City of Basketball Love

Corky Blake 
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Two bus rides from 3301 Tasker Street to the Easton Area Middle School, and two entirely different outcomes for Audenried Charter’s basketball teams.

In the opener of the PIAA second-round doubleheader Wednesday night, the Audenried girls kept their dream alive of adding a Class 4A state title to their Public League and District 12 championships by cruising past Valley View, 61-46. 

In the second game, the Audenried boys couldn’t hold onto an early fourth-quarter lead and were eliminated 58-55 by District 2 runner-up Holy Cross, which had to look the other way as Isaac Cole’s one-handed heave from 60 feet away hit the back of the rim and nearly went in to tie the game as time expired.

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Suffocating defense propels Rockets girls into 4A quarterfinals

Offense comes and goes but defense travels, and Audenried proved that against Valley View, which was out to avenge last year’s loss to the Rockets in the Class 4A second round.

Valley View, the second-place team from District 2, matched Audenried possession for possession through the first quarter and held a 14-10 lead with 1:42 left on Giada Costa’s layup. By that point, junior Heaven Reese had scored seven of the Rockets’ points.

Audenried then cranked up the pressure over the final 90 seconds. Senior guard Shayla Smith deposited a turnaround jumper, senior guard Senaya Parker, already playing with two fouls, drove for a basket off a turnover and made 1 of 2 free throws 30 seconds later. Freshman reserve guard Iyanna Ellison contributed her only points when she put back Aniyah Cheeseboro’s missed 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded for a 17-16 lead. 

Those 16 points were five more than the Cougars would score over the next two quarters. After Cora Castellani’s 3-pointer gave Valley View a 19-17 lead, Audenried scored the next nine points capped by freshman reserve guard Ahlee Mills-Scott’s 3-pointer. 

Five different players scored in the quarter and only one point came from Smith, the Penn State commit and the all-time leading girls scorer in Philadelphia with more than 2,600 points. 

And it was understandable, and it is why her teammates were there to pick her up Tuesday night.

“We all played a little harder,” said Brown who closed the first half with a layup off a steal for a 31-23 advantage. “Shayla’s fasting, and we’re doing our best to help however we can.”

Smith is observing the Muslim period of Ramadan, which began on the eve of Feb. 28 and ends on March 29. From dawn to dusk she is not permitted to eat or drink.

“She hasn’t had anything since 6 a.m., and she’s lost energy today,”  Audenried coach Kevin Slaughter said.

Fortunately, Audenried’s defense got stingier in the third quarter, holding Valley View scoreless for nearly five minutes and surrendering just four points. 

“We were playing with more energy, that’s why,” said Slaughter when asked what the difference was in his team’s defense in the middle quarters compared to the first eight minutes. “Offensively, our execution wasn’t very good in the first half, but defensively we clamped down on them.”

Again, offensive contributions came from everyone with 6-3 sophomore center Nasiaah Russell ruling the paint area with numerous blocks and altered shots. She also strung together five straight points as the Rockets extended their lead to 51-27 and allowed Slaughter to sit Smith and many of the starters for the rest of the game.

“I did some research before the game and knew they (Valley View) only scored about 45 points game,” Slaughter said. “We average around 65 to 70, so if we do what we usually do we’d win the game.”

Audenried showed it can win without needing 25 to 35 points from Smith, who finished with 10 after shooting 2-for-11 in the first half and made her only attempt after intermission. Russell led with 13 points and Reese backed her with 12 to give future opponents another offensive threat to consider.

“Coach wants me to play hard, shoot the ball when I get it, play fast and drive to the basket,” Reese said. “I was open a couple times, and my teammates hit me with the pass.”

Audenried will oppose Northern Lebanon, the third-place team from District 3, in Saturday’s quarterfinals at a time and place to be determined. Northern Lebanon defeated District 1 champion Villa Joseph Marie, 47-37. If the Rockets can defeat Northern Lebanon, they’ll face either Catholic League champion Neumann-Goretti or District 2 champion Scranton Prep, which eliminated Audenried in last year’s semifinals.

