Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Coatesville, Shanahan should reach the final
Tonight at Downingtown West four Ches-Mont League teams will begin the process of crowing a league champion. Defending Champion Coatesville will take on West Chester Rustin at 7:30 p.m. while American Division champion Great Valley will battle Bishop Shanahan in the opener at 6:00 p.m. Great Valley (17-5) recorded an 11-1 league record while chess-Mont National entry Shanahan went 10-2 in the Ches-Mont. This game features two teams with similar styles and both coaches have the utmost respect for the other. Great Valley coach Paul Girone talked about what a challenge the Eagles will be for his squad.
“Shanahan has avery formidable front line with Dodds (Kevin) and Ford (Thomas), Girone said. “They are not only tall but also strong and skilled. Their guards are a great compliment to their front line. They are both athletic and aggressive. Overall, what sets them apart from other good teams is their toughness up and down the lineup. To beat Coatesville as they did you have to be tough mentally and physically. Most importantly, they play as a team. They have a lot of good players that consistently share the ball. That is a credit to their coach.”
Bishop Shanahan (175) is in the Final Four for the first time and Eagles coach Ken Doyle is well aware how tough an opponent the Patriots will be.
“Great Valley is a tough team and they are very well coached,” Doyle said. “Paul has done a great job filling in all the kids they lost from last year even improving on their record. going 11-1 in the American Division is tough to do. They are also healthy now which will make them stronger. We will have to play well and try to execute at a higher level in order to beat a very fundamentally sound team. We have played great defense all year and we will rely on that to help us. They have some really good shooters and players so we will have our work cut out for us.”
Pick: Both teams play very good defense as the pair’s opponents have averaged under 40 point sped game this season. great Valley has sophomore Alex capitano back from injury after missing most of the season and that is a big plus for the Patriots. Liam Ward has drained 45 three-balls this season and Shanahan will have to guard both ward and Capitano at the three point arc.
For Shanahan, junior guard David Angelo has 51 three-balls to lead the Ches-Mont League. Dan Browne is averaging 12.5 points per game and the battle underneath between Kevin Dodds and Great Valley’s Nate Graeff will likely decide the outcome.
This should be a tight game with two very sound, defensive minded, half court teams. Bishop Shanahan 52, Great Valley 49.
West Chester Rustin (167) has the prospect of trying to defeat a team that is playing its best basketball of the season so far in the Coatesville Red Raiders. The pair met on December 11 and the Red raiders charged back from a halftime deficit to beat the Golden Knights 6552. Rustin coach Keith Cochran talked about that first meeting and how tough the defending champions are.
“They put a lot of pressure onus in the second half and we were not ready for it,” Cochran said. “The thing with Coatesville is that they play so hard for the entire game and they have the best player in our league and he is only a freshman (Jhamir Bickus). Coatesville can do a lot of things and we will have to handle their pressure and get the ball up the floor because they are going to want to get out an go and we want to run our offense. It will be a good clash of styles.”
Coatesville (18-4) is one of the top 6A teams in District 1 and the Red raiders are playing at a very high level right now, scoring over 90 points in two of their last three wins. Coatesville coach Chuck Moore has done a great job bringing along his young team and Moore talked about the problems the Golden Knights will present his talented Red Raider squad.
“I believe Rustin is very well coached and they are starting to peak at the right time,” Moore said. “They are led by two terrific sophomores and they have proven they can compete with anyone in the PIAA. Rustin is a difficult team to face because they do a great job swathing defense from man to man to the 1-3-1 zone that keeps teams at bay offensively. I expect them to be confident and clicking on all cylinders Tuesday.”
Pick: Rustin is going to be very tough in the 5A playoffs but Coatesville is starting to look like one of the best 6A teams in the district, if not the state and the pair of Red Raider guards, Kamau and Jhamir Brickus are just too smooth for the Golden Knights to overcome. Both average over 12 points per game and are very tough from three point range. Coatesville 72, West Chester Rustin 64.