West Chester East keeps rolling with impressive win at Coatesville
CALN >> To win on the road at Coatesville, it helps to start fast and not be afraid of the names in the rafters — or those on the opposing bench.
For West Chester East, in the midst of a memorable regular season, speed and fearlessness have helped the Vikings become the top Class 5A team in District 1.
The Vikings bolted out of the gate Friday night against a stunned Coatesville squad and led wire to wire in a key, 64-55, Ches-Mont League National Division matchup that wasn’t actually as close as the final margin indicates.
The result leaves East and Coatesville tied for first place in the National Division with just three division games left, and also gives the Vikings a trifecta of incredible road wins over District 1 powers this season: at Coatesville, at Lower Merion and at Chester.
West Chester East (9-1 league, 16-2 overall) jetted out to a 17-2 lead in the first quarter and held a 17-4 advantage after one period. The Vikings shot a torrid eight for 13 in the opening frame while Coatesville was just one for nine from the field.
The Vikings’ 6-foot-9 big man Andrew Carr was magnificent, leading all scorers with 30 points, to go along with 14 rebounds and four blocked shots. Coatesville (9-1, 13-5) tried many things against Carr, but nothing was very effective as Carr bailed out the Vikings at any sign of trouble.
“This is just an awesome feeling to beat a great team like Coatesville,” Carr said. “I had never beaten them in my career and I know that the fast start was key for us. It allowed us to control the tempo of the game. The first time we played them this year we got way behind early and never could recover. We knew we had to come out fast tonight.”
Coatesville settled down in the second quarter and actually cut into the West Chester East lead on the strength of their guard play. Jhamir Brickus led the Red Raiders with 25 points, leavint he senior star four points shy of the school’s all-time scoring record of 2,274, held by John Allen. Brickus and Dapree Bryant were pressuring the ball up the floor but the Vikings held together and held a 32-17 lead at halftime. The Vikings had only six turnovers in the first half.
The third quarter was when West Chester East salted the game away. The Vikings outscored Coatesville, 19-10, in the third period to take a commanding 51-27 lead after three periods. Carr scored eight points in the third and got help from Tym Richardson, who ended the game with 13 points. Freshman Jack Kushner added eight points to the Vikings’ cause.
When Kieran Hefferan lobbed a pass to Carr for a huge slam, it made the Vikings’ lead 38-21. Then, after a Coatesville miss, Richardson came down the floor and hit Hefferan for a 3-pointer and West Chester East was up, 41-21. After shooting a putrid six for 22 in the opening half, Coatesville shot a cold four for 14 in the third quarter, hampering its comeback chances.
“We really got a lot of confidence from getting that easy lead,” Hefferan said. “We were able to relax a little and control the tempo of the game. And when they made their charge in the fourth quarter we were able to hang on. It is really a great feeling to beat a team as good as they are. They have fantastic guards.”
With their backs to the wall, Coatesville came out and tried to make a game of it in the fourth. The Red Raiders outscored the Vikings 28-13 in the final frame and forced seven West Chester East turnovers. But, the Vikings’ lead was so big it never felt that East was in real trouble.
Carr scored in tight to make it a 51-30 game. Hefferan then drained a mid-range jumper to make it 53-30 and the Red Raiders started to come back. Coatesville upped the defensive intensity and after Brickus stripped a Viking guard and went in to score, the Vikings’ lead was down to 58-41, but time was running out on Coatesville.
The lead got down to 60-46 when Bryant took a feed from Brickus to score a layup, but there was just 1:56 left to play. East got a basket from Carr, and the Vikings held on for a very big win over a highly touted Coatesville team.
West Chester East shot 27 for 43 from the field and every time it looked like the Raiders would come back, one of the Vikings would make a shot.
“The kids played really hard and smart tonight,” West Chester East coach Tom Durant said. “We got off to a good start and then held up to the charge. Coatesville is relentless. They just keep coming at you and coming at you. And we needed that big lead to hang on. And to win here where the fans are great and most of the fans who are here are from the Coatesville community it is a great place to play. I am really proud of my kids tonight.”
While the Coatesville players trudged to their locker room, Red Raider coach Marc Turner was very sharp with his comments.
“We came out and were not prepared to play tonight,” Turner said. “It was very clear this game meant more to West Chester East than it did to Coatesville.”
WC East 64, Coatesville 55
WC EAST (64): Carr 13 4-4 30, Richardson 6 0-0 13, McCray 0 2-2 2, Dedda 2 0-0 6, Hefferan 2 0-0 5. Totals 27 6-6 64.
COATESVILLE (55): Jh. Brickus 10 3-5 25, Bryant 5 2-2 12, D.Brickus 2 0-0 6, Stukes 0 0-0 0, Proctor 1 4-6 6, Bunch 1 0-0 2, Stewart 2 0-0 4. Totals 21 9-13 55.
WC East 17 15 19 13 – 64
Coatesville 4 13 10 28 – 55
3-point goals: Dedda 2, Richardson, Hefferan, D.Brickus 2, Jh. Brickus 2.
