Smuda, Downingtown East top injury-plagued Coatesville

CALN – Thanks to a pre-holiday win over defending champion West Chester Henderson, the Downingtown East girls are the early team to beat in the Ches-Mont National basketball race.

And on Thursday, the Cougars added a convincing 61-39 road win over injury-plagued Coatesville in order to move to 3-0 in the division (6-3 overall).   

“But if you’re Downingtown East, you are going to get everybody’s best shot anyway,” pointed out head coach Tom Schurtz.

In one difference-making mid-game stretch, the Cougars scored 35 of 41 points to open a 29-point lead, and then coasted to the victory. The Red Raiders (3-3, 3-6) were without their top two players – Sarah Huston and Neveyah Chester – who were sidelined with injuries.

“Once we get healthy and whole, we’ll be ready to start playing our best basketball,” said first-year Coatesville head coach Scott Barker.

“They are certainly two great players, and you don’t want to see anyone injured,” Schurtz added. “I hope they have a speedy recovery.”

A 6-foot sophomore, Chester is not expected to miss any more games from an unspecified injury. And Huston, a senior point guard, is about a week away from returning from an ankle sprain.

“Sarah is getting close,” Barker said. “It was a three-to-four week window, but we don’t want her to rush it.”

East didn’t really get untrack offensively until standout Bella Smuda started scoring. After connecting on just one of her first six shot attempts, the 6-foot-5 junior center exploded for 15 points as the Cougars outscored Coatesville 22-6 in the a difference-making second quarter.

“I liked our shot selection early but we just needed to be a little crisper,” Schurtz said. “In the second quarter we were able to be a little cleaner in our spacing.”

In addition, as East started making buckets, it was able to employ its full-court pressure defense. And with two freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup, the Raiders didn’t handle it well.

“East played very well,” Barker said. “They were very aggressive on defense and it put us back on our heels.”

In final two quarters, the Cougars had a very modest two-point scoring advantage, but it was already 33-13 at the half.  

“Once we started playing, things felt more normal,” said Smuda, who led the way with 25 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks. “We were looking for open shots and going to the basket harder.”

Following a 0-3 start, East has now reeled off six wins in a row. Senior forward Ally Meakim chipped in nine points for the Cougars.

“We came out the gates a little sluggish,” Schurtz said. “We had 60 turnovers in our first three games, and that’s unacceptable.

“But there is potential and we have nice balance. One thing I have been happy with throughout is our defensive intensity. We’ve done a nice job making other teams work to get quality shots.”

Huston and Chester combined to average 30 points per game last season. In their absence, sophomore Dasani Peoples came off the bench to lead the Raiders with 13 points. Senior Kiana Brown added 12.

“We were proud of the way our players stuck together, and we told them that,” Barker said.

“We talked during the third quarter timeouts that it’s a conference game and we are going to play (Downingtown East) again. You have to try to turn things around so you’re better prepared for the next game.”

Overall, Coatesville committed 19 turnovers, with the majority coming in the first half. And the Cougars were solid at the free throw line, connecting on nine of 10 in the opening half.

“We are a team that can be very aggressive to the rim, our free throw shooting was quite good (Thursday) – that’s how we want to play this season,” Schurtz said.

“This team is really driven,” Smuda added. “We had a rough start but we’ve kind of progressed. We really want to go for the Ches-Mont (title).”

Downingtown East 61, Coatesville 39

Downingtown East                        11 22 16 12 – 61

Coatesville                            7 6 16 10 – 39

DOWNINGTOWN EAST: Brennan 4 0-0 8; Kent 2 4-5 8; Meakim 2 5-6 9; Smuda 12 1-1 25; McFillin 2 0-0 5; Geary 0 1-2 1; Denning 2 0-0 5. Totals 24 11-14 61.

COATESVILLE: Peoples 4 5-7 13; Edwards-Rowley 1 3-4 5; Brown 5 2-4 12; Boggs 3 0-0 7; Ellzy 2 0-2 2. Totals 15 10-17 39.

Three-point goals: McFillin, Denning, Boggs.