’m not taking anything away from them.
“To our kids’ credit, they hung in there, but everything that had to go wrong went wrong.”
Cheltenham actually led 13-5 at the end of one quarter, but things changed when Torres entered the game in the second quarter. She scored seven in the frame and scored all of her points in the final three quarters and OT.
“She immediately went to work on us,” Schaefer said. “We just couldn’t stop her. They had three nice tall kids, and basically, we were one and done.
“It’s very disappointing, but it wasn’t like our kids weren’t trying. Things just didn’t work in our favor.”
Cheltenham will face Central Bucks East on Wednesday night in a consolation game while the Aces will face Council Rock North in a semifinal contest.
#2 Mount St. Joseph Academy 50, #7 Upper Dublin 30
Vince Catanzaro knew his team was in trouble before his players set foot in Mount’s small gym on Saturday.
“A reporter had called me yesterday, and I told him – what we are going to go through tomorrow at the Mount is a travesty to girls’ basketball, having to play in that gym,” the Flying Cardinals’ coach said. “The place was packed in 30 seconds, and they were standing all around the gym.
“There was no room to move on that court. I’m not going to say they weren’t the better team – they were, but that game should have been moved to another court.”
The Magic led 14-9 at the end of one quarter and upped that lead to 29-16 by halftime. They took a 43-19 lead into the final quarter before the Flying Cardinals edged their hosts 11-7.
“My kids played a little better the second half,” Catanzaro said. “The first half it was a little tight on them.
“They got a little gutsier as the second half went on, but you still have to score and make the shots. They were riding us on every play, and they had a huge height advantage on us.”
An example of the mismatches was the fact that 5-3 senior Sarah Hallowell found herself defended by Mount freshman Alex Louin, who had close to nine inches on her. Hallowell was held to just two points. Curtrena Goff led the Flyings Cardinals with 10 points while Taylor Bryant added nine.
Mary Jo Horgan led the Mount with 20 points while Steph Smith added 12 for the Magic.
“I told them - in the long run, we have to learn from this,” Catanzaro said. “It’s a tough situation playing at the Mount. I told the kids to take something out of it and be tougher coming out of it.
“You have to make your own breaks, and we didn’t do that. Next time, you don’t want to be a seven seed where you have to go play in this place. You have to be a top five team.”
Things won’t get any easier when the Flying Cardinals travel to Boyertown on Wednesday for a consolation round game.
DISTRICT ONE AAAA PLAYBACK GAMES FOR NINTH PLACE
#10 Council Rock South 42, #15 West Chester Rustin 37
After Tuesday’s heartbreaking loss to Upper Dublin in a second round game, coach Monica Stolic reminded her team of its response to a late-season loss to Abington – in their next game, the Golden Hawks handed Council Rock North its first and only loss of the season.
“We came out flat in the third quarter against Upper Dublin, and I was really disappointed, and I laid into them after the game,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said of a contest that saw her team lose a seven-point halftime lead. “We went to practice on Thursday, and I showed them the second half of the Upper Dublin game, and then I showed them the second half of the Council Rock North game.
“I said – what’s the difference? North was the number one team in the state then. I expected them to play better today. I have to remember some of them are young and inexperienced, but I think we have a good team.”
For three quarters, the Golden Hawks exchanged buckets with Rustin, and after battling to a 9-9 tie at the end of one quarter and an 18-18 deadlock at halftime, Rustin outscored the Golden Hawks 11-10 in the third quarter to go into the final quarter with a 29-28 lead.
“We went out in the third quarter and actually went up six, but we let them come back in, and they took the lead by one,” Stolic said. “Going into the fourth quarter, I said, ‘This is it. The season is on the line. I want to see how much heart you have.’
“They responded.”
Courtney Brown buried a trey to open the fourth quarter, and the tone had been set.
“We went up six, and they would cut it to four,” Stolic said. “We didn’t shoot fouls that well, but we just held on at the end.”
Alex Wheatley once again led the Golden Hawks, contributing 22 points and 12 rebounds. Alexis Hofstaedter added seven points and Brown, six points.
