City of Basketball Love

Mitchell Gladstone (@mpgladstone13)
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Downingtown East knows what it’s like to deal with a bumpy start.

In 2017-18, the Cougars began the year 4-4 before reaching the second round of District 1 playoffs. And last year, they were 4-5 before playing their way into the Class 6A state tournament.

Maybe it’s not a pattern Downingtown East hoped to repeat this season, but after a critical overtime win Saturday against Central Bucks South, perhaps the Cougars are about to find their rhythm come January once more.

Downingtown East edged out CB South 62-59 at home to kick off the New Year with a victory, led by a combined 33 points from the senior tandem of Grant Umberger and David Owsik in a game that needed a few extra minutes to settle.

But it didn’t come easy — after trailing 41-30 at the end of the third quarter, CB South stormed back and scored five points in the final seven seconds of regulation, sending the non-league contest at Downingtown East into overtime.

“We shouldn’t have been in that situation,” coach John Goodman said. “We should’ve closed it out, but it was good to see. We tend to drop our heads after we make a mistake like normal 17-year-old-kids. We’ve just got to play through it.”

Not only did the Cougars play through their late-game mistakes Saturday, but they showed some grit. It was only two days ago, after all, that they suffered a second Ches-Mont loss in three games, falling 73-64 at Coatesville.

And that was just the latest narrow loss for Downingtown East. The Cougars opened their season with a 55-53 defeat to Conestoga and then dropped one at Penn Wood 48-47 11 days later.

Goodman also challenged his veteran squad, going to Reading — where Downingtown East also lost, falling to 4-4 — just before the New Year.

It was those tight games that may have given the Cougars an extra edge at the start of 2020.

“We knew it would be tough, especially with nine new guys,” Goodman said of his team’s non-league schedule. “But if we’re not going to lose from some of our tough losses…then it’s all for nothing.”

One of those new guys, junior Jayden Rowe, stepped up in the biggest of moments, knocking down a pair of free throws with less than three seconds to play in overtime.

That settled the day’s final margin as CB South failed to get off a final heave at the buzzer.

“To close out one like that in OT was big for us,” said Downingtown East’s Andrew King, who scored his 1,000th career point Thursday night. “We’ve got to keep playing hard all throughout the game. … Being pressured [early in the season] is just preparing us for where we want to be.”

King, a 6-6 senior forward that’s drawing looks from both Division I and Division II programs, is unquestionably the Cougars’ top option. And that means he’s getting plenty of attention from opponents as well — the visiting Titans often opted to double-team him in the post Saturday afternoon.

But King after scored seven of Downingtown East’s 23 first-half points, it was his presence alone that opened things up for the Cougars’ offense out of the break.

Umberger canned three 3-pointers on four attempts in the third quarter, and even when King fouled out with just about two minutes to play, Downingtown East’s other upperclassmen rose to the occasion.

It’s a positive sign that suggests this may very well be only the beginning of a Cougars run.

“It’s no secret [King] is going to get a lot of attention,” Goodman said. “He makes us go, but other guys have to be ready to make plays.”

For King, reaching that 1,000-point milestone was nice — although he admits he’d gotten it out of the way even sooner. Plus, the senior has an even bigger target in mind as he’s within 300 points of Cary Angeline’s school career record.

Still, that’s not what excites King the most.

“I still think we have some work to do,” King said. “It’s going to come in late January when we’re really going to peak.”

By Quarter
DE:   15 | 8 | 18 | 12  | 9 | 62

CBS:   9 | 7 | 14 | 23 | 6 | 59

Shooting
DE: 20-46 FG, 6-17 3PT, 16-26 FT

CBS: 22-63 FG, 3-15 3PT, 12-18 FT

Scorers

DE: Umberger 17, Owsik 16, King 11, Rowe 11, Basilii 6, Bousum 1

CBS: Dietz 21, Farley 11, Consoletti 9, D'Orazio 8, Waltrich 6, Mauz 2, O'Connor 2