O’Brien sparks Plymouth Whitemarsh past Cheltenham

WHITEMARSH >> Taylor O’Brien did her reading Tuesday night.

The Plymouth-Whitemarsh sophomore picked up Cheltenham’s passing tendencies then started picking off passes. With five of her seven swipes coming in the second quarter, it was exactly what the Colonials needed to jump-start them after a sluggish start.

O’Brien’s big second quarter, part of a 27-point performance, pushed P-W past the Panthers 43-33 at Colonial Elementary School.

“It was the environment and excitement that pushed our team to do well,” O’Brien said. “I was not as mentally ready in the beginning as I was toward the end of the first quarter.”

Cheltenham saw the return of junior Ashley Jones, who had missed the previous four games with shin splints. Jones, who played with both legs wrapped, came out of the game late in the second quarter and did not return. Panthers coach Brendan Nolan said Jones was not on a minutes restriction.

In Jones’ absence, the Panthers turned to their young players off the bench who delivered some good moments but also their share of inexperienced mistakes.

“We’re not playing as ourselves right now, we’ve been going through some things off the court as well as on the court right now,” Nolan said. “We don’t look the team we looked like a few weeks ago.

“At this point, seeding and all that stuff is unfortunately not in the front of my mind anymore. There’s a lot of other things that need to be dealt with and made right before we can move on anywhere.”

PW struggled mightily in the first quarter, going nearly seven minutes without a field goal before O’Brien finally hit on a short jumper with 1:18 left in the frame. For the Colonials it was more frustration than bad execution, as they had two handfuls of layups not go down while the Panthers opened up a 10-4 lead at the end of the frame.

“It was just getting used to the physical nature Cheltenham will play with and being able to finish,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said. “I felt like we were getting great shots and the ball just wouldn’t go through. We told the kids before the game to stay positive, keep fighting through it and not to overreact.”

But where O’Brien failed in the first quarter, she came through in droves in the second. Her assist to Laurel Suchsland for a corner 3-pointer sparked a 15-0 run that put the Colonials up 19-12. The other 12 points in the spree all came from O’Brien, who took advantage of some sloppy Cheltenham passing for four steals and four easy layups.

The sophomore posted a 16-point quarter on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 foul shooting after going 1-of-8 from the field in the first quarter. Just as big was her pass out to Suchsland, one of the team’s two juniors and a co-captain.

“When Laurel hit that 3, it just lifted the spirits of everyone,” Dougherty said. “It pulls the defense off of Taylor and Ali Diamond. In the third quarter, she had another 3 and that makes it very difficult for the other team. She’s a kid that’s really been working hard.”

PW took a 25-19 lead into the half thanks to its tightened-up defensive rotations. After giving Cheltenham too much too easily in the first quarter, the Colonials started running through their defense more crisply.

Panthers senior Gabbi Wright had three assists, but when other players on the floor touched the ball, they fell into P-W’s traps and only had limited ways to get rid of the ball. Those limited lanes were exactly what O’Brien was reading and waiting on.

“We had to make sure we went out far enough, but were able to get back and avoid dribble-penetration and still not let them get a shot off,” O’Brien said. “As soon as they went to the corner, it was going right back to the top and as soon as that happens, I know to jump.”

“It comes from when we do trap, killing the vision of the kid who has the ball so they only have one pass out,” Dougherty said. “Taylor’s in a spot where she’s trying to read where the pass is going and if we don’t kill vision in the trap, then it’s almost impossible to anticipate.”

O’Brien had little trouble finishing on her run-outs and while she quieted down in the third, the guard still had seven points and a second assist to Suchsland as PW outscored Cheltenham 13-4 in the frame.

Cheltenham started taking more long-range shots in the second half, hitting two, but also forcing the Colonials defense to concentrate on boards. Sarah Putsch led the team with nine boards while Diamond chipped in five and O’Brien four. Lauren Coscia had five boards as well, all offensive.

“It’s tough to prepare for Cheltenham with Ashley Jones and Cheltenham without Ashley Jones because they’re two very different teams,” Dougherty said. “She commands so much respect. Yesterday we were trying to figure is she going to play or is she not going to play and in the second quarter, we settled down with that.”

Nolan was happy with the way his young kids played, even with their inconsistencies. In the four games Jones missed, Nolan had four players fill those minutes, but it always seemed like one or two would be off in a given game.

“It’s where we are right now, we’re not kids who have played a ton of basketball other than at our school,” Nolan said. “We make a lot of little mistakes on stuff I kind of assume we’re going to know at times and other things that I’ve been saying since November.”

Both teams seem safely inside the district playoff picture with Tuesday’s unofficial power ranking release. P-W would love to make it in, but Dougherty doesn’t want his players to view it as a given here on out.

“It’s important for us, and we talked to the kids, don’t expect to just make it there next year, you don’t get better by getting a year older,” Dougherty said. “You get better by getting better. We don’t want to think let’s just make the playoffs and be happy with that, we want to try and win.”