Downingtown East hangs on for key win over Central Bucks South

UWCHLAN >> The Downingtown East boys basketball team has let a couple games slip away in the late stages this season.

It almost happened again Saturday afternoon as a tough Central Bucks South team roared back from an 11-point deficit after three quarters to send the game into overtime. But, the Cougars got the job done in the extra frame and came away with an important 62-59 triumph, which helps the Cougars’ playoff point position as the visiting Titans were 10th in the District 1 Class 6A standings coming into the game.

“I really thought our effort was very good today,” Downingtown East coach John Goodman said. “We knew that Central Bucks South was going to be tough and credit to them and coach (Jason) Campbell. They came back from being down double digits and we did not make some good decisions late in the game. We came back in overtime and knocked down some free throws when we had to. We have had trouble finishing games and it was good to see us come back from a tough loss Thursday to Coatesville and get a win against a very good team here.”

Downingtown East (5-5) roared out to a 41-30 lead after three quarters on the strength of Grant Umberger’s three 3-pointers in the third period.

Umberger led the Cougars with 17 points, to go along with six rebounds. Dave Owsik tallied 16 for Downingtown East and Jayden Rowe added 11. Big man Andrew King fouled out of the game late in the fourth period, having tallied nine points, seven boards and four blocks in his afternoon of work. King was instrumental in making a lot of Titans shots go astray with his defensive presence in the paint.

But the visiting Titans (7-4) would not go away. South outscored the Cougars 23-12 in the final period and the Titans got a huge game from Alex Dietz, who led all scorers with 23 points. But, even so, it still looked like the Cougars would win the game in regulation. With a two-point lead and 6.4 seconds to play, Downingtown East had the ball coming out of a timeout.

Umberger’s inbound pass was picked off by Dietz, who fed Mike Farley underneath the basket for the layup and it was a 53-53 game at the end of regulation. The Cougars turned the ball over six times in the fourth quarter after having only three miscues through three periods.

The overtime did not start well for the Cougars as Zach O’Connor gave the Titans a 57-55 lead with a driving layup with 2:41 to play. But, the Titans wouldn’t score a basket for the final 2:41 as they went 0-for-four from the field in that span. Umberger took a nice feed from Owsik to score in tight and it was a 60-57 Downingtown East advantage with 47 seconds to play.

South came up the floor and the Cougars fouled Dietz, who hit just one of two free throws and the Cougars still led 60-58 with 46 seconds to go. Jayden Rowe got fouled by Dietz with 44 seconds to go, but missed the front end of a one and one and the Titans had life.

South worked it around before Dietz was fouled again. The Titans’ star again hit just one of two from the free throw line and it was a 60-59 Cougar lead with 11 seconds to play. The Titans had to gamble on defense at that point and this time Rowe knocked down both free throws, and it was a 62-59 game. The Cougars held on when Dietz’s shot at the buzzer hit rim, and East had a very important nonleague victory.

“It is a little hard to come back emotionally when you lose a lead late in the game,” Owsik said. “But, we have had a little trouble late in games and we only have three people with experience. And our best ball-handler and point guard Jayden Rowe is a junior and he has not been in these situations before. But, we found enough energy in overtime to get the win.”

Downingtown East 62, Central Bucks South 59 (OT)

CB SOUTH (59): Dietz 7 8-11 23, O’Connor 1 0-1 2, Walrich 3 0-1 6, Consoletti 3 0-0 7, Mauz 1 0-0 2, Farley 4 2-2 11, Wursts 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 12-18 59.

DOWNINGTOWN EAST (62): King 4 1-3 9, Bousum 1 1-4 3, Umberger 5 4-4 17, Owsik 4 7-8 16, Basilii 3 0-0 6, Rowe 2 3-6 11, Belgian 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 16-25 62.

CB South 9 7 14 23 6 – 59

Downingtown East 15 8 18 12 9 – 62

3-point goals: Consoletti, Dietz, Farley, Rowe 2, Owsik, Umberger 3.