Late comeback helps East edge West in first place showdown
UWCHLAN >> Downingtown East has reigned over Ches-Mont girls basketball for the previous two seasons, and the Cougars aren’t going to give up the crown without a fight in 2021.
Trailing by as much as nine in the second half, East staged a frenzied late rally to nip archrival Downingtown West, 47-46, on Wednesday to move into sole possession of first place in the Ches-Mont National.
“For the last two years we’ve had a lot of success, so we are going to get everybody’s best shot,” said Cougars’ head coach Tom Schurtz. “The girls have to be ready night-in and night-out. We have to be willing to battle for 32 minutes each game – nothing is going to be handed to this team.”
With its offense struggling, East turned time and time again to its suffocating full-court pressure to kick-start the comeback. The Whippets led most of the way, but as things progressed, the turnovers continued to mount. In the fourth quarter alone, the Cougars forced 11 turnovers to outscore West 20-13.
“(East’s) ball pressure is tough,” said Whippets’ head coach Mike Young. “We did the best we could against it and it just wasn’t quite good enough.
“You can have a plan against that pressure, but once the double-team comes at you, the plan doesn’t always work out.”
Now 8-1, the Cougars have won four in a row and will host Bishop Shanahan on Thursday. The Eagles handed East it’s only loss so far.
“Every game is a big game and with COVID you never know when you are going to be playing your last game,” said senior Caroline Brennan, who scored nine of her game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter for the Cougars.
“The thing that I am the most proud of is that this team doesn’t talk, they just play,” Schurtz added. “They trust in each other. There were a lot of opportunities in this game where they could have folded under the pressure and they just didn’t. They just keep working hard.
“There is not an ounce of quit in them.”
Downingtown West falls to 5-2, but will match last season’s win total with its next victory.
“Overall, I was very happy with our effort — to come in here and give (East) a game like that,” Young said.
“We took another step tonight. We came to win the game and unfortunately we didn’t get it done, but you have to have short memory. We play at West Chester East Friday and at (West Chester) Henderson Saturday.”
With just over three minutes left in regulation, the Cougars were down 39-36 despite continuing to turn the Whippets over at an alarming rate. But down the stretch, East started to convert those turnovers into points.
The late push started with three consecutive steals that led to a couple free throws by Lauren Kent and a bucket by Cassidy Denning. It sparked a 6-0 mini-run and put the Cougars ahead for good, 42-39, with 44.6 seconds on the clock.
It wasn’t over, however, until Brennan went to the line and sank 5-6 in the final 28.2 to close it out. West’s Alyssa Stauffer knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“Brennan is a four-year starter and she’s been in a number of huge games through her career. She’s a senior who is stepping up,” Schurtz said.
“We pride ourselves on playing team defense, and we never take our foot off the gas,” Brennan added. “(West) made some clutch shots, so we just had to keep fighting.”
Following a very tight first half, Whippets’ sophomore Cameron McNamara scored six of her 12 points to spark a 10-0 third quarter run to put West in front 30-21. But Kent and Denning responded with back-to-back 3-pointers for East to make it 33-27 heading into the fourth.
“There were a few times when I looked up on the scoreboard and thought, ouch,” Schurtz acknowledged. “But our kids kept coming and we got timely free throw shooting late. Defense and free throws matter.”
In all, the Cougars forced 33 turnovers, and were largely more aggressive with the basketball. The Whippets had more field goals (19-15), but East connected on more from the foul line than West attempted.
“We are a defensive-minded team,” Schurtz said. “We were creating turnovers, but we just weren’t making any shots. I told the girl afterwards that there are games like that where you just can’t seem to get anything to go. But our kids have grit and they are willing to play.”
Kent scored nine of her 12 points in the second half, and Denning chipped in eight for the Cougars. Senior center Shayla Johnson paced the Whippets with 14 points.
“We didn’t even have time to set team goals before this season, but the girls know where they want to be at the end of the year – we would love to make the district playoffs,” Young said.
“The things we want to do are still there for us, we just need to learn from this.”
Downingtown East 47, Downingtown West 46
DOWNINGTOWN WEST – Stauffer 4 0-0 9; Grant 1 0-1 2; Arrowsmith 2 0-0 4; Forsyth 1 1-2 3; Meenan 1 0-0 2; McNamara 4 4-5 12; Johnson 6 2-2 14. Totals 19 7-10 46.
DOWNINGTOWN EAST – Denning 3 0-0 6; McFillin 2 0-0 5; Kent 4 2-4 12; Brennan 3 10-12 16; Smuda 1 0-0 2; Hewitt 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 12-16 47.
Downingtown West 8 12 13 13 – 46
Downingtown East 6 13 8 20 – 47
3-pointers: Stauffer, Denning 2, McFillin, Kent 2.
