King becomes Downingtown’s all-time top scorer in East’s state playoff loss
ALLENTOWN >> The Downingtown East boys basketball team traveled to William Allen High School Saturday in search of its first ever PIAA tournament win. In the end, seeing star senior center Andrew King become Downingtown’s all-time leading scorer (1,335 points) would have to do, as the Cougars’ dream of reaching the Sweet 16 died in a 69-50 loss to Bethlehem Freedom.
King eclipsed the old mark of 1,333 by Ryan Betley of Downingtown West.
With 19 turnovers on the day, and Freedom’s 47-24 second-half explosion, the Cougars’ season came to a disappointing end. Freedom will now move on to play Reading Wednesday night at a time and place to be determined.
The Patriots (19-8) trailed by four points at halftime but shot the lights out in the second half, draining 17 of 23 shots from the field and putting four players in double figures. Compound that with Downingtown East (14-14) turning the ball over 12 times in the second half and one could see the victory was going to go to Freedom. The Patriots outscored Downingtown East 29-11 in the decisive fourth quarter.
“We were up four at half and every time we tried to make it six or eight in the third quarter they would make a shot,” Downingtown East coach John Goodman said. “And we turned the ball over too many times to win. But, this is the end of the Andrew King and Dave Owsik era and those guys gave this program so much over the last four years. We have had two state appearances and a lot of district games, and we won 14-plus games all four years those guys were here. I don’t think many District 1 6A teams can say that. They were a pleasure to coach and this program will never forget them. And Andrew becoming the all-time leading scorer is amazing. That’s like 80 or so years of history right there.”
Freedom got a big eight points off the bench from David Barnes in the third quarter, and senior Caleb Mims drained four treys, two in the third period when the Patriots outscored the Cougars 18-13 to take a slim 40-39 lead going to the fourth. Freedom went right to work in the fourth quarter as Mims hit Samir Georges down low and it was a 42-39 Patriots lead.
The Cougars then turned the ball over and Mims drove the lane for a score and it was a 44-39 Freedom advantage. After Owsik hit two free throws for the Cougars, the Patriots’ hot shooting parade continued. Mims scored again in traffic in the lane and Georges, who had 11 points, scored on the baseline and suddenly it was a 48-41 Patriots lead with 5:43 to play.
The lead kept going up as Mims, who led Freedom with 18 points, scored again for a 50-41 lead. The Cougars just could not make enough shots to keep up with the torrid shooting Patriots. Owsik turned the ball over in the front court and Barnes ended the run out with a slam dunk and the Patriots had a 53-41 lead and one could see the Cougars’ season slipping away under an onslaught of made shots.
“They just hit so many shots in the second half,” Goodman said. “I just loved coaching this group and they played very hard today as they always did.”
In the somber Downingtown East locker room, there were hugs all around and a solemn King talked about becoming the all-time leading scorer in Downingtown history.
“It really means a lot to me,” King said. “The turnovers hurt us today but the record is something I have to give all my teammates credit for. They are the ones who got me the ball all those times. It is humbling to know all the players who came before me and the ones who are going to come after me.”
Bethlehem Freedom 69, Downingtown East 50
DOWNINGTOWN EAST (50): Rowe 2 0-0 6, Basilii 1 0-0 2, Owsik 3 6-6 13, Umberger 2 3-3 7, Belgian 1 0-0 3, King 8 1-6 19, Person 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 10-15 50.
BETHLEHEM FREEDOM (69): C.Mims 6 2-2 18, Montgomery 3 6-8 13, M. Mims 7 1-1 16, Falco 1 0-0 2, Barnes 4 1-1 9, Stewart 0 0-0 0, Georges 5 1-2 11. Totals 26 11-14 69.
Downingtown East 8 18 13 11 – 50
Bethlehem Freedom 9 13 18 29 – 69
3-point goals: Rowe 2, owsik, King 2, C.Mims 4, Montgomery, M.Mims.
