Smith, St. John can't overcome deficit

PHILADELPHIA - St. John the Baptist allowed 23 points in the first quarter Saturday. When the Cougars are playing defense like they have in recent seasons, that total is often through three quarters.

For the second time this season against a good team, St. John the Baptist was blitzed from the start and a rally came up short in a 62-54 loss to Penn Charter in the Philly/New York Challenge at Archbishop Ryan High School in Philadelphia.

St. John the Baptist hadn't played since Dec. 21. The Cougars spent three days going back and forth to JFK airport trying to get a flight to Orlando for the Disney Tournament, but couldn't make it out because of the snow during the holiday break. Their game on Friday was postponed thanks to the snow and the layoff may have played a factor in the slow start.

"I don't want to make excuses," said Illinois-bound Alexis Smith, who scored 16 points. "Things happen and you need to play through it. We were too lax on defense. We can't continue to start off poorly against good teams."

St. John the Baptist (6-2) trailed 19-4 with 2:12 left in the first quarter and 23-13 after one. Danielle Sienko was left alone under the basket for a layup with 2:42 left in the first half to give Penn Charter a 34-16 lead, the biggest of the game.

"It's typical of what we've seen this year," St. John the Baptist coach Ted Oberg said. "Maybe they'll learn from this. We have to put together 32 minutes. We play well in spurts and we need to sustain it."

After the first quarter, play was even. Allysia Rohlehr scored eight of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, including a jumper with 1:25 left to pull the Cougars within 58-54. It was the fourth time they cut it to four in the final quarter, but turnovers and an offensive foul in the final minute stymied the comeback.

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Penn Charter (12-1) had just two field goals in the final quarter and was saved by Aleesha Powell, who scored 10 of her 23 points. St. John the Baptist didn't hit foul shots either going 12 of 23 from the line, while Penn Charter went 26-for-30.

"We're still a work in progress," Oberg said. "We'll be better in February and March than we are now."

Playing deep into March is the ultimate goal for the Cougars, who had lofty expectations before the season, but haven't played well in their two biggest tests so far.

"I don't think we're overconfident," Smith said. "We need to back it up. We're a good team and we need to show it."