“We can’t look ahead. We have to take it one game at a time,” Slaughter said.

By Quarter
Audenreid (22-7):   17 | 15 | 19 | 10 || 61
Valley View (21-6):   16 | 7 | 4 | 19 || 46

Scoring
Audenried: Shayla Smith 10, Senaya Parker 12, Heaven Reese 12, Reynah Rattliff 4,
Nasiaah Russell 13, Iyanna Ellison 2, Aniyah Cheeseboro 3, Ahlee Mills-Scott 3, Ikera Ellison 2.

Valley View: Cora Castellani 5, Giada Costa 12, Ava Gazoo 5, Daniella Ashby 4, Sadie Cardoni 12, Addison Howanitz 2, Maggie Pegula 2, Ashlan Palickar 2. Mady Minelli 2.

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Audenried boys fall short to Holy Cross

Even during the brief times the Rockets led Holy Cross, it seemed as if they were pushing a boulder uphill.

For instance, Audenried led 16-14 late in the first quarter until Holy Cross senior guard Mike Hughes (20 points) swished a 3-pointer from just inside halfcourt to beat the buzzer. 

The Rockets were ahead 26-23 with 40 seconds to go until halftime when the Crusaders erased that deficit by capitalizing on Audenried defensive lapses for a pair of run-out baskets and a 27-26 advantage. 

And yet it was the Rockets who carried a 39-38 lead into the fourth quarter as seniors Isaac Cole and Zakah Warren-Jones combined for eight points and freshman guard Melvin Clarke canned his third 3-pointer in the quarter.

Junior Abraham Kennah gave the Rockets their last lead, 47-46, with a putback with 4:41 remaining. Matt Lyons, a 6-6 senior center, dunked in traffic and added the and-one for a 54-51 Holy Cross advantage with 1:10 left. 

Audenried refused to go away. Cole drove for two to cut the margin to 57-54 with 11 seconds remaining. After Holy Cross missed a pair of free throws, Cole was fouled with five seconds showing. He made the first and purposely missed the second. The ball caromed off the rim and out of bounds. The officials deemed it was last touched by the Rockets to essentially end the game.

“That was just an instinct play,” Cole said of his intentional miss. “I know it went off them; they missed the call.”

The Rockets finished with a 12-15 record that included advancing to the second round of the Class 3A playoffs and reaching the Public League tournament semifinals.

Clarke led Audenried with 15 points and sophomore forward Nathan Lee added 13. The Rockets will lose seniors Cole, Warren-Jones and Munir Daniels.

“I really appreciated how the kids played tonight, and it was an honor to coach them,” said Audenried coach Marvin Stinson, who is a dean at the school. “They left it all on the line.”

Moments later, Stinson continued the interview while consoling a visibly upset Warren-Jones, a 5-9 guard.

“Zakah is my pride and joy,” said Stinson while hugging Warren-Jones. “We’ve gone through so many ups and downs over the years. I call him my little pit bull. We’ve had a pretty good season. We made the final four in the public league and made it to the state’s second round.”

Cole said the team battled through many issues throughout the season to get to the second round of the state tournament.

“I’m definitely proud of what we’ve done,” Cole said. “We fought hard and gave it everything we had. This was the first year for many of us playing together and we dealt with a lot of stuff. The words I’d use to sum up the season are adversity and resilience. I’m sad it’s over, but I’m glad it happened.”

Holy Cross (24-4) will meet Lancaster Mennonite, the second-place team from District 3, in Saturday’s quarterfinals. Lancaster Mennonite edged District 11 champion Catasauqua, 51-49.

By Quarter

Holy Cross (24-4):   17 | 10 | 11 | 20 || 58

Audenreid (12-15):   16 | 10 | 13 | 16 || 55

Scoring

Holy Cross: Adam Badyrka 8, Matt Lyons 17, Mike Hughes 20, C.J. Thompson 7, Mario Mantone 6.

Audenried: Isaac Cole 9, Melvin Clarke 15, Qaudi’air Smith 3, Zakah Warren-Jones 4, Nathan Lee 13, Zykei Kelly-Postell 4, Abraham Kennah 7