City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)

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COATESVILLE — David Hargrove did not look too pleased. His players wore pretty much the same expression as he did. The Imhotep Charter girls’ basketball coach has achieved a standard of winning and playing. It is what has led the Panthers to great success in the Philadelphia Public League, a success Hargrove and his team feel can break new thresholds this season and reach the PIAA Class 3A state championship for the first time in program history.

So even when the Panthers win, there is a standard to uphold. Even if they win by 30, as Imhotep did on Friday night against District 3 No. 2-seed Pequea Valley, 55-25, in the PIAA Class 3A state quarterfinals at Coatesville High School.

The Panthers (23-6) will advance to the state semifinals against District 4 champion Loyalsock Township next Friday at a site and time to be determined.

Imhotep used a stifling defense to cause 34 turnovers and dominated the game from start to finish. Calista Gaymon led the Panthers with 13 points, with Anise Geiger adding 12, but Hargrove wanted to see more.

What is scary is that the Panthers are capable of playing even better than they did in a 30-point blowout. They were only 4-of-17 from deep, and turned it over 11 times in the second half (15 overall).

Imhotep got out to a 12-0 lead, and Hargrove felt his team seemed to take its collective foot off the gas.

“We are way better than this,” Hargrove said. “I would give this is a C-minus grade. Today, as we are going through this journey, I want to see a few more open shots, move the ball better in transition and finish plays. I have to give credit to our defense. We caused a lot of turnovers.

“We are still pushing to get better. Maybe this was not the game when we didn’t have the great game, but that game is there.”

Hargrove was very impressed by Pequea Valley junior point guard Janae Patterson, who finished with a game-high 14 points, but otherwise, the Panthers shut down everything Pequea Valley tried to do.

“We had a great year, Imhotep’s length gave us issues, because we aren’t very tall,” PV head coach Jason McDonald said. “It’s been an issue for us this year. They are also really quick, and very athletic. There were turnovers when we tried to push, and that was on us, which we can live with. But in the halfcourt sets, we had some problems with their bigs and their length.”

Imhotep led 14-7 after one, 26-9 by halftime, and 39-14 after three.

Gaymon and Geiger felt their team could have played much better, too.

“We let up, and we know we are better, and we do have higher levels we can reach,” said Geiger, a Delaware State commit. “We need to focus more on our concepts. I think once we got out to that big lead, we relaxed, I think, a little bit. I will say we took our foot off the gas. As seniors, we all need to lead better. We have to stay consistent.

“When we have someone down, we can’t allow them to get back up.”

Added Gaymon, “We were sloppy with the ball sometimes, trying to attack the gaps. I’m happy we won. I’m not happy with this. Everyone in the locker room is not happy with this. We know we are better than this.”

It’s a scary thought for anyone else in Imhotep’s way.

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By Quarter
Pequea Valley (24-4):   7 | 2 | 5 | 11 || 25
Imhotep (23-6):   14 | 12 | 13 | 16 || 55

Scoring
Pequea Valley: Janae Patterson 14, Trinity Rosa 8, Brianna Lourido 2, Emily Eckenrode 1.

Imhotep: Calista Gaymon 13, Anise Geiger 12, Geren Hawthorne 7, Kayla Thompson 6, Anai Kenyatta 5, Mckenna Alston 4, Ashlee Boykin 3, Sabria Mann 3, Crystal Hawthorne 2.

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TCA sees a magical season end in overtime quarterfinal loss

RJ Walker was fighting it a little bit. His lower lip didn’t quiver, his eyes did become teary, but as he stood outside the locker room on Friday night, he knew the wave of emotion that was about to hit him when he faced his team.

Walker, the 27-year-old coach of The Christian Academy, just saw the end of a remarkable season moments before, when his Crusaders lost to District 3 No. 4-seed Lancaster Country Day School, 54-47, in overtime in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class 1A state playoffs.

It ended a season in which the Crusaders’ program made the state playoffs for only the second time in school history and for the first time in school history won a state playoff game, reaching the state quarterfinals.

So, Walker, who did an amazing job in just his second year as head coach, had to take a breath before entering the locker room and addressing his team.

“Second time to states, first time getting this far,” Walker said. “This hurts. I love these kids. I think what I will remember the most is the camaraderie of this team. Starting in June with this group, we knew it would take some time. But watching these guys come together, work hard, and how they came together, that’s what I’ll remember.

“I’ll be honest, if anyone told me we would be here in mid-March playing in the state quarterfinals, I might look at them like they were a Martian. We have great seniors, Cameron Harrop-Wilson, Sir Guy Epps Jr., Blake (Rochester), Folarin (Adeshile), Judah Gray, who just started playing basketball this year, and I wish we would have had him all four years.

“All our seniors played a huge role in this. I can’t wait to tell them how proud I am of them and what they did. They did an amazing job. It’s going to be a little emotional. They made history. They will be going into the books of TCA. They created a standard.”

The Crusaders had their chances against Lancaster Country Day School. A missed twirling layup by Epps could have won it in the closing seconds of regulation, and the Crusaders did hold a narrow 45-44 lead with 2:18 to play.

They had a tough time stopping to Lancaster Country Day School duo of Cam Harris and Jordan Ashby, who scored 17 points apiece.

In overtime, it seemed as if TCA lost its legs and Lancaster Country Day School found another gear, shutting out the Crusaders 7-0 in the extra stanza.

This is the first time Lancaster Country Day School has ever reached the state semifinals.

“This was a grind,” Cougars’ coach Jon Shultz said. “TCA was a tough team. We wanted to stay in front of (Epps) as much as we could, and tried zoning them up early, and then went to man in the third quarter. We had a little extra in the end.”

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By Quarter
Lancaster Country Day (18-9):   16 | 7 | 13 | 11 | 7 || 54
The Christian Academy (15-11):  8 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 0 || 47

Scoring
Lancaster Country Day: Cam Harris 17, Jordan Ashby 17, Chris Dukes 12, Kane Kirby 4, Jeremy Ouilikon 2, Ben Sponaugle 2.

TCA: Cameron Harrop-Wilson 19, Judah Gray 14, Cyrus Mulder 8, Sir Guy Epps Jr. 3, Liam Foreman 3.

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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.