WC East stifles Avon Grove to post 38-27 victory

WEST GOSHEN >> A suffocating defense and just enough offense to get the job done was the prescription for the West Chester East girls basketball team in a 38-27 Ches-Mont League National Division victory over Avon Grove at Jack Byrne Gymnaisum on Thursday.

“I’m really happy where we’re at, 3-1 in the league,” said East coach Erin Listrani.

“Tonight, we weren’t as sharp as I would like to be. It’s a grind. The long nights and busy schedules are catching up to everybody. We were fortuanate to pull it out.”

The Vikings took control from the beginning and never trailed since an early 3-2 deficit.

East went on a 6-2 run in the middle of the quarter en route to a 14-9 advantage after one period.

The Vikings started the second period on an 7-1 spurt. Lyla Flowers buried a three-pointer from left corner to give East its first double-digit lead, 21-10, with 4:35 left before halftime.

“We couldn’t get it going. A tough game,” said Avon Grove coach Bart O’Connor. “We’re a young team. We keep fighting. We had struggles getting a basket. We were getting frustrated.”

The Red Devils scored the four of the final five points of the second uarter on baskets by Gabby Beltran and freshman Naiya Murphy to cut the lead to 22-15 at halftime.

Murphy, who is having an oustanding start to her high school career, had a difficult evening. She was held to six points, but was scoreless in the second half and fouled out in the fourth quarter.

“She’s a really nice player and she’s going to a player to be reckoned with for the next few years,” added Listrani.

Points for both sides became more difficult to get as play got more methodical. They combined for 13 points as East held a 28-22 lead going into the fourth period. Avon Grove was held to two field goals, as only Abby Mills (two points) and Beltran (six points) scored for them in the quarter.

“We know we had to come out strong on defense, that’s something we’ve worked on in practice,” said the Vikings’ Mikayla Kushner. “We did a goob job of executing the whole game.”

Kushner scored on a field goal and two free throws to build the East lead back to 36-22 midway in the fourth. Beltran scored four points late to notch a game-high 15 points, but East saw the game out to go into the Christmas break on a victorious note.

“Credit to West Chester East,” added O’Connor. “They played great defensively. They stopped us. Gabby Beltran had a great game tonight. She had