Sun Valley tops Rustin for first state bid since ’90

ASTON » Sun Valley basketball fans were treated to a double dose of long-awaited celebration Wednesday evening.

Not only did the Vanguards clinch their first PIAA tourney berth since 1990 with a 47-41 win against West Chester Rustin, but Sun Valley junior guard Vinny DeAngelo joined the school’s 1,000 point club.

“This team has come a long way,” Sun Valley head coach Steve Maloney said. “Last year, we were 6-16, and this season, instead of looking at a long-range goal we’ve been focusing on getting to the next quarter, then getting to the next game. But this is a great group of kids — they were in the gym for offseason workouts 15 minutes before I was.

“And we didn’t expect Vinny to reach 1,000 points this year, but his scoring just took off this season. He’s not afraid to share the ball — he’s a special person.”

Following the Vanguards’ historic win, a postgame ceremony was held for DeAngelo. One of the celebrants was his older sister Gia, a former 1,000 point scorer at Sun Valley.

“She congratulated me, gave me a hug, and said, ‘Welcome to the club,’” said DeAngelo, who scored 20 points Wednesday night and now has 1,001 for his career. “Reaching the 1,000 point mark was cool, but getting to states is awesome.”

With a state tourney berth assured, No. 6 Sun Valley (18-7) will now face ninth-seeded Holy Ghost in the fifth-place game Friday, while No. 7 seed Rustin has one more shot to qualify for States in the seventh-place contest against familiar foe Great Valley.

DeAngelo fired off 15 first-half points to push the Vanguards to a 23-19 halftime lead. But his first-half performance hit a (slightly) bloody bump in the road in the second period.

With the Vanguards leading 14-9 midway through the second quarter, DeAngelo received an accidental Rustin elbow to his nose, which then started to bleed. DeAngelo briefly had to come out of the game to stop the bleeding, and because some blood had gotten into his No. 14 jersey he was required to change into another shirt. He was handed a No. 32 jersey and re-entered the game a couple of minutes later.

The change in uniform numbers didn’t slow down DeAngelo, who tallied seven points in the final two minutes before halftime. First, he drove to the basket for two; then following a defensive rebound by teammate Dom Valente, hit a turnaround jumper while being fouled (and sunk the free throw); then following a fine defensive rebound by Vanguard junior guard Isaac Kennon, was fouled underneath and made both free throws.

“I just kept trying to attack the basket, get their bigs in foul trouble,” said DeAngelo.

Maloney said, “We play four guards, and I think we spaced the floor pretty good tonight. We don’t have anyone who’s 6-5, and Rustin has two big guys who are 6-5, 6-6, but I think we rebounded tonight better than we have all year.”

D’Angelo, who at halftime needed only four points to reach the 1,000 mark, drove inside for a three-point play to give the Vanguards a 26-20 lead early in the third quarter. When Sun Valley junior forward Marvin Freeman tallied a putback a minute later to give the hosts a 28-20 lead, it looked like the Vanguard victory (and DeAngelo’s 1,000th point) would come soon.

But Rustin, which beat Sun Valley twice earlier this season, then went on a 16-3 run, led by Taj Asparagus (10 fourth-quarter points, 10 total rebounds) to take a 36-31 lead with 5:41 left. And DeAngelo was stuck at 999 career points. Sixteen seconds later, DeAngelo drove inside to get his 1,000th and 1,001st points.

“I could tell by the crowd noise that it was my 1,000th point,” said DeAngelo. “But I couldn’t celebrate — we had work to do. We were still trailing.”

Just 17 seconds after DeAngelo’s historic basket, Asparagus got underneath for a three-point play to make it 39-33 Rustin with 5:08 left.

Kennon then came forward, making a steal, drawing a foul and converting both free throws to cut Rustin’s lead to 39-37 with 3:26 left; then following a Golden Knights’ traveling violation, nailed a 3-pointer from the right side to put the hosts back on top 40-39 with 2:47 left.

“I think we got our momentum back when we started to lock down on defense in the fourth quarter when we were trailing,” said Kennon, a transfer from Archbishop Carroll. “And Coach [Maloney] told me to keep shooting.”

Maloney said, “I think that [3-pointer] of Isaac’s turned the game around. I told him to keep shooting. Kennon’s a game-changer who plays hard.”

The Sun Valley coach also praised Kennon for his defense on Rustin’s dangerous senior guard Bryce Barrouk.