Shanahan’s win over Henderson sends W.C. East into playoffs
WEST CHESTER – Bishop Shanahan and host West Chester Henderson met on Thursday in a critical regular season ending girls’ basketball clash with a berth into the Ches-Mont Tournament at stake. And the big winner was … idle West Chester East.
Huh?
Sitting at home, the Vikings earned the fourth and final spot into this weekend’s semifinal with a big assist from a Shanahan squad that embraced its role as spoiler and out-slugged the Warriors, 31-23, knocking them out of contention in the process.
“I am proud of this team,” said Shanahan head coach Jim Powers. “This was a good win. It enables us to step up on our district seed.
“But I am not happy with how the tiebreaker rules played out. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.”
The final Ches-Mont National standings show a three-way tie for second place with Shanahan, Henderson and W.C. East all at 8-4. And since all three split with one another, the next tiebreaker is the District 1 5A power rankings. West Chester East finished sixth, followed by the Eagles (seventh) and the Warriors (11th).
“The two teams with the stronger schedules (Shanahan and Henderson) are the ones looking from the outside, and the team (W.C. East) with the weakest out-of-conference record gets in,” Powers lamented.
“I feel sorry for my girls. I had to tell them before this game that they had no shot, and it was all because we played such a tough schedule. To see the look in their eyes just broke my heart. I think it’s wrong.”
Despite having no shot at the playoff, and taking on a highly-motivated opponent who prevailed in the first meeting this season, the Eagles (15-7 overall) clamped down on defense, limited Henderson to single digits in each quarter, and came away with a gutsy win.
“We’re proud of the way we bounced back from a tough loss to Downingtown East (on Tuesday),” said Shanahan senior Gianna DiMarco. “We are now looking forward to districts. We want to go far – that’s a big goal of ours.”
The Warriors (12-10 overall) headed into the contest knowing that a win would be enough to get into the league tournament. But season-long troubles on offense continued to be an issue.
“I don’t have much to say,” said Henderson coach Greta Neff. “I think Shanahan locked down defensively. They played hard and hit some shots when they needed to. I give them all of the credit.”
The game began as a plodding, defensive battle – which is rather typical for a high-stakes clash — and remained that way throughout. But the Eagles went on a 12-2 rally late in the second and into the third quarter, and the Warriors never recovered.
DiMarco started the run with a 3-pointer and Cara Wankmiller ended it with another 3. It turned an 11-11 tie into a 23-13 lead.
“Our players knew they were still playing to move from the eighth to seventh seed in the district. They had something to play for,” Powers said.
“We play a tough schedule to make the kids better. So you get to this point of the season and you have to grind out a win, they know how to do it. They’ve been in some fights. They won some and lost some, but that’s why we schedule the way we do.”
Henderson made one last comeback bid, scoring seven in a row and cutting the margin to 26-23, but DiMarco knocked down another big shot from beyond the arc with 3:17 to go. Fellow senior Kathryn Greenhut later hit a spinning move to the basket to make it 28-21.
“Gianna’s been terrific for us all season,” Powers said. “Every time we needed something, she was there for us. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m going to truly miss her next season.”
Shanahan was just 3-for-8 from the free throw line in the final minute, but it was more than enough. For the game, the Eagles were 4-13 from the line.
“Both teams played great defense and it came down to the little things,” said DiMarco, who finished with eight points.
“We’re just inexperienced,” Neff explained. “We have to learn by doing, and it showed.
“But at the varsity level, you have to sustain. It’s all about consistency. You can’t have moments where you let up. We just let up on too many moments and Shanahan took advantage of it.”
Greenhut had a game-high 10 points and frontcourt teammate Shannon Donahue scored eight of her nine points in the first half. Molly Manion and Brittany Forcine led the Warriors with six points each.
“We can hang with (Shanahan),” Neff said. “We showed it the first time around (a 38-33 victory).
“We need to take some time to regroup and decide what we want to do with the rest of the season.”
Saturday’s playoff at West Chester’s Hollinger Field House will pit W.C. East against C-M American champion Great Valley, and C-M National champ Downingtown East against West Chester Rustin.
Bishop Shanahan 31, West Chester Henderson 23
BISHOP SHANAHAN – DiMarco 2 2-3 8; Greenhut 5 0-5 10; Donahue 4 1-3 9; McHugh 0 1-2 1; Wankmiller 1 0-0 3. Totals 12 4-13 31.
WEST CHESTER HENDERSON – Forcine 2 0-0 6; Parry 1 3-4 5; Manion 3 0-2 6; Kleckner 1 0-0 2; Shea 2 0-0 4. Totals 9 3-6 23.
Bishop Shanahan 8 5 10 8 — 31
West Chester Henderson 6 5 4 8 — 23
Three-point goals: DiMarco 2, Wankmiller, Forcine 2.