The Golden Hawks will host Avon Grove in a playback game on Tuesday night due to a scheduling conflict for their home gym on Wednesday.
#16 North Penn 57, #9 Spring-Ford 49
The Maidens received a huge 14-point effort off the bench from freshman Erin Maher, who connected on a pair of clutch three-pointers.
“My dad always tells me to shoot, shoot, shoot,” the freshman guard said. “Today I was just feeling it in warm-ups. When I had the open shot, I took it, and I drove a little bit more too, which worked out for me.”
Juniors Steph Knauer and Brenda McDermott each added 10 points. Knauer also pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds as the Maidens stayed alive in the hunt for the ninth and final state playoff berth.
“This was the same thing that happened last year when we had to go down the long road of winning three games to get to states,” Maiden junior Emily Hagan said. “All the girls that were on the team last year want to do what we did last year.”
Keys to the Maidens’ win were their outstanding rebounding and foul shooting. The Maidens out-rebounded the Rams 35-15 with Knauer equaling the output of the entire Spring-Ford squad under the boards. In a dazzling display from the foul line, the Maidens connected on 31-of-36, led by the 10-for-12 effort of McDermott.
The Maidens’ performance at the foul line and under the basket allowed them to overcome 35 turnovers and the fact that Spring-Ford took 63 shots to just 21 for the Maidens. Once again, it was the Rams’ trap that created havoc for the Maidens.
“We’re just not good with the trap,” Hagan said. “We prepare for it at practice, but when we get on the court, everybody forgets how to get out of it.
“We practice every day – we know the trap is coming, and I feel like we were waiting for the trap to come to us.”
The Maidens – propelled by a pair of treys from Maher and Lauren Crisler (9 points) – opened up a 15-8 lead at the end of one quarter. Maher and Crisler both had a pair of treys in the opening half as the Maidens took a 27-23 lead into halftime.
“The three’s we made in the first half opened it up and gave us a little confidence,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “I don’t think we had that many three’s in a game all year.
“We either made the shot or turned the ball over.”
The Rams came back to take a 31-29 lead after a steal and Sammy Stipa bucket three minutes into the third quarter. McDermott connected on a pair of foul shots to knot the score. Knauer turned a Crisler pass into a bucket and 33-31 Maiden lead. The Maidens took a 43-38 lead into the fourth quarter, and the Rams would get no closer the rest of the way.
“This is such a boost of energy coming off a tough loss to Council Rock North,” Maher said. “It pumps us up and gets us ready for our next game.”
The Maidens will travel to Downingtown West for Wednesday’s playback game. They already have a pair of regular season wins over the Whippets.
NORTH PENN 57, SPRING-FORD 49
North Penn (57) – Hagan 1 4-4 6; Gallagher 1 0-0 2; McDermott 0 10-12 10; Crisler 2 3-4 10; Knauer 1 8-8 10; Tumasz 1 4-6; Halcovage 0 0-0 0; Maher 5 2-2 14. TOTALS 11 31-36 57.
Spring-Ford (49) – Stipa 4 1-4 9; Yates 2 2-2 6; Traywick 2 0-0 4; Haas 3 0-0 7; Payonk 7 2-2 17; Moore 1 0-0 2; Hinnant 1 0-0 2; Lynch 1 0-0 2; Mueller 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21 5-8 49.
North Penn 15 12 16 14-57
Spring-Ford 8 15 15 11-49
3-point goals: NP – Crisler 2, Maher 2. Spring-Ford – Haas, Payonk.
#12 Downingtown West 59, #13 William Tennent 49
The Panthers opened up a 15-10 lead at the end of one quarter but then watched the Whippets – who led 32-24 at halftime - go on a 32-14 tear in the second and third quarters.
Ashley Alden led the Panthers with 14 points while Allison Chatburn added eight. The Whippets were led by the 24-point, 12-rebound effort of Elizabeth Coyne. Junior Brittany Sicinski added 20 points.
Tennent closed out its season with a 17-8 record.
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