Ryan, St. Basil share road trip

Fort Myers, Fla., was a long way to go to play a school that's just a few miles down the road, but the girls' teams from St. Basil and Archbishop Ryan said the travel hassle they had to go through to get there was well worth it.

The Ragdolls and Panthers were scheduled to play in the Fort Myers Tournament. But when a snowstorm hit this area after Christmas, it didn't look like either team was going anywhere.

"Our flight [to Florida] was canceled," said St. Basil coach Terry Mancini. So was one for Ryan. Fortunately, Mancini had an ace up his sleeve. His cousin, Mary O'Keefe, is a travel agent, and she managed to secure a bus for the nearly 1,200-mile trip to Fort Myers.

"I was determined to make the trip for the seniors," said Mancini. "Last year was my first season as coach, and we didn't get to go."

Ryan coach Jackie Hartzell learned of Basil's plans because one of her assistants, John Gallagher, has a daughter playing for St. Basil.

"They asked if they could join us," Mancini said. "There were about 18 [players] from St. Basil, and we had a 48-passenger bus, so why not?"

The teams left St. Basil at 6 p.m. Tuesday and spent the next 21 hours on the bus except for an occasional break.

Knowing the teams would be late in arriving, the tournament promoters made some scheduling changes to accommodate them. The first game the Panthers and Ragdolls played on Dec. 28 was against each other. Ryan won, 42-38, and ended up winning its tourney bracket with a 3-0 record. St. Basil finished 2-1 in its bracket.

"It was strange to have to play St. Basil after spending all that time on the bus with them," said Panthers senior Jackie Thompson, who was named to the all-tourney team after scoring 39 points in three games.

"It was an awesome experience," said Thompson's teammate Jill Lynch. "We didn't think we would be going and were upset. We had only about five hours from the time we found out we were going and the time we left. We only stopped two times."

Mancini said the bus was equipped with a bathroom and DVD player.

Ryan sophomore Kelsey Dale and her teammates said it wasn't easy to get sleep on the long ride, but they managed.

"We had a great time," said Shannon Swift, Dale's junior teammate.

In addition to playing basketball, the players went to the beach and basked in 75-degree weather.

"I know the girls had a good time," said Mancini.

More height, please. After her Villa Maria Academy team rallied from a 25-12, third-quarter deficit but eventually lost to Cheltenham, 41-35, Wednesday in the West Chester Classic Tournament, coach Kathy McCartney said she had to be pleased with her team's effort. The Cheltenham Panthers are a perennially strong Class AAAA team. The Hurricanes are Class AAA.

"Cheltenham made some big shots when they had to, but I think we'll be in most games," said the veteran McCartney. Her team has a couple of big Athletic Association of Catholic Academies (AACA) games on Tuesday against Nazareth and Thursday against St. Basil.

"We played pretty good defense against Cheltenham," added McCartney, who would like a little more height on her team. "We're all about the same size. If we can hang around long enough with our defense, we should be OK."

Games to watch. With teams beginning to swing into league play, here are a couple of key games to kick off the new year this week:

Council Rock South at Neshaminy, 7 p.m. Tuesday. South is ranked seventh by The Inquirer. The Redskins are trying to break into the elite group.

Springside at Germantown Academy, 5 p.m. Tuesday. With some key transfers, Springside aims to make a game of it with the 12-time Inter-Academic League champs.

Team Record

Last week's rankings in parentheses. Records are through Sunday.

1. Archbishop Wood (1) 3-1

2. Germantown Ac. (2) 7-1

3. Mount St. Joseph (3) 9-0

4. Prep Charter (4) 7-0

5. Council Rock No. (5) 5-0

6. Penn Charter (6) 9-0

7. Council Rock So. (7) 4-1

8. Cardinal O'Hara (9) 3-1

9. Archbishop Carroll (8) 2-4

10. Nazareth Ac. (10) 7-1

Under consideration (listed alphabetically): Boyertown (8-1), Downingtown East (6-3), Downingtown West (5-2), Notre Dame Academy (6-4), Spring-Ford (7-1), Villa Maria Academy (6-2).

- Don Beideman
EndText