City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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KENNETT SQUARE — With only five games left in the regular season, Unionville’s boys are entering that space coaches talk about all season: wanting to play their best basketball at the right time of year. 

So Chris Cowles’ evaluation of his Longhorns after a Ches-Mont American game against rival West Chester Rustin also served as something of a warning to the rest of the Ches-Mont, District 1 5A and beyond. 

“I think we’ve improved in a lot of areas,” he said, “but there’s certainly aspects that we have to continue to improve upon.”

If that’s the case, look out.

Unionville was thoroughly dominant in a 78-48 win over Rustin on Tuesday night, Cowles’ top group clicking on both ends as it locked down the Ches-Mont American and showed why it’s the top spot in the District 1 5A field as the playoffs quickly approach. 

The Longhorns (15-2, 6-0 Ches-Mont) knocked down 15 3-pointers, forced 16 turnovers, dominated the glass and generally controlled the action for all 32 minutes in an impressive two-way performance, winning their sixth straight game since a loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh on Dec. 30.

James ‘JT’ Anderson led the way with his fourth straight double-double, a 25-point, 11-assist outing that saw him finish just one off his career high in both categories. The 6-3 guard got things started with five assists in the opening stanza — which Unionville took 19-6 — and then found his scoring as the game went along. 

He had eight points in the second quarter, which ended with Unionville up 41-20; he capped the third off with his third 3-pointer of the period, making it a 63-37 game entering the fourth. 

“First quarter I didn’t score, but I didn’t feel the need to score, I felt like a lot of other people were buzzing,” he said. “It wasn’t my time to shine, and then everybody else started to cool off…I realized now it’s my time to fill in, in that particular role. It’s just knowing when to shoot, when to score, and when to be a facilitator; it’s just picking your poison in those spots.”

Anderson’s growth as the de facto point guard in a Unionville attack that doesn’t really have a true initiator has been notable. Those four straight double-doubles? All of them have been due to double-digit assists, though he was reluctant to take too much credit for the numbers Tuesday night.

“It started with (senior wing Charlie Kammeier),” Anderson said. “Whenever they make a shot and whenever he gets a rebound, he gets it to me up and quickly and it helps me get the ball up early. I’m getting the assists, but he’s gettin the hockey assists and that’s what matters. It’s really just him doing his job, me doing my job and then we have people running wide into the corners and they’re getting into the spots to be ready to shoot the ball. It’s not me, it’s everybody on the team being connected.”

“He’s improved in every aspect,” Cowles said. “I think this year obviously it’s his strength, his embracing of making routine plays and his shooting has improved drastically. I think he’s matured a lot and you see that in his game.”

Anderson and Kammeier’s classmate and the third member of their three-headed backcourt, Ryan Brown, was the recipient of quite a few of those dimes, as he knocked down six 3-pointers en route to a 22-point performance. Forward Nick Diehl, who found some stiff opposition in 6-7 Rustin senior Chaz Davis, worked his way to a 15-point, nine-rebound, three-assist outing with a couple blocks for good measure.

“I think we have good players that are bought into the principles of our program and guys are playing with effort, they’re playing with unselfishness,” Cowles said. “And they’re applying the skills and their talents are shining through.”

Last year’s Ches-Mont League and District 1 5A runner-ups, Unionville has been preparing for a run back to the title game all offseason, playing a tough non-league schedule that included wins over Spring-Ford, Haverford School, Central Dauphin and others. Now there’s only a handful of games left until the postseason begins, including four division games left, the Longhorns by far the favorites to wrap up the division title and go into the Ches-Mont playoffs as one of the top seeds. 

Next up is a home game against Great Valley on Thursday, and a trip to Oxford on Tuesday. A non-division game Saturday Feb. 3 at Coatesville is one final tune-up for the postseason, as well as a potential Ches-Mont championship preview, though West Chester Henderson is also right there in the mix.

Unionville is hoping that last year’s playoff experience pays off this time around.

“Last year, there was definitely nerves, we didn’t really know what we were walking into,” Anderson said. “Now it just seems like regular games going forward. Obviously they mean more because it’s postseason — you lose, you’re out —  but it seems like regular games. We’re all looking forward to the playoffs, no one’s scared of the playoffs. We’re ready.”

By Quarter
Unionville:   19  |  22  |  22  |  15  ||  78
WC Rustin:   6   |  14  |  17  |  11  ||  48

Shooting
Unionville: 30-63 FG (15-38 3PT), 3-6 FT
WC Rustin: 19-46 FG (7-22 3PT), 3-6 FT

Scoring
Unionville: James Anderson 25, Ryan Brown 22, Nick Diehl 15, James Brenner 7, Charlie Kammeier 6, Leo Lockwood 3

WC Rustin: Logan Day 16, Ben Malley 12, Chaz Davis 5, Vince Iacone 3, Chase Hatton 3, Ryan Jaross 2, Danny Batchelor 2, Luke Spitzer 2, Andrew Lyons 2