City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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HARRISBURG, Pa. -- As a junior, Dalton Donovan wasn’t good enough for Coatesville’s varsity basketball team.

Rather than spend a third year playing junior varsity, Donovan decided he’d rather not play at all.

“I felt some anger,” he admitted, “but then again, I was just going to take it out on the court.

Instead of ending his hoops career entirely and focusing on other sports--he also plays both football and baseball for the Red Raiders--he instead spent the year working on his game and his mentality, willing to give it another chance as a senior.

It only took a few days of preseason workouts last fall before head coach Chuck Moore approached him.

“Coach said ‘I can see you’ve been working, you’ve improved; we’re going to need you big this year,’” Dalton said. “It was a good feeling, a really good feeling. It’s really rewarding.”

The 5-foot-11, 155-pound guard has become the Red Raiders’ sixth man, and he proved his worth yet again on Martin Luther King Day as Coatesville topped West Catholic, 78-60, in the opening of four games at Harrisburg High School.

Though he continued to work on his skill set and spent the last summer on the AAU circuit with the Chester County Thunder, Donovan knows that it wasn't progress in any one specific on-court skill that got him the spot; instead, it was growth in a different area.

“Definitely mental, (being) vocal on the court," he said. "Somebody’s got to be a leader for this team, somebody had to step up.”

His seven points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists are proof of his well-rounded game, but they don’t tell the full story of his impact against the Burrs. In a contest where West Catholic fell behind initially by nine points, it was the second unit who came in and provided the spark to get the Raiders right back into things.

Along with Donovan, fellow seniors Jordan Young and Jonathan Thompson joined in as key reserves in the win over West Catholic. Young, a 6-2 guard who normally starts, had six points, while Thompson had five as Coatesville’s bench outscored their counterparts 18-10.

“Their energy, they just bring a lot to the floor that some people don’t,” said senior Rome Boyer, who had 15 points in the win.

“I think as a unit, they do a great job--no matter who’s number is called, they always come in and give everything they have,” Moore added. “Our strength lies in our numbers, we’ve got a senior-laden group who comes to play every day, they know each others’ strengths and weaknesses and I think they do a good job of putting themselves in the position to be successful.”

After the bench--and Boyer's four first-half 3-pointers--helped Coatesville (14-1) back out to a 36-28 lead at halftime, senior forward Justus Martinez took over in the third period.

Coatesville's hefty 6-foot-5 big man was a force to be reckoned with in the post after sitting out most of the first half with foul troubles, scoring 12 points in the third quarter alone and 19 in the second half, a 16 minutes of basketball in which Coatesville slowly extended that eight-point advantage to as many as 22 in the final minute of play.

"We’ve had games last year, and some things year where he’ll get frustrated, mad at himself, pout a little bit and get down on himself, and that reflects in his play," Moore said. "For him to be poised, and to just play and have a great second half, shows a lot about his maturity.”

West Catholic, which shot 17-of-41 (41.4 percent) overall but 8-of-16 (50.0 percent) from 3-poitn range, was led by 18 points from senior guard John Herndon. Sophomore wing Cyrie Coates had 13 for the Burrs (5-11), who were coming off a win over Archbishop Ryan the day before.

As a team, Coatesville shot 27-of-45 (60 percent) overall, including 4-of-11 from 3-point range and 20-of-30 (66.6 percent) from the foul stripe.

Donovan doesn't know yet if his basketball career will continue beyond this season. Without schools currently recruiting him for basketball, he's been applying to colleges the old-fashioned route, and has already been accepted to Millersville and Shippensburg, two D-II programs in the PSAC.

No matter where he ends up, he'll be trying out for a spot on the basketball team, with no worries about the worst-case scenario.

After all, he's been cut before.

“I’ve got nothing to lose," he said, "so why not?”