Angeline scores 1,000th point and hits game-winner as Downingtown East edges Kennett in overtime
KENNETT SQUARE — It was Cary Angeline’s day at Kennett High School on Saturday afternoon.
Angeline led Downingtown East back from a seven point deficit in the second half and had a game-winning tip-in with 0.8 seconds left in overtime to give the Cougars a 54-52 win.
In the midst of Angeline’s game-high 31 points, he surpassed 1,000 points in his career, marking the first time a Downingtown East boys’ hoops player surpassed the threshold.
Angeline’s valiant effort gave East (5-4) a huge road win which looked in serious question almost the entire game.
“It’s really special, I could not have done it without all my coaches, teammates and family’, Angeline said. “The 1,000 points is huge but just to get that win, we were down for a lot of it and to come back and get this win feels really good.’
“It’s funny because I scored a thousand points at Kennett,’ Downingtown East head coach John Goodman said. “But it was just a matter of when he was going to get it, you run out of superlatives for a kid like that. He is so coachable, super professional, and he just wants to win. For him to get 1,000 midway through his junior year is absurd.’
The game started slow as there were only 12 combined points in the 1st quarter. It was a half-court offense kind of game with both defenses sitting back and not pressing. Kennett was able to run their offense through Jackson Hyland who had a team-high 25 points.
East was playing a 2-3 zone in the first half and Hyland did a good job of getting into the middle of that and either finishing at the rim or dishing it out to the perimeter to Connor McGlone who made three triples in the first half.
The Cougars were having trouble containing Hyland as they trailed by five going into the halftime.
The third quarter was much of the same story as the Blue Demons (6-5) had success running their half-court offense. East was getting into foul trouble and Kennett did a good job converting their foul shots.
The momentum began to switch in the fourth quarter thanks to Angeline. He had a mini 6-0 run by himself and tied the game at 39-39 with his 1,000th career point. Goodman called a timeout right after the ball went through the hoop which allowed the small crowd at Kennett to give him a hand.
This gave East brief momentum until Hyland and the Blue Demons made a few shots to give them a 47-43 lead with a minute left. With East needing a three, Jake Truchan sunk one from the top of the key and cut the Kennett lead to 47-46.
After Hyland went 1-of-2 from the free throw line, it gave East a shot at tying the game.
The ball went to Angeline, who delivered by getting fouled and making both free throws to force overtime.
The Cougars brought their momentum into overtime and took the early lead. With 30 seconds left, Matt Kelly tied it with a 3-pointer from the corner bringing the score 52-52.
After a timeout, it was East that had the chance to win the game on a final shot. After a miss from Marquan Gallimore, Angeline was in the perfect spot for the tip-in and to give the Cougars the 54-52 lead in the final second. After Hyland’s final desperation shot fell short, the East bench stormed the court and surrounded Angeline.
“For us, every game we are learning to play together, we are learning a lot of basketball 101 stuff,’ Goodman said. “Any win for us right now is very,very exciting. We are trying to build up a solid team and this is one that we really need to have.’
