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West Chester Henderson's (30) Ryan Randell shoots in the first half against Downingtown West. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY LOCAL NEWS)
West Chester Henderson’s (30) Ryan Randell shoots in the first half against Downingtown West. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY LOCAL NEWS)
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UWCHLAN ‑ Thursday night at Bob Boyer Gymnasium, the Downingtown East and West Chester Henderson boys basketball teams went at each other doggedly for the entire 32 minutes. In the end, the Warriors held on for a thrilling 54-40 Ches-Mont League National Division win.

Dylan DeLuccia led all scorers with 23 points while Ryan Ranalli chipped in with 17 points and six rebounds for the victorious Warriors. (2-1 Ches-Mont National, 4-5 overall). Chase Krupansky paced the Cougars with 13 points.

“I was hurt earlier in the season. Tonight, I felt really good,” DeLuccia said. “My coaches and teammates told me to take my time and get my ankles better, so they had my back. Tonight, I felt really good for maybe the first time this season. Ryan and myself, we are the seniors and we learned from the guys last year to be the leaders and we try to do that on the floor.”

The Warriors held a slim 42-38 lead after three periods on 15 for 29 shooting from the field. DeLucia scored in tight with 4:07 left in the fourth to give Henderson a 47-43 advantage.
The Cougars (1-2, 5-4), who never trailed by more than six points, got a put back basket from Connor Littlepage to make it 49-47 with 2:25 to go.

After a turnover, Holland Neff missed on a jumper. The Cougars shot just five for 16 from the field in the final period. Shawn Pierce scored on a run out and it was a 51-47 Warriors lead with 1:56 to play.

Joey Pell missed on a runner for the Cougars. Ranalli grabbed the rebound and the Warriors quickly drove the ball up the floor with DeLuccia scoring inside.

“I thought our defense turned the game around,” Ranalli said. “You cannot win if you don’t play good defense. We practice defense very hard every day in practice.”

With 53 seconds to play, Littlepage hit one of two free throws for a 53-48 lead.
After a pair of missed free throws. Pell scored in the lane to cut the deficit to 53-30 with 32.4 seconds to play.

Henderson turned the ball over and the Cougars called timeout. They could not get a good look and Neff fired up a 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left.

The shot rattled off the rim and the Warriors grabbed the rebound. The Cougars fouled DeLuccia, who hit one of two from the foul line to ice the game and the Warriors had their first road win of the season.

“We shot terrible the last five games, so it was good to see shots fall tonight,” Hendersons coach Jason Ritter said. “Dylan was very good for us. I think our defense wore them out a little. and Brian (Grashof), does a great job with his kids, so we feel really good about this win tonight. This was our first road win of the season. We are glad to finally get it done.”
The Cougars, who were looking for their sixth win of the season, after having just three last season battled hard to the final horn.

“We gave up 30-plus points in the first half,” Grashof said. “We did a better job on defense in the second half. The effort was very good. We just have to put four quarters together.”

 

WC Henderson 54, Downingtown East 50

WC HENDERSON: Thomas 2 1-1 5, Pierce 2 0-0 4, Wesley 0 2-4 2, DeLuccia 7 9-11 23, Reinheimer 0 0-0 0, Lewis 1 0-0 3, Ranalli 8 1-2 17, Roak-Chandler 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 13-18-54.
DOWNINGTOWN EAST: Jain 0 0-0 0, Hunt 3 1-1 8, Littlepage 1 1-2 3, Pell 1 0-0 2, Phillips 3 1-2 8, Neff 4 2-2 12, Krupansky 4 2-3 13, Sesay 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 7-10 50.
WC Henderson         18 15 9 12 – 54
Downingtown East     15 16 7 12 – 50
3-point goals: Lewis, Hunt, Phillips, Neff 2, Krupansky 3.