Cougars’ Tank is Half Full, Falcons’ Tank is Half Empty

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Cougars’ Tank is Half Full, Falcons’ Tank is Half Empty

Jan 21, 2018
Jeff Falk
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BY JEFF FALK

SOUTH LEBANON – Is the scholastic basketball season long? Is it a grind?

If it is, now is when it begins to take its toll, these so-called ‘Dog Days of January’. Teams are gasping for a second wind – physically, mentally and emotionally.

Palmyra and Cedar Crest are two local girls’ teams in the midst of rewarding, yet draining, campaigns. Last night it was the Cougars who appeared to have a little more in their tank.

On Saturday evening at CCHS’ ‘The Cage’, Palmyra was more focused, more driven, more together during a 43-34 non-league victory over the Falcons. The Cougars established a modest working margin in the middle of the second quarter, then fended off a number Cedar Crest forays along the way.

The Cougars, who were coming off a 25-point home loss to Cedar Cliff 24 hours earlier, improved to 11-6 on the winter. Palmyra was situated ninth in the latest District Three Class AAAAA power rankings.

For Cedar Crest, it was its third game in as many nights. The Falcons, now 10-6 overall, were seated 11th in the most recent District Three Class AAAAAA power rankings.

“We wanted to feel good coming off a tough night,” said Palmyra head coach Mary Manlove. “We were looking forward to tonight. It was rough for a week or two. We had some illness, some injuries and some tough games. It’s good to get back on the right track.

“It is much better,” added Manlove. “Any time you go through a couple of losses, it’s painful. The kids are doing a great job of focusing on what we want to do. We put it altogether tonight.”

“It’s two steps forward and one back,” said Cedar Crest head coach Jim Donmoyer. “It’s like being on a treadmill. We’re not going anywhere. At this point in time, we should be getting better. Nights like this make me question. I don’t know.

“You win three or four, then you lose this game,” Donmoyer continued. “The bottom line is disappointment. It feels like we can’t get over the hump.”

The Cougars used a 9-3, late-second period run to take a lead they would never relinquish. It started with Palmyra protecting a 15-14 edge, and it ended with junior guard Amelia Baldo’s buzzer-beating drive that gave the Cougars a 24-17 margin at halftime.

In between, Sara Boyer scored inside, Olivia Richardson canned a couple of foul shots, Baldo also stroked a pair and Annabelle Copeland sank a free throw.

“I didn’t feel like we had a lead until Amelia Baldo hit that shot before halftime,” said Manlove. “I don’t take things for granted. They’re (the Falcons) a dangerous team.

“We played better,” Manlove continued. “We had a couple of rough games finding our rhythm. Defensively, they (her players) did exactly what our game plan was – limit number 30 (Falcon Rachel Witherite). She’s a dangerous shooter.”

“I know what we didn’t do. We didn’t play to our strengths,” said Donmoyer. “If you’re a shooter, shoot. If you’re a post player, get inside. If you’re unselfish, pass the ball. Everyone is good in their own way. Don’t try to do too much.

“It’s a team game,” continued Donmoyer. “There’s five people out there. I think there’s a lot of times our kids don’t know their roles. They all have their talents. They all bring talents to the table, and when they don’t, that’s what it looks like.”

The opening quarter had been very much a feeling-out process. The contest was tied at two, five, six, eight, ten and 12 before Copeland nailed a three-pointer 3:28 into the second period.

“They have really aggressive guards,” said Manlove of the Falcons. “They have a post player who can finish. They’ve been very, very good. I don’t know how this year is going, but they have expectations of good seasons.

“I don’t think it’s a rivalry,” added Manlove. “Last year, we got blown out by them. I think we lost by 40 points, so it was painful.”

“They were 10-6 and we were 10-5,” said Donmoyer of teams’ records. “It wasn’t an upset by any means. They (the Cougars) lost by 25 points last night. Apparently they can bounce back. They deserved to win. They were better.

“We’ve got to have four non-league games,” Donmoyer added. “I like playing in-county schools. I like playing Palmyra. They’re right down the road. They’ve been good for years. We’ve been good for years. It’s a good game to have on the schedule. We’ve signed up to play them for the next two years.”

