City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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West Chester Rustin is headed for the playoffs, both league and district.

That was determined before the Golden Knights traveled to Great Valley for a Ches-Mont American matchup on Tuesday night, their penultimate regular-season game.

But before they got to the postseason, looming this weekend in the form of the Ches-Mont semifinals, head coach Keith Cochran knew his team needed a boost in the confidence arena. After all, this isn’t like his state quarterfinal team in 2014, led by current Kutztown standout guard Ethan Ridgeway; this year’s group of Knights typically start two sophomores and a freshman, along with two seniors whose futures will be spent playing different sports.

Turns out a trip to play the No. 9 team in Mike Bullock’s latest state rankings was exactly what Cochran’s Knights needed.

Rustin got a healthy dose of confidence, alright, coming back from down a dozen in the third quarter for a hard-fought 45-42 road win.

“It just puts us in a positive mindset,” Cochran said. “Great Valley’s a tough team, one of the toughest teams in the district and also in the league, so it puts is in a position, in a mindset that we can play with them.”

Senior guard Brandon Frazier had 15 points for Rustin (15-6, 9-2), which found itself down 8-0 to start and trailed for quite a while.

The deficit reached as much as a dozen in the third period when the Knights began to push back. The gap was down to four by the end of the third, and Great Valley scored just three points in the entire fourth quarter.

“We got in the huddle and we were like alright we’ve got to lock up, go out there playing defense,” said Frazier, a muscular 6-0 guard who is considering several Division II offers for football. “It’s the second half so we just had to push.”

Senior guard Timmy Durant played a key reserve role for Rustin, contributing 10 points, five rebounds and three assists. His 3-pointer with 3:32 remaining made it 42-42.

“Timmy’s a smart basketball player, he’s one of our players that knows the game and we need him out there, he’s our stabilizer,” Cochran said.

Frazier had a layup with two minutes left to put his team in position to win, and Great Valley couldn’t connect on several game-tying attempts in the final minute of play.

Rustin was without 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Jake Nelson, who’s missed the last few games with a sprained ankle. The Knights did benefit from the return of his classmate, 6-5 wing Tajir Asparagus, who contributed 10 points and four rebounds to the win.

“it did help a lot [having him back],” Frazier said. “It opened the floor up for us, so we were allowed to cut more and we had open shots.”

Nelson and Asparagus, as well as starting freshman guard Randall Decoursey, will be around for the next two seasons, meaning the future might be brighter still for the Golden Knights.

“Hopefully I continue to build from the bottom, with youth, guys that can play with them and be successful with them,” said Cochran, who’s been with the program since the school first opened in 2006-07. “I think the future is bright for Rustin basketball over the next couple of years, I really do."

Great Valley (17-5, 11-1) hadn’t lost since Jan. 7 against Norristown, a string of 10 straight victories snapped.

The Patriots even welcomed back star sophomore Alex Capitano after two months due to a broken hand, and 6-4 wing played well, contributing 10 points off the bench.

“They had all the pieces, they’re a great team, you can’t underestimate them,” Cochran said. “They run a different style that nobody else runs and you’ve got to be focused and disciplined.”

The Knights were that, locking down defensively over the course of the game’s final 10 minutes.

Liam Ward led Great Valley with 15 points, knocking down five 3-pointers. The Patriots will face Ches-Mont National runner-up Bishop Shanahan in Friday’s semifinals; they’re also in good shape for the District 1 5A playoffs, where they were No. 2 in the latest power rankings.

Rustin, which was ranked No. 7 in the District 1 5A rankings -- 16 teams make the bracket, so the win all but guaranteed the Knights a home game in the first round -- has one more game before Saturday’s Ches-Mont semifinal against Coatesville, taking on Oxford on the road this Thursday.

The Knights already played the Raiders once this year, a 65-52 loss at Coatesville back on Dec. 17

“They attack you, they come at you, so we’ve got to be prepared for that,” Cochran said. “That’s the beauty of our league, you’ve got a team like Coatesville that comes at you, tries to speed you up and then you’ve got a team like Great Valley, the exact opposite. So hopefully when it comes to the district we see a little bit of everything.”