Martinez saves Coatesville from huge upset

COATESVILLE >> With what’s happened in the last week, you would think that Coatesville head coach Chuck Moore would be used to all of the nail-bitters and the down-to-the-wire finishes.

A week ago it was a squeaker in the Ches-Mont boy’s semifinal, followed two days later with an even closer one-point decision in the final. And on Friday, the top-seeded Red Raiders needed a forceful finish to outlast upset-minded Bensalem, 43-40, in round one of the District 1 Class AAAA Tournament.

“I might need to see a cardiologist after this one,” Moore said of the tense finish against the visiting, 32nd seeded Owls. “For me on the sidelines, it’s the most nerve-wracking thing I can imagine. I expect our team to come out from the get-go and be who they can be.”

That didn’t happen for much of the evening, but Coatesville had a 17-10 edge in the final minutes, including the last four points in a back-and-forth finish that included six late lead changes. Trailing by a point, center Justus Martinez scored an inside bucket with 12.7 seconds on the clock, which wound up being the game-winner.

“It was designed to go to me and I was surprised I was so open,” said Martinez, who scored 13 of his game-high 16 points in the second half. “I just took my time and laid it up.”

The Raiders were still clinging to a precarious 41-40 lead until Jordan Young intercepted a pass with 3.4 second remaining and was fouled. He made both from the line, and Bensalem’s bid for a shocker ended when its prayer at the buzzer was off target.

“My team finds a way to keep its composure through all adversity,” Moore pointed out. “It’s happened so much this season that it helps them believe if we stay with it, the outcome will be ours.

“But being a one-seed or a 32-seed means absolutely nothing. That’s something I think we learned. We try to treat it like the NCAA Tournament, where anybody can beat anybody.”

With the win, Coatesville improves to 24-1 overall and extends its winning streak to 14 in a row. The Raiders will play No. 17 Central Bucks East, which beat No. 16 Pennsbury, in round two on Tuesday.

“I feels good to win and survive,” Martinez said.

It’s likely Coatesville would have been a first-round casualty without Martinez, the burly 6-foot-5 senior. He wound up scoring more than half of his team’s second half total, and led the way on the boards.

“Justus has been our glue all season,” Moore said. “Even if he is struggling, he will always have my trust no matter what. He’s been the best big man in our league and maybe the best in this tournament.

“But it’s up to him to prove that every night.”

Bensalem falls to 8-12 overall, but the Owls put quite a scare into the partisan crowd at Coatesville.

“We are not big, but we have heart and we play hard,” said head coach Mike McCabe. “That’s all I can ask of them.

“We were confident we could play with Coatesville, but the size factor was difficult. We were in position to win the game and we didn’t pull it out. But we were there and had a shot.”

Just four days earlier, the Raiders edged archrival Downingtown West 38-37 to capture the Ches-Mont crown for the first time since 2012, and avenge its lone defeat. But on Friday Coatesville was clearly out of sorts through three quarters and into the fourth.

“The coaches told us not to take anyone lightly, but I think we did through the first three quarters,” Martinez admitted. “We woke up in the fourth.”

The Raiders were shaky in the first half, trailed by as many as five, and were down 19-18 at the break. Coatesville was a bit one-dimensional, constantly pounding the ball inside, and didn’t even connect on a jumper until late in the second period.

The Owls did most of their damage from the perimeter, and handled the Coatesville pressure fairly well until the closing minutes. Bensalem took a 30-26 lead into the final period and that enabled Bensalem to sit back in a zone defense, daring the home team to connect from the perimeter.

“We knew (Coatesville) had a good inside game and that’s been our Achilles heel all season,” McCabe said. “So we wanted to force them to win it from the outside.”

Trent Hugan finally knocked down the Raiders’ first, and only, 3-pointer midway through the fourth before fouling out. Coatesville then inched ahead, 39-38, when Jonathan Thompson came off the bench to hit a floater with 1:19 to go. The Owls took their last lead on a steal and midrange jump shot by Ward Roberts (11 points) with 24.4 remaining.

Coatesville promptly called a timeout to set up Martinez’s late heroics.

“It wasn’t a great shooting night for us but we stayed poised,” Moore said.

“We need to respect the situation we are in. There will be plenty of upsets in this tournament, so we have to earn every win. I don’t want them to think anything is going to be given to them because they have Coatesville across their chest or that we are the No. 1 seed. We are going to have to earn whatever we get.”