#1 Council Rock North vs. #5 Lower Merion at Norristown High School, Wednesday, March 2, 7:30 p.m.
Don’t try telling coach Lou Palkovics his team lucked out not having to face Cheltenham in Wednesday’s semifinal game.
“We’re very concerned,” the Indians’ coach said of facing the fifth-seeded Aces. “This is a very well-balanced team.
“(Sheba) Hall and (Lila) Jones are great players, and (Carmen) Torres is playing great. They have three or four great role players that really play their roles well. It’s going to be a good game. They have a lot more weapons than I think people know about.”
Palkovics was impressed with what he saw when he scouted the Aces in their upset of the fourth-seeded Lady Panthers. Although Hall – the focal point of Cheltenham’s defense finished with just six points, Jones more than picked up the slack, finishing with 18.
Included in those 18 points were a trey to close out the first half that trimmed a nine-point Cheltenham lead to six and another three-pointer to open overtime that gave the Aces a lead they would not lose. The 6-2 Torres came off the bench to score 17 points.
“Hall impressed me, but Jones is even better than she is,” the Indians’ coach said. “She can shoot the three and go to the basket. She’s a college player.
“Torres is so big – if they lob over top, you can’t stop her because she’s so big.”
It’s no secret that the Indians go as the Gold sisters go. Devin Gold is the team’s top scorer, averaging 12.1 points a game. She also hands out an average of 3.4 assists while pulling down three rebounds a game. She boasts a team-best 3.36 assist-to-turnover ratio and is third on the team in steals with 66.
Lauren Gold averages 10.9 points and 4.2 assists a game. She has a team-high 84 steals.
“Sometimes you take the Golds for granted,” Palkovics said. “They gave me their usual 30 points the last game, but you get 30 points from them and nine or 10 from the rest of the team, and that’s a rest of the team that’s proven they can score.
“I just think we have to start establishing an inside game in order for us to be able to utilize the Golds and the Dumonts a little bit better. We have to get Emily (Grundman) more involved in the offense.”
Since Grundman’s 17-point effort in Rock North’s opening round win over Central Bucks West, the junior center has been relatively quiet, but that hasn’t been the case this season.
Grundman is averaging 10.9 points and 3.8 rebounds. She has a team-high 24 blocked shots.
While Alyssa Dumont averages 6.7 points off the bench and Megan Cunningham brings solid defense and scores close to five points a game, the ‘X’ factor, according to Palkovics, could well be Helena Gemmell.
The gifted junior is averaging a team-high 5.6 rebounds and is second on the team in steals with 67. She is averaging 5.7 points a game, and that is an area where Palkovics would like to see Gemmell up her game.
“We have been on Helena pretty hard about taking more shots and using more of her athletic ability,” Palkovics said. “I think we’re slowly starting to get to her.
“The last three games – it’s been four shots, five shots and six shots. I have been trying to get her up closer to double digits shooting the ball because I think she’s very dangerous. I just think we need her to play well, and we need her to score for us to play better offensively.”
Palkovics has not been happy with his team’s offensive production in recent outings. The Indians have not gotten out of the 40s in any of their three playoff games.
“We have to shoot the ball better,” he said. “Defensively, we have been playing well, but offensively, we have to play better if we’re going to stay on this run.”
The Indians go into the game heavily favored, but Palkovics knows that Cheltenham found itself in a similar position heading into Saturday’s quarterfinals.
“They scare me,” Palkovics said of the Aces. “I’ll tell you that.”
About Council Rock North: The Indians survived a dogfight against Central Bucks East to earn a spot in the district semifinals, downing the Patriots 39-38. Lauren Gold led the Indians with 15 points while Devin Gold added 13. In the second round, the Indians – led by the 13-points efforts of the Gold sisters - defeated North Penn 46-40. Megan Cunningham added nine points. Rock North opened the playoffs with a 41-13 rout of CB West that featured a 17-point effort by Emily Grundman while Lauren Gold added nine points and Alyssa Dumont, seven points.
