Ches-Mont League finals on tap

Tonight, the Ches-Mont League championship will be decided as perennial powerhouse Coatesville faces an upstart Unionville squad looking for the first Ches-Mont title in school history.

Anyone who watches Ches-Mont League basketball expects Coatesville to be in the championship game year after year. That is how deep basketball runs through the city, where the roots go back many decades

For Unionville, this is uncharted territory, as the Indians have not been relevant in the league since the early 2000s, when Kevin Crossman had the Indians near the top of the district in what was then the Class 3A bracket.

After many lean years, Unionville is back in the Ches-Mont playoffs and district picture, as the Indians, under fiery second-year coach Chris Cowles, are playing above their talent level.

East Marlborough has never been mistaken for a hardwood haven, but Cowles, who won a Ches-Mont championship as a player at West Chester Rustin, has brought some excitement into the gym at Unionville.

Now, Unionville is seeded third in the District 1 Class 5A playoffs, and tonight it will try to take down the dynasty that is Coatesville basketball. The Red Raiders defeated Unionville by four points back in January, and the game followed the usual Red Raider script.

Coatesville, as it has many times this season, trailed at halftime before roaring back behind the mercurial play of the latest in a long line of Coatesville legends: Jhamir Brickus. The Coatesville star just passed Richard Hamilton on the all-time scoring list, and now Brickus — just a junior — will go after the 2,000-point mark.

Coatesville has other talented players, but make no mistake, Brickus makes the Red Raiders go, and he is the reason Coatesville is second only to Abington in the 6A playoff bracket.

But, first thing’s first. Tuesday night the coveted Ches-Mont League championship will be decided. Basketball royalty in Coatesville with one of the best players in the state, against the upstart Indians, driven by one of the best young coaches in District 1.

It is a fascinating matchup and one any real basketball fan would not want to miss.