Cheltenham’s Taliaferro relishes role as super-sub

Cheltenham senior Liz Taliaferro has found her niche coming off the bench and she's having a ball doing it. Just ask coach Bob Schaefer whose Panthers are 9-0 and ranked third by The Inquirer.

"It's a good role for me," said Taliaferro who jumped into the sixth-man spot last season. "There's no pressure. I go into the games seeing what we need and then trying to produce it. I don't need to be the star. We have other players who are lot better than me. I try to do the little things - do my job."

With a couple of key players missing Tuesday night against Upper Merion, Taliaferro stepped in and contributed 11 points.

Stanford-bound Taliaferro, who wants to be a doctor, considers herself a strong defender but points out that she's working to improve her offense.

Asked about her height, Taliaferro had a ready answer.

"It depends on who you ask," she said. "I'm listed at 5-5 [in the program] but my doctor says I'm 5-3. Those sneakers must give me an extra two inches," she said chuckling.

Although the Panthers are short overall in the height department, Taliaferro has high expectations for the team which made it to the PIAA Class AAAA semifinals last seasons for the 11th time in 16 years.

"Our goal is to win a state championship but we'll take them one at a time," said Taliaferro, a National Honor Society member who hopes to make the Stanford team as a walk-on. "Nobody's recruiting me, but I feel I've got nothing to lose."

The Catholic League schedule-makers probably did Archbishop Prendergast a favor so coach Tom Stewart and his players are hoping they can take advantage of it.

Off to an 8-1 start, the Pandas don't face the league's major powers, Archbishop Carroll, Cardinal O'Hara and Archbishop Wood, until February giving them even more time to hone their game. The Prendie players came back at the end of December from a trip to Florida where they won two of three games in the Daytona Beach Sunshine Classic. The loss came at the hands of Woodstock, Ga., 65-64, in overtime.

"We had a chance to win that one in both regulation and overtime but it didn't happen," Stewart said. "I believe they were ranked third in their state at the time."

The Pandas had trouble with Woodstock's 6-1 freshman point guard Clara Young. She scored 28 points and handed out seven assists to figure in 42 of Woodstock's points. Woodstock lost by two points in the tourney championship game.

"We showed we came to play," Stewart said of his team's performance in the tourney. "This is a resilient group so I think we'll be ready for the big games in the Catholic League. We've come from behind in a couple of games."

Senior Jenna Gassew, who had 11 points in Prendie's 67-24 romp over Kennedy-Kenrick Tuesday night, agrees.

"Our patience is paying off," the 5-11 Gassew said. "We've been getting people into the action. We're finding each other.

"Playing Carroll, Wood and O'Hara at the end the season should be an advantage as we head into the playoffs. I'm excited about that."

"We're a different team this year," added teammate Jess Rotella, a 12-point contributor in the win over the Wolverines.

Council Rock South has usually taken a backseat to intra-district rival Council Rock North when it comes to girls' basketball, but the Golden Hawks are making some noise of their own this season.

South, owner of a 7-1 record, will get a chance to see how far it has come Friday night when it visits Abington, ranked fifth by The Inquirer, in a big Suburban One League National Conference matchup. The Ghosts are 8-0 overall, 3-0 in the conference. South is 4-0 in conference play.

"I have three seniors in the starting lineup who are well aware of the importance of the game," said second-year Golden Hawks coach Monica Young.

Her team's only loss was a one-point decision to Methacton.

"They know Abington and Emily Lear and what they need to do. Hopefully we learned something from our one loss," she said.

Young started the three seniors, Lea Britton, Chelsea Allen and Emily Nowicke, along with 6-2 sophomore Alex Wheatley and freshman point guard Alexis Hofstadtler. Although Wheatley is the team's leading scoring, Young said anyone is capable of having a big night.

"In our game against St. Basil (a 65-45 win for the Golden Hawks), Alexis hit 4-for-5 from three-point range," Young noted.

The Golden Hawks defeated Bensalem, 59-36, Tuesay night. Lear scored 23 points in Abington's 63-43 win over Pennsbury the same evening.