City of Basketball Love

Tyler Sandora (@tyler_sandora)
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Up until about four minutes were left in fourth quarter of Coatesville’s game against Great Valley in the Ches-Mont final four, the Red Raiders had fallen victim to Great Valley’s offensive scheme.

The Patriots spend the first 28 minutes of the game slowing down the pace, and making multiple passes before ultimately finding an open shot.

Coatesville found itself falling asleep on back door cuts, and allowing Great Valley to get out to an 11 point lead at halftime.

“That motion offense they run is excellent, man,” Coatesville head coach Chuck Moore said. “No matter how much preparation you put into it, it’s so hard to defend. Someone falls asleep and they get an open shot.”

It wasn’t until the second half that Coatesville made it’s most important adjustment, and played to its strengths.

The Red Raiders went into a full-court press after the break, and it slowly, but surely, brought them right back into the game. The non stop in-your-face rhythm they played with didn’t allow Great Valley to effectively set up the offense.

“It was trying to make them uncomfortable and to get them out of rhythm,” Moore said. “You hope that turns into bad passes, turnovers, and some easy baskets for us.”

The pressure did just that, as Coatesville climbed back in the second half and defeated Great Valley, 69-62, in overtime. The Red Raiders will play against Bishop Shanahan in the Ches-Mont championship game on Tuesday at Downingtown West.

When Great Valley would bring the ball over half-court, the Red Raiders would swarm. In the fourth quarter alone, Coatesville forced nine turnovers.

“When we press, we wear teams down and make them turnover the ball,” sophomore guard DaPree Bryant said. “We kept falling for backdoor cuts and couldn’t keep up. Then we got back to the pressure and kept doing it.”

Bryant and his half-brother and classmate, Jhamir Brickus, were instrumental in forcing pressure and turnovers on the Great Valley guards in the second half. When they picked the ball away, they had easy opportunities for layups on the other end.

“That’s our identity. It's not a secret,” Moore said. “Since I've been here we’ve been an uptempo, get up in your face, defensive team. There were moments that we didn’t, but my guys stepped up and we got the win.”

With Coatesville leading 59-56 with six seconds left in regulation, Great Valley’s point guard Matt Porreca stepped up and hit a deep 3-pointer to send the game into overtime. But in the extra period, it was all Coatesville.

Bryant took it upon himself to extend the lead in overtime. With 45 seconds remaining, Great Valley was down two and setting up for a shot that could give them the lead. But Bryant had other plans, as he stole the ball and scored on the other end, exciting the Coatesville crowd.

A 5-foot-9, 175 pound stocky guard, Bryant uses his low stature to harass defenders, and can elevate above the rim to finish. When it comes to setting up the full-court pressure, there isn’t anyone else Moore would want leading the charge.

“DaPree man, he’s probably one of the fastest guards in the state if not the fastest,” Moore said on his sophomore guard. “The way he can turn his gears is so impressive. It gives me so much confidence to play full-court defense because I know he can sustain it. When you get a guy like that, we can let him do his magic.”

Although he’s known more for his defensive efforts, Bryant went off for 26 points on Saturday to lead the Red Raiders. Brickus added 19, and West Chester Henderson transfer Chuck Smith scored nine.

Looking forward, Coatesville ended the regular season ranked fifth in the unofficial PIAA 6A District One rankings, so they will almost certainly get a first-round bye in the district tournament when the seeds are made official on Sunday morning; the top eight teams avoid playing in the first round.

As the Red Raiders move on, games will only get more difficult. Now Coatesville has won 12 straight games, dating back to a loss on January 9 to Downingtown East. If the Red Raiders want to make a run into states, the defensive pressure is going to need to be there the whole game.

Against District One powers like Plymouth-Whitemarsh and Abington, Coatesville might not be able to climb back into a game after giving up a lead.

“When we get thing clicking we are a tough team to beat,” Moore said. “I told them before the game it would be a battle. But if they bought in, it would be worthwhile. If they buy into the effort and energy idea, I think they’ll be surprised how good we can be.”