Chesco stars shine in Valor Bowl all- star games

WESTCHESTER » “It was a fun night.”

Thatwas the declaration from West Chester Henderson girls basketball coach Greta Neff following Tuesday’s Chester County Valor Bowl All- Star Basketball games at Henderson.

The fourth annual games featured the best boys and girls senior basketball players from Chester County to benefit Special Olympics of Chester County.

“It’s funny, because when you get into this situation, all of the girls see you as the opposing coach,” said Neff. “You get so intense during the season, that you forget it’s all about getting out there and having fun.

“I love it because I get to see the girls in a different light. There’s so many neat kids, it’s great to get to meet them and see them again and have a good time.”

The girlswere first up and treated the crowd to a competitive, back- and- forth contest. The East, led by the Henderson duo of Daily Local News All- Area Co- Player of the Year Abbey Shea ( seven points) and Erin Torrance ( six points) took a 2320 lead after the first of two 20- minute halves.

“Itwas a lot of fun because it’s nice to be next to these girls and be on the same team and cheering everyone

on,” said Shea. “Everyone was nice. It was great to play on our court one more time.”

If the constant smiles on the players’ faces didn’t give away how light the atmosphere was, the banter between players and coaches certainly put a fine point on it. After Rustin’s Maggie O’Hare passed up a semiopen 25- footer, Neff, who was joined by VillaMaria’s Kathy McCartney on the bench, gently chided her by saying, “come on Mags, shoot that. You have that range.”

The game came down to

thewire as Torrance broke a 46- 46 tie by scoring on a layupwith12 seconds left. The East went on to post a 50- 46 victory.

Shea topped the Eastwith 13 points, Torrance had 10, O’Hare added nine and Grace Schrof of Unionville chipped in seven.

Erin Phelan topped the Westwith 16 points. Caroline Hertz of Kennett added 10.

“It took a little time, but not too long,” Phelan said about meshing with her teammates. “We were pretty competitive, but it was all for fun, and a good time for a great cause.”

In between games, the Chester County Special Olympians entertained the crowd as all the players formed a line of honor to greet them during introductions.

In the boys game, theWest came out strong, scoring the first nine points. Bishop Shanahan’s Kevin Dodds, the Daily Local News All- Area Player of the Year, scored 12 of his team- high 20 points in the first 20 minutes to stake the West to a 30- 28 advantage.

“I had a blast, I love these games,” said Dodds. “It feels great to play with them for

once. We were loose, talking to each other the entire time. I feel great that this is for a great cause. I appreciate what they’ve donewith this.”

The West ran away in the second half, as Tyrel Bladen of Coatesville and Greg Barton of Downingtown West tallied eight points each as the West pulled away for a 79- 67 victory.

Liam Ward of Great Valley paced the East with 22 points.

“It’s a lot of fun to play against good players, and these are the best players in the area,” saidWard. “I’m so happy to play in their ( Special

Olympians) honor. They played so hard out here. They love the game. They played harder than we did, probably.” NOTES » The game raised about $ 1,000 for the Special Olympics. The Valor Bowl football game will be May, 31 at West Chester Univeristy. … Villa Maria’s Shannon Smith and Lizzie Walheim did double duty, playing in their district lacrosse semifinal before driving to Henderson. … Malik Slay of DowningtownEast tried two halfcourt shots in thewaning stages. The closest of which hit off the front rim.