WYOMISSING – The more things change for the Cedar Crest girls’ basketball program, the more they stay the same. Despite rebuilding, the Falcons find themselves in the same position they do most years.
Sure, they’re finding their way right now. But Cedar Crest’s potential is nothing that time can’t reveal.
On Wednesday night at Wyomissing High School, the Falcons’ improvement project took an important step forward, during a 41-31 non-league triumph over the home-standing Spartans. Cedar Crest established its superiority early, with star Reese Glover on the bench, then did enough good things to short-circuit any Spartan thoughts of a comeback.
The early-season outcome was important on a few fronts. It came less than 24 hours after Cedar Crest had dropped a 49-45 decision at Wilson on Tuesday.
It also evened the Falcons’ overall slate at 2-2 and propelled them into Friday’s Lancaster-Lebanon League opener with Elizabethtown with an air of confidence. With the result, Wyomissing fell to 1-1 on the year.
“They have the ability. They have the talent,” said Cedar Crest head coach Jim Donmoyer of his charges. “They’ve just got to become consistent. Consistency is going to come with experience. But we’re not close to being a finished product.
“We didn’t want to lose three in-a-row,” continued Donmoyer. “We wanted to go into league play with a win. We played well in our first game and won. The kids are fairly young. I have one senior. But they’ve got to understand it takes four quarters. Games are not over at halftime.”
The defining moment of the contest may have come 2:12 into it, when Glover was whistled for her second foul. Instead of going into a shell, Cedar Crest ripped off a 14-4 run – courtesy of eight points from Sarah Laney, four by sophomore Sarah Batra and a bucket from Kaya Camasta – that turned a 7-4 deficit into an 18-11 lead it would never relinquish.
“When we took Reese out, we went to a 3-2 zone,” said Donmoyer. “We had someone out top and we pinched the wings. We always shadowed number 31 (Spartan standout Lily Seyfert) on defense. When Reese got into foul trouble, we switched defenses.
“They (the Spartans) keyed on Reese, but other people stepped up,” Donmoyer continued. “Sarah Batra stepped up and Laney had 11 points. I was glad to see those kids do it. That’s what it’s about, next person up.”
Then with Glover back in the lineup in the second quarter, Cedar Crest created some distance between itself and the Spartans with a 9-0 burst. Coming up with loose balls and contested rebounds, Meghan Sholley netted four points, Emily Hocker drained a ‘trey’ and Elizabeth Knapp converted a couple of foul shots, as the Falcons opened a 27-13 advantage.
“I’m never unhappy with a win,” said Donmoyer. “Obviously it’s early in the season. I thought we played well offensively in the first half. But tonight the priority was defense. It was like, ‘Let’s stop somebody.’ That was a good defensive effort.
“I thought defensively we did very well,” added Donmoyer. “She’s (Seyfert) a good player. We knew she was going to get hers. It was a matter of not letting anyone else beat us. Defensively, we were looking to pressure everyone besides number 31.”
In addition to Laney’s 11 points, Cedar Crest also received 11 points from Batra. Seyfert tallied 22 of Wyomissing’s 31 points.
The Falcons held the Spartans to ten two-point field goals and a single three-pointer.
“We’re preaching competing for four quarters,” said Donmoyer. “We could’ve gotten the ball inside anytime we wanted. In the first half, we did. In the second half, we didn’t.
“The theme at halftime was ‘We have them down, don’t let them back up,'” added Donmoyer. “We were going to press them on ‘makes’ in the third quarter. They (the Spartans) didn’t handle it well, but we didn’t capitalize.”
Thanks to free throws from Glover and Sholley, Cedar Crest tallied the initial three points of the third quarter to lengthened its lead to 32-15. But the Falcons managed just a single point over the quarter’s final 5:23, and Wyomissing closed to within 33-26, 40 seconds into the final stanza.
The Falcons responded by holding the Spartans score-less for a five-minute span down the stretch and with five points from Batra.
“Our goals are to be competitive in the section and to make it to leagues, districts and states (playoffs),” said Donmoyer, whose program has captured Lancaster-Lebanon Section One crowns in three of the last four years. “They’re the same every year. They never change. You can’t get to the league playoffs if you don’t do well in the section.
How far can we go in the playoffs?,” continued Donmoyer. “I don’t know.”
| Date | Opponents | Outcomes | |
| 12/06 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest Cedar Cliff at Cedar Cliff Tip-Off Tournament | 51 44 | Nonleague |
| 12/07 7:30 pm | Spring Grove Cedar Crest at Cedar Cliff Tip-Off Tournament | 55 41 | Nonleague |
| 12/10 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest at Wilson | 45 49 | Nonleague |
| 12/11 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest at Wyomissing | Nonleague | |
| 12/13 7:30 pm | Elizabethtown at Cedar Crest | League | |
| 12/16 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest at Lebanon | League | |
| 12/18 7:30 pm | Ephrata at Cedar Crest | League | |
| 12/20 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest at Warwick | League | |
| 12/21 7:30 pm | Palmyra at Cedar Crest | Nonleague | |
| 12/27 7:30 pm | Waynesboro Cedar Crest at Lower Dauphin Holiday Tournament | Nonleague | |
| 12/28 TBD | Cedar Crest TBD at Lower Dauphin Holiday Tournament | Nonleague | |
| 1/02 7:30 pm | Conestoga Valley at Cedar Crest | League | |
| 1/07 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest at Hempfield | League | |
| 1/10 7:30 pm | Penn Manor at Cedar Crest | League | |
| 1/14 7:30 pm | McCaskey at Cedar Crest | League | |
| 1/16 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest at Manheim Township | League | |
| 1/18 7:30 pm | Dallastown at Cedar Crest | Nonleague | |
| 1/21 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest at Reading | Nonleague | |
| 1/24 7:30 pm | Hempfield at Cedar Crest | League | |
| 1/28 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest at Penn Manor | League | |
| 1/31 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest at McCaskey | League | |
| 2/04 7:30 pm | Manheim Township at Cedar Crest | League |
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