#4 Cheltenham 47, #8 Central Bucks East 44
In a classic battle between two of the SOL’s elite squads, the Lady Panthers erased a five-point halftime deficit with a 16-5 third-quarter tear to earn the big win.
“We came out and stepped up the defense,” Cheltenham coach Bob Schaefer said. “The first half they were outhustling us to everything.
“In the second half, we started getting a few loose balls, kicking the ball and getting it down court, and CC (Andrews) got in the game a lot better.
“Our defense tightened up. They rose to the occasion when they had to tonight. They actually made some plays. It was a very hard-fought battle. We were struggling to get points.”
Andrews had just two first-half points, and those came on foul shots as the Patriots’ defense proved very effective.
In the third quarter, Andrews scored seven points and added six more in the fourth quarter to finish with 15.
“We changed our set to get the ball to CC a little more,” Schaefer said. “They did a real nice job of keeping her out of our offense.
“In the second half, she worked harder, and we set some screens to get her free and get her the ball and make things happen.”
Senior Austen Hamler singlehandedly kept the Lady Panthers afloat in the first half and finished with a team-high 20 points.
“Austen kept us in the game – she had 10 of our first 16 points,” Schaefer said. “We were struggling.
“We were missing easy shots, we had turnovers, we were one-and-done too many times, we were forcing passes inside – they have a big team. I used to wonder what was in the other team’s water, but I’m starting to think it’s our water that we don’t have big kids.”
East was led by the 20-point effort of senior Melissa Remmey, who buried 8-of-9 shots from the foul line. Junior Lindsey Kelly added 12 points – eight in a first half that saw the Patriots go on top 21-16.
While Cheltenham will face conference rival Upper Dublin in Saturday’s fifth place game, the Patriots will travel to Boyertown for Saturday’s seventh place game.
CHELTENHAM 47, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 44
Central Bucks East (44) – Shaun Kane 1 0-2 2; Emily Kiersnowski 1 2-2 5; Melissa Remmey 6 8-9 20; Shannon Devlin 0 0-0 0; Lexi Scrivano 0 0-0 0; Laura Aseltine 0 0-0 0; Karoline White 0 0-0 0; Courtney McManus 2 0-0 5; Lindsey Kelly 4 4-6 12. TOTALS 14 14-19 44.
Cheltenham (47) – Ciara Andrews 5 5-7 15; Tiffany Johnson 2 0-3 4; Christina Coleman 1 1-2 3; Shayla Peoples 2 0-0 5; Austen Hamler 8 4-4 20; Jiana Clark 0 0-0 0; Asia Dan 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 10-16 47.
Central Bucks East 10 11 5 18-44
Cheltenham 8 8 16 15-47
3-point goals: CB East-McManus 1, Kiersnowski 1. Cheltenham – Peoples 1.
#7 Upper Dublin 36, #6 Boyertown 33
Vince Catanzaro had a good feeling about Wednesday night’s game the moment he stepped on the bus.
“We had Connie Mack’s great grandson for a driver,” coach Vince Catanzaro said. “I just had good vibes as soon as I got on the bus.”
The Flying Cardinals used a standout defensive effort to down the Bears on their home court.
“It was intensity from the get-go in this game,” Catanzaro said. “They had a lot of fans out there, and they were rooting against us.
“We came through at the end and made 9-of-11 foul shots. For us to hold on and win at their place – it’s a tough place to win. I’m proud of our kids.”
Taylor Bryant did most of the damage at the charity stripe, connecting on 6-of-7 while Curtrena Goff was a perfect 2-for-2. Her foul shots down the stretch put the Flying Cardinals on top by five and sealed the win. Bryant finished with a game-high 13 points while Sarah Hallowell added 10 points.
The Flying Cardinals led 8-5 at the end of one quarter and still led 18-16 at the intermission.
“The biggest thing I did right - I called a 30-second timeout the seventh time up and down the floor,” Catanzaro said. “We were dominating play, but we were only winning 2-0.
“I said to them during the timeout, ‘Are you going to keep giving these guys a chance to take the lead and waste your whole effort here tonight?’ As soon as the timeout was over, Sarah Hallowell goes and knocks down a shot right away. It might have turned the game to call that timeout early.”
In an un-offensive third quarter, the Flying Cardinals ‘outscored’ the Bears 4-3, and the two teams played to a draw in the final quarter.
“Overall, we actually did a good job of shutting their three-ball down,” Catanzaro said. “They made three three’s in the first half, and that was it. They didn’t make any in the second.
“We kept switching from matchup to man and made them take some bad shots.”
The Flying Cardinals had an answer for every Bear comeback.
“Both teams played solid ‘D,’” Catanzaro said. “Everything was contested.
“They played man-to-man almost the whole game. Our guards did a lot of the work – that was (Curtrena), Taylor and Sarah.
“Lauren Rothfeld came out and made the first two or three shots she took. Tori Waters had some big rebounds in the second half, and Jen Myers was just constantly pounding the boards – not always getting the rebound but getting enough offensive rebounds in the second half to give us second shots. Every one of the girls on their team was bigger than our kids, but we were out-rebounding them.”
The Flying Cardinals will face Cheltenham in Saturday’s fifth place game while the Bears will face Central Bucks East.
#12 Downingtown East 51, North Penn 35
The third time was the charm for the Whippets, who had fallen to the Maidens twice in regular season meetings. This time around, nothing went the Maidens’ way as they saw their bid for a return trip to the state tournament come up just short.
“We got outrebounded, and we couldn’t buy a basket,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “We played very poorly, and they played very well.
“It’s tough to play a team three times because as much as you try and prepare your team that the other team is going to be fired up to play you – you can’t really simulate that. They were ready. They were emotionally charged, and they played very, very well, and we didn’t.”
The Maidens found themselves in a 23-12 halftime hole and saw that deficit grow to 44-25.
“We gave them a lot of points in transition,” deMarteleire said. “We didn’t shoot well from the foul line. We didn’t shoot well period. We couldn’t make inside shots, we couldn’t make outside shots.
“In the first half, they were a lot more physical than us. They out-rebounded us, which does not happen very often, and we couldn’t buy a bucket. All those things combined – it was not our night.”
The Maidens pulled to within 45-30 with just over five minutes to play and the Whippets’ top player – guard Brittany Sicinski – out of the game with five fouls. Sicinski still finished with a game-high 17 points.
“They really don’t have great ball handlers after her,” deMarteleire said. “I thought we could make a run. We would get steal after steal after steal but couldn’t make a shot.
“We missed an opportunity to score six points the first minute she was out of the game, and they made all their shots. It was not our night. The kids fought really hard to the end, but it was fruitless. No one could hit a shot.”
Sophomore Lauren Crisler led the Maidens with 12 points while Steph Knauer added seven.
The Maidens closed out their season with a 17-8 record.
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