City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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DOWNINGTOWN — David Angelo might not have thought about the shooting background the last time he wandered into Downingtown West High School, but already having a feel for the place might have benefited him the next time around.

So when Bishop Shanahan’s 5-9 junior checked back into Downingtown West for the opening round of the Ches-Mont League’s four-team playoffs, Angelo quickly settled into a groove from deep that stretched throughout the entire contest.

And when Angelo was done firing from the perimeter, he’d scored 20 points as Shanahan made its first Ches-Mont playoff appearance a successful one by turning back Great Valley 52-29 in Game 1 of the postseason twinbill.

“First time here actually, when we played D-West, I had an OK at best shooting night. It was kind of rough,” Angelo admitted. “It did help actually.

“It helped a lot.”

Dan Browne added 15 points for Ken Doyle’s Eagles (17-6), netting career point No. 1,000 on a jumper from the right wing late in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Browne said. “It was something I wanted to do five, six years before I even entered high school. It’s definitely a weight off my shoulders and now we can go into the championship game [without worrying about it].

“Not that we were focusing on it too much, but the idea was definitely still there between my teammates, myself and my coaches,” Browne continued.

“Definitely good to get that out of the way.”

With Angelo and Browne combining for nine 3-pointers, Shanahan led from start to finish while extending its winning streak to three games.

Ironically, the last time Shanahan tumbled was on Feb. 2 … at Downingtown West.

Turns out, that experience proved beneficial at least for Angelo. Maybe others, too.

“The whole team just gets energy off my 3s and we get going,” said Angelo, who was 6-for-8 from beyond the arc and canned both of his freebies. “If I get going, the rest of the team gets going, the ball starts moving faster and we get more points.”

“He was a little stronger tonight than he has been,” Doyle said. “He’s been good all year, but he was a little stronger than normal tonight. Six of them.”

Angelo will get another look at those same Downingtown West rims Thursday night, when Doyle’s Eagles bounce just down the street for a date with Coatesville in their first Ches-Mont League postseason championship game.

Coatesville edged Bayard Rustin 51-49 in the later game.

Liam Ward’s 14 points paced Great Valley (17-6), which yielded the game’s first eight points and never caught up. Paul Girone’s club isn’t done yet, however, as the second-seeded Patriots will open District 5 Class 5A play on Feb. 22 against Upper Perkiomen.

“It was very important to get started fast,” Doyle admitted. “That’s been our key for the last two weeks was trying to play faster. We’ve been playing good defense all year, but we really tried to play faster on offense.”

Great Valley also welcomed back Alex Capitano, who had been on the injured list for several months. Capitano was limited to two points, however, in his return.

While Browne and Angelo buried the first two of Shanahan’s 10 treys in the Eagles’ opening salvo — Doyle’s bunch actually led 22-9 late in the first half — Great Valley didn’t merely run up a white flag, slide back into its locker room, change clothes and step back on the bus for the ride home. Heck, no.

Even though Shanahan was tossing a different defensive look at the Patriots just about every time down the floor, whether it was man or some type of zone.

Girone’s Patriots actually were within six (24-18) with 5:45 left in the third quarter after Ward canned a pair of freebies, but moments later Angelo found the range from the arc yet again off a kickout from big man Kevin Dodds, winding the Patriots.

“We knew they were gonna come out hard in the second half,” Angelo said. “Every team when they’re down [does that]. So we just decided that we’ve got to match it and extend on the lead. Coach said at halftime, ‘It’s 0-0. First half doesn’t matter.’”

Every time Great Valley appeared poised to dig in and take a stab at slicing its nagging deficit, Shanahan knocked down a big shot … or more.

“We were able to hit some shots at the right spots,” Doyle said. “We were struggling a little bit when they got back in and normally we let them hang around, but tonight we were able to hit some shots that we normally get. We don’t always hit them.”

Dodds (7 points/6 rebounds) added a trey of his own, while Angelo cashed in two more times from deep before the third quarter came to an end.

By then, Shanahan was holding a fairly comfortable 39-25 lead.

Although Ward’s 3-pointer offered a glimmer of hope to the Patriots — they were within 10 (39-29) with 5:39 left — Browne erased Great Valley’s hopes of moving on by scoring the next seven points. No. 1,000 arrived on his final bucket.

“This is my district school,” Browne admitted. “So if there was another place to [get 1,000 other than at Shanahan], this would be the place.”

“We knew Browne was close and we decided what better moment than now,” Angelo said. “We had a pretty good lead and we just went for it.

“It was the cherry on top of the game.”

Up 46-29 at that point, the game was over.

Shanahan, which shot 10-for-18 from beyond the arc, was ready to celebrate.

“Some of those outside shots were contested,” Girone said. “They shot great, and that was the difference in the game. You don’t expect they will make that many 3s, especially when your emphasis is down low.”

While Great Valley’s emphasis may have been on quieting Shanahan’s frontcourt, Doyle’s Eagles were determined to make their Ches-Mont tournament debut a success. And thanks to some terrific long-range shooting, they did just that.

“It’s awesome,” Angelo said. “We have a special team. Great guys. Can’t ask for better teammates. This is awesome. First time.”

Now they’ll try to take that next step and win everything.

“It’s fantastic,” said Doyle, whose Eagles halved the regular-season series with Coatesville. “It’s the first time Bishop Shanahan has ever been in the finals of the Ches-Mont. It’s a great honor for us, but we’re still not done.

“We’d really like to get one more and bring a title home."