City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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PHILADELPHIA — Senaya Parker does not mind lurking in the large shadow cast by her Audenried teammate Shayla Smith. The Penn State-bound Smith, Philadelphia’s girls’ all-time leading scorer, gets more than her share of attention every time she plays, opening opportunities for Parker and everyone else.

It's a risky, no-win proposition, because if teams sleep on Parker, the Rockets’ explosive 5-foot-6 senior guard, she will wake them up and make them pay.

Parker was instrumental during a key turn in the girls’ Philadelphia Public League championship game on Sunday against Imhotep Charter, pushing the Rockets to threepeat in a 65-52 victory at La Salle’s refurbished John Glaser Arena.

Smith was selected game MVP, deservedly so, with a game-high 35 points, despite being defended very well by Imhotep’s Sabria Mann, with Parker chipping in with 16, and Heaven Reese adding 9.

Audenried (19-7) will now play Catholic League champion Neumann-Goretti on Friday at 5 p.m. for the District 12 Class 4A championship at La Salle’s Glaser Arena. Imhotep (18-6) received a strong game from Geren Hawthorne, who scored a team-high 22, with Mann contributing 15. The Panthers will play West Catholic for the District 12 Class 3A championship on Tuesday at La Salle.

On Sunday, it was Parker and Reese that ignited a 7-0 Rockets' run that opened what had been a tight game, giving Audenried a 39-32 lead with 4:59 left in the third quarter. It was the largest difference in the game, up until that point, and the Rockets used that surge that take command.

“Shayla is the leader, she’s the face of the team, but she has some big dogs, too, with her,” Parker said. “I don’t mind it, being in the shadows, Shayla is a great player, she’s a great person, so other teams can sleep on me. I let them sleep so I can wake them up. Call me the ‘wake-up girl’ (laughs). It’s all about waking them up and letting them see we can beat teams in a variety of ways, with different players.

“We’re going to need everyone working together to make that state championship run. Shayla is a sweetheart. She’s the good cop, I’m the bad cop on this team. She’s the white swan, I’m the black swan. I’m not afraid to get up and get in anyone’s face to encourage them or let them know they’re messing up. I’m not afraid of anyone.”

She’s not.

Rockets’ coach Kevin Slaughter noted that when Smith came out with four fouls with 5:28 to play, it was Parker who stepped in front.

“Senaya takes over games,” Slaughter said. “She fouled out two of their players. Nasiaah (Russell) didn’t play the way she’s capable of playing, and it was Senaya that stayed on her, telling her, ‘Stay in the game, we need you, get rebounds.’ It’s great to have someone like that. Senaya is a leader.

“She does so much for us, and without her, we’re not winning a state championship. Senaya gets us there.”

The game was a tug of war through the first half. Audenried bolted out to a 5-0 lead, and Imhotep scratched back. That was an ongoing theme, with each Rockets’ jolt, Imhotep pushed. The greatest point difference was five.

But something was bubbling underneath. Imhotep turned the ball over 10 times in the first half and 26 times in the game. It caught up to the Panthers. Although Mann was doing a good job of guarding Smith, she was still scoring, showing her incredible shot-making abilities with Mann’s hand in her face, while the Panthers’ offense was stumbling, working in starts and stops.

With 6:30 left in the third quarter, the game was knotted at 32-32 when Parker and Reese found another gear and gave the Rockets the added boost they needed to create some separation.

“I’m the ‘X’ factor, I’m a catch-and-shooter, who has to defend the other team’s better players,” explained Reese, who landed a clutch three in the 7-0 third-quarter run, as well as defended Geren Hawthorne and Mann. “I have to play defense, and they keep telling me to shoot. It makes me feel good that my teammates trust me. We won last year. This year I feel I contributed more.”

Slaughter was understandably overjoyed. He was the one who molded this team. He won a third-straight Public League championship and is looking for another District 12 title against a team, Neumann-Goretti, he may meet again in the state playoffs.

The only thing missing on he and the program’s resume is a state title.

“This is awesome, I already cried in one of my parent’s arms, but I’m truly happy for the kids, and I’m happy for where we are,” Slaughter said. “We have more to do. I don’t want to stop. I want to establish something here that (Imhotep coach) David Hargrove has done, getting his team to the Public League championship every year.

“I know Imhotep is hurting, and I would be too, but I can’t do anything but chase what David and Imhotep does. We’re looking to win the state title.”

Imhotep is far from done. As a Class 3A, with players like Mann and Geren Hawthorne, the Panthers could be in a position to make school history as the first Imhotep girls’ team to win a state championship.

It was not lost on Hargrove when he addressed his team after the game. And it was certainly not lost on his two stars, Mann and Hawthorne, that although they lost in the Public League championship, a state title is still out there to be grabbed.

“We just got lax in the third quarter; we should have come out and put our foot down and we didn’t,” Mann said. “We should have slowed down and saw the floor better. There were no tears afterwards. There was no crying, but we took it on the chin. We have more to do. We know it.”

Said Hawthorne, “We see a bigger picture ahead. This will motivate us to do a whole lot more. We need to correct our mistakes. It’s never what teams do to us. It’s our mistakes. We need to slow down and not overthink everything. We’re going to be okay.”  

By Quarter
Audenreid (19-7):   15 | 17 | 21 | 12 || 65

Imhotep (18-6):   14 | 16 | 8 | 14 || 52

Scoring
Audenried: Shayla Smith 35, Senaya Parker 16, Heaven Reese 9, Reynah Rattliff 3, Nasiaah Russell 2.

Imhotep: Geren Hawthorne 22, Sabria Mann 15, Calista Gaymon 6, Anise Geiger 5, Crystal Hawthorne 2, Kayla Thompson 2.

Joseph Santoliquito is an 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 BlueSky here.