Central Bucks East’s district run ends against Downingtown West

BUCKINGHAM >> Jake Cummiskey’s three-point play in the second quarter got Central Bucks East within two points of Downingtown West Friday night.

The junior’s layup through contact and the successful free throw felt like the type of sequence that could shift momentum in a playoff game, but the Whippets felt differently.

No. 5 Downingtown West scored the next nine points and took a 10-point lead to halftime. The Whippets maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way and cruised to a 64-46 win over No. 4 Central Bucks East in the District 1-6A quarterfinals at Central Bucks High School East.

“It comes down to them making more plays than us,” Central Bucks East senior guard Joey Giordano said. “They were making their shots, they were getting offensive rebounds and we couldn’t really find our shot.”

Cummiskey’s layup got the Patriots (22-5) within two, 20-18, late in the first half. Not only did the Whippets score nine straight points and close the half on an 11-3 run, but they kept the momentum going after the break. West won the third quarter, 15-4, for a 26-7 burst and 46-25 lead going to the fourth.

West’s Dylan Blair scored seven points in the game-sealing third quarter while Joey Suarez added six on a pair of threes.

Blair finished the game with 19 points and 15 rebounds, but it was Donovan Fromhartz who led the Whippets with 22 points.

“We felt like if we could control Blair a little bit and then keep everybody else at bay we would have a good shot,” East coach Erik Henrysen said. “I thought Fromhartz was awesome. He’s a really difficult player to guard against. He’s got length, he’s athletic, he can shoot the three, he can muscle down low. We really struggled with the two of those guys.”

Fromhartz grabbed seven rebounds – six of which were offensive. Kelly Bell grabbed eight boards – four offensive. In all, West grabbed 13 offensive rebounds. The Whippets had a pair of putbacks in the fourth quarter to keep their lead comfortably at 16 points, 50-34, instead of what could have been a more-competitive 12-point difference.

“I thought rebounding was going to be key and we just lost that battle,” Henrysen said. “Our guys played their hearts out. I’m never going to say we got outworked, but they made more plays than us underneath the basket.”

Despite the deficit never getting lower than 16 points in the fourth, the Patriots fought til the final whistle. Giordano scored eight of his team-high 16 points in the fourth with some tough finishes around the rim and players continued diving for any loose balls.

“We still have something to play for,” Giordano said of the team’s mindset in the fourth. “We have our school, this program. We don’t want to go out not trying. We’re going to go play our hardest til the end of the buzzer. That’s something that our coaches preach to us – play til the end. That’s going to be important for us in the state tournament and the playbacks.”

While Downingtown West heads to the district semifinals against No. 1 Spring-Ford, CB East will head to the playback bracket and face No. 8 Garnet Valley. The Patriots have a state playoff spot clinched and will play two games to determine seeding, anywhere from fifth to eighth.

“We’re in a new tournament,” Henrysen said. “We just told the guys now we’re looking to get that fifth spot.”

“We just want to play as hard as we can and try our best,” Giordano said. “Everything else will fall in place.”

Downingtown West 64, Central Bucks East 46

Downingtown West 10 21 15 18 – 64

Central Bucks East 11 10 4 21 – 46

Downingtown West: Dylain Blair 8 2-3 19, Donovan Fromhartz 9 2-2 22, Antonio Lewis 1 1-3 3, Kelly Bell 4 0-1 8, Ryan Barker 0 4-4 4, Alex Neuhas 0 0-0 0, Robert Coupe 0 0-0 0, Joey Suarez 3 0-0 8, Alex Ely 0 0-0 0, Chase Horestra 0 0-0 0, Nate Zincone 0 0-0 0, Max Sweatman 0 0-0 0. Total 25 9-12 64.

Central Bucks East: Jake Cummiskey 1 1-1 3, Dhruv Mukund 2 0-0 5, Kyle Berndt 1 0-0 3, Tyler Dandrea 3 0-0 6, Joey Giordano 6 4-6 16, Nolan Jacob 2 0-0 6, Nick Condo 2 0-0 5, Justin DiRoberto 1 0-0 2, Caleb Lyzinski 0 0-0 0, Nolan Behm 0 0-0 0, Justin Panaia 0 0-0 0, Ryan McDonald 0 0-0 0. Total 18 5-7 46.

3-point goals: DW: Donovan Fromhartz 2, Dylan Blair, Joey Suarez 2. CBE: Kyle Berndt, Nolan Jacob 2, Dhruv Mukund, Nick Condo.