Big third quarter boosts Downingtown West
Downingtown >> The Downingtown West girls basketball team appreciated the halftime break and the chance to regroup against Coatesville in the Ches-Mont League National Division opener for both teams Tuesday. Trailing, with their offense struggling, the Whippets used the time to reset and it showed in the third quarter.
Powered by an 8-0 run to take the lead, West went on to post a 47-38 win at Wagner Gymnasium.
“It does feel good to get that first division win,” said West coach Mike Young. “It was a great high school game, teo teams going at it. They took to us in the first half. We didn’t play our bets in the first half turnovers. And we missed a lot of shots, that definitely didn’t help.”
Trailing, 18-14, after the break, the Whippets (1-0 league) came out quickly. Two free throws by Aly Stauffer cut the deficit to 18-16. Then two 3-pointers by freshman Samantha Schurtz put West ahead for good. A field goal by Olivia Young helped the lead balloon to 24-18 with 5:45 left. A jumper by Danae Ellzy ended the 8-0 run with 4:45 remaining.
“That certainly helped,” Young said of Schurtz’s buckets. “We did not shoot the ball well from 3-point range in the first half. I know we’re a better shooting team than that, so I was hoping they would fall in and she hit some shots. When the ball goes into the basket, it makes the game a lot easier.”
Schurtz had four threes overall and ended up with a team-high 16 points.
“It felt really good to get them in,” said Schurtz. “It really helped us and Aly (Stauffer) made a 3-pointer too. It was great.”
Then, in the latter part of the quarter, Liz Grant added five of her 14 points to push the advantage to 36-26 after three.
The Red Raiders (2-2, 0-1) couldn’t threatened in the fourth. They made just two field goals in the quarter as they were outscored 22-8 in the third and 33-20 in the half.
“As a coaching staff, we saw that third quarter coming,” said Coatesville coach Scott Barker. “We warned our players, hey, they’re going to turn the intensity up defensively, and that’s exactly what they did.”
Coatesville’s star Danae Ellzy had 16 points, but had an off shooting night from the floor.
“We have to help get her in positions where she can get some open shots,” added Barker.
The Whippets visit Upper Merion in a nonleague contest Saturday before getting back into Ches-Mont play at Avon Grove on Tuesday. The Red Raiders face West Chester East on Tuesday.
Downingtown West 47, Coatesville 38
Coatesville: Taggart 1 0-0 2; Fields 3 6-10 14; Ellzy 4 7-11 16; Forest 0 4-7 4; Riggins 1 0-0 2; Wah 0 0-0 0; Ward 0 0-0 0. Totals: 9 17- 28 38.
Downingtown West: Young 1 0-5 2; Schurtz 4 4-5 16; Stauffer 2 4-7 9; L. Grant 5 4-6 14; C. Grant 0 0-0 0; Arrowsmith 2 1-1 6; Gibson 0 0-0 0; Schuda 0 0-0 0; Meenan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 13 24 47.
Coatesville 10 8 8 12 — 38
Downingtown West 11 3 22 11 — 47
3-point goals: Fields 2, Ellzy. Schurtz 4, Stauffer, Arrowsmith.
