Rustin rolls over Unionville to set up semifinal date with rival WC East
EAST MARLBOROUGH >> Unionville and West Chester Rustin know each other well, so Saturday night’s District 1 Class 5A quarterfinal was always going to come down to effort and execution.
The West Chester Rustin Golden Knights won that battle decisively.
Their reward: A rematch with another familiar rival.
Rustin used a relentless defense Saturday night that harassed Unionville into a 19 for 51 shooting night, as the Golden Knights punched their ticket to Wednesday’s District 1 Class 5A semifinal against West Chester East with a convincing 62-51 triumph. The win also qualifies the Golden Knights for the PIAA tournament, while Unionville heads into the playback round to try to qualify for states.
Even saddled with foul trouble, the Golden Knights (18-7) found a way, as Griffin Barrouk scored a game-high 22 points, and big man Jacob Barksdale fought off foul trouble to score 15 points and grab nine boards. Barrouk drained five 3-pointers on the night and played a strong defensive game.
“Coach Keith (Cochran) put the defense in this week,” Barrouk said. “They like to reverse the basketball and we took that away. We watched a lot of film on it this week and we went live over and over in practice. Tonight, I hit some big shots but it was just my night. This was a team win.”
Rustin used a tough man to man pressure defense, hawking the Unionville (18-8) ball-handlers at every turn, into a six for 27 shooting fiasco in the first half. The Golden Knights got 14 first half points from Barrouk and took a 27-18 lead at intermission. West Chester Rustin shot 11 for 20 from the field in the first half.
But, Unionville found its footing in the third quarter. After Jon Passerello, who led the Indians with 14 points, scored off a Golden Knights turnover, it was a 29-25 Golden Knights lead. But, the Knights hung tough and upped their lead to 31-25 on a runner by IV Pettit. Barrouk then scored on a runner and Rustin seemed to weather the Unionville charge.
But, trouble seemed to be looming for Rustin when big man Dan Wethey fouled out early in the third quarter, and Barksdale was saddled with four fouls. Both Wethey and Barksdale were scoring down low for the Knights. But, Barksdale played through the foul trouble and scored six third quarter points, all from down low, and at the end of three periods, it was a 44-33 Rustin lead.
“Playing with foul trouble is really tough,” Barksdale said. “Me and Dan both like to be really aggressive out there and when you have fouls on you you have to pick your spots. The defense was put in this week and our attention to detail tonight was impeccable.”
Unionville shot a little better in the second half but the Indians could not really cut into the Golden Knights’ lead. Bryce Pew stole a Unionville pass and went to the basket for a 50-38 west Chester Rustin lead. The Indians continued to miss from the outside, Unionville drained just two 3-pointers, well below its average.
Unionville had to gamble on defense and foul the Golden Knights as Cochran elected to pull the ball out with a little over five minutes remaining in the fourth period. Pew, Pettit and Barrouk did a masterful job of holding onto the ball and killing the clock and Pettit drained eight of nine free throws in the fourth quarter, and the Golden Knights had a very big win against a very good Unionville squad and now can look ahead to facing the No. 1 West Chester East, which has beaten Rustin twice already this season.
“We played really tough defense and everybody helped out,” Cochran said. “And that is what you have to have to reach your goals. And with foul trouble it is just next man up. I mean, James Chobany came in tonight and gave us a good two minutes. I don’t care if it is 30 seconds, you have to do your job. That is the type of team we are.”
WC Rustin 62, Unionville 51
WC RUSTIN (62): Pew 3 0-0 6, Wethey 2 0-0 4, Barksdale 7 1-3 15, Barrouk 6 57- 22, Pettit 2 10-12 15, Reinheimer 0 0-0 0, Seelaus 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 16-22 62.
UNIONVILLE (51): Kucahrczuk 1 0-0 2, Neylon 5 1-2 13, Shanahan 5 3-3 13, Nowosiat 10-0 2, Passarello 4 6-8 14, Whitlock 3 1-2 7, Regenye 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 11-15 51.
WC Rustin 11 16 17 18 – 62
Unionville 7 11 15 18 – 51
3-point goals; Barrouk 5, Pettit, Neylon 2.
