Unionville vaults into Ches-Mont Final Four, pushes Sun Valley out

EAST MARLBOROUGH >> The Unionville boys basketball team entered Thursday night’s finale with Sun Valley on the outside of the Ches-Mont League Final Four playoff picture.

The Indians left as the top seed from the American Division, and used their stifling defense to push Sun Valley out of the Final Four.

The host Indians shut down the high-powered Sun Valley offense, and harrassed the Vanguards into a frigid 17-for-49 shooting night, on their way to a 59-48 win Thursday night.

The result, combined with West Chester Rustin’s win over Kennett Thursday night, created a three-way tie atop the Ches-Mont League’s American Division. Unionville and Rustin will finish ahead of Sun Valley in District 1 playoff points, so the Indians (7-3, 15-7) and Golden Knights will represent the American in Saturday’s Final Four at Oxford. 

Unionville will face West Chester East, while Rustin will meet top-seeded Coatesville.

Sun Valley’s season is not over, however, as the Vanguards (7-3, 15-7) will easily qualify for the District 1 Class 5A tournament, along with Unionville, Rustin (7-3, 15-7) and Great Valley out of the American.

Unionville never trailed against the Vanguards as the host Indians came out on fire, shooting five for nine from the field in the first quarter and 10 for 18 for the first half. Bo Furey-Bastian led the way for the Indians with 13 of his team-high 16 points in the first half, including two breakaway layups. Sun Valley missed four gimme layups in the first quarter.

“We got out on them early and played very well defensively tonight,” Furey-Bastian said. “And I have been struggling a little the past couple of games so it was nice to score early. And our offense comes from our defense and those two steals got me going. This was a big win for us, a win that could start something good for us in the Ches-Mont playoffs and then the districts.”

While Unionville was burning the nets with hot shooting, Sun Valley shot a horrid four for 21 in the opening half. But, Unionville only had a 23-18 lead after the first half because Sun Valley stayed alive at the foul line.

But, the game was decided in the third as the Indians outscored the Vanguards, 13-3, to open up a 36-21 advantage. Indians center Drew Lenkitis took over the game inside as Lenkitis scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Sun Valley was still cold from the field and except for Vinny DeAngelo, who led all scorers with 20 points, the Vanguards had little to no offense.

“Everything starts with our defense,” Lenkitis said. “Since Coach (Chris) Cowles has come here he tells us that if we run our offense we are going to get shots, but we have to play hard defensively to set up our offense. Tonight, we started early and that was a point of emphasis for us because we did not start well the past couple of games.”

Unionville spread the floor with its 15-point lead in the fourth quarter and Sun Valley was forced to chase the Indians. When that happened, it was time for Unionville to hit its foul shots against a desperate Sun Valley team. The Indians went 10 for 13 in the final frame from the charity stripe, and Sun Valley was sunk.

“We knew Sun Valley was a real good team that plays hard,” Cowles said. “They attack the glass well and they love to get downhill so we wanted to stay in front of them and control the glass, which we did for awhile, but they still got on us on the glass.”

Unionville 59, Sun Valley 48

SUN VALLEY (48): DeAngelo 6 5-7 20, Kennon 7 2-2 18, Freeman 2 1-2 6, Fisher 2 0-0 4, Valente 0 0-0 0, Stone 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 8-11 48.

UNIONVILLE (59): Lenkitis 3 8-10 14, Shanahan 2 2-4 7, Furen-Bastian 6 3-5 16, Ash 3 5-6 12, Hockenberry 3 0-0 8, Pasarelo 1 -0-2, Rafferty 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 16-25 59.

Sun Valley 4 14 3 27 – 48
Unionville 12 11 13 23 – 59

3-point goals: DeAngelo 3, Kennon 2, Freeman, Hockenberry 2,Furey-Bastian, Ash.