Bishop Shanahan takes over first in Ches-Mont National with win over Downingtown East

DOWNINGTOWN >> When you’re playing for a chance to take over first place, it’s a pretty good idea to play one of your best games of the season. This is exactly what the Bishop Shanahan girls basketball team did Thursday night against Downingtown East. Using a zone defense that frustrated the Cougars and some early pinpoint 3-point shooting, the Eagles led wire-to-wire for a 45-26 triumph.
The victory allowed Shanahan to take a one-game lead in the Ches-Mont League National Division with an 8-2 mark (12-7 overall) as opposed to the Cougars’ 7-2 record (14-4 overall).

“This is one of our better ones,” said Shanahan coach Jim Powers. “We had some good ones, especially early in the year, we had a slump in the middle with our scoring, but the last game or two, they’ve seemed to settle in.”
The first half was a game of runs. Shanahan scored the first seven points in the opening 4:40 on baskets from Sami Blumenthal and Alyssa Brown and a 3-pointer by Caydence Oswald.
The Cougars then broke their drought on a basket by Eileen Hewitt to spark a six-point spurt.
Shanahan closed the quarter with threes from Brown and Alexa Bojko and a field goal from Oswald to take a 15-6 lead.

Another Shanahan run, this time 7-2, extended the lead to 22-9 with 3:35 remaining. The Cougars cut it to 22-14, then Oswald finished with a three and a layup, where she was fouled. Her free throw gave the Eagles a 28-14 lead at the break as Oswald had 14 points over the first 16 minutes.
“I knew that I needed to put points on the board for us to have a good win tonight, and I just shot ball every open chance I got,” said Oswald.
The Cougars tried to claw their way back into the game as Lauren Kent opened the half with a basket, followed shortly by a three from Cassie Denning to cut the deficit to 28-19.
“Our girls did a nice job fighting back the entire game,” said Downingtown East coach Darren Domsohn. “But, give credit to Shanahan. They came out and executed and knocked down shots. Our girls did a nice job of battling back.”

The Eagles did not crack, however, making an 8-0 run to close the third period to boost the lead to 36-19.
Shanahan’s defense held the Cougars without a field goal in the fourth period until there was 1:43 left, as they shot just 1-for-12. D-East fell for the second straight time after losing to Avon Grove on Tuesday.
Oswald finished with 21 points, but her defense was as equally as impressive – she collected six steals on the night.
“Going into the night, we knew that we needed to have a good defensive night and we need to shut down (Ari) Smuda and our bigs did a great job down low,” said Oswald. “And we did a great job shutting down their shooters.”
The Eagles did perform that job admirably – Smuda was held scoreless and Kent was limited to 11 points.

Shanahan finishes with games against Henderson and Coatesville, while East has a rematch with Avon Grove on Saturday, a home game with rival Downingtown West on Monday and they end the regular season with West Chester East.

Bishop Shanahan 45, Downingtown East 26
Downingtown East: Daniel 2 0-0 6; Denning 1 0-0 3; Ardoline 0 0-0 0; Kent 3 5-6 11; Bell 0 0-0 0; Hewitt 2 0-0 4; Comegys 0 0-0 0; ford 1 0-0 2; Smuda 0 0-0 0. Totals: 9 5-8 26.
Bishop Shanahan: Oswald 7 3-6 21; Wolf 1 0-0 2; Brown 5 1-2 12; Kopel 0 0-0 0; Bojko 1 0-0 3; Griffin 1 0-0 2; Blumenthal 1 3-4 5. Totals: 16 7-12 45.
Downingtown East 6 8 5 7 — 26
Bishop Shanahan 15 13 8 9 — 45
3-point goals: Daniel 2, Denning, Oswald 4, Brown, Bojko.