West Chester East shows off more weapons, like freshman McCray, in win over rival Henderson

WEST GOSHEN >> Anyone who follows West Chester East boys basketball knows if you want to defeat the Vikings, you are going to have to deal with a pair of 1,000-point scorers in seniors Andrew Carr and Tom Richardson, who both average just over 20 points per game.

Tuesday night at Jack Byrne Gymnasium, West Chester East coach Tom Durant wanted to get others involved and see what he has going into the upcoming District 1 Class 5A playoffs. The Vikings got the usual big games from Carr and Richardson, but got big help from others as the Vikings defeated West Chester Henderson, 69-56, in a Ches-Mont League National Division game.

Carr had 17 points to go along with 11 rebounds, and Richardson led the Vikings with 18 points and five boards. But flashy freshman Destined McCray tallied 13 points, including two key first half 3-pointers. The Vikings drained nine treys on the night and forced 16 Warrior turnovers.

“I really spent a lot of time in the gym working on my shot this season and over the summer,” McCray said. “And I have to shoot the ball well especially against taller defenders so the shots were there tonight and I felt good taking them.”

West Chester East (7-1 Ches-Mont National, 14-2 overall) held a one-point lead after one quarter but outscored the Warriors, 19-6, in the decisive second period. Carr tallied six points in the frame and McCray hit two big treys to open things up. West Chester Henderson (1-7, 4-11) helped the Vikings cause with 12 first-half turnovers.

Carr took a lob from Mike Dedda to score in tight and make it a 29-17 game late in the second period. After a Henderson miss, the Vikings came up the floor and Richardson drove to the basket and it was a 31-17 West Chester East lead at halftime. Carr, at 6-foot-9, had a big height advantage over the smaller Henderson roster and the Vikings used every inch of that edge.

“Coach (Tom) Durant did a good job getting everybody involved tonight,” Carr said. “Henderson played us very tough tonight. But, we knew coming in we had the height advantage and when the ball came into me and I got doubled, I was to just throw a skip pass to the corner for an open shot. Things worked out well tonight.”

West Chester East cemented the outcome early in the third quarter as the Vikings scored the first nine points to take a 40-17 lead. Carr took a feed from Dedda and score in tight, got fouled and hit the free throw for a 34-17 lead.

Henderson missed its first three shots of the third quarter and Richardson scored two baskets in a row. The first came on a strong drive to the basket and the second came on a follow of a missed Viking shot. McCray scored in the lane for the 40-17 advantage. Sage Harkins finally scored for the Warriors to break the 9-0 run.

West Chester East rested Carr and Richardson most of the third quarter and for the final four minutes of the fourth. Henderson did not quit even though the outcome was pretty much decided. The Warriors scored the final nine points the third, led by Harkins, who led all scorers with 28 points.

But, West Chester East got a big trey from Kieran Heffernan and an inside basket from Jack Kushner to get the Vikings’ lead to 54-35 midway through the fourth quarter and the Vikings cleared their bench. The Vikings shot 21 for 38 from the field for the game and were nine for 16 in the second half.

“Everybody knows we have the big two but we are going to need everybody and tonight we got to see some other people,” Durant said. “But, I want to give West Chester Henderson credit. They junked things up and did some nice things and number 10 (Harkins) was very impressive for them.”

West Chester East 69, West Chester Henderson 56

WC HENDERSON (56): Harkins 10 6-8 28, Fay 3 2-3 8, Briglia 2 0-0 4, Kirby 4 2-2 12, Mowatt 1 0-0 2, Stirbny 1 0-0 2, Smink 0 0-0 0, Hazzard 0 0-0 0, Domenic 0 0-0 0, Sell 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 10-13 56.

WC EAST (69): McCray 4 1-2 13, Dedda 1 0-0 3, Duell 1 0-0 3, Cummings 0 1-2 1, Kushner 2 0-0 5, Carr 5 7-10 17, Richardson 6 5-5 18, Hefferan 2 2-2 8. Totals 21 16-21 69.

WC Henderson 11 6 16 23 – 56
WC East 12 19 15 25 – 69

3-point goals: Harkins 2, Kirby 2, McCray 2, Dedda, Duell, Kushner, Richardson, Hefferan 2.