Sets up second-round matchup against Norristown
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Coatesville’s Jaquan Hollingshed attacks the rim, during Saturday’s 52-51 win over JP McCaskey in the opening round of the state boys basketball playoffs. Throughout the first half, the Red Raiders had success on offense, looking comfortable and taking the lead. The second half was a completely different story, as they came out flat and struggled to score.
NEW HOPE – Belief in sports is not just about going into a game thinking that your team can win. Belief is about not losing the mental edge as your team is trailing late in the game with one of your key players injured and another ejected.
The Red Raiders boys basketball team kept believing Saturday night, making a fourth quarter comeback to defeat JP McCaskey 52-51 in the opening round of the state playoffs.
Played at Garden Spot High School, 23-7 Coatesville faced 26-3 JP McCaskey in a game that would see lead changes, comebacks, and a bench-clearing shoving match before the final score was decided in the closing seconds.
The matchup looked even from the tipoff. Coatesville’s offense used sharp passing to open up high percentage shots for steady returns on offense. The defense looked solid, challenging every pass and shot, but McCaskey’s drives, dishes, and ability to make shots the defense pressing allowed them to keep up.
Coatesville’s Chris Jones (13) considers his options on the ball. With five points in the fourth quarter, Jones helped keep his team in the game to allow the late comeback.
Coatesville senior Emmett Hunt looked particularly outstanding in the opening quarter, scoring on each of his team’s first two possessions en route to 10 first quarter points. The teams exchanged the lead throughout the quarter, with the score 16-15 at the end of the first.
The hard defensive work paid off for the Red Raiders in the second quarter. Sticking the man on the ball more closely prevented the Red Tornado from making they penetrating drives and inside passes that it thrived on. Forced to take tough outside shots, McCaskey went scoreless for four and a half minutes in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Coatesville continued to roll on offense. Senior point guard Dre Boggs, as he has done all year, stirred the pot, driving and distributing, leading his team on a 9-0 run to start the quarter. With 2:30 left, senior guard Howard Sellars grabbed a rebound under his own net. Launching a long football pass to the other side of the court, he found Boggs with only one defender to beat. Rather than going around, Boggs opted for over, dunking the ball and drawing the foul to give his team a 10-point lead.
Emmett Hunt (21) shoots three in the first half. Coatesville struggled from three point distance all night, allowing McCaskey to stay closer than they should have been.
At halftime, the Red Raiders held a 29-21 lead, were on an offensive roll and looked like they had figured out how to stop the Red Tornado attack.
But first half trends are not the same as second half results.
Coming out of the break, McCaskey seemed to thrive under the pressure of playing for trailing in a game that its playoff hopes depended on while Coatesville relaxed and rested on its second quarter laurels.
McCaskey opened the half with a three and kept going from there. The outside shooting that they struggled with earlier became their bread and butter, sinking threes, and opening up driving lanes in the Red Raider defense. Coatesville looked asleep, constantly a step too late to challenge shots and not contesting passes that they pressured in the first half.
The other end of the court was not any better. The Red Raiders’ first three possessions resulted in a pass out of bounds and two air balls. Even when they were able to drive, they missed layups that would have been easy points in the first half.
With 4:30 left in the quarter, McCaskey hit a three to take the lead, and followed it up with another on their next trip down the court. Just over a minute left in the quarter, they threw down a dunk to cap off a 12-3 run.
Poised to cruise to victory at the half, Coatesville looked too poised, scoring just five in the quarter to going into the fourth trailing 39-34.
With a McCaskey team hyped from taking back the lead and looking to finish off its comeback and a frustrated Coatesville side that did very little right thus far in the second half, emotions boiled over in the fourth quarter.
After a McCaskey miss, a player from each team went after the rebound, both with firm grasps of the ball, wrestling to come out with it. By the time the referee whistled for a loose ball, Coatesville senior Leroy Hoggard had also gotten involved and continued to fight for it after the whistle. His prolonged effort caused McCaskey players to pull him off the ball. Seeing their teammates locked in a struggle after the whistle, players from both teams began shoving and yelling until both benches had cleared, and everyone was involved. The scuffle required event staff and security guards to clear the court and resulted in the ejection and one-game suspension of Hoggard, a starter and key player on both ends of the court.
Less than a minute after the game started back up, Boggs was on the floor in a heap. Though just a cramp, Coatesville could see its window to the second round going from wide open to nearly shut in the space of just over a quarter.
Six minutes to go, still struggling to find its feet in the second half, underdogs against a team that finally found its stride, no one would have been surprised if Coatesville rolled over right there, settled for the stories of how it looked like they could have won.
Instead, Sellars responded with a three.
The team from the Steel City of the East showed the steel of its belief, not settling for outside shots but instead, drove through the defense, made layups and drew fouls.
But McCaskey was in a zone. For every Coatesville drive, the Red Tornado answered with a drive of its own.
With less than two minutes left, Coatesville managed to climb within one possession, 49-46, and a Boggs drive put him at the foul line to give him the opportunity to put his team within a point. He missed both shots.
An open lane for a McCaskey drive looked like the lead would stretch back to two possessions until senior forward Jaquan Hollingshed made a desperation block off the glass.
On the other end, Hunt’s shot from under the basket did put his team within a point, 49-48 with less than a minute. A McCaskey basket from the low post extended their lead again, but Sellars answered quickly, driving down court, drawing a foul, and sinking both shots with 31 seconds left.
Unable to come up with a steal, Coatesville was forced to foul and put McCaskey’s best player at the line. Maybe the pressure was too much, maybe it was the entire Coatesville half of the gym on their feet and yelling, but two missed foul shots gave Coatesville the ball back with 23 seconds left down 51-50.
As Dre Boggs drove, looking for the layup to give his team the lead, he was fouled. Boggs, who had to leave the game earlier with a cramp, who missed two big free throws earlier, had a chance to give his team the lead. This time with the whole Red Tornado fanbase in full throat, Boggs hit both.
Sixteen seconds left, McCaskey took the ball to the other end. Quick passing and an overly-aggressive Coatesville defense opened up a three from the corner. But Boggs, a player who regularly plays above the rim showed his highest jump of the night to swat the shot away and out of bounds.
Eight seconds left, the Red Raiders stuck to the defensive mantra of not reaching and keeping their feet moving. McCaskey could not come up with an open shot. Instead, Hollingshed tied the ball up in the low post to stop play for a held ball. Less than a second to go, McCaskey tried the desperation shot off the inbound, but the ball kissed the backboard and bounced out of bounds harmlessly.
As time expired, students and cheerleaders rushed the court to celebrate with the team.
After defeating the favored Red Tornado, Coatesville will face 23-4 Norristown on Wednesday for the second round of the state playoffs.
COATESVILLE SCORERS
Emmett Hunt – 14
Dre Boggs – 13
Chris Jones – 7
Howard Sellars – 7
Jaquan Hollingshed – 6
Leroy Hoggard – 5
