City of Basketball Love

Sean McBryan (@SeanMcBryan)
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It appeared Souderton girls basketball would win its first state playoff game since 2018 Friday night before it suddenly slipped away.

Central York took its first lead of the game with 1:52 left in overtime and eventually outlasted Souderton after senior Bella Chimienti hit two free throws with 0.5 seconds left in double overtime lifting the Panthers to a 50-48 victory in York.

The District 3 runner-up Panthers (24-4) move on to face Easton — the District 11 champs — in the PIAA Class 6A second round Tuesday.

Senior Casey Harter — who was battling an ankle injury suffered March 1 that kept her out of a game March 3 — gave District 1 seventh-place Souderton (22-6) multiple chances to amend allowing a 7-0 Central York run to end the last 5:16 of regulation.

“She’s played all but one game this season, which was last weekend,” Souderton head coach Lynn Carroll said of her star senior. “Obviously she’s got the God-given stuff. She’s got the length and the speed and all of that, but she’s just worked and worked year after year to become a better player.”

Harter finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists.

“She’s a competitor whether it's practice or a game,” Carroll said. “She wants to win whatever’s in front of her. I think everybody saw that tonight and she did it in a lot of pain.”

The 5-foot-10 Northwestern commit drew a foul with 15.9 seconds left in the first OT period and knocked down both free throws to tie it 43-43. Chimienti’s driving layup missed as time expired and the teams went to the second OT.

Harter hit a 3 with 34 seconds left in 2OT to give Souderton a 46-45 lead, but Emily Crouthamel answered with her own triple to give the advantage back to Central York with 18.4 seconds left. Harter then rolled in a short jumper right before time expired.

Central York quickly inbounded the ball to Chimienti, who was fouled in the backcourt by a Souderton player with 0.5 seconds left sending her to the foul line for the deciding free throws. It almost appeared as if she was fouled intentionally.

Souderton had intentionally fouled Chimienti, a Shippensburg commit, with 1:12 left in 2OT with Central York leading 45-43; Chimienti missed both.

“I was more nervous on those than the ones at the end of the game,” Chimienti said. “I just stepped up there confidently [the second time]. [Mackenzie Wright-Rawls] came up to me right before that and told me to shoot them how I do in practice. I just blocked out the crowd and did what I needed to do.”

Wright-Rawls, a versatile 6-0 senior forward committed to NJIT, had team-high 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and a steal for the Panthers.

Souderton held Chimienti — Central York’s leading scorer —  in check for most of the game; the 5-8 point guard didn’t score until the fourth quarter and started the game 0-for-6 from the field. The issue was she packed all of her 13 points into that quarter and the two OT periods.

Brooke Fenchel banked in a 3 off an assist from Harter with 5:16 left in the fourth that gave Souderton a 37-30 lead; the seven-point advantage was the largest any team had all game, tied with when Souderton led 34-27 earlier in the quarter.

Wright-Rawls then made a free throw, Bre’ijha Painter scooped in a bucket, and Chimienti forced a turnover and made a fast-break layup to shorten the deficit to 37-35 with 3:50 to go.

Chimienti was fouled with 3:07 left and made both ends of a one-and-one to tie it; Harter’s shot as time expired in regulation fell short.

It’s a tough pill to swallow for Souderton seniors, who were disappointed after losing to Easton in the PIAA opening round last season on their home floor. They didn’t make it to the state tournament the year before when only district champions made it or the year before that because there was no tournament due to COVID.

“I can’t thank this group of seniors enough for what they’ve done for this program,” Carroll said. “They’re really, really hurting right now. But this isn’t what they’ll remember. They’re going to remember the fun times on the bus, our team parties, and being there for one another on and off the court. They’re going to look back on their time in this program with pride.”

By Quarter

Souderton: 11   |  12  |  9  |  5  |  6  |  5  ||  48
Central York: 9  |   8   |   10   |  10  |  6  |  7  ||  50

Shooting
Souderton 19-52 FG (4-14 3PT), 6-6 FT
Central York: 17-55 (2-15 3PT), 14-23 FT

Scoring
Souderton: Harter 20, McGillian 8, Fenchel 8, McConnaha 6, Bohmueller 6

Central York: Wright-Rawls 15, Chimienti 13, Parker 10, Crouthamel 8, Painter 2, McCaskell 2

Rebounds
Souderton: McConnaha 11, Harter 6, Stefanowicz 5, McGillian 3, Bohmueller 2, Fenchel 1. Total: 29.

Central York: Wright-Rawls 10, McCaskell 8, Parker 8, Chimienti 6, Crouthamel 2, Painter 1, Long 1. Total: 36.

Assists
Souderton: Harter 3, Bohmueller 3, Fenchel 2, McGillian 1. Total: 9.
Central York: Wright-Rawls 5, Chimienti 1, Painter 1, Long 1. Total: 8.

Turnovers
Souderton: 9.
Central York: 11.