City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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PHILADELPHIA — Kevin Slaughter was not falling for it. He refused to move from his safe space leaning against a hallway wall outside his Audenried team dressing room Saturday afternoon at the Liacouras Center.

Slaughter knew what was coming — another soaking like last year, when the Rockets won their first Philadelphia Public League girls basketball championship. But his team was relentless. They kept at him, and eventually, wore him down.

Much like the Rockets wore down Imhotep Charter, behind tenacious junior guard Shayla Smith, to capture their second-straight title 55-49.

Audenried girls basketball celebrates at midcourt Saturday at Temple's Liacouras Center after beating Imhotep for its second straight Philadelphia Public League championship. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

“I got dunked last year, and I saw them grab that big Gatorade thing and I said, ‘Not today,’” Slaughter said, soaked by his team that did get him. “When I took the job, people told me, ‘Audenried, that place is trash, don’t go there. Why would you go there?’ I said I would turn the program around and change the culture.

“We would get kids who were always unhappy someplace else. This year was bigger than last year because of the pressure. We started well today and looked good, and then had some problems. But this team kept at it. Our relentless defense. The Point Breeze press hasn’t failed us yet. But we are not here without my support staff.”

And Shayla Smith.

Smith was the unquestionable game MVP, dropping a game-high 37 points, making play after play just when it seemed the Panthers would inch closer.

What’s scary is it was not Smith’s best game. She did not play to Slaughter’s liking.

“I know that sounds crazy, after scoring 37 points and 13 rebounds,” he said. “Shayla is so much better than that. She is a special talent. In eighth grade, my assistant, Marcellus Boone, told me about her. Once she came here and fell in love with our school, the rest is history.

“Shayla is like this team. I’m drenched because they were not going to give up until I got soaked.”

Smith willed the victory.

She scored 15 in the first half and 22 in the second, with the support of some heady play by fellow junior guard Senaya Parker, who played at Imhotep her freshman year and finished with 13 against her former school.

“We could have played better, and I could have played better,” said a smiling Smith with the MVP plate in her hands. “We could have beat them by more. My shot wasn’t falling like it usually does. It’s mental. Sometimes I have to stay locked down. I’m working on that.

“We wanted this more. And this is Kobe (Bryant) Day, February 24.”

Smith and Parker said the foundation of the team comes from Slaughter. The program had been at the bottom his first few years. But now against an Imhotep program that reached its 11th-straight girls Public League championship, the Rockets want it known there is a new dynasty in The Pub.

“This is our turn now,” Parker said. “Our defense is made up of all dogs. We are always trying to make up for something we did wrong. This is my second Pub title, and it means more to beat them. I wanted to go back, but due to certain circumstances I could not go back, so I wanted to make them pay.”

Audenried started strong, getting out to a 6-0 lead before Imhotep’s Anise Geiger got the Panthers on the board for the first time on a free throw with 5:39 left in the opening quarter. It ignited an Imhotep 12-0 run to end the quarter.

The Rockets went the final 6-minutes, 2-seconds of the first quarter without scoring. Neither team handled the ball well at the outset, with each turning the ball over eight times.

Then, Smith took over.

The 5-foot-10 junior erupted with 10 of the game’s next 11 points, including an NBA-ranged 3-pointer. Parker capped the Rockets’ 13-0 run that started the second quarter with a layup and a 12-6 deficit was reversed into a 19-12 Audenried lead.

The Rockets extended that to 24-14 and went into halftime leading by the game’s largest margin to that point, 28-17.

The Panthers stayed close through moments of the second half. Imhotep crept to within 35-34 with 1:25 left in the third quarter, before Smith and Parker combined to score the final six points of the third to end the threat.

Imhotep was within 43-40 before Smith took over again to score the next four points with 3:57 left in the game.

Each time the Panthers were within a possession of tying, they would turn the ball over. Audenried’s “Point Breeze press” forced 31 Imhotep turnovers.

“That was the game,” Panthers coach David Hargrove said. “We feel like one got away. Credit to Audenried. We struggled all year with the turnover battle. There were a lot of things that added to the loss.”

Two players that helped Imhotep considerably were 6-1 junior Geiger and 5-10 sophomore Geren Hawthorne, who combined for 25 points.

“Their pressure forced our guards to make decisions, and we needed to be more focused on getting the ball over halfcourt,” Geiger said. “I liked the fact that we stayed consistent with our effort. We still have more basketball to play. I’m passionate about this game and really wanted to win this for our seniors, that’s why this hurts.”

Imhotep will play West Catholic on Wednesday for the District 12 Class 3A championship.

By Quarter

Imhotep Charter (12-12): 12 | 5  |  17 |  15 ||  49

Audenried (21-5):  6  | 22  |  13  | 14 ||  55

Scoring

Imhotep Charter: Anise Geiger 14, Geren Hawthorne 11, Calista Gaymon 8, Sabria Mann 7, Kayla Thompson 6, Ashlee Boykin 3.

Audenried: Shayla Smith 37, Senaya Parker 13, Aniyah Howard 3, Sakina Nelson 2.

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Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.