McCoole, D’West too much for Upper Dublin in first round

FORT WASHINGTON >> In the first round of the PIAA District One 6A playoffs, the Downingtown West boys basketball team earned a huge road win against hosting Upper Dublin Friday night with a final score of 56-44.
The Whippets, seeded 17th in the tournament, got huge efforts from Cameron McCole and Will Howard.
McCole finished the game with 23 points while Morrow scored 20 points in the victory.
“We knew that we had a size advantage heading into the game,” said McCole. “We had a tough schedule all year long, so we were well prepared heading into this game.”
“I was just really happy about getting the win no matter how many points I got,” said Howard. “We came up big when it really counted being tied with Upper Dublin and we made some foul shots and got the job done.”
The Whippets earned a big 16-9 lead after the first quarter, but Upper Dublin managed to bounce back winning the second quarter 16-13 to make it a four-point game at halftime.
The Cardinals got off to a big 8-0 run in the third quarter, which eventually tied the game at 38-38 heading into the fourth quarter.
Even with the roaring Upper Dublin student section roaring against Downingtown West, the Whippets outscored the Cardinals 18-6 in the fourth quarter to come away in the 56-44 victory.
Upper Dublin head coach Stuart Ross was thrilled with his team getting the road victory against a tough Cardinal squad.
“Upper Dublin is well coached and they did a great job this season,” said Ross. “But for us we were taking too many chances on defense getting a lot of layoffs early in the game, but we figured it out in the fourth quarter to get the win.”
With the loss, the Upper Dublin Cardinals finish the season with an overall record of 11-9.
The Downingtown West Whippets (15-8) will hit the road to take on two-time defending District One 6A champion and number one seed Abington (23-1) on Tuesday night.
Downingtown West 56, Upper Dublin 44
DW 16 13 9 18 — 56
UD 9 16 13 6 — 44
Downingtown West: McCole 23; Howard 20; Roberson 8; Kaiser 5.
Upper Dublin: Klammer 11; Williams 8; Slivka 8; Stover 7; Brady 6; Bootmann 2; Watkins 2.