With Richardson in foul trouble most of the way, Baldo stepped up for the Cougars and tallied a game-high 15 points. Morgan led Cedar Crest with 12 points.

Thanks in part to the Falcons’ continued struggles at the free throw line, Palmyra outscored Cedar Crest 13-5 there.

“She had great leadership tonight,” said Manlove of Baldo, “making sure we were all on the same page offensively. She wanted the ball in her hands.”

“In my opinion, Raven had her best game of the year last night (in a 45-25 win over Warwick),” said Donmoyer. “She didn’t start and she got the message I was sending. In the first quarter, she didn’t look the way she did last night. It’s difficult being the first scoring option, instead of the second scoring option.”

Cedar Crest netted five unanswered points early in the second half – on drives by Hannah Woelfling and Jade Rolon, and a foul shot from Morgan – to pull within 26-22 of the lead.

But with Richardson on the bench saddled with four fouls, the Cougars actually extended their lead, using a 7-2 spurt to make it 33-24. Baldo recorded six of those points, all off the dribble.

“I want them to play the way they’re capable of playing,” said Malove of her charges. “The Mid-Penn (Conference) is very, very competitive and challenging. Every game is a different monster.

“I think we had a rough patch,” added Manlove. “But the kids are grinding through it. They did a great job tonight.”

“Their best player was out of the game for a good stretch,” said Donmoyer. “Kids at this level should be able to understand that. Whoever she’s playing, you’ve got to attack the basket. If you can’t capitalize with the other team’s best player on the bench..

“I knew what they (the Cougars) were going to be,” Donmoyer continued. “They were going to be aggressive. It was going to be a low-scoring game. They scrap.”

The Falcons also closed to within four points of the lead three minutes into the final period, at 34-30, on a Rachel Witherite drive. But Palmyra outscored Cedar Crest 9-4 the rest of the way, thanks in part to five-of-nine free throwing and a key stick-back by Richardson.

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

2017-18 Cedar Crest Girls’ Basketball Results



Date	Teams	Results
12/08 6:00 pm	East Pennsboro Cedar Crest at Cedar Cliff Tournament	34 59
12/09 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest Cedar Cliff at Cedar Cliff Tournament	42 47
12/12 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Wilson	32 45
12/14 7:30 pm	McCaskey at Cedar Crest	36 65
12/18 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Warwick	49 26
12/20 7:30 pm	Conestoga Valley at Cedar Crest	40 49
12/22 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Manheim Township	42 58
12/27 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest York Suburban at York Suburban Tournament	44 51
12/28 6:00 pm	Manheim Central Cedar Crest at York Suburban Tournament	32 46
1/05 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Hempfield	49 21
1/09 7:30 pm	Penn Manor at Cedar Crest	35 53
1/10 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Lebanon	48 21
1/12 7:30 pm	Elizabethtown at Cedar Crest	37 27
1/18 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at McCaskey	45 41
1/19 7:30 pm	Warwick at Cedar Crest	25 45
1/20 7:30 pm	Palmyra at Cedar Crest
1/23 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Conestoga Valley
1/26 7:30 pm	Manheim Township at Cedar Crest
1/30 7:30 pm	Hempfield at Cedar Crest
2/02 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Penn Manor
2/06 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Elizabethtown
2/07 7:30 pm	Cocalico at Cedar Crest

