St. Basil defeats Bombers roBombers Bombers
WYNDMOOR — Palmerton girls’ basketball coach Ralph Andrews knew it would be no easy task for his No. 7 seed Bombers in their District 11/1 sub-regional opener against No. 2 seed St. Basil Academy.
And with the start that the Panthers had during Friday night’s game at LaSalle College High School Northeast of Philadelphia, his worries came true.
St. Basil ran off the first eight points of the game and then added another eight-point run later in the quarter to take control and never looked back en route to a 63-29 triumph over the Bombers.
The loss ended Palmerton’s season at 9-14.
“I was told they hit nine three-pointers tonight and it felt like 19,” said Andrews after watching the likes of Casey Remolde, who drained four of them, finish with a game high 18 points. “Our game plan was to kind of pack it in and force them to shoot from the perimeter and you have to give them credit, they did and made them.”
Things didn’t go much better in the second quarter for the Bombers. After Linnaea Leister scored the first two points on a driving layup, the Panthers went on a 14-point run to open up a 30-6 advantage. Only a Casi Papay free throw and Kayla Chinchilla deuce cut it to 30-9 at intermission.
Palmerton’s best quarter of the night was the third. After falling behind 41-11, the Bombers outscored the Panthers 9-5 in the final minute and a half to trail 46-20 entering the final eight minutes.
“I think they realized that it was inevitable this would be our last game,” said Andrews. “We talked about just leaving it all on the line out there and that’s how they came out in the second half. We were going to come out swinging and we were going to play until the clock ticked down to zero.
“They did’t quit and that goes to the leadership we have on the team with Linnaea Leister and Paige Frantz, two seniors. That’s their attitude. They will fight and swing until there is no time left on the clock and I think everyone feeds off them.”
In the fourth quarter, the Panthers scored the first 12 points to build a 58-25 advantage and both coaches cleared their benches.
“It’s a step in the right direction for the program and what our goals are,” Andrews said about making the playoffs. “Our backs were against the wall the last couple of weeks needing a game to get in and we persevered and punched our ticket to get here. We’re disappointed that the season is over now but when we look back at this year it will be as a success.
“We have three sophomores that got quality minutes all this year, a junior that is coming back that played all the minutes that she could. This was a good experience for them.
STAT CITY … The Panthers controlled the boards (35-22). Palmerton also turned the ball over 26 times to just 18 by St. Basil.
CAREER ENDER … Palmerton’s Leister ended an outstanding career, finishing with 126 three-pointers to set a school all-time record beating out Jon Nigito’s 106. She also finished with 13 points to set her career total at 1,029.
NEXT UP … St. Basil will now move on to face Notre Dame of Green Pond in the Class 3A girls semifinal next week.
PALMERTON
H. Guedes 0-0-0-0. B. Guedes 2-0-0-5, Cincilla 2-0-1-4, Leister 5-1-1-13, Frantz 0-0-0-0, Papay 1-1-2-3, Molchan 0-0-0-0, Beahm 0-0-0-0, Oldt 0-2-2-2, Recker 1-0-0-2, Mihalko 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-4-6-29.
ST. BASIL ACADEMY
Deal 1-0-0-3, Ca. Remolde 7-0-0-18, Carter 5-2-8-13, Ch. Remolde 1-0-0-2, Gura 1-0-4-2, Grant 1-0-1-2, Ems 0-0-0-0, S. Remolde 2-3-4-7, Whiteley 2-0-0-5, P. Storck 1-0-0-3, Scannell 1-2-2-4, M. Storck 0-0-2-0, Hunter 1-1-2-3. TOTALS: 23-8-23-63.
Palmerton 4 5 11 9 - 29
St. Basil Ac. 16 14 16 17 - 63
Three-pointers: Palmerton- Leister 2, B. Guedes 1. St. Basil Academy - Ca. Remolde 4, Deal 1, Carter 1, Grant 1, Whiteley 1, P. Storck 1.
