Balanced Coatesville pulls away from Downingtown East
UWCHLAN — Whether you are going into a fight, a of tug of war, or even a boys basketball game, it is always a good idea to have a lot of guys you can depend on.
In a Ches-Mont League National Division contest Thursday, Coatesville High School had plenty of guys who did the job for them. They placed 10 players in the scoring column, led by Keenan Coleman’s 16 points, and built a 10-point halftime lead en route to a 70-52 victory over Downingtown East. Coatesville (4-1 Ches-Mont National, 7-5 overall) won its second game in a row after dropping three games in a row.
“We are starting to come together as a team,’ Coatesville coach Chuck Moore said. “And I am getting more confidence in my juniors because they are getting enough varsity experience right now and they are doing the job for us. Tonight was typical Coatesville basketball. A lot of guys doing their jobs.’
Downingtown East (1-4, 5-6) played the Red Raiders very tough for the first 12 minutes, trailing only 16-15 at the end of the first period. But, as they have doing to teams for ages, the Red Raiders went on a spurt in the second period to open up a 37-27 halftime lead. Coatesville shot 14 for 26 in the first half and 24 for 49 for the game.
After a Cary Angeline bucket to make it 18-17 in the second, Coatesville went on a 10-0 run. Coleman drained one of his three 3-pointers to start the spurt. Amir Ealey, who was strong all night underneath, scored to make it a 23-17 game. After a turnover, John Lott went down the lane for a basket and a 25-17 advantage. Then Coleman drained another 3-ball to complete the run and put Downingtown East back on their heels going into the locker room at halftime The Cougars shot just 33 percent (8 for 24) in the first and were only getting constant offense from Angeline.
“We had a couple losses over the break and we got together and said we have to pick it up for this season,’ Coleman said. “‘We have a lot of guys who can score and I feel we are coming together as a team right now. We had to worry about their big man (Cary Angeline) and that was about it.’
Angeline tried to keep the Cougars in the game in the third, but the wave of guys coming off the bench for Coatesville seemed endless. Every player that came in the game contributed in some way, either scoring, playing defense or rebounding the basketball and you could see the Cougars start to tire.
Coleman drained a three to bild a 40-27 lead. Moments later, Justus Martinez scored in tight to make it 42-27.
Angeline, who led all scorers with 25 points, netted a basket and Jaret Cooper drained a 3-ball to cut the lead to 42-31. But, Coatesville was just too good for the Cougars. Ealey scored on a follow and Martinez came right back with a runner in the lane and at the end of the third, Coatesville was up 51-35.
Downingtown East continued to play hard in the fourth, but could not put a dent in the deficit. Coatesville also had a large margin in the rebounding war as Ealey, Martinez, Pittman all had big games on the glass.
The Cougars were hampered by an injury to Marquan Galimore 30 minutes before the game, but head coach John Goodman was not making any excuses.
“We had Marquan roll an ankle right before the game,’ Goodman said. “But, we just try to control what we can and not worry about other stuff. Coatesville just had too many guys and they made some plays on us where we did not get back on defense. But we will keep fighting.’
