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York Country Day falls to Schuylkill Valley


With less than 20 seconds left in regulation Friday night, the York Country Day girls' basketball team had the ball, trailing Schuylkill Valley by two points. Janiece Andino-Malehorn swung it to Stephanie Waltersdorff on the far side of the court, but the pass couldn’t connect.

Greyhounds head coach Chris Charleston wanted a call, but it didn't come, and the Panthers took possession and pulled out a 42-38 victory Friday night.

“All we wanted to do was be aggressive and get something going to the rim to get to the free-throw line,” he said. “We wanted to get the ball in our best ball handler’s hands. … As she was coming to meet the ball (the Panthers) saw that and they sort of grabbed hold of her arm, what it looked like to me.”

It was a closely contested matchup all night between the Panthers and Greyhounds. Neither side was able to pull away for long. York Country Day sped to a 5-2 lead in the first, but a 3-pointer from Alexis Kowalski evened the game right up.

The lead changed two more times before the first quarter ended with both teams locked at 11.

Each of the following quarters played out in similar fashion as the two squads jockeyed for position. Coming out of halftime with a pair of shots from beyond the arc, the Panthers were able to take a five-point advantage. But a 10-3 run by the Greyhounds — highlighted by two 3-point shots from Brook Glass and baskets from Waltersdorff — cut the deficit to 32-31.

Schuylkill Valley regained a lead, and the Greyhounds again answered to tie it at 38, but a long-distance jumper by Kasey Bubel put the Panthers up for good.

Two late game free throws by Madison Zimmerman sealed the victory.

“I thought we played with a lot of heart, a lot of energy,” Charleston said. “A lot of fight, especially in the second half. We didn’t necessarily play very well in the first half, but the second half we turned up the intensity on the defensive end and played a lot better.

"I was pleased with the effort. Unfortunately the balls didn’t bounce our way at the end there.”

The Greyhounds are off to a 2-3 start to the year and have only been averaging around 30 points per game, according to their head coach. Charleston said his squad had been averaging 50 and 60 points in years past with a different cast of players.

York Country Day is also without three year starter D’Shanna Edwards, according to Charleston, who is sidelined with a foot injury.

All of that combined has led to the Greyhounds approaching games a little differently this year.

“This year we’re slowing the tempo of the game down because we don’t have the speed to run with some of these other teams,” Charleston said. “Right now we have two solid perimeter shooters and that’s about. So that’s difficult when you only have one or two girls on the floor that can extend the defense.”

Schuylkill Valley (42) 

Davis 0 0-0 0, Bubel 2 0-0 7, Romberger 2 0-0 4, Madison Zimmerman 6 4-5 16, Brzostek 0 0-0 0, Sisco 1 0-0 2, Compbell 0 0-0 0, Kowalski 0 0-0 6, Hepner 0 0-0 0, Cerankowski 0 2-2 5, Paez 0 2-3 3, Knowles 0 0-0 0 Civil 0 0-0 0 McEwen. Totals — 11 8-10 42.

York Country Day (38) 

Evans 4 1-5 9, Metzger 0 0-0 0, Stephanie Waltersdorff 6 1-3 16, McKim 0 0-0 0 Sutton 0 0-0 0, Shoff 0 0-0 0 Andino-Malehorn 2 0-0 4, Wilson 1 1-1 3, Edwards 0 0-0 0 Glass 0 0-0 6. Totals — 13 3-9 38.

Schuylkill Valley _ 11 _ 7 _ 16 _ 8 _ — _ 42  

York Country Day _ 11 _ 6 _ 14 _ 7 _ — _ 38  

3-point goals — Schuylkill Valley 4 (Bubul 1, Kowalski 2, Cerankowski 1), York Country Day 3 (Glass 2, Waltersdorff 1).