City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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KING OF PRUSSIA >> Four years together have turned into a matter of days in no time at all.

A year ago, the Fords had their season come to an end in Upper Merion’s palatial Valhalla Gymnasium and the team’s seniors weren’t keen on a repeat performance. Haverford’s quartet of fourth years have been through a lot together and they wanted to keep their march through March going, no matter the venue.

The seniors led the way on both ends, combining for 38 points and providing lockdown defense as the Fords stifled Downingtown East 44-24 in the second round of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs.

“We had to come out strong,” Fords senior Rian Dotsey said. “We keep wanting to extend our season and know any game could be our last game, so just coming out and playing as hard as we can is really important.”

With the win, Haverford moves on to Friday’s quarterfinal round against WPIAL champion Upper St. Clair, a 46-32 winner over Canon-McMillan. It’s the furthest the Haverford senior class has advanced in states after first round losses as freshmen and sophomores and last year’s second-round setback against Perk Valley.

Dotsey led the way with 12 points, the 6-foot-2 St. Joe’s recruit adding eight rebounds and three blocks, but she was not alone. Natalie Wright brought her usual activity in the frontcourt, posting nine points and 10 rebounds while the senior duo in the backcourt, Megan Kelly and Mya Foley, were just solid going for 10 points with three assists and seven points with four assists respectively.

If there was any trepidation about having to play at Upper Merion again, Fords coach Lauren Pellicane didn’t sense it from her veteran group.

“They came into the locker room and made sure they went to different spots than last year,” Pellicane said. “It’s a different team. This senior class has been to the state tournament four years in a row, they’ve played with some really good players but they’ve come together as a special class doing some incredible things.”

As underclassmen, the seniors earned minutes doing things other than scoring. As they aged in the program, and teammates ahead of them graduated, that mentality stayed as they became more and more integral offensively as well.

This was their year to make the program their own and they certainly did.

“We’re a senior-bonded team,” Foley said. “We all get along, we all shoot well playing together, we all make plays well together. I think that’s a special part of our team.”

They almost didn’t even make it to the second round, needing a gutsy fourth quarter comeback in the opening round before defeating Easton in overtime. The catalyst to that rally was defense, as it was in their final playback game when the Fords had to dig out of a deficit against Conestoga to finish fifth in the district.

Going up against a Downingtown East team that doesn’t have one senior in its starting lineup, the Fords knew they’d have to limit the Cougars on the perimeter. That started on the interior, Dotsey posting two emphatic blocks in the first quarter to dissuade drivers while Wright, Kelly and Foley, along with plenty of activity from freshman Grace Maloney, made the Cougars work for every point.

“That’s always a goal, to block out the paint and make them take outside shots that are a lower percentage,” Dotsey said. “Bringing that kind of energy early is always important.”

Even with that stout start defensively, the Fords found themselves trailing 8-7 after a quarter and 10-9 early in the second after Charlotte Aldrige spun her way to a score inside. Kelly, off a feed from Foley, splashed a three in the right corner for a 12-10 lead the Fords wouldn’t give back. Haverford ended the half on a 9-0 run with every point coming from a senior to win the quarter 11-2 and take an 18-10 lead to the half.

“We definitely brought more energy, for sure,” Foley said. “We started off a little slow but as it went on, we built on our chemistry more. We found what our opponent was better at and adjusted.”

Cougars coach Darren Domsohn felt like his team had defended reasonably well in the first half, the main problem was the offense hadn’t matched that. Downingtown East was 0-of-8 on threes in the first half and the Cougars didn’t get their first perimeter shot to fall until 5:45 remained in the fourth quarter and Haverford led by 20 points.

Sophomore Kendall Chiavelli led the Cougars with 10 points and her five third quarter points were the only markers Downingtown East got in a frame won by the Fords 12-5. 

“That’s what the coaches talked about at halftime, we thought we were getting good looks and the girls were taking good shots,” Domsohn said. “Some of the shots we felt were early in the possession and that’s something we talked about, getting great shots instead of settling for good shots. 

“But again, they were open and our motto all season has been when you’re open, you shoot it and you shoot it with confidence.”

After Chiavelli scored to cut the lead to seven in the third quarter, Haverford responded with a 7-0 run. Dotsey started the run by finding Kelly for a three, then the seniors switched roles on the last basket, bracketing a score by Maloney.

They connected again to get Dotsey another hoop late in the frame and Foley capped the quarter in style by dropping in a runner a second ahead of the buzzer for a 30-15 edge. In total, the Fords racked up 11 assists on 17 baskets, which Foley chalked up to years of trust built up between them.

“We set each other up and set screens but it’s also just knowing personnel,” Foley said. “I know Rian is very good at taking it to the rim and finishing so even if it's a difficult pass and she has one or two girls on her, she’ll be able to catch it and put it up or make a play.”

The Cougars finish the season 24-6. They are due to return every starter from this season including first team All Ches-Mont picks in Chiavelli and junior Grace Hodges, a second team all-league pick in Aldridge and a Ches-Mont honorable mention in junior Chloe Hunold, so there’s plenty to be optimistic about.

What might have been most telling though, was how the loss seemed to affect the players on Tuesday. The players were clearly upset that their season had ended and their coach expected the loss to fuel them over the offseason.

“This group from April until November, they work their butts off and when they do come back in, they’re consistent,” Domsohn said. “I hope it does motivate them. They had a great season, they accomplished a lot and have done things that not many teams in our program have done for a long time including winning that first round of states.

“They left it all on the court, they never gave up, which I thought was a good sign.”

About the only major negative was the 18 turnovers the Fords committed, Pellicane noting many of them took away chances to get shots at the rim. That made their collective defensive effort that much more important, the Haverford coach commending her group for sticking to their plan and defending as a team.

After a bit of an uneven first half, getting a combined 17 points, plus the usual assists, from her senior backcourt was certainly a plus in Pellicane’s view.

“Meg’s shooting the ball really well right now and Mya, with her ability to attack the rim and create for others, she’s doing more of that,” Pellicane said. “It’s really helped elevate our offense for sure.”

Upper St. Clair, led by Kent State recruit Rylee Kalocay, will certainly pose a challenge in the next round. Friday will also most certainly bring a long bus ride to and from the game for the Fords, but their four seniors wouldn’t want anything more at this point of the year.

“We enjoy it,” Dotsey said. “We’re soaking it all in, knowing it’s coming to the end, it’s just a lot of fun.

“It’s so exciting, everyone’s enjoying it and loving every second we get to play together.”

By Quarter

HAVERFORD 7 | 11 | 12 | 14 || 44

DOWNINGTOWN EAST 8 | 2 | 5 | 9 || 24

Scoring

H: Rian Dotsey 12, Megan Kelly 10, Natalie Wright 9, Mya Foley 7, Grace Maloney 2, Maura Gilroy 2, Taylor Gleason 2

DE: Kendall Chiavelli 10, Charlotte Alrdrige 6, Chloe Hunold 4, Jazlyn Boyd 2, Sam Schildknecht 2