About Lower Merion: The Aces didn’t exactly look like world beaters in their opening round games. They eked out a 33-29 win over Great Valley in the first round and then needed a buzzer-beater to edge Downingtown West. Not exactly the kind of team that seemed as though it could stay close to highly regarded Cheltenham, but in the stunner of the tournament, the Aces erased a late six-point deficit to send the game into overtime and ended up defeating the Lady Panthers 50-47. Sophomore guard Lila Jones scored a team-high 18 points while the 6-2 Carmen Torres came off the bench to score 17.
#8 Central Bucks East at #4 Cheltenham, Wednesday, March 2, 7 p.m.
About Central Bucks East: The Patriots are coming off a heartbreaking 39-38 loss to Council Rock North. Senior co-captain Melissa Remmey scored a team-high 15 points while junior Lindsey Kelly added 12 points. In second round action, Courtney McManus had the hot hand, scoring 18 points to lead the Patriots to a 44-37 win over Spring-Ford. Kelly added 11 points and Remmey, eight points. Four players scored in double figures in East’s 69-54 opening round win over Chester – McManus (18 points), Kelly (18 points), Remmey (11 points) and Shaun Kane (10 points).
About Cheltenham: The Lady Panthers saw their 17-game winning streak snapped when they were upset by the Aces on Saturday. Junior Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews was once again unstoppable, scoring a game-high 26 points, but no one else scored more than six points for the Lady Panthers. In Cheltenham’s 58-41 win over William Tennent in second round action, Andrews scored a game-high 21 points while Austen Hamler added 15 points. Andrews scored 20 points in Cheltenham’s first-round 62-25 win over Souderton while Hamler and Christina Coleman each had 14 points.
#7 Upper Dublin at #6 Boyertown, Wednesday, March 2, 7 p.m.
About Upper Dublin: The Flying Cardinals are hoping to rebound from Saturday’s 50-30 loss to second-seeded Mount St. Joseph that saw sophomore point guard Curtrena Goff lead Upper Dublin with 10 points while Taylor Bryant added nine points. In Upper Dublin’s 53-48 second round win over Council Rock South, Bryant had 15 points and Goff added 11 points while Lauren Rothfeld had 10 points, Sarah Hallowell, nine points, and Jen Myers, eight. Upper Dublin downed Coatesville 40-36 in the first round with Hallowell leading the way with nine points while Tori Waters had eight points.
About Boyertown: The PAC-10 champion Bears were edged by Downingtown East 36-34 in the quarterfinals. Kelly Furman and Kaitlyn Eisenhard each scored 10 points to lead the Bears. In second round action, Boyertown defeated Avon Grove 42-28 with Brooke Mullen leading the way with 17 points while Eisenhard had nine points. In their opening round 47-33 win over Central Bucks South, the Bears were led by their third different player in as many playoff games. Jess Schlesman led the way with 18 points while Eisenhard scored 13.
#16 North Penn at #12 Downingtown West, Wednesday, March 2, 7 p.m.
About North Penn: The Whippets are a familiar opponent for the Maidens. Twice the Maidens played Downingtown East during the regular season, and twice they won. On Dec. 11, North Penn – led by the 11-point, 15-rebound effort of Steph Knauer – downed the Whippets 43-35 to capture the Methacton Tournament title. On Jan. 15, Knauer once again had a field day against the Whippets, this time scoring 21 points in a 57-31 rout. The Maidens go into Wednesday’s game on the heels of a 57-49 win over Spring-Ford that saw freshman Erin Maher come off the bench to score 14 points while Knauer and Brenda McDermott both scored 10 points and Lauren Crisler, nine points. In their second round 46-40 loss to Rock North, Knauer scored 13 points while Crisler had eight. Knauer (17 points), Crisler (13 points) and McDermott (13 points) led the Maidens to an opening round 49-42 win over Abington.
About Downingtown West: The Whippets brought an end to William Tennent’s season with a 59-49 win in playback action. Elizabeth Coyne led the way for West with 24 points while Brittany Sicinski – who was absent in the Whippets’ second loss to North Penn - scored 20 as the Whippets displayed a solid inside-outside game. The Whippets suffered a 36-34 loss to Lower Merion in second round action after earning a 52-38 win over Haverford in the tournament’s opening round. Coyne (19 points) and Sicinski (16 points) led the Whippets to the win.
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