Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
COUGARS STATE CASE
Downingtown East holds off Council Rock North to clinch state berth for second straight year
UWCHLAN >> Over the last two seasons, Downingtown East has thrived taking a district playoff game to the line.
In Paige Warfel’s case, the foul line.
Having trouble getting field goals against a stingy Council Rock North defense, Warfel’s decision to take the free points was an easy one. Even through her admittance of struggling at the line late in the season.
“From here on out, every game is going to be close,” Warfel said. “It’s big to hit them in these games since usually I struggle at the line. As a team, we know if we hit those foul shots we can win any game.”
Warfel turned in her best free throw shooting performance for the season as she hit 14 of 16 from the line and finished with a game-high 18 points as No. 12 Downingtown East held off No. 28 Council Rock North, 43-37, in a District 1 Class AAAA second round game.
The Cougars (19-7) advance to the PIAA Class AAAA playoffs for the second consecutive season after snapping a fouryear state playoff drought last year. East will host No. 13 Neshaminy, a 48-40 winner over No. 4 Mount St. Joseph’s, in the district quarterfinals Saturday. The Indians (13-10) will face Mount St. Joseph’s in the playback round, needing two wins to qualify for the state playoffs.
East finished 19 of 26 from the line in the contest while C.R. North went 9 for 20. The Cougars clung to a one possession lead late in the fourth quarter, butWarfel and Aryah Aungst converted 6 of 7 free throws in the final 1:31 to complete the victory.
“I don’t know what the final stats were, but Paige was solid at the line,” said Downingtown East head coach Tom Schurtz. “Aryah hit those two late to stretch it to a double-possession game. We did a good job keeping this at arms length. There was no quit in that team. They had a good game plan and stuck with it.”
The first halfwasmarred by sloppy play for East, but the Cougars went on a 6-0 run and led 19-16 at the break. Aungst hit her first 3-pointer of the night to put the Cougars up 26-18 with 6:18 left in the third quarter. Aungst’s shot sparked a 17-2 run East used to take control of the game.
“Our intensity in practice carries over to the games,” Aungst said. “We’re so competitive in practice and always getting the best out of each other. It’s good for us and works once the game starts.”
The Indians refused to go away after East took a 30-18 lead. They responded with a 13-1 run of their own capped by a layup by Dana Bandurick to tie the game 31-31 with 5:29 left.
Aungst rose to the occasion on East’s next possession, hitting a 3-pointer to give the Cougars the lead for good at 34-31 with 4:49 left. She finishedwith eight points, all of which gave East the momentum it desperately needed.
Over the last few weeks, Aungst has become the big gameshooter fortheCougars.
“I just try to be confident every game,” Aungst said. “My shot is getting a lot better and it carried over to the postseason. It’s going down know and helping
this team.”
Kaelin Maeley hits two free throws to cut East’s lead to 34-33 with 4:40 left, but Laura Ochsner responded on the other end with a layup to put the Cougars up 36-33 with 3:11 to play. Ochsner stole a pass on C.R. North’s ensuing possession, which led to two Warfel free throws that put East up 38-33 with 1:31 to go. She finished with 11 points.
“Itwas all about defense,” Ochsner said. “We needed a defensive stop once we got the lead. Fortunately that happened and one bucket on offense broke it open a bit. That gave us the momentum we needed to finish.”
The sweet feeling ofmaking states hasn’t changed for Downingtown East, but the Cougars showed a little extra excitement for Schurtz, who reached the PIAA playoffs for the first time in his 16 years as a head coach.
Now, he’s 1 for 1 with Downingtown East.
“It’s awesome going back to states in my senior year and sending coach Schurtz there for the first time,” Warfel said. “This is exciting for all of us and now we’re just going to try and keep winning.”
“I’ve coached a long time and had a lot of successful seasons,” Schurtz said. “I’m not going to lie, but I’m excited. These girls executed and were focused. I’m proud of them for what they accomplished tonight.”