Downingtown West stands tall after halftime to beat Henderson
West Chester >> Buoyed by a 16-1 run just after halftime, Downingtown West defeated host West Chester Henderson, 64-44, Thursday evening in a contest in which they led all the way.
The Whippets (2-2), who feature five players on their varsity roster 6-foot-5 or taller, led at halftime 27-19. Downingtown West head coach Stu Ross thought his team could be doing better.
To view a photo gallery of Downingtown West’s win at West Chester Henderson click here
“We were pressing a little bit in the first half as far as trying to get onto the break and not being solid defensively,” said Ross. “We were taking some risks, taking some shortcuts that we didn’t need to take.
“So we [coaches] told them to come out in the third quarter and focus on one stop, one offensive possession. We were getting some solid stops in the third quarter, which allowed our offense to be able to excel in the third quarter.”
Thanks to their toughened defense, the Whippets erupted for 25 points in the third quarter, led by senior 6-foot-5 forward Cam McCole, who converted six baskets underneath and scored 14 points in the third period.
“After Coach [Ross] told us what we could do better at halftime, we really played together as a team and rebounded,” said McCole. “In our previous games, we really turned it on in the second half, and he told us to keep it going like that.”
Early in the third quarter, the Whippets’ 6-foot-5 junior forward scored on a putback to give the visitors a 31-20 lead. McCole scored the next three field goals, the third one coming after a key defensive rebound snared by 6-0 senior guard Nassesm Roberson, who had nine first-half points.
Junior guard Hunter Blair then drove in for a layup to increase the lead to 39-20, Roberson’s drive made it 41-20, and McCole’s fifth field goal of the 16-1 run made it 43-20.
Just before the end of the third quarter, Roberson stole the ball, then broke free for an end-to-end drive to give the Warriors a 51-28 advantage. Roberson tallied 13 points Thursday evening.
McCole finished the night with 21 points, and it’s not his highest total of the young season – he tallied 26 points against Unionville Dec. 8.
While Downingtown West relies on its impressive height, Ross pointed out that last year’s team, which featured 6-foot-9 senior Stu McAvoy (now at Susquehanna University) and 6-foot-7 senior Greg Barton (now playing for Gwynedd Mercy), was taller than the 2018-19 edition of Whippets.
“Ever since I came here three years ago; we’ve always been one of the bigger teams, so we like to focus on inside-out, high-low action,” said Ross. “When we get our post going, teams have to collapse it, which allows some of our shooters to get some clean-up looks from the outside. I know that we’re a better shooting team than what we showed tonight, but as long as we got the win, that’s what important.”
And the Whippets are back to .500, after losing to Conestoga (73-67) and Unionville (58-55) to start the season, then beating Glen Mills Tuesday, 61-53. Downingtown West will host Coatesville Tuesday Dec. 18, then face Avon Grove Dec. 20 and Harrisburg Dec. 22.
For West Chester Henderson, Thursday’s contest was a learning experience as the young Warriors (1-2) have already improved from last year’s 0-22 record. It was tough for the Warriors at the start of the game Thursday, as the visitors bolted out to an early 11-4 lead.
West Chester Henderson first-year head coach Rob Frattura said, “I thought after the first 2-3 minutes we really calmed down and broke their press without a problem; that’s why we were only trailing by eight at the half. They could have ran us off the floor, but we sucked it up and we ended up running our press break, and it worked in the first half. In the third quarter, we kind of lost our focus as to what we’re trying to do as a team, and we started playing individual basketball, which is not what we try to promote.
“I knew exactly what West was going to do. I saw their win against Glen Mills, and I knew the pressure came from their guards, the guards make them go. Then, when everyone’s collpasing on the guards, other big guys are hitting jumpers. They’re not as big as they’ve normally been, but they’re very, very well-coached and they have some pieces that are really, really nice.
“Give West a lot of credit, they sped us up, they’ve got very good athletes, and Roberson’s really tough, he’s a handful, one of the best players in the Ches-Mont League.”
For Henderson, senior guard Brendan Gray scored 12 points and junior guard John Briglia tallied nine. Ten different Warriors reached the scoring column Thursday evening.
“We have a young team, which is only going to help us down the road,” said Frattura. “Going 0-22 last year was a tough pill to swallow, and it’s tough for kids when they’ve lost, to kind of know how it is to win; so when we beat Radnor the other night [Dec. 8], it was important, a nice win for us. The hardest thing for kids to know is that little baby steps have to be taken. Our freshman team is 2-0, our JV is 1-1, so we’re taking our little baby steps.”
Downingtown West 64, West Chester Henderson 44
Downingtown West 18 9 25 12 – 64
W.C. Henderson 9 10 9 16 – 44
Downingtown West (64): McCole 9 3-6 21, Roberson 6 0-3 13, Howard 2 0-5 4, Blair 3 2-5 9, Kaiser 0 1-4 1, Spann 1 0-1 2, Hillsinger 1 1-5 4, Shelton 0 4-8 4, Hurley 0 3-4 3, Dever 0 0-0 0, Schwab 1 0-0 2, Rosano 0 0-0 0, Walter 0 1-2 1, Totals 23 15-41 64.
W.C. Henderson (44): Dinacci 1 0-0 2, Bertrando 0 0-0 0, Fay 1 1-2 3, Wierman 0 1-2 1, Harkins 2 2-3 6, Gray 4 1-4 12, Briglia 4 0-0 9, Killoran 0 2-2 2, Armstrong 0 0-0 0, Laudato 2 0-0 4, Brooks 1 0-0 2, Washington 1 1-2 3, Totals 16 8-15 44.
Three-point field goals: DW – Blair, Hillsinger, Roberson; WCH – Gray 3, Briglia,
