Coatesville battles through strange refereeing, controls focus and score
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Nafisa Saunders earns two of her 18 on the night. Saunders was Coatesville’s go-to, coming up with steals and earning trips to the line.
CALN – In order to win, sometimes teams must not only overcome the opposition but overcome the referees as well.
In a game that, for much of the second half, seemed to lapse into an endless string of makeup calls by the officiating crew, the Coatesville High School girls basketball team defeated West Chester East 52-43 at home.
The game started smoothly enough for Coatesville with some solid defense and a high-powered fastbreak offense allowing the team to jump out to an early 9-3 lead. East could not seem to keep up with the tempo, allowing the home side to take a 15-9 lead into the second quarter.
“We work on attacking the basket and getting there. Only positive things come from that,” said Coatesville Head Coach Fred Ellzy. “It’s a young team that’s really starting to catch on quick, and that’s nice to see.”
But West Chester would eventually adjust to the driving offense, crowding the paint and contesting every pull up jumper and layup to stifle the attack. Two minutes into the second, the Vikings found momentum of their own. A journey into the paint resulted in a technical being called on Coatesville. Two made free throws were followed up by another foul, allowing East to pull within one. Another couple of free throws on the next possession put the visitors in the lead, 17-16.
“They’re [West Chester East] a great team, and it’s just trying to control the beast, so to speak,” said Ellzy. “Basketball’s a game of runs, going back and forth, and they had an opportunity.
Coatesville’s junior guard Nafisa Saunders would make sure the lead did not last long, earning her own trips to the line, including a three point-play late in the quarter. Though the offense may have sputtered a bit, Saunders’s aggressive offense helped spur her team back into the lead, scoring 12 of Coatesville’s 14 second quarter points.
The 29-21 lead at halftime looked comfortable but surely not insurmountable.
Three minutes into the second half, an ejection changed the dynamic—though maybe not the score—of the game.
Briana White finishes off a fastbreak. Coatesville relied on the fastbreak for the first half, while showing good possession to control the clock late.
During an inbound pass, Coatesville’s senior guard Irelynn Donovan asked where she should inbound the ball from. The official who she asked did not like the tone of the question and ejected her from the game.
“The referee said that she didn’t like the attitude in the way she said something, which I don’t really agree with, but the refs, they’re out there to make calls, and we have to make sure we do the right thing the next time,” said Ellzy.
Both teams reacted emotionally, but credit should be given to all players for not letting that reflect in their gameplay.
A few minutes later, Coatesville freshman Briana White drained a layup and drew a foul. Junior forward Samaria Turner grabbed the missed foul shot and put it back for two, giving Coatesville a 35-24 lead.
However, the rest of the third quarter and much of the fourth quarter consisted of blatant fouls not being called for Coatesville, which were followed up by harsh, seemingly makeup calls against East.
Ellzy said that his players were not rattled by the strange officiating.
“They’re [the players] young, and they’re emotional, but they started to focus, and we stressed focusing because there are games like this that are going to take place, and these guys, they stepped up to the plate, and they did a good job,” he said.
Though the fouls appeared to be called at random for much of the rest of the game, they seemed to even out a bit in the fourth quarter.
A couple of threes pulled East closer, putting the score at 37-31, but Coatesville answered with its own threes to hold the visitors off.
As the strange officiating continued to late in the game, many of the points came from the foul line with neither team able to gain a clear advantage. A late West Chester three made it 49-43 with 17 seconds left, but foul shots from Saunders and White sealed the game for Coatesville.
At 7-2 this young Coatesville team—with Irelynn Donovan as the only senior—will look to improve on what has been a very good year thus far, going to Bishop Shanahan on Thursday.
