Unionville starts fast and defeats West Chester Rustin

EAST MARLBOROUGH<< The Unionville boys basketball team started Tuesday nights Ches-Mont American Division game with West Chester Rustin by hitting their first seven shots from the field. The Longhorns went on to shoot 10 for 12 in the opening period to open up a 11 points lead at the end of one period. This was all the momentum the Longhorns would need as they went wire-to-wire to defeat Rustin, 60-48, in Ches-Mont American Division play.

Unionville (2-0 Ches-Mont, 6-1 overall) got a game high 16 points from Ryan Brown and 10 points and six rebounds from Nick Diehll as the Longhorns played pretty much flawless basketball except for a brief stretch in the third period when they missed some easy inside shots.

Unionville shot 22 of 44 from the field for the game and only turned the ball over eight times against Rustin (1-1, 2-5). The Longhorns drained seven three-balls for the game.

“We got some really good open looks to start the game tonight,” Brown said. “And we got them because we were getting good stops on defense and sprinting back down the floor before they could set their defense. It all started with our defense and we ran our offense well tonight.”

The Longhorns had a commanding 38-20 lead at halftime but the Golden Knights cut into the lead in the third period as they turned up their defensive effort. Nick Crispino drained a three-ball to pull Rustin to within 43-30 with 3:35 to go in the third period. The Longhorns missed two easy layups inside and Rustin took advantage of the miscues.

Tyler Giunta drove the baseline and scored at the end of the third period to cut the Longhorns margin to 45-36. The Golden Knights outscored Unionville 16-7 in the period and the Longhorns shot just three for 10 in the third period.

But the Longhorns turned to  using the clock in the fourth period as they moved the ball around the perimeter without taking a shot for 2:03 to start the fourth period. Diehl found an open lane to the basket and he scored in tight to make it a 47-36 Unionville lead. James Brenner then drained a long three-ball and the Longhorns were back in business and in control of the game.

“We call that offense our “Chin offense”, Brown said. “We missed some inside shots in the third period and they made a run so we went to going to the basketball and making them play defense for a long period of time.”

The Longhorns shot five for seven from the floor in the fourth period and outscored the Golden Knights 15-12 in the final stanza to secure the win. The Golden Knights shot just four for 11 from the field in the fourth period and were led by Chase Hatton, who poured in a team high 12 points. Sam Sproull added 10 for Rustin.

“I think we got those good looks early in the game because we made a real commitment to running our offense,” Unionville coach Chris Cowles said. “And we really worked our offense and the shots went down for us tonight.

“The reason we pulled the ball out in the fourth period was because we missed some layups in the third period and the game got a little tighter and we wanted to run some clock. We would not have done that if the third period did not go the way it did. The kids played really well tonight.”

Unionville goes to 2-0 in Ches-Mont American Division play and the Longhorns will host Great Valley, another Ches-Mont American foe, on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Unionville 60, WC rustin 48

WC RUSTIN (48) Nochumson 3 0-1 6, Giunta 2 2-2 7, Hatton 5 0-1 12, Schlesinger 0 1-3 1, Crispino 2 0-0 5, Hasson 2 0-0 5, Sproull 3 2-2 10, Davis 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 5-9 48.

UNIONVILLE (60) Brenner 3 1-3 8 Anderson 1 0-0 3, Logan 3 2-2 9, Napolitano 3 0-0 8, Brown 6 3-5 16, Carson 1 0-0 3, Kammieier 0 3-5 3, Diehl 5 0-0 10. Totals 22 9-15 60.

West Chester Rustin 13 7 16 12-48
Unionville                  24 14 7 15-60
3-point goals: Giunta, Hatton 2, Crispino, asso, Sproull 2, Brenner, anderson, Logan, Napolitano 2, Brown, Carson.