Owen J. Roberts rallies late to take down Pottstown
BUCKTOWN >> Kylie Cahill’s stats don’t jump off the sheet.
The junior forward is averaging just under six points per game and only has one double-digit outing to her credit this season.
Yet on Tuesday night — a night where she finished with more fouls than she did points — Cahill’s lone score proved to be the tide-turner as Owen J. Roberts beat Pottstown 43-41 in a cross-divisional Pioneer Athletic Conference clash.
With a shade over a minute left and Pottstown clinging to a 39-38 lead, Cahill picked off an errant pass near the 3-point line and took it the length of the court for a right-handed finish, giving OJR its first lead in well over a quarter.
It was a case of the defensive press working to perfection, she admits.
“My main talent in basketball is defense,” said Cahill, “so I just try to go hard. Obviously in a situation like that where the game is close, you are trying to get what you can. So when I saw the trap happening, I knew that girl was one (pass) away. As soon as the girl getting doubled looked at her, I knew she was thinking to pass it.
“I just sprinted to get there and try to get something out of it.”
And she got plenty.
Cahill got her first points of the night and the Wildcats gained a lead they wouldn’t give away, clinging on in thanks to a pair of clutch free-throws from Diana Rantz.
The win improves Owen J. Roberts (1-4 PAC Liberty) to 4-8 overall while Pottstown (2-3 PAC Frontier) falls to 6-7 overall.
Senior guard Camryn Glenn knocked down three 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 13 points while Olivia LeClaire followed with 12 points, seven of which came during the first quarter. Rantz scored eight points while Darby Stuart finished with four points and eight boards, battling down low with Pottstown’s size on the glass throughout the night.
“We’re getting eight, nine kids out there playing, and they’re all contributing in some really positive ways,” said Owen J. Roberts head coach Jeremy Mellon. “We’re starting to do a lot of positive things and working really well together. That’s really good to see.”
From the Pottstown sideline, coach Chris Jackson paced the floor as his team let a six-point lead slip away during the final two minutes. Pottstown had some chances but couldn’t capitalize from the free-throw line during the final stretch, which was still playing back in Jackson’s mind.
“That’s the ball game,” he said. “Too many turnovers, too many missed foul shots. When you go 4-for-8 from the line in the fourth quarter and then lose by two — that’s not how we want to finish.
“I think nerves played into it,” he added. “We’re not in that position too often, so they were nervous. We weren’t being patient with our passes, we were throwing up some bad shots. We shouldn’t be making these mistakes 12 games into the season.”
Junior guard Gianna Epps led the way with 12 points while Ebony Reddick had 11. Miyana Brant knocked down a pair of 3-pointers en route to nine points while Alivia Lopez made her presence felt in the paint and on the glass with six points and 14 rebounds.
On The Bright Side
Pottstown is just one win away from claiming its best mark for overall wins since the 2011-2012 season when the Trojans finished 8-11.
“We’re not where we want to be by any means,” said Jackson, “not yet. (Our record) is good in comparison to where we’ve been in years past. I’m starting see better … I see a lot more out of our players.”
Making The Grade
Mellon, a social studies teacher at Owen J. Roberts High School, let his teacher voice take over during the postgame interviews.
“It’s a learning curve,” he said, referencing the Wildcats’ youth, boasting a roster with just two seniors. “Each game we’ve lost so far this year, we’ve learned something from it. Now we’ve got to be able to ace these tests.”
