Top-seeded Coatesville stunned by C.B. East in 1-AAAA 2nd round

COATESVILLE >> Unable to execute the little aspects of the game added up to a whole lot of trouble for the top-seeded Coatesville boys on Tuesday night.
The host Red Raiders missed two-thirds of their free throw attempts, failed to capitalize on the 13 turnovers created by their defense, and wound up falling to No. 17 Central Bucks West, 49-43, in the second round of the District 1 Class AAAA Tournament.
“I don’t think we took care of the little things,” said Coatesville head coach Chuck Moore. “We shot horrible from the line, and you can’t win games like that. We missed five layups in the first half alone. All that stuff adds up.
“If you don’t take care of the little things, you can’t accomplish big things.”
The upset halted the squad’s 14-game winning streak, but thanks to the playback round the Raiders season will continue, even though the dream of a district crown is now lost. Coatesville (21-2 overall) will host Hatboro-Horsham in the loser’s bracket.
“Regardless of everything, we have to get back into the gym, put in the hours and bounce back,” said senior guard Rome Boyer, who led the team with 13 points.
“Now it’s a matter of how we respond to this,” Moore added. “This will be a true testament of who we are. But I believe in my team and I think we will respond and learn from this. We’ve been battle-tested all season.”
The Raiders were poised to take control following a 16-4 surge late in the first and early in the second half which opened a 27-19 lead. But just when the Patriots (16-8 overall) looked to be in trouble, they reeled off 12 unanswered points to take a four-point edge into the final quarter.
“I can’t even tell you what happened during that stretch,” Boyer said.
“That was major,” Moore added. “We didn’t expect (C.B. East) to quit and they made some big shots down the stretch. We committed some dumb fouls and were never able to put our footprint on the game like we could have.”
Coatesville never saw the lead again, but did whittle the deficit to three on several occasions. Down 45-42 with just over a minute remaining, the Raiders turned it over on a crucial inbounds. C.B. East closed it out by making 4-of-6 free throws the rest of the way.
In all, the Raiders’ pressure defense forced enough turnovers, but were unable to capitalize on almost all of them. The Pats coughed it up three times early in the fourth but Coatesville failed to make them pay for it.
“We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities,” Moore said. “If you create turnovers, you have to be able to capitalize on them. We didn’t do that.”
The normally deliberate Patriots were forced into a flurry of late first half turnovers as well, allowing tentative Coatesville to finish the first half on a 6-0 run and take a 17-15 lead. Boyer scored all nine of the Raiders second quarter points on a trio of 3-point buckets.
The Raiders scored the first five of the third quarter to go up eight, but then came the game-changing lull.
“Our mental approach wasn’t the best,” Boyer admitted. “Not everyone was fully there heading into the game and sometimes that can affect all of us. (C.B. East) played harder that we did. I thought we took them a little lightly, but basketball is a game of runs, so you never know what can happen.”
For the contest, Coatesville was 5-for-16 from the free throw line for 31 percent. Six players had multiple chances at the line and nobody made more than one freebie.
“We have to step that up,” said Boyer, who made four 3-pointers but was 1-5 at the line. “It was a surprise because we usually pull through in those critical moments.”
Kamau Brickus scored 10 of his 12 points in the third period, Trent Hugan added 10 points and seven rebounds, and Jordan Young chipped in seven points and 12 boards. Justus Martinez – the star of the first round escape against Bensalem – scored just one point but did have five rebounds and three blocks.
“I thought we came in focused and prepared,” Moore said. “It just didn’t go our way tonight.”

Central Bucks East 49, Coatesville 43
C.B. East    8 7 21 13 — 40
Coatesville    8 9 15 11 — 43
C.B. EAST – Pattyson 4 3-4 11; O’Neill 5 1-1 13; Strasburger 5 1-7 13; Peterson 3 1-13 7; Seger 0 5-6 5. Totals 17 11-21 49.
COATESVILLE – Hugan 4 1-2 10; Young 3 1-3 7; Brickus 5 1-2 12; Boyer 4 1-5 13; Martinez 0 1-2 1; Donovan 0 0-2 0. Totals 16 5-16 43.
3-point goals: O’Neil, Strasburger 2, Hugan, Brickus, Boyer 4.