City of Basketball Love

Tyler Sandora (@tyler_sandora)

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Even if Unionville has been working on grouping together with a new head coach and new pieces contributing to the team, it didn’t seem fazed in the late stages of its game Tuesday night.

In fact, in the second half when the game was coming down to the wire, the Indians were certain they would pull out the win.

“We were really confident,” junior guard Bo Furey-Bastian said. “I was 100 percent sure we were going to win that game.”

After allowing Great Valley to creep back into the game at the end of regulation, Unionville trailed 40-38 until Furey-Bastian corralled a long offensive rebound and got the fade-away jumper to fall with just under three seconds left on the clock to force overtime.

In the overtime period, tough defensive stands and two timely free-throws from junior Connor Ash with 10.8 seconds left helped the Indians pull out the 46-43 victory in a competitive Ches-Mont American matchup in front of a raucous Great Valley crowd.

With the win, Unionville improves to 6-3 overall, and 2-1 in the Ches-Mont. Its only losses have come to Chichester, where DaQuan Granberry banked in a half-court shot as the buzzer went off; Octorara, where Dom London dropped 44 points; and Garnet Valley, which sits towards the top of the standings in the Central League.

“The thing I like most about our team, is when we win games by not as much as we should, we are disappointed,” Indians coach Chris Cowles said. “I think they want to reach a high level of achievement. Yeah, we talk about maximizing our abilities. In that moment, and what you’re going to do in the next moment. It’s a lot, but we are all in it.”

Cowles is in his first year both teaching and coaching at the school; the WC Rustin grad is a tenth-grade history teacher. Cowles had brief stints at Downingtown West and West Chester University before taking over the West Chester East program three years ago.

Even if it was the Indians’ first real experience in a late-game situation, they felt comfortable. Some of the new found comfortability is due to the new practice regimen that Cowles has implemented in his first season.

“[Cowles] is always telling us in practice and in the huddles to shoot it with confidence and it will go in,” Furey-Bastian said. “I was certain we would win that game the whole time. Just because we simulate those situations in practice, like last second shots throughout the game.

“In those situations last year I was more nervous but this year I have become more confident in developing my late game shots,” the 6-foot-3 junior, a returning starter, admitted. “Getting experience at the varsity level can not only help you develop as a player but gives you the experience you need to get those last game situations done.”

Because the Indians had become accustomed to late-game situations, it made Cowles’ job that much easier, knowing that his players had what it takes to pull out a victory.

“I think the confidence came from the fact that we were able to execute defensively,” Cowles said on his team’s performance. “When we are able to execute defensively, offense comes as a bonus. So, it allows us to stay in games like tonight. When we are playing great defense it helps our guys get the job done. We try and put them in game situations and they are responding well.

“I’m proud of the way they competed because they never came to the bench sulking,” he continued. “Maybe a look here and there, but they were engaged the whole time.”

This is a Unionville team that played just one senior on Tuesday night; 6-1 forward Joe Zubillaga. Other than that, the Indians played five juniors and one sophomore. Last year, Zubillaga, Furey-Bastian, and Shawn Rafferty all started for the Indians, who finished 8-14, and missed the PIAA 6A district tournament for the sixth straight year.

Mix the youth in with the fact that Cowles is in his first year at the helm of the Unionville program, and you’d expect some bumps in the road. So fat this year, that hasn’t been the case.

“We have a couple of sophomores and juniors who played last year. Some of that inexperience from last year is helping us this year,” Furey-Bastian said on the early success of the Unionville program. “[Cowles] is giving us an identity of defense and pushing the ball, which we didn’t have last year. Defensive intensity and hustle on both sides of the floor have been through the roof. Way better than last year.

Furey-Bastian led the scoring for the Indians by posting 14 points, 10 of which came in the second half and overtime. Classmate Wyatt Hockenberry added 12, on four 3-point attempts. Also a junior, Drew Lenkaitis scored nine points to go along with his seven rebounds.

For Great Valley, which came back from a 30-22 deficit to end the third quarter, Nate Graeff scored 15 points, all in the paint. Senior Liam Ward added 13, 10 of which came after halftime. This was the Patriots (7-4) first loss in league play.

Now that the Indians have a little bit of momentum behind them, and the reassurance of confidence in late game situations, they hope to make a run in the district tournament, somewhere they haven’t been in six years.

“These guys need to realize that we need it now, and we have a lot of potential to do that,” Cowles said. “It’s our responsibility to do that day in and day out. We don’t have any long-term goals. Our goal right now is to maximize our abilities, and then once we accomplish those short term goals then the long term goals will come.”