Defensive adjustment powers W.C. East past Coatesville
CALN >> Regulation high School basketball games cover 32 minutes. The great teams usually play at a high level for a large chunk of it, while the really good squads often find ways to overcome lulls and dips.
On Tuesday the West Chester East boys did not play very well in the first half at Coatesville, but the Vikings put on a defensive clinic the rest of the way, and it was more than enough to finish off a 48-34 slugfest win. Visiting East improves to 7-2 in the Ches-Mont National (14-5 overall) and remains in a first-place tie with Downingtown West with three regular season games to be played.
“We all knew coming into this game that it was a must-win for us in order to control our own destiny,” said junior guard Ryan Price.
It also may have knocked the Red Raiders (6-3, 11-7) out of the mix in the race for the division crown. A full-game behind the leaders, Coatesville needs to go 3-0 the rest of the way and hope for some outside help.
“There is always chance,” said Raiders’ head coach John Allen. “(West Chester East) still has to play Downingtown West. We just have to keep our heads up and continue to play as hard as possible.
“It’s a fight every night, but we embrace the challenge.”
Trailing 24-17 at the half, East head coach Tom Durant abandoned the zone defense and installed an aggressive man-to-man that looked to trap the opposing ball handler. The end result was impressive.
“We made some adjustments and the kids did a great job with it,” Durant said. “They were amped up. The kids were confident in it and that’s the key.”
It certainly took Coatesville out of its comfort zone. In the final two quarters, the Raiders scored a total of 10 points and connected on just three buckets from the field.
“(West Chester East) came here to win and they played like champions,” Allen said.
“Defensively, (East) was better in the second half. We have to be able to make plays – but we missed layups and free throws and had some turnovers.”
The comeback started with a 12-3 run to start the third quarter that put the Vikings in front for good. It included back-to-back 3-pointers by Price, but it was driven by the defense.
“We worked on that defense in practice,” said sophomore standout K.J. Cochran.
“Our first half defense wasn’t working out well, so we decided to match up man-to-man with (Coatesville),” Price added. “We made them speed up, forced some turnovers, and it turned things around for us.”
The lead, 33-29, at the start of the fourth quarter wasn’t insurmountable. But in the final five minutes of regulation, East outscored the Raiders 14-4. It started with a Cochran 3-pointer, which was quickly followed with another long-ranger by Price. And Cochran added six more points in the final 1:50 to close it out going away.
“It was a great finish,” Durant said. “We stepped up. It’s just a big win – a big program win.”
The first half was another story. The Vikings had a dreadful opening quarter but came away unscathed when senior guard Jose Ramos hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to make it 7-7. Before that, East connected on 2 of its first 11 shots and turned it over five times.
The Raiders got a boost from sophomore Amon Fowlkes in the second quarter when he scored seven points off the bench and sparked a 10-2 run that helped Coatesville take a 24-17 lead into the break.
“The start wasn’t good, but we knew we were still in the game,” Price said.
Cochran scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half for East. Price and Ramos each added nine points. The Vikings were without junior forward Josh Sherlock (Illness), who is one of the first players off the bench.
“I felt like we wanted it more,” Cochran said. “(Coatesville) beat us (61-58) the first time around. We are just trying to get our feet back under us and keep playing.”
Freshman forward Larry Brown paced the Raiders with 10 points, but leading scorer Jeremiah Marshall was held to eight. And other than Fowlkes’ seven points, nobody else on the roster managed more than three.
“Three field goals in the second half is not going to cut it anywhere – in any league, but especially against the defending champions,” Allen said.
“We have to be better – that’s evident. I’m not happy, but we competed.”
West Chester East 48, Coatesville 34
W.C. East 7 10 16 15 — 48
Coatesville 7 17 5 5 — 34
W.C. EAST – Ramos 3 2-2 9; Kushner 2 0-0 4; Cochran 7 5-5 21; Gallagher 2 1-2 5; Price 3 0-0 9. Totals 17 8-9 48.
COATESVILLE – Harris 1 0-0 3; Peoples 1 0-1 2; Brown 3 4-5 10; Marshall 2 4-6 8; A. Fowlkes 3 0-0 7; Proctor 1 0-0 2; VanOrden 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 8-11 34.
Three-pointers: Ramos, Cochran 2, Price 3, Harris, A. Fowlkes.