2017-18 Palmyra Girls’ Basketball Results

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	RESULT

12/08	@Littlestown	5:00 PM	W 64-19

12/09	@Northern Lebanon	6:45 PM	W 38-35

12/12 *	Mechanicsburg	7:30 PM	W 41-28
12/13	@Hempfield	7:30 PM	W 50-18
12/15 *	Susquehanna Twp.	7:30 PM	W 33-30
12/16	@Milton Hershey	2:30 PM	W 43-26
12/18 *	@Cedar Cliff	7:30 PM	L 48-53
12/20 *	@Bishop McDevitt	7:30 PM	L 29-39
12/22	Cocalico	7:30 PM	W 60-26
12/27	@Manheim Twp.	4:00 PM	L 51-56
12/28	@Red Lion	4:00 PM	W 57-17
01/02 *	@Red Land	6:30 PM	W 44-20
01/05 *	Hershey	7:30 PM	W 42-28
01/09 *	@Lower Dauphin	7:30 PM	L 23-51
01/12 *	@Mechanicsburg	7:30 PM	L 24-32
01/16 *	@Susquehanna Twp.	7:30 PM
01/19 *	Cedar Cliff	7:30 PM	L 24-49

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION
01/20	@Cedar Crest	7:30 PM	Cedar Crest High School
01/23 *	Bishop McDevitt	7:30 PM	Palmyra High School
01/26 *	Red Land	7:00 PM	Palmyra High School
01/30 *	@Hershey	7:30 PM	Hershey High School
02/02 *	Lower Dauphin	7:30 PM	Palmyra High School

PIAA District Three

Class AAAA Power Rankings

AAAAA	School	W	L	T	Rating	TWP	OWP	TWPW	OWPW	TWPL	OWPL
1	Lower Dauphin	11-	1-	0	0.785115	0.931655	0.606012	13.0	187.5	1.0	121.9
2	Harrisburg	11-	2-	0	0.770215	0.896907	0.615369	13.1	149.0	1.5	93.1
3	Twin Valley	13-	1-	0	0.762704	0.946541	0.538014	15.1	157.1	0.9	134.9
4	Susquehannock	12-	2-	0	0.750593	0.878981	0.593675	13.8	184.9	1.9	126.6
5	Lampeter Strasburg	12-	2-	0	0.736149	0.891026	0.546855	13.9	170.4	1.7	141.2
6	Spring Grove	9-	3-	0	0.694167	0.811538	0.550712	10.6	156.7	2.5	127.8
7	South Western	10-	4-	0	0.678811	0.772727	0.564024	11.9	157.3	3.5	121.6
8	Solanco	9-	5-	0	0.652862	0.725694	0.563844	10.5	173.1	4.0	133.9
9	Palmyra	10-	6-	0	0.648602	0.699387	0.586532	11.4	180.3	4.9	127.1
10	Big Spring	9-	3-	0	0.621668	0.777344	0.431397	10.0	123.3	2.9	162.5
11	Shippensburg	9-	4-	0	0.618470	0.726937	0.485900	9.9	131.0	3.7	138.6
12	Dover	8-	6-	0	0.607023	0.635036	0.572785	8.7	174.9	5.0	130.5
13	Fleetwood	7-	5-	0	0.603804	0.651639	0.545339	8.0	150.1	4.3	125.1
14	Hershey	7-	6-	0	0.594413	0.607843	0.577998	7.8	181.0	5.0	132.2
15	West York	7-	7-	0	0.584096	0.570922	0.600197	8.1	183.0	6.1	121.9
16	Garden Spot	8-	8-	0	0.571631	0.587500	0.552236	9.4	167.3	6.6	135.7
17	Donegal	6-	5-	0	0.553533	0.586047	0.513795	6.3	148.1	4.5	140.1
18	Gettysburg	8-	7-	0	0.550970	0.576271	0.520046	8.5	159.6	6.3	147.3
19	Greencastle Antrim	6-	7-	0	0.515170	0.538153	0.487080	6.7	138.6	5.8	145.9
20	Mechanicsburg	6-	10-	0	0.513767	0.458065	0.581848	7.1	174.7	8.4	125.6
21	New Oxford	4-	8-	0	0.507930	0.413793	0.622986	4.8	175.9	6.8	106.5
22	Northern York	8-	7-	0	0.490888	0.593640	0.365302	8.4	106.7	5.8	185.3
23	Daniel Boone	4-	7-	0	0.482797	0.394089	0.591217	4.0	183.1	6.2	126.6
24	Conrad Weiser	4-	9-	0	0.463687	0.372470	0.575175	4.6	168.9	7.8	124.8
25	Manheim Central	4-	9-	0	0.458603	0.368201	0.569094	4.4	175.9	7.6	133.2
26	Muhlenberg	5-	10-	0	0.428609	0.375465	0.493564	5.1	134.2	8.4	137.7
27	Cocalico	3-	13-	0	0.404537	0.243151	0.601787	3.6	188.6	11.1	124.8
28	Red Land	2-	11-	0	0.382695	0.178723	0.631994	2.1	200.5	9.7	116.8
29	Milton Hershey	2-	10-	0	0.354126	0.181818	0.564724	2.2	161.9	9.9	124.8
30	Northeastern	0-	16-	0	0.289589	0.000000	0.643531	0.0	201.2	14.2	111.5
31	Lebanon	0-	14-	0	0.251446	0.000000	0.558770	0.0	168.1	11.5	132.7

