Second-half explosion lifts Cheltenham over Plymouth Whitemarsh
CHELTENHAM >> Cheltenham came alive in the second half.
The Panthers outscored Plymouth Whitemarsh by 21 points after halftime to turn a four-point deficit into a 73-56 Suburban One League American Conference win at Cheltenham High School Friday night.
“Coach came in (at halftime) and told us the game’s not over,” Cheltenham’s Zahree Harrison said. “We just have to play and come out with energy. After I twisted my ankle I just want to come out and make sure I showed no weakness. Everybody else fed off that energy and we were good.”
Cheltenham took its first lead since the first quarter, 34-32, midway through the third when Tim Myarick made his first three-pointer of the game.
That started a barrage of threes from the Panthers. After hitting zero shots from deep in the first half, Cheltenham knocked down six after intermission.
“We stay after practice and we shoot,” Harrison said. “We have a couple guys that come after practice every day, shoot threes and get shots up. I feel like we did that again this week and it worked at the perfect time when we needed it.”
Myarick and Harrison each hit two threes in the third quarter and Mike McClain had one. Harrison’s second from distance came at the buzzer to cap off an eight-point quarter for the point guard and send the Panthers to the fourth with a seven-point lead, 52-45.
“That was the one that — not really put the game away — but gave us the boost that we can definitely put this game away,” Harrison said.
In the fourth, Cheltenham played ball control and hit its free throws, shooting 14-for-19 from the charity stripe.
The Colonials can point to foul-shooting as a key contributor to their loss. They went 10-for-21 from the free-throw line and were 4-for-15 before a perfect fourth quarter.
The loss is Plymouth Whitemarsh’s first SOL American defeat since 2016.
“We’re happy,” Harrison said. “We always want to get a win. I was glad we did it in front of our home town. We see them again, so we can’t get satisfied. We have to go there and win.”
Harrison led the Panthers with 23 points. Kylin Healey added 13 and Myarick and McClain each had 12.
Naheem McLeod led the Colonials with 20 points. Caelin Peters joined him in double figures with 14.
McLeod paced PW in the second quarter. He scored the first six Colonials points of the frame and eight of the team’s 12 overall. They led, 32-28, at halftime.
Cheltenham jumped out to a four-point advantage in the first quarter, leading 4-0 and 6-2. Healey led the Panthers with seven points in the first, but PW’s Peters had six points and Jordan Evans and Jason Cherry each contributed four to give the Colonials a 20-15 edge after eight minutes.
