Council Rock North girls basketball upended by Downingtown East in districts (VIDEO)
DOWNINGTOWN – Sometimes, the difference in the game is simple.
In the case of the second round District 1-AAAA playoff between and 28th-seeded Council Rock North and No. 12 Downingtown East, it was foul shots, or more specifically, missed free throws. The visiting Lady Indians (13-10) came up empty on 12 of their 21 tries at the charity stripe and the Cougars escaped with a 43-37 win Feb. 17 at the home of the Ches-Mont rival.
Downingtown missed some free tosses too; the Cougars were 19-for-27 from the line. But the Cougars didn’t miss much from the stripe at the end when it counted most. Downingtown (19-7) made seven of their last nine free tosses including a pair by senior Paige Warfel, who was good on five of her last six tries including a pair she drained with 1:30 to go that gave her team five points worth of breathing room.
“That was the difference in the game,” admitted CR North head coach Lou Palkovics. “It’s not like the girls don’t concentrate when they shoot foul shots in practice; it’s not like they go to the foul line expecting to miss.
“But that really hurt us tonight; that was the biggest thing, I thought.”
For the Cougars, the win earned Downingtown a berth in states and puts them in a District 1 quarterfinal matchup with No. 13 Neshaminy, a 48-40 winner over fourth-seeded Mount St. Joseph.
For the Indians, who upset fifth-seeded Boyertown in a district playoff opener, it sends them to a consolation matchup with the Mount. Rock takes on the Magic at 3 p.m. Saturday in Flourtown.
The Indians actually defeated the Cougars late last year in a holiday hoops tournament that took place down at the Jersey Shore but that was a Downingtown team without Warfel in the lineup. In this one, the 6-2 senior scored seven of her team’s nine points in the first quarter and led all scorers with 18 for the game.
“Paige being there was a big difference,” added Palkovics. “We did not do a good job on her in the first quarter. She got to the free throw line eight times in the first period.
“That’s just poor help defense and people not rotating in over there.”
Warfel got to the line nine more times in the second half and although she capitalized on seven of those tosses, at least she didn’t score anymore from the floor.
That job was left to Downingtown East senior Aryah Aungst, who poured a pair of 3-pointers into the basket after the break and classmate Laura Ochsner, who exploded for seven of her 11 points in the last two periods.
Defensively, the trio posed problems for those Indians who dared attempting the task of driving the lane.
“What really helps them is their length,” stated Palkovics. “They’re big and long so that kind of hurt us.”
After holding a 19-16 lead at the half, the Cougars started the third period with a 7-2 run on a pair of field goals by Ochsner and a 3-ball by Aungst. Downingtown expanded their scoring spurt to 11-2 on two more free throws by Warfel and a jumper by Lindsay Kent.
When a jumper by CR North sophomore Becca Margolis (9 pts.) fell through the rim at the 3:10 mark of the third quarter, it was the first points by the Indians since Sam Saifer’s jumper in the opening moments of the second half.
As improbable as it was at that moment in the contest, Rock mounted a 13-1 scoring run from that point on that tied the game at 31-all on a jumper by freshman Dana Bandurick (8 pts.) with 5:30 to go in regulation.
“When we made that 13-1 run, the offense started clicking a little bit,” said Palkovics. “We started not getting as complicated on offense and creating mismatches and getting to the basket.
“Our defense really helped; we got some turnovers in the fourth quarter.”
Thirty second later however, Aungst hit her second 3-pointer in the game to put the Cougars ahead and North never caught up again. While it was good that sophomore Kaelin Mealey took advantage of a 1-and-1 opportunity at the foul line to keep things close, Ochsner hit a shot off the glass with three minutes left to expand the Downingtown lead to three.
A few moments later, Margolis turned the ball over in Rock’s offensive end only seconds before fouling out of the game with 2:40 to go in the contest.
The Cougars closed the contest out at the foul line, making seven of their last nine while Rock missed two of its last four. Turnovers also played a part. North surrendered the ball three times in the last minute and a half of the contest.
Still, Palkovics saw a silver lining in the loss.
“I said to the girls, ‘I’m really proud of you.’ They could have packed it in when it was 30 to 18 and just decided ‘wow, this team is a lot better than we thought,’” he explained. “Instead, they decided to put up a 13-1 run.”
With six freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors and just one senior, the Indians are building blocks on which to build next year’s team. “I think they’re in it for the long haul,” added the coach.
And the season is not over yet. North has to win the next two games to guarantee a berth in states. Three wins gets the Indians a No. 9 seed. Two gets them in the 10th spot.
Like this game, North posted a late scoring run to upset the fifth-seeded Bears Feb. 13 in Boyertown. The Bears (18-7) led the Indians 12-9 at the half and held an 18-15 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter before North (13-9) erupted with a 12-0 run on four 3-pointers to take control.
Margolis led the Indians’ scoring effort with 18 points including a pair of 3-pointers. All told, North registered six triples in the game. Megan Haggerty poured three of them into the basket for nine points. Mealey (5 pts.) had the other.
“The most excited I’ve seen them in the locker room and the most excited I’ve seen them on the bus ride,” stated Palkovics.
On Saturday, the quest begins for the eight quarterfinalists that have already qualified for states and the other eight teams that are fighting for the last two berths.
Contact the author at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com, or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
DISTRICT 1-AAAA (ROUND 2)
Downingtown East 43, Council Rock North 37
(Feb. 17 at D-East)
CR North 8 8 10 11 – 37
D-East 9 10 11 13 – 43
CR NORTH (13-10) — Becca Margolis 9, Camryn Polinsky 4, Megan Haggerty 3, Kaelin Mealey 3, Mackenzie Tinner 1, Dana Bandurek 8, Hannah Weiler 2, Samantha Saifer 4, Tara McGuigan 3; TOTALS — 12 9-21 40.
DOWNINGTOWN EAST (19-7) — Aryah Aungst 8, Dani Tyrell 2, Paige Warfel 18, Lindsay Kent 2, Laura Ochsner 11, Erin Phelan 2; TOTALS — 11 19-27 43.
3-POINT GOALS: CRN — Margolis 2, Polinsky, Haggerty; DE — Aungst 2.
