Shawnee moves on; Seneca hopes fade The Renegades' 41-25 win earned them a berth in the playoffs. Seneca still has an outside shot.

The scene inside the Shawnee gymnasium told a story of relief . . . and missed opportunity.

The Shawnee girls' basketball team laughed, hugged and was congratulated by fans at the conclusion of its game yesterday.

On the other side of the scorer's table, several Seneca players hung their heads while walking to the locker room in silence.

The Renegades took a 41-25 victory in a game that was much more than an Olympic Conference Patriot Division matchup.

With games against Woodrow Wilson tomorrow and Moorestown on Saturday, Shawnee (9-7, 5-1 division) was guaranteed a berth in the South Jersey Group 3 playoffs. Teams with records of .500 or better on Saturday's cutoff date qualify for postseason play.

The Golden Eagles (8-9, 3-3) were hoping to make their first-ever postseason appearance. Seneca is still alive. But it must upset a heavily favored Cherokee squad tomorrow to advance.

"It's a relief to know that we can play Thursday's game and Saturday's game and not have to say, 'Oh, we need one more victory,' like Seneca was," Shawnee center Erin Wolgamot said. "Seneca really hustled, so it's a shame that they can't make the playoffs.

"But we haven't been there in a couple of years. So it's nice to finally get a relieved feeling that we got there."

Shawnee's inside presence and Seneca's inability to make open shots decided the game.

Wolgamot, forward Kira Maier and reserve forward Ali Hartnett combined for 31 of the Renegades' 41 points.

Maier, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, scored a game-high 13 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and blocked two shots. Nine of her points came after intermission.

Wolgamot, a 6-2 junior, finished with 11 points, five rebounds and a block. Hartnett added seven points and six rebounds.

A lot of the trio's baskets - especially in the second half - came off second chances.

When the Golden Eagles weren't being outhustled, they were having a hard time hitting the basket.

Seneca shot 29 percent from the field. The Golden Eagles missed seven consecutive field-goal attempts during two stretches of the game.

The first time Seneca missed seven straight attempts was at the start of the second quarter. The Golden Eagles did it again during 6-minute, 27-second span in the fourth quarter. As a result, Shawnee turned a 31-23 cushion into a 39-23 advantage.

"You can't win any ball games against a quality program like Shawnee when you come out shooting like that," Seneca coach Bob Hawkins said.

"We are fairly young, but we have to stop using that as an excuse," Hawkins added.

Carly Strickland finished with a team-high 10 points for Seneca. Teammate Mel Wittenberger added 9.

Seneca 8 6 7 4 - 25

Shawnee6 13 12 10 - 41

SE: Kate Marino 2, Carly Strickland 10, Chelsea Grover 4, Mel Wittenberger 9.

SH: Melissa Chu 4, Ali Hartnett 7, Kira Maier 13, Alissa Hardiman 6, Erin Wolgamot 11.