DLN Boys Hoops COY: Moore, Coatesville’s season defied expectations

Coming into the 2015-16 boys basketball season, most observers picked Downingtown West to win the Ches-Mont League.

Alongside that were diminished expectations for Coatesville, at least by the Red Raiders’ high standards.

There wasn’t a clear Division I or even Division II college prospect on the floor, and the group was seriously lacking in varsity experience.

All the Red Raiders did was take home the Ches-Mont League title, including a huge win over Downingtown West in the championship game, and roll to a 22-3 mark and the No. 1 overall seed in the District 1 Class AAAA tournament.

This was not by accident. It was through the hard work and vision of third-year head coach Chuck Moore.

Moore took a team that had talent, meshed them together, put in his offense and defense and had Coatesville playing total team basketball, something that had been lacking the last few seasons for the Red Raiders.

It is for all these accomplishments that Coatesville’s Chuck Moore is The Daily Local News 2015-16 All-Area Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

“I have to give the credit to the kids,” Moore said. “The kids bought in to what us as coaches were telling them and they worked very hard. Their effort on defense was tremendous and we got a lot of our points off turnovers and our effort on the defensive end.”

Coatesville’s defense was so sound that the Red Raiders allowed opponents a paltry 43.5 points per game this season and were a real challenge to every team they played. One of those teams was Octorara, who the Red Raiders defeated 71-48.

“Chuck did a great job this season,” said Octorara coach Gene Lambert. “He got those kids to play as a team and that is why they were successful. I thought they had more talent the past couple of seasons, but this year they were together and that is a hard thing to do sometimes. He restored that Coatesville pride that has been missing the past few years. The kids really wanted to play for him and Chuck is bringing that Coatesville pride back. it was his third year and now he has his system in and the kids responded.”

Coatesville was the last District 1 Class AAAA squad to lose a game this season, posting 12 wins before an early January loss to Downingtown West. One of those 12 victims was West Chester Rustin, who lost to Coatesville 59-46 in December. Golden Knights head coach Keith Cochran was also impressed by the job Moore did this past season.

“I mean, they had a great season,” Cochran said. “They were seeded first in the district and they won the league. I thought this was the closest Coatesville team I have seen in a while. They ran sets on offense and Chuck got the kids to do what he wanted and that is the mark of a good coach. He got the most out of his talent this season.”

Part of Moore’s success was putting his kids in the right spots for them to thrive. The Red Raider head coach did that masterfully as Coatesville won a lot of close games that, in the fourth quarter, could have gone against the Red Raiders.

“Our defense was good all season and offensively we tried to put the kids in position to be successful,” Moore said. “We did not have a ton of guys that could get their own shots so we used our sets to be successful. But the credit goes to the kids. They were a very close group and they wanted to win very badly.”