Phoenixville gets road revenge, downs D-West, 61-52

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)

COURTESY OF WWW.CITYOFBASKETBALLLOVE.COM

At the end of last season, the Phoenixville Phantoms were left with a bitter taste in their mouths after meeting the speeding bullet that was the Downingtown West Whippets, who were fresh off a conference title–in the first round of district one play-backs.

The Whippets ran away with that one on their home floor, effectively ending Phoenixville’s season with a 67-44 rout.

With those same teams and a lot of the same players meeting on the exact same floor ten long months later, it was only to be expected the Phantoms would be out for blood and prepared to get revenge, and they did just that against the highly-talented Whippets, taking home a hard-fought, gutsy 61-52 victory.

“We knew coming in this was going to be a really tough game, obviously Downingtown is very good experienced, they have very good players, and they’re very well coached,” said Phoenixville head coach Eric Burnett. “This was a great game, it was an emotional game for us; they ended our season last year, and that was certainly in our minds going into this game. We’re a year older, we’re a year more experienced, and we were prepared for a game like this.”

When West started the game on an 11-2 run and forced four Phoenixville turnovers, it looked like a remake of last year’s playoff matchup. The Phantoms answered with an 8-0 run of their own, and the remainder of the half was neck-and-neck with Phoenixville taking a 29-26 lead into the break.

Things began getting chippy in the second half when, after the two starting centers, Downingtown’s 6-7 Josh Warren and Phoenixville’s 6-5 Jeff Conboy got tangled fighting for a rebound.

What seemed to be an inadvertent knee to Conboy’s face sent him to the ground, and the stadium erupted from both sides.

It wasn’t just the West fans getting loud in favor of their team, Phoenixville had an impressive contingent as well, almost to the point that it seemed like a neutral site at times.

The crowd swayed back and forth through a final quarter that was entirely controlled by Phoenixville in terms of the lead. West tied it at 46 on a strong score by Warren, but then spotted the Phantoms a five-point lead from which they were never able to recover, even with a Ryan Betley three pulling them back within two.

After the game was fully iced, Christian Kelly slammed home a fast-break dunk at the buzzer, sealing the emotional win and bringing out an uproar from the Phoenixville contingent.

“Everybody’s so supportive of our kids,” said Burnett. “They all work hard and they want to be a part of everything we do I’m just grateful for where I am as a coach with this program with such supportive families and players.”

Kelly dropped a game-high 21 points with two three pointers, while snatching 14 rebounds as part of a double-double. Conboy, a fellow senior, added 13.

Conboy and Kelly, both starters in last season’s showdown, were the spark the Phantoms needed to outplay their sizeable, athletic opponent, and played a large role in forcing thirteen turnovers off the experienced Whippets.

“They have great chemistry,” Burnett said of his senior leaders. “They’re getting better at playing together and they work hard every day.”

Granted, West’s senior duo played a phenomenal game as well, with Penn commit Betley dropping twenty points and the Cornell-bound Warren adding 16 of his own, but their efforts weren’t enough to overcome Phoenixville’s passionate and emotional performance.

This win marks more than just revenge for the Phantoms. Knocking off a team who not only won its conference last season, but also made the state tournament and has those two Ivy League-bound seniors was a statement victory and a testament to the growth and improvement of Burnett’s squad.

“Overall, it’s confidence,” said Burnett. “Our kids are playing with extreme confidence, we lost a tough one last night to Penncrest, but we schedule these games for a reason. Teams like Downingtown West, these really good schools at the beginning, to prepare us for a stretch run. Hopefully we’ll be in the final four of our league and further and beyond to districts.”