Tennent Uses Strong Defense to Build Lead, Hangs on for Playoff Win

As they have all season long, the William Tennent Lady Panthers used their size and strength of the defensive end to create turnovers and convert transition baskets on the other end. Though the Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials were able to break the Tennent press, open up their offense, and make a run, the Panthers crashed the offensive glass to extend possessions and get second chance points.

Tennent played solid half court defense and made enough free throws down the stretch to hold on for a 63-50 win at home. With the win, Tennent advances to the second round of the District I playoffs. They will take on Cheltenham on the road Wednesday night.

Tennent jumped out to a sizeable lead in front of a raucous home crowd, leading 13-5 after the first quarter and 32-17 at halftime. The Colonials (3rd in the Suburban One American League) then began shooting the ball better, outscoring Tennent by four in the third quarter and cutting the deficit to as little as eight early on in the fourth.

But when the game got close, Panthers senior Ashley Alden answered each of P-W’s baskets with a bucket of her own on the other end. She and Panthers forward Melissa Horn combined for 15 of the Panthers’ 17 third quarter points. Allison Chatburn took the torch in the fourth quarter, scoring eight points—including converting six of seven free throws—to ice the game for the Panthers.

Saturday’s match-up was a far cry from earlier this season when the Panthers defeated the Colonials handily 74-37 at home on December 15. William Tennent Head Coach Paul Veltre said that P-W did a much better job of handling Tennent’s pressure this time around, but he was pleased to get the win despite improved play on both sides from the Colonials. “[The Colonials] were definitely prepared for our pressure,” he said. “On our end, I think that we were kind of trying to do too much at certain times. But [the coaches] told [the Tennent players] it didn’t matter if it was 30 points or one point—in playoffs it doesn’t matter; just advance.”

Plymouth Whitemarsh Head Coach Becky Duffy said her team didn’t necessarily alter their gameplan from the last time they faced Tennent, but that the closer score was indicative of how much her team has grown since mid-December.

“We didn’t do anything differently,” she said. “We’ve just developed as a team, I think, over the course of the last couple of months. We kind of came into our own. I think the biggest thing between the first game and this game was our confidence and [our ability] to attack the basket.” She also said her team has improved against the press since the first game, as they have had to face tough presses all throughout the season.

After letting the Colonials slowly chip away at their lead, the Panthers appeared to be in a bit of trouble early in the fourth. Colonials guard Gabby Schumacher opened the period with a three, cutting the Panthers’ lead to eight. But Tennent stepped up defensively, and Chatburn came up with a big put-back on her own miss, pushing Tennent’s lead back to 11. P-W got back within nine, but, by that time, the Panthers were in the bonus and the Colonials never got close enough to make a game of it.

The lefty Schumacher kept the Colonials in the game the entire second half, scoring 14 of her game-high 22 after halftime. Erin Martin was also big for Plymouth Whitemarsh, scoring ten in the second half.

In the game’s opening minutes, both teams got off to a slow start, but the Panthers quickly flipped the switch, going on a 7-0 run as the Colonials had trouble putting the ball in the basket. The Colonials weren’t necessarily getting bad looks, but many of their first-half shots rimmed out thanks to some unlucky bounces.

With Tennent leading 11-4 near the end of the first, guard Melissa Wasserleben had a nice steal and a breakaway layup to put Tennent up 13-4 and send the packed crowd into a frenzy. The crowd was momentarily silenced as P-W’s Maya Thomas was fouled on a desperation three at the buzzer. But she only converted one of three free throws, much to the delight of the Tennent crowd.

The Colonials continued to struggle with their shots in the second quarter, and Tennent was able to control the paint, blocking some layup attempts and altering others. The Colonials managed 12 for the period, while Tennent got a balanced scoring effort—led by Alden’s five—to pad their lead to 15.

The rout appeared to be on in the third as Horn scored three straight Tennent baskets early on, but then the Panthers began to turn the ball over, and P-W took advantage. Thomas hit a three to bring the Colonials within ten, but then Alden answered back with a basket of her own. After another Colonials basket, Alden nailed one of two free throws to push the Tennent lead to 11 after three.

Alden led the Panthers with 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Chatburn had a strong game with 11 points. Forward Liz Koval and Horn had eight each, with Horn pulling down ten boards.

Schumacher’s 22 paced P-W, while Martin chipped in with 12 and Thomas added ten.

Veltre praised Alden’s and Chatburn’s all-around performances, and said that his team’s rebounding edge helped push them to victory. “We were able to control the boards, and that was a defensive key for us,” he said. “I do think that we didn’t give them too many second chance shots.”

Duffy said she was pleased with her team’s effort in trying to fight back especially against a bigger Tennent team. She said she liked the way her team continued to attack the basket despite a couple of non-calls and some Tennent blocked shots that can be “demoralizing.” “This team has it in them to fight back,” she said. “There were a lot of great highlights for my girls tonight, so I am proud of the fact that they did fight back. And I didn’t have any doubt, because they’ve done it all season. We just came up a little short this game.”

Tennent will certainly have their hands full in their next game against Cheltenham in a battle of the two Panthers. Cheltenham (23-3), who had an undefeated record in the SOL-American, rolled over Souderton 62-25 tonight to advance to the second round.

The teams did not meet in the regular season.

Veltre said his team “made a pact” to not talk about a potential Cheltenham matchup before tonight’s game, so they have not begun to practice a gameplan for that contest. He did say he knows the Panthers will need to spend a lot of their efforts working on defense. “We’re going to focus entirely on the defensive end,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re disciplined in terms of making sure we try to do the best we can in terms of matchups. And we’ll watch some tape and figure out how we’re going to do it.”

Looking ahead to next season, Duffy said her team needs to improve in a few areas on the offensive end. “Our biggest area we need to work on is everybody needs to be scorers in transition, and we definitely need to work on our ball-handling,” she said. “We’re going to do a lot of shooting and work on our foul shooting. Those basic fundamental skills that everyone needs to work on is what we’ll be spending all summer long doing.”