City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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MALVERN — It was as if this great presence had been coursing through Donovan Fromhartz Wednesday night, and there was no way the talented Downingtown West 6-foot-4 senior could let it out.

With 2:36 left in the first half of the Whippets’ Ches-Mont League quarterfinal playoff game at Great Valley, when Fromhartz walked back onto to the court, his cheeks ballooned and he released a giant sigh of relief—it was over.

He could play basketball.

The West Chester University-bound forward needed three points entering the playoff game to become Downingtown’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing former teammate Dylan Blair’s 1,563 mark after the 2023 season.

It took Fromhartz a little longer than he would have liked to get there, but the milestone points arrived, as did a Whippets’ 52-36 victory.

West (14-8) now advances to play Coatesville in the Ches-Mont League semifinal round on Friday at West Chester University, while Great Valley (15-8) continues to play for seeding in the PIAA District 1 Class 6A playoffs.

Fromhartz entered the game with 1,561 career points and left with 1,572, after an 11-point effort in support of Brady Moore’s game-high 20, and Keron Whitfield’s 12.

But the thought of the scoring record was an obvious burden on Fromhartz, who uncharacteristically pressed, missing his first six shots before taking a Moore pass from the baseline and driving home a layup with 2:57 left in the first half for the record-breaking points.

In a class move, Whippets’ coach Stu Ross called timeout so his star player could be presented with a record ball, which he gave to his parents and the announcer let the gym know he just became Downingtown’s all-time leading scorer (the school district, including East and West).

When Fromhartz returned to the court, it seemed a great weight was lifted from his shoulders.

“Definitely coming in, there was a lot of pressure,” Fromhartz admitted. “I just had to play my game and trust my teammates. I started the game pretty slow, missing a lot of easy ones that I should make and can make. My teammates stepped up in a big way. I knew what I had to do to get the record.

“I was trying my best to get my mind off of it. I tried to think of other things outside of basketball that I enjoy, but it was hard, especially in this type of environment. It's a small gym that is really loud, where you can barely hear the coaches. I tried my best not to think of it, but it was always in my head. It felt great to get it over with.”

One less thing Fromhartz has to think about is his college destination. A few weeks ago, he committed to West Chester University coach Damien Blair is what was really a no-brainer.

Fromhartz grew up on West Chester basketball. His mother Mary is an assistant coach for the Lady Rams’ basketball team and his former teammate Blair is a sophomore there, playing for his father.

“My mom has coached there for like, 12, 13 years, so I basically grew up there. It’s just like home to me,” he said. “I’ve been going to those games since I was young, going to my mom’s practices. The environment has always been there. They just accepted me.”

Whitfield, a 5-11 sophomore guard, provided a nice jolt off the bench with four 3-pointers. It eased some of the scoring strain off Fromhartz.

“I could see for Donovan it took a load off scoring wise after he got the record,” Ross said. “It was playoff basketball and I told the guys to relax. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Just put pressure on yourself about how hard you play. I was really happy with Keron with the way he came off the bench. Defensively, he gave us some things.”

He did.

Great Valley got out to a 12-3 lead off a 12-1 run. Ross called a timeout to settle his guys, and they responded with a 9-2 run. A Moore bucket with 2:26 left in the half gave the Whippets a 21-20 edge, their first lead since being up 3-2.

The second half was completely owned by West. They held Great Valley scoreless for long stretches, while building a double-digit lead by the end of the third quarter.

“We started off well, but I knew that Downingtown West plays hard, and they are a hard, physical team, and we just didn’t match their physicality,” Patriots’ coach CJ Savage said. “Offensive rebounds, the pressure, I thought we left a lot out there. We just didn’t have an answer when we needed to.”

The next step for Fromhartz and his teammates is to get by what has been a roadblock to them this season—Coatesville, which beat the Whippets twice.

“It's a big one Friday, Coatesville, there's nothing more you can ask for in a big gym,” Fromhartz said. “It will be a fun, great environment. The first time we lost to them was a blowout, the second time was closer. I feel like we can definitely get over that hump and hopefully pull out a win on Friday and move on to the championship.”

By Quarter

Downingtown West (14-8):  8 | 16 | 16 |12 || 52
Great Valley (15-8):  12 | 8 | 9 | 7 || 36

Scoring
Downingtown West: Brady Moore 20, Keron Whitfield 12, Donovan Fromhartz 11, Isaiah Hicklen 7, Amari Ross 2.

Great Valley: Chris Woodard 17, Jack Weikert 6, Noah Metrick 4, Will Benson 3, Tyler Markowski 2, Aaron Levine 2, Henry Person 2.

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Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on BlueSky here.