Mullen, Hertz lead Kennett to rout of West Chester Henderson

WEST CHESTER >> The Kennett boys basketball program has made significant strides under young coach Brian Grashof the past two seasons.

Saturday afternoon at West Chester Henderson, the Blue Demons took another step forward in nonleague action, as the Blue Demons dominated the host Warriors and evened their record at 9-9, as Kennett led from start to finish and defeated Henderson, 79-53, in nonleague action.

Kennett (9-9) put three players in double figures, led by Jack Mullen’s 19, and 18 from Buzzy Hertz. Mitch Kosara chipped in with 13 points in the lopsided victory. 

Kennett repeatedly got inside the Henderson (4-12) defense and shot a blistering 29 for 50 from the field as the Blue Demons’ interior passing game was right on the mark.

“We run a five out open offense and everybody was moving without the ball today,” kosara said. “And we passed the ball well. This was a good win for us because it keeps our playoff hopes alive. The coaches have done a good job. They bring a lot of energy and make things fun for us.”

Kennett jetted out to a 20-8 lead after one quarter on an eight for 10 shooting frame, and extended its lead to 41-26 at intermission. Hertz had 16 points at halftime and Mullen had 11 of his game-high 19 points in the opening quarter. While the Blue Demons were on fire from the field, the Warriors struggled through an opening half where they shot 12 for 33 from the field and turned the ball over nine times in the first half.

“When two teams where the talent level is comparable and one team plays as a team and one does not, you get a loss like today,” West Chester Henderson coach Rob Frattura said. “And today we did not play together and that is what happens.”

Kennett did not take its foot off the gas in the third period, either. Kosara started things off by scoring off a Warrior turnover for a 43-26 lead. After a Henderson miss, Chris Ferrighetto scored on a follow to make it a 45-26 game. Sage Harkins drained a medium-range jumper for Henderson make it a 45-28 game, but Hertz scored off a nice pass from Kosara and then Kosara hit a jumper and Kennett was off to the races, outscoring Henderson 19-13 in the third quarter. Henderson turned the ball over 19 times for the game, which crippled the Warriors’ comeback attempt.

“We really moved well without the ball today,” Hertz said. “And we have a lot of guys that can score the ball. I mean we had three or four guys in double figures today. It was a team win today.”

Any thoughts the Warriors had of making a big comeback were dashed early in the fourth quarter when Mullen scored in tight off a pass from Ferrighetto, and after a Warrior miss, Mullen completed a three-point play off a nice feed from Kosara (who had six assists) to make it 67-41, before Grashof and Frattura cleared their benches for the final five minutes.

Grant Brooks led the Warriors in scoring with 16 points.

“We really ran the five out offense well today,” Grashof said. “This group plays really hard every single game and we have four seniors who do not know anything but to play as hard as they can. This is a really good group of kids and it is nice to get back to the .500 mark.”

Kennnett 79, West Chester Henderson 53

KENNETT (79): Mullen 8 3-3 19, Kosara 5 2-4 13, Hertz 5 7-8 18, Ferrighetto 3 2-2 8, R.Forte 0 1-2 1, S. Forte 2 3-4 7, Schimdt 1 0-0 2, Hassal 1 0-0 2, Patterson 0 1-2 1, Ploener 4 0-3 8. Totals 29 19-28 79.

WC HENDERSON (53): Laudato 5 1-1 11, Weirman 5 0-4 11, Harkins 3 0-0 6, Gray 1 0-0 2, Brooks 6 3-4 16, Armstrong 1 1-2 3, Striby 2 0-2 4, Briglia 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 5-134 53.

Kennett 20 21 19 19 – 79
WC Henderson 8 18 13 14 – 53

3-point goals: Hertz, Kosara, Wierman, Brooks.