Great Valley edges Rustin to clinch Ches-Mont American regular-season title

East Whiteland >> Great Valley’s razor-thin 61-60 girls’ basketball win against visiting West Chester Rustin Thursday evening, which wrapped up the Ches-Mont American League regular-season title for the Patriots, was a tale of two halves.
In the first half, the Patriots (17-2, 9-0) were in complete command, limiting the Golden Knights to 23 percent field goal shooting and causing 11 turnovers, while forging a 29-14 halftime lead.
After halftime, Rustin found its stride – hitting more than 50 percent of its field goal attempts and causing nine Great Valley turnovers with its pressure defense. With 23 seconds to go, the Golden Knights gained their first lead of the game, 60-59, on a Rustin steal and subsequent layup by freshman Laine McGurk.
Fortunately for the home team, Patriot junior guard Ashley Sullivan scored from underneath with 10 seconds to go, and Great Valley held on for a breathtaking 61-60 win.
Great Valley senior forward Tessa Liberatoscioli, who led all scorers with 20 points, described the winning play: “We knew how much time we had left, and we had to get it past half-court. It was 2-on-2 down there by the basket, with Ashley and Emma [DeRobertis]. Emma thought Ashley had the better shot, so she passed it to Ashley. Rustin really put us on our toes tonight.”
In the final few seconds, Rustin got one shot off from the right side. The ball bounced off the rim and landed about 8-10 feet left of the basket, where several players were trying to gain control of the ball. The buzzer sounded, and Great Valley was the Ches-Mont American League regular-season champion for the first time since 2016.
“When the buzzer sounded, and we realized we clinched the [regular-season] division title, that was probably one of the best moments of my life,” said Liberatoscioli. “There was a lot of cheering and screaming in the locker room after the game. It means a lot, knowing that my teammates wanted [the division title] as much as I did.”
The Golden Knights (11-6, 6-2) came into Thursday’s contest in second place in the Ches-Mont American League, and have already clinched a final four berth in the upcoming Ches-Mont American League playoffs. Earlier this month [Jan. 8], the Golden Knights lost to Great Valley, 58-40, at home.
In the first quarter of Thursday’s game, Great Valley roared out of the starting blocks to a 12-2 lead.
“The key to our first half was playing hard basketball on the defensive end and staying composed on the offensive end,” said Great Valley head coach Alex Venarchik. “Rustin didn’t shoot that great early on, we took advantage of some rebounds and got some run-outs.”
The Patriots have been receiving solid rebounding this season, particularly from Liberatoscioli (more than 8 rpg) and DeRobertis (7 rpg).
“And everybody else in our lineup has been averaging at least a couple of rebounds,” said Venarchik. “Our consistency all year has been our defense and rebounding. We know our shooting is not going to be there every night, but we try to see if we can push the pace a little bit and get some easy buckets.”
In the first quarter, Sullivan scored eight points, and finished the game with 15.
“Ashley tore her ACL back in the spring and came back to play for us at the end of December,” said Venarchik. “For her to come back and have the game that she did tonight was great; she’s really starting to hit her stride.”
By halftime, Sullivan and Liberatoscioli had combined for 20 points, the the hosts had built a 29-14 lead.
In the third quarter, Rustin exploded for 23 points, as senior Sam Greer and sophomore Laney Costin combined for 16 points in the period.
Rustin head coach Lauren Stackhouse said, “We went into the locker room at halftime, and we said our goal was to get [Great Valley’s] lead down to single digits. We executed our stuff in the second half, come out with a lot of intensity.”
The visitors cut Great Valley’s lead to 47-37 by the end of the third period.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Liberatoscioli gave the hosts some breathing room, twice driving inside for layups to give the Patriots a 52-37 lead with 7:20 left.
Then Rustin really got rolling, causing some key Great Valley turnovers, and cutting the Patriots’ lead quickly, thanks to the fast pace of the game. When Greer (who finished with 18 points) hit both ends of a one-and-one with 2:38 to go, Rustin trailed Great Valley by one point, 53-52.
“Our defense was a spark, we were able to get some turnovers and change the momentum,” said Stackhouse. “My team never lets up on defense, I’m proud of them, my girls like to run and jump, and I give credit to every girl who stepped out on that court for us tonight.”
Venarchik said, “I think that, against Rustin’s man-to-man defense and their full-court double-teams, we had a tendency to over-dribble and put oursevles into some bad spots. We’re best when we’re passing the ball and making the defense move, but we didn’t do a great job of that [in the second half], and with their constant defensive pressure, Rustin forced us not to do a good job of that. It’s exhausting to face that type of pressure, but we hung in there.”
Great Valley sophomore Gracen Curley hit two free throws to pad the lead to 55-52, then a putback by Costin cut the margin to 55-54 with 2:08 left.
Liberatoscioli gave the hosts some breathing room when she hit two free throws to give Great Valley a 57-54 lead with 1:47 left. She scored 12 points in the final quarter.
“Tess has always been our fail-safe, the most consistent player, the person we can go to,” said Venarchik. “Her motor never stops running. She’s been a tremendous leader and sets the tone for this team.”
A putback by McGurk cut the lead to 57-56, then following turnovers by both teams, Great Valley broke the Golden Knights’ press and got the ball to junior guard Emily Dupont, who scored to make it 59-56 with 1:05 left.
McGurk scored on another putback to cut the lead to 59-58, then following a Rustin steal, McGurk’s short field goal gave the Golden Knights their first lead of the game, 60-59, with 23 seconds left.
Sullivan’s game-winning field goal wrapped it up for the Patriots, who got scoring help from seven players, including Curley (nine points), sophomore Julia Dill (4-for-4 from the free throw line in the third quarter), DeRobertis, Dupont and freshman Gia Sioutis.
Venarchik said, “Emily Dupont stepped up tonight, and Julia Dill gave us some great minutes in the third and fourth quarter after coming off the bench. This is such a fun team to be around – they play so well together.”
For Rustin, their valiant offensive comeback was fueled by Greer (15 second-half points), Costin (12 second-half points) and McGurk (three key field goals in the closing minutes). Gracie Shivers hit a trio of treys for the Golden Knights.
Stackhouse said, “Unfortunately we weren’t able to capitalize at the end, but we did what we needed to do in the second half, to get where we needed to be. We put ourselves in a position to win, and that’s all I can ask for from the girls at that point. I’m proud of every single one of my girls tonight, I’m proud of the way the bench supported their teammates on the floor. We’re going to take this [second-half] momentum and move forward.”
Great Valley 61, West Chester Rustin 60
WC Rustin 6 8 23 23 – 60
Great Valley 16 13 18 14 – 61
West Chester Rustin (60): Flynn 1 0-0 2, Shivers 3 0-0 9, Betchyk 0 0-0 0, Plona 2 1-2 5, Greer 5 7-9 18, L.McGurk 5 0-2 10, DiCampli 1 0-0 2, Costin 7 0-2 14.
Great Valley (61): Liberatoscioli 7 6-7 20, Dill 1 4-4 6, DeRobertis 2 0-1 5, Sullivan 7 1-1 15, Dupont 4, Sioutis 1 0-0 2, Curley 3 2-2 9.
3-point field goals: WCR – Shivers 3, Greer. GV – DeRobertis, Curley.