Vikings parlay forceful second half into comeback win at Henderson
WEST CHESTER – Tentative to forceful.
That was the progression from first half to second for the West Chester East girls’ basketball squad on Tuesday in a key rivalry clash against West Chester Henderson. And it helped the Vikings surge back to post a 39-37 road win while also avenging a 17-point home setback to the Warriors earlier this season.
“We knew that the first time we played (Henderson), that wasn’t us,” said East head coach Erin Listrani. “That was not a representation of our team this season. So our players had this game circled on their calendar.”
Now 5-3 in the Ches-Mont National (12-4 overall), the Vikings are just a game behind the Warriors (6-2, 9-7) in the race for second place and a spot in the conference tournament. Downingtown East (7-0) is all alone in first.
“This puts us in the mix,” said junior captain Lauren Klieber, who scored a game-high 17 points for East.
“This is a big rivalry — both teams know it. And (Tuesday) it all came down to pride.”
Even though the Vikings outscored the Warriors by eight in the second half, it could have been even more pronounced if East hadn’t struggled so much from the free throw line. But the Vikings still outscored Henderson 13-6 to end the game, taking its first second half lead with 4:11 to go.
“It just shows that this team believes, they stay together and they have confidence in each other,” Listrani said. “That’s what makes me the most proud.”
Down 31-26 early in the final period, the Vikings went on a 10-2 run sparked by junior forward Megan Merten, who scored three fast break buckets in a row.
“Meg struggled in the first half, but she stayed strong and confident,” Listrani said.
Klieber followed it up by nailing a big 3-pointer with 1:35 on the clock, and then her teammates chipped in a pair of free throws (out of six attempts) in the final minute to close it out.
“We just didn’t rebound the basketball,” lamented Warriors’ head coach Greta Neff. “You can’t get outrebounded like that. It shouldn’t have been that close.
“But I give (East) credit. They got after it — they worked. We just have to get tougher. West Chester East came out (in the second half) with a purpose.”
The Vikings also made a third quarter push, pulling to within a bucket heading into the fourth, but was undermined by hitting just 2 of 9 freebies in the period.
“It was just a mental thing with confidence,” Listrani said of the teams’ 9-22 effort at the line.
“It was just a fluke,” Klieber added. “This was just one of our off-days from the foul line, but we made up for it in other areas.”
For East, it came on the boards, scrapping for loose balls and picking up the intensity on defense.
“In the second half we were more physical than in the first half,” Listrani pointed out.
“We let (Henderson) muscle us around a bit in the first half,” Klieber added. “In the second we had to get on the boards and finish.
“In the locker room at the half, we wrote ‘PRIDE’ on the board and that’s how we came out in the second half. We knew that this was our game as long as we came out with that mentality.”
With both sides content to play it deliberately on offense, the difference in the first half was Henderson’s Brittany Forcine. The junior guard came off the bench to go 3-for-3 on 3-pointers to spark a 15-0 mid-half rally by the Warriors, who started the game with three straight turnovers, but went into the intermission ahead 20-14.
Forcine led Henderson with 13 points, but Molly Manion (eight points) and Ellie Shea (seven points) were the only starters who had more than two buckets.
“There is work to be done,” Neff said.
“We tried to run our offense from too far away from the basket.”
Merten scored all of her nine points in the second half for East, who forced 18 turnovers and committed just nine. And even though Klieber was 3-for-6 from the line, she was the most impactful player on the floor.
“Lauren’s been huge for us, but what makes her special is that she is one of the most unselfish players on the team,” Listrani said.
“She makes great decisions. If she is open, she has the confidence to take the shot, if she’s not she has confidence in her teammates to get them the ball.”
West Chester East 39, West Chester Henderson 37
WEST CHESTER EAST – K. Douglass 1 1-6 3; Kerns 1 2-2 4; Kushner 2 2-2 6; Klieber 6 3-6 17; McDonald 0 0-4 0; Merten 4 1-2 9. Totals 14 9-22 39.
WEST CHESTER HENDERSON – DePrisco 1 0-0 2; Skinner 1 2-2 5; Forcine 5 0-0 13; Manion 4 0-1 8; Klecnker 1 0-0 2; Shea 3 1-1 7. Totals 15 3-4 37.
West Chester East 6 8 10 15 — 39
West Chester Henderson 10 10 6 11 — 37
Three-point goals: Klieber 2, Skinner, Forcine 3.
