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By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
CALN – For more than three quarters, the Coatesville boys’ basketball squad was throttling the defending district champions from Lower Merion. The final four minutes of regulation, however, wound up being a struggle.
Thanks to a lead that topped out at 14 earlier in the final period, the Red Raiders eventually survived, 46-39, to get the 2024-25 season off to a solid, if not perfect, start Tuesday evening. It was Coatesville’s season and home opener.
“We have probably four guys that played varsity basketball last season, so we are still learning,” said Raiders’ head coach John Allen. “We will work on it and we will be better. But I’m happy overall with the way our guys played.
“Lower Merion is a champion, and they don’t stop, so give them some credit.”
The Aces had trouble matching up with Coatesville’s 6-foot-7 junior forward Larry Brown and fall to 1-1 on the season.
“It was like a typical ugly, early-season contest,” said Lower Merion head coach Gregg Downer.
“But it also had the feel of a district or state playoff type of game in front of a nice crowd. If you want to win games like this you have to learn from it. We get 22 exams. Two are in the books with 20 to go.”
The Raiders’ pressure defense yielded 16 turnovers in the first three quarters, which translated into a 36-23 lead heading into the final period. The Aces comeback started with back-to-back 3-pointers by seniors Carson Kasmer and Sam’i Singletary, slicing the margin into single digits.
“We were playing great defense and were focused when we built the lead, then we probably thought it was over,” Allen acknowledged. “We just have to close games out.”
It certainly didn’t help that in the final 1:34, Coatesville went a combined 1-for-8 from the free throw line, which enabled Lower Merion to string together 12 straight points and make it interesting. Singletary scored inside with 32.4 to go to make it 43-39, and the Aces got the ball back after drawing an offensive foul, but Singletary missed a 3-pointer at the other end with 21.3 on the clock. Brown grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and knocked down the second of two from the line to close it out.
“Right now I’m thinking more about all of the missed free throws than the win – that can’t happen. We have to be more focused and do a better job of closing out games like this,” Brown said.
“When that happens, you have to refocus yourself. I’ve been there as a player,” Allen added.
“We had to get the early season jitters out of the way against a tough opponent. We just have to work through it. It’s not always going to be pretty but we’ll take the win.”
Brown finished with 19 points to equal his career high. It was also a notable night for 6-5 true freshman Colton Hiller and 6-7 junior Jonas Chester, off the bench. The duo each scored eight.
Kasmer paced Lower Merion with 16 points, and Singletary chipped in 14 despite spending most of the second and third quarters on the bench in foul trouble. He poured in 26 in the Aces’ season opening win against Upper Dublin.
“I was proud of our kids for playing the full 32 minutes,” Downer said. “We shot four-for-20 on 3-pointers, which is not going to win a lot of basketball games. We have to shoot the ball better, including free throws (9-15).”
The Aces missed their initial six shots and added a turnover in their first seven possessions, and yet only trailed 10-8 through the first period. In the first half, however, Brown nearly equaled Lower Merion’s scoring output, including 10 points in the second quarter to help the Raiders open a 22-16 halftime lead.
“I definitely feel a lot better than I did in my first two years,” Brown said.
“Larry is growing up and maturing,” Allen added. “We loved what he is doing and hopefully he can continue it.”
The Aces made some tweaks to its 2-3 zone defense to start the second half in an effort to slow down Brown, and it worked. He did not score in the third, but five of his teammates did, including key 3-pointers by senior point guard Amon Fowlkes and Chester. Chester later added another from distance early in the fourth.
“We did change defenses at halftime because we thought Brown was knifing our zone defense,” Downer explained. “The two 3’s by (Chester) were important.
“And (Coatesville’s) ball pressure really bothered us. We couldn’t get comfortable. They have some very good one-on-one defenders.”
Coatesville 46, Lower Merion 39
Lower Merion 8 8 7 16 — 39
Coatesville 10 12 14 10 — 46
LOWER MERION – Patterson 1 0-0 2; Singletary 5 1-5 14; Wright 1 2-2 4; Kasmer 5 5-6 16; Parrish 0 1-2 1; Yard 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 9-15 39.
COATESVILLE – Allegra 1 0-2 2; N. Williams 1 0-2 2; Brown 8 3-4 19; C. Hiller 4 0-0 8; Shockley 1 0-0 2; Fowlkes 2 0-2 5; Chester 3 0-0 8. Totals 20 3-10 46.
3-pointers: Singletary 3, Kasmer, Fowlkes, Chester 2.
