City of Basketball Love

Mitchell Gladstone (@mpgladstone13)
~~

WEST CHESTER — In multiple ways, Andrew Carr can overshadow Tym Richardson.

For one, Carr is 6-foot-10 and Richardson is just 6-foot-4. Carr is also a Division I commit, bound for Delaware next fall, who can erupt for 14 points in a quarter like he did Saturday afternoon.

But ask coach Tom Durant and he’d tell you that Carr does not overshadow Richardson. In fact, Durant believes the Vikings’ only two seniors complement one another perfectly.

In the first of back-to-back Ches-Mont semifinals at West Chester University’s Hollinger Fieldhouse, Richardson and Carr put on a show, combining for 46 points as West Chester East edged out West Chester Rustin 58-52.

The Vikings went wire-to-wire, leading by as many as 14 at the start of the fourth quarter, but needed their senior standouts to help close out the victory.

“They love each other,” Durant said of Carr and Richardson. “They feed off each other, and the neat thing is one scores and the other one’s excited for him. … The offense creates each of them their own piece.”

Although it was Carr who ignited things, scoring 14 of East’s 22 first-quarter points, it was Richardson that finished things off. Richardson scored 12 of his 20 points after halftime, shooting 7-of-12 from the field.

“We’ve really grown together,” Richardson said when asked about his relationship with Carr. “He knows that if either of us has an off game, we know where to look to.”

But neither was off Saturday.

And yet, not everything came up roses for the Vikings. After leading 22-9 at the end of the first, a plucky Rustin squad climbed back into the game, trailing just 26-22 at halftime.

In those eight minutes, East shot 1-of-7 from the field, with the only field goal coming from Richardson. The Vikings got so careless with the ball, Durant said they looked like “an AAU team.”

“We weren’t getting into our sets. We weren’t even allowing our guys to get into a set,” Durant said. “Credit goes to Rustin and the coaching — they did a really good job.”

Leading the way for those Knights was Griffin Barrouk, who was money from deep all game long. The Rustin junior — and younger brother of Bryce Barrouk, now at Penn State Brandywine — knocked down seven 3-pointers, including four on six shots after intermission.

Barrouk was just one of two Knights to reach double figures. The other was IV Pettit, but the points didn’t come easy for the Rustin sophomore. Pettit needed 17 shots and five tries from the charity stripe to score 16 points.

That’s certainly a credit to Richardson’s work on the defensive end, something Durant has been hoping to see him build on all season.

“That’s where I’ve wanted him to grow,” Durant said. “[But] he’s also got a lot of confidence getting to the basket.”

What it all means for Richardson’s next steps, however, is unclear. The senior said he’s drawn interest from a few low-major Division I programs, as well as Division II schools, including West Chester.

But Richardson seemed to suggest that his most likely path forward is to take a prep-school year. The East senior said he’s looking at The Phelps School and The Hill School as his top options if that’s the route he ultimately goes.

With a Ches-Mont title game in less than 72 hours and District 1 Class 5A playoffs later this week — the Vikings will be the top seed when the brackets come out Sunday morning — the focus for Richardson isn’t on college.

He knows that come crunch time, his teammates will continue to look toward both him and Carr, and it’s a role that Richardson treasures.

“We always try to be the leaders that we can,” Richardson said. “We’re trying to set the bar for everybody else.”

By Quarter
WC East:  22 | 4 | 19 | 13 | 58

WC Rustin:  9 | 13 | 9 | 21 | 52

Shooting
WC East: 22-39 FG, 2-9 3PT, 12-16 FT

WC Rustin: 18-60 FG, 9-19 3PT, 7-7 FT

Scoring
WC East: Carr 26, Richardson 20, Dedda 6, McCray 4, Kushner 2

WC Rustin: Barrouk 23, Pettit 16, Barksdale 6, Pew, 3, Reinheimer 2, Wethey 2