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92 in 92: Downingtown West (Pa.)

09/10/2014, 1:15pm EDT

By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Downingtown West was just one win away from making the District 1 AAAA tournament last season.

To make things worse, it was a win they actually earned.

Gospel of Grace, a small school in Cheltenham was found to have used an ineligible player during the season, and thus had to forfeit all of its 19 PIAA games. That included a December loss to Downingtown West; without that game on its resume, West ended up on the outside of the 32-team District tournament bracket looking in.

“This boils my blood–we made the districts last year,” fourth-year head coach Jason Ritter said. “When the seeding meeting came out we were the 30th seed, and then they called two hours later and took that away from us. So we were in, don’t get me wrong, we were in last year.”

This year, Ritter doesn’t want to leave anything up to chance. And with a team that returns all five starters and has a few Division I prospects in its junior and senior class, this group of Whippets could be just the second in the school’s relatively short history to make it not just to the district tournament but into the main PIAA AAAA draw.

“I think that if we don’t make it to the state tournament at least, then it’s going to be a bad year,” said junior forward Josh Warren, who averaged 12.5 ppg as a sophomore. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t, with all the people we’re returning.”

Ritter is certainly confident in his depth, declaring he has “8-to-10” kids who could start for “any other team” in their Ches-Mont league. As of right now, according to Ritter, only two starters are locked in–a pair of juniors, Warren and shooting guard Ryan Betley–but there are a few other key names who are sure to make an impact, whether it’s in the starting lineup or playing big minutes off the bench.

At the point guard position, Ritter has two solid options in seniors Doug Conrad and Cole Calamaro, who will battle for the starting spot throughout the preseason. Conrad started the majority of his junior year after Sean Loerzel, a senior, tore his ACL in January.

Calamaro missed his whole junior season with a broken leg he suffered in a preseason workout, when his left leg buckled as he was taking off for a dunk in a warmups. The senior, who Ritter called a “coach’s dream,” is expected to be their emotional leader this season as well.

“When things get crazy, we look to Cole to calm us down, and we’re going to have that senior presence back this year,” Ritter said. “We really need him on the floor.”

“Basketball is the only sport I play, I love it, that’s all I ever do is basketball,” Calamaro said. “I was watching every move, learning from the coaches, looking at it from a different point of view, just trying to do the best I could to get better without physically being on the court.”

Betley, the team’s leading scorer last year at 14.5 ppg, will get the majority of the minutes at the off-guard position. A talented 6-4 shooter, he’s got scoring touch from all over the court.

The frontcourt has an extremely high ceiling, with 6-4 senior Jeff Halle, 6-7 sophomore George Gordon and the 6-8 Warren all going to see a lot of time on the blocks. It’s Gordon and Warren that have the most upside, with Halle more of a versatile wing who can slide down low if needed.

With that much length underneath, they’re going to be tough to score against inside. Offensively, it remains to be seen what they’ll produce, though both Gordon and Warren had very impressive seasons on the AAU circuit with high-level programs Team Final (Nike) and WE R1 (Under Armour), respectively.

“We work out together a lot,” Warren said. “I know that if we’re going to be successful, he’s going to be a big part of this team, so me and him work out a lot together, because we know working with each other is going to make each other better. I’m a little bit bigger, he’s quick, so that ‘4’ and ‘5’ it’s pretty successful.”

And of course, the guards love having them around.

“They’re only not only big [and] athletic, they’re skilled,” Calamaro said. “They’re always going up, getting rebounds, running the break, if they get a dunk then it pumps everyone up. Them just being there helps the whole team, in every way.”

Gordon and Warren aren’t the only two that played against high-level talent all summer long on the AAU circuit. Betley and Dom Guerrera, another potential starter at the ‘3’ and the team’s third-leading scorer from a year ago (9.5 ppg), also played with Reebok-backed Team Philly.

What Betley, Warren and Gordon also have in common that helps the team is that they all could end up being one of the first from their school with a certain accomplishment.

In the 11 years since Downingtown West and East split from the original Downingtown High School, the school has yet to have a player earn a D-I scholarship. But Betley and Warren are both getting recruited by many schools in the Patriot and Ivy Leagues, and Gordon’s youth and frame are going to have D-I schools interested in him as well sooner rather than later.

Having Division I coaches in the building for workouts and games certainly adds something to the atmosphere.

“It teaches the other guys that they can see what a potential recruit looks like. He’s their teammate, right next to them, he’s the kid in the classroom,” Ritter said. “For me to potentially have three in my gym at practice, where they other guys can practice and see them, it’s a luxury. I don’t have to pretend what a Division I [recruit] looks like.”

With that collection of talent, experience and leadership, expectations are the highest they’ve been since the team last went to the state tournament in 2008.

They don’t want to be a 30-seed anymore, not by a long shot.

“We want to be playing in that Ches-Mont championship game, we want to be in the game, and then we want to be a home game in the districts, those are our two goals this year,” Ritter said. “We want to play for a championship, and we don’t want to go on the road to Chester anymore. We want teams to come into our building. We want to christen the new gym with a district berth.

And of course, no second calls from the District selection committee.

“That’s our thing–don’t leave it by chance,” Ritter said. “Let’s handle our business and don’t let other people decide for us.”