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Marshall marches Coatesville past Downingtown West for first-place tie in Ches-Mont

01/20/2023, 12:45am EST
By Owen McCue

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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A night like Thursday night has always been within Jeremiah Marshall. He just hasn’t been asked to do so.

Coatesville first-year coach John Allen said the senior has made some sacrifices this season. Though he’s rattled off 15, 14, 13, etc. a handful of times, Marshall typically lets Allen know he’s capable of more.

“If you ask him, he’ll probably say I hold him back,” Allen said with a laugh. “If you ever hear him, he’ll say, ‘I need to shoot it. I need the ball in my hands,’ and I respect it. As a senior, I do. I need them to tell me what’s going on on the court. It’s something that he can do all the time, and he’s become more comfortable in that role as the season has progressed.”

It was clear early on against Downingtown West on Thursday, this wasn’t a night for Marshall to be shy on the offensive end. The Raiders’ senior point guard had the hot hand early and coaxed by his teammates and coaches, he made sure to leave his stamp on the game.

Marshall had a career night, scoring 24 points, including nine in the fourth quarters as Coatesville rallied past Downingtown West for a road 52-46 victory.

“It was a big game, but I couldn’t do it without my teammates though,” Marshall said. “My teammates were telling me to keep going, keep going. They trusted me, so I was like, ‘OK. I got y’all, y’all got me.’ We had each other’s backs and we got the dub. It was a big one, real fun.”


Coatesville senior Jeremiah Marshall, center, celebrates with teammates after a win over Downingtown West. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

The big night from Marshall pushed the Red Raiders (11-6, 6-2 Ches-Mont National) into a first-place tie with the Whippets (12-4, 6-2) and West Chester East (13-4, 6-2), certainly shaking things up in the Ches-Mont National Division.

“We understood we’re playing for first place, and I think the seniors really felt that,” Allen said. “Christian (Proctor) made some plays at the end, Jeremiah was making plays the whole game, and I think the seniors really felt it for themselves.”

Marshall and Christian Proctor, the team’s lone seniors, combined for 14 of the Whippets’ 19 fourth-quarter points. The Raiders entered the period trailing 39-33 after Whippets’ sophomore Donovan Fromhartz, who finished with 23 points, had eight in the third.

Marshall reeled off five straight points to pull Coatesville within one, 39-38. After Downingtown West pushed the lead back up to five, Marshall scored another bucket around the four-minute mark. 

A three by Proctor put the Raiders ahead 44-43 with 2:50 to play. The Whippets tied the game, but another Marshall basket gave Coatesville a 46-44 lead with about two minutes left and the Raiders never let it go. Junior Zuri Harris (seven points) had a clutch steal and free throws during the closing stretch.

“My coach told me, if you feel like you got it, you got it,” Marshall said. “If you don’t trust your guys. I trusted my guys, my guys trusted me, and things just clicked.”


Coatesville junior Dior Kennedy skies for a layup attempt. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

Like many of his Coatesville players, Allen’s relationship with Marshall goes way back to the local Coaching Victory youth basketball league, starting when Marshall was about 7 years old.

Their familiarity with each other has been important as Marshall is a connector between the players and their coach.

“We’ll come back and watch film and video and go through it,” Allen said. “I like to do that with everyone — tape doesn’t lie — but Jeremiah is special because he has the talent. I’ve known him since he was seven years old. I know he has the talent and it’s for him to display. It’s not for me. I honestly just wanted him to be confident in the shots that he took tonight and confident in the things he was doing and he did it.”

Marshall said he faded into the background both on and off the court at Coatesville in recent seasons. He said he was a spot up shooter last season. Occasionally, he’d rip to the basket if it was there or pass out and keep the ball moving. 

“It’s different because through the past I was always in the background,” Marshall said. “I wouldn’t say much. Now, my coaches and my teammates encourage me to be a leader, so I just have to take that leadership role. It’s a big step for me, but if my teammates keep encouraging me, I feel like we can do big things.”

Allen, a former standout at Coatesville and Seton Hall, thinks Marshall is a college-level talent, though he’s hoping more schools will check in on his senior point guard.

Marshall has had to ‘sacrifice’ some aspects of his game this season. He’s the team’s point guard, so his job isn’t always to score (he had five assists on Thursday). Without a lot of size on the Coatesville roster, he’s often guarding opposing forwards and battling down low for rebounds as well.

At the same time, Marshall is the team’s senior leader. He guides the team in prayer before games and sets the tone on and off the court for the Raiders in a number of other ways. It’s a luxury to have for a coach in his first year.

“I go to him and I’m hard on him because I know him,” Allen said. “I know his faith. I know what he wants to do. He wants to win these games and go to the championship. If you want that, you have to produce that. He didn’t put it all together, but he put a lot of it together tonight. This is not the first time he’s done it. He’s done it. 14, 15 here, obviously not like this.”

The win against the Whippets was Coatesville’s first against their division rival since Jan. 20, 2020, breaking a five-game losing streak. Though it was a road game, about half the gym was filled with Raiders faithful.

Coatesville has another big one on Tuesday as they host West Chester East in a contest that will knock one of the squads out of the first–place tie in the division. 

“It was a big win for us,” Marshall said. “For the past couple years, we struggled with D-West, so to get this big dub and away from our home court it felt really good.”

By Quarter
Coatesville:   10   |  7  |   16   |  19  ||  52
Downingtown West:     12   |  11  |   16   |  7  ||  46

Scoring
Coatesville: Jeremiah Marshall 24, Zuri Harris 7, Christian Proctor 5, Dior Kennedy 5, Amon Fowlkes 4, Peoples 3, Larry Brown 2, Takiyah Lynch 2

Downingtown West: Donovan Fromhartz 23, Dylan Blair 8, Kelly Bell 6, A Lewis 5, Joey Suarez 2, Alex Newhaus 2


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