PIAA Diistrict Three

Class AAAAAA Power Rankings

AAAAAA	School	W	L	T	Rating	TWP	OWP	TWPW	OWPW	TWPL	OWPL
1	Manheim Township	14-	1-	0	0.794565	0.958449	0.594264	17.3	184.4	0.8	125.9
2	Elizabethtown	11-	2-	0	0.763534	0.892256	0.606208	13.3	187.5	1.6	121.8
3	Central York	12-	4-	0	0.711076	0.811429	0.588423	14.2	174.9	3.3	122.3
4	Cedar Cliff	12-	4-	0	0.710761	0.800000	0.601691	13.6	185.1	3.4	122.5
5	Wilson (3)	8-	4-	0	0.703075	0.750000	0.645721	9.9	180.4	3.3	99.0
6	Dallastown	9-	4-	0	0.702721	0.767273	0.623826	10.6	185.9	3.2	112.1
7	Governor Mifflin	8-	4-	0	0.693050	0.753846	0.618742	9.8	154.5	3.2	95.2
8	Central Dauphin East	8-	5-	0	0.683511	0.720000	0.638914	9.9	176.5	3.9	99.8
9	Central Dauphin	6-	4-	0	0.679975	0.704762	0.649680	7.4	157.5	3.1	84.9
10	Penn Manor	9-	6-	0	0.665636	0.704918	0.617624	10.8	199.4	4.5	123.5
11	Cedar Crest	9-	5-	0	0.664780	0.733108	0.581268	10.9	180.6	4.0	130.1
12	Conestoga Valley	8-	6-	0	0.641246	0.664336	0.613026	9.5	193.9	4.8	122.4
13	Ephrata	10-	7-	0	0.627433	0.676218	0.567808	11.8	172.5	5.7	131.3
14	Cumberland Valley	5-	8-	0	0.583204	0.493878	0.692381	6.1	181.8	6.2	80.8
15	Chambersburg	6-	9-	0	0.551152	0.490842	0.624863	6.7	171.7	7.0	103.1
16	Exeter Township	6-	9-	0	0.540534	0.483755	0.609931	6.7	182.4	7.2	116.7
17	Reading	5-	9-	0	0.540414	0.458333	0.640735	6.1	177.9	7.2	99.8
18	J P McCaskey	5-	10-	0	0.512128	0.440860	0.599233	6.2	179.8	7.8	120.3
19	Red Lion	3-	9-	0	0.470017	0.337963	0.631417	3.7	184.5	7.2	107.7
20	York Country Day School	6-	4-	0	0.465850	0.522222	0.396951	4.7	72.9	4.3	110.8
21	Carlisle	3-	12-	0	0.437923	0.266409	0.647551	3.5	189.7	9.5	103.3
22	HEMPFIELD	2-	11-	0	0.418937	0.223256	0.658103	2.4	199.8	8.4	103.8
23	Warwick	2-	13-	0	0.411535	0.190871	0.681235	2.3	209.7	9.8	98.1
24	William Penn	0-	13-	0	0.283734	0.000000	0.630520	0.0	192.8	11.0	113.0
25	Waynesboro	0-	13-	0	0.240959	0.000000	0.535464	0.0	149.1	11.6	129.4