Downingtown East outlasts Great Valley in Ches-Mont girls basketball semifinal
WEST CHESTER >> It was a decidedly less than ideal start, but the Downingtown East girls’ basketball squad eventually shook off some early jitters to outlast Great Valley 48-36 in the semifinals of the Ches-Mont Playoffs Friday.
“We tend to stay calm and keep our composure,” said D-East senior Lauren Kent. “(Great Valley) is a good team and they are going to make shots, but we are a good team too.
“We sometimes start off slow, so we just have to pick each other up. And our bench helps a lot with that. We know that whatever just happened is behind us and we have to just play our game.”
The win ups the Cougars’ record to 18-4 overall and propels the squad to the Ches-Mont Championship Game on Tuesday against West Chester Rustin, the American Division champs. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. from West Chester’s Hollinger Field House.
The Patriots fall to 14-9 but are sure to make the District 1 6A playoffs, and just might get a first round home game.
“This game was bonus basketball,” said Great Valley head coach Alex Venarchik. “Now we have to forget this, quickly. The ninth through 16th seeds get a home game in the first round, so we are excited about that because we were 15th in the latest [District 1] power rankings.”
Despite employing three-quarter court defensive pressure all evening, it was the Cougars who turned it over seven times in the opening period. But D-East only trailed 6-5 heading into the second period.
“Even though we were turning it over early, I never had a doubt in my mind that the girls would find a way,” said D-East head coach Darren Domsohn.
“I told our kids that we have to start taking advantage of our opportunities because [East] is too good to trade baskets with and not take advantage of their mistakes,” Venarchik added.
The Cougars recovered late in the first half and early in the second, staging a 21-8 rally to open a nine point margin. Junior center Ari Smuda scored nine points during the run and Kent added eight in the third quarter to give East a 35-28 edge heading into the fourth.
“During an early timeout we talked about finding the style of play we like to create,” Domsohn said. “Once we got through that, we started locking in and playing the way that we want to play. Credit to our girls that they found a way to take a deep breath.”
The Patriots started to heat up from the 3-point arc in an attempt to stage a late comeback, but the Cougars turned them over 11 times in the second half, and East closed it out by hitting 9 of 14 from the free throw line. Kent was 3-for-5 and Cassie Denning 5-for-7 in the final eight minutes.
“We struggled earlier this season getting to the line and making them, but in practice they lock in and take their reps seriously, and it is starting to turn around late in the season when we need it most,” Domsohn said.
Kent only made four buckets but led all scorers with 19 points. Smuda added 13 and Denning 10 for the Cougars.
“(Great Valley) was collapsing (defensively) on Ari (Smuda) so they rest of us knew we had to drive to the basket to get some free throws, and then we had to make them,” Kent said.
Junior guard Laura Lum scored 10 of her game-high 14 in the second half for Great Valley, but nobody else on the roster managed more than six.
“We just kind of lose our focus for a few minutes and (East) took advantage of it,” Venarchik said. “But our mistakes were not from a lack of effort.
“We were trying to get back into it with one big play, and you can’t do that. You have to chip away and not force things.”
Downingtown East 48, Great Valley 36
Great Valley 6 9 13 8 — 36
Downingtown East 5 13 17 13 — 48
GREAT VALLEY – Powell 1 0-0 2; Eisenhardt 1 0-0 2; Curley 2 0-0 5; Lum 5 2-2 14; Fredrick 1 0-0 3; DiPrinzio 2 1-2 6; Sioutis 2 0-4 4. Totals 14 3-8 36.
DOWNINGTOWN EAST – Denning 2 5-7 10; Kent 4 10-14 19; Hewitt 1 1-2 3; Ford 1 0-0 3; Smuda 6 1-1 13. Totals 14 17-24 48.
Three pointers: Curley, Lum 2, Fredrick, DiPrinzio, Denning, Kent, Ford.
