Howard, Luneberg help Downingtown West hold off WC Henderson in opener

WEST CHESTER >> If the Ches-Mont League contests the rest of the season are anything like the show Downingtown West and West Chester Henderson put on Thursday night, it is going to be one very entertaining season.

The two teams went at each other furiously for the entire 32 minutes of action before Downingtown West pulled away for a 71-65, Ches-Mont National Division victory at Reichert Grymansium.

The Whippets (1-0 Ches-Mont, 2-1 overall) outscored the Warriors (0-1, 0-2) 15-9, in the final period to pull out the victory.

Downingtown West had a distinct height advantage on Henderson thanks to two big Whippets: Will Howard and Jackson Luneberg. Howard led all scorers with 28 points to go along with seven rebounds while Luneberg tallied 14 and hauled down 10 boards. The Whippets used a high-low offense with the two big men to get the smaller Warriors in foul trouble, and in the end that was the difference in the game.

“We turned up the defensive intensity in the fourth quarter,” Luneberg said. “We played really tough defense and we paid attention to controlling the boards. They played very tough and we respect them but I thought our defense late was the key for us.”

Henderson led after the first three quarters and took a close 56-55 lead going into the fourth. There were five lead changes in the third period and Henderson was getting a huge game from Sage Harkins, who led the Warriors with 26 points, and point guard Shawn Fay, who dished out seven assists and ran the floor smartly for the Warriors.

The fourth quarter was more of the same. Dylan Blair buried a long 3-pointer to make it a 60-59 Downingtown West lead, and after a Henderson turnover — one of four fourth-quarter miscues for the Warriors — Dylan Blair went to the hole strong and gave the Whippets a 62-59 advantage.

“Dylan is a freshman and he really showed growth tonight,” Downingtown West coach Stu Ross said. “He and Hunter Blair controlled the tempo for us late in the game and we eliminated the turnovers that hurt us in the first two games. Henderson played really hard and they are a good team. You have to be ready every night. We started to tilt the floor toward No. 10 (Harkins) and No. 4 (Fay), who is their floor general.”

But Henderson wouldn’t back down. The Warriors just kept coming and coming. Henderson took the lead, 63-62, on a driving layup by Harkins. The Whippets brought ball down and went inside to Howard, who was fouled and gave the Whippets a 64-63 lead by draining two free throws. After a Warrior miss, the Whippets got a free throw from Luneberg to make it a 65-63 West lead with 2:20 to play.

Henderson then committed two offensive fouls in a row and Downingtown West took the ball down the floor and Dylan Blair drove strong to the basket, got fouled and drained both from the stripe for a 67-63 Whippet lead. But, Henderson got a bucket from Ryan Kirby, who took a nice feed from Fay to make it a 67-65 game.

Those would be the last points scored for Henderson as the Warriors went scoreless over the final 1:56, and to make matters worse, Harkins picked up his fifth foul with 1:32 to play. Downingtown West then scored the last four points of the game on free throws, two by Howard and two by Hunter Blair, and the Whippets came away with a very hard fought win after trailing for the first three quarters.

The Whippets were three for six from the field in the fourth after shooting 27 percent the first three periods from the floor.

“We really played hard and these kids come to practice every day and they run and play hard,” West Chester Henderson coach Rob Frattura said. “We had those two offensive fouls at the end of the game that hurt us but we still had a chance to win the game. We are on the right track.”

Downingtown West 71, West Chester Henderson 65
DOWNINGTOWN WEST (71): H.Blair 1 5-6 7, D.Blair 4 4-4 13, Poluch 1 0-0 3, Dever 1 0-0 3, Howard 9 8-9 28, Luneberg 6 2-6 14, Schawb 1 1-2 3, Zincone 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 20-27 71.
WC HENDERSON (65): Hazzard 0 0-1 0, Fay 3 1-2 7, Washington 0 0-0 0, Harkins 9 7-10 26, Briglia 5 2-3 14, Kirby 7 2-6 16, Stribny 1 0-1 2. Totals 25 12-23 65.
Downingtown West 15 20 20 15 – 71
WC Henderson 17 21 18 9 – 65
3-point goals: Poluch, D.Blair, Dever, Howard 2, Harkins, Briglia 2.