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UWCHLAN >> It took longer than they would have liked, but the Downingtown East boys basketball team notched their first win of the season Saturday afternoon as the Cougars played very well in a 73-50 nonleague win over Interboro at Bob Boyer Gymnasium.
The Cougars got a monster game from Chase Krupansky, who led all scorers with 30 points, including five three-balls. He also hauled down nine rebounds.
East also played very well on defense as the Cougars harassed the Bucs (3-3) into shooting just 2-for-17 in the third period, when East blew the game open by outscoring Interboro 22-6 to take a commanding 55-37 lead after three periods.
“At halftime Coach (Brian) Grashof really stressed us getting to our spots in our 2-3 zone and to contest every shot,” Krupansky said. “We knew it was a close game at halftime and our defense would be the key for us. They only scored six points in the period so it worked out for us. I really felt good shooting the ball today. Things were going down for me.
“And this team is staying together. We all like each other and have good team chemistry. We lost a couple of guys who did not want to play, but we are young and we played very hard today.”
The Cougars (1-6) held a 33-31 lead at halftime but it was clear that East was constantly beating the Bucs down the floor on both ends. The Cougars scored 18 of their 33 first-half points in transition as they outhustled the Bucs down the floor, but the Bucs were scoring inside as Adam Scrieber had eight points in the first half, all on baskets in the lane.
The trend of beating the Bucs down the floor continued in the third period and the Cougars defense kept the Bucs out of the paint. When Connor Littlepage beat everyone down the floor for a layup the Cougars took a 40-33 lead with four minutes to go in the third period.
The Cougars kept the pressure on with Littlepage and Kaleem Henderson scoring in tight on the Bucs. Littlepage scored 13 points and Henderson added nine for the Cougars for the game.
Then, Krupansky took over. With a 46-35 lead for the Cougars, Krupansky drained two long three-balls for a 52-35 Cougars lead and the winless Cougars could feel it was their day.
“I really got going in the third period,” Krupansky said. “And we (opened) the lead up on them by beating them to our spots.”
Impressive freshman Holland Neff, who came off the Cougars bench to score nine points, drained a three-ball to give Downingtown East a 64-47 lead early in the fourth period. The Cougars were limiting the Bucs to just one shot as Krupansky finished with nine rebounds and got help from Henderson on the boards.
The Cougars outscored the Bucs 18-14 in the fourth period and they never let Interboro get closer than 14 points the rest of the way. The Cougars put eight players in the scoring column.
“We made defense a point of emphasis at halftime,” Grashof said. “We have been having trouble scoring points and we have to keep teams around 50 points. The kids did a great job today of hustling and getting up and down the floor. They really played hard and it paid off with a win.”
Downingtown East 73, Interboro 50
INTERBORO (50) Solomone 1 0-0 2, Collins 5 1-2 14, Pewa 0 0-0 0, Thomas 0 4-6 4, Diawara 1 1-2 3, Llloyd 5 2-3 12, Spaulding 3 1-4 7, Jeffrey 0 0-0 0, Schrieber 4 0-0 8. Totals 19 9-17 50.
DOWNINGTOWN EAST (73) Krupansky 11 3-3 30, Jain 1 0-0 2, Faust 2 0-0 4, Littlepage 5 3-7 13, Henderson 3 3-4 9, Pell 1 1-2 4, Phillips 1 0-0 2, Neff 4 0-1 9, Smuda 0 0-0 0, Broomfield 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 10-17 73.
Interboro 16 14 6 14-50
Downingtown East 20 13 22 18-73
3-point goals: Krupansky 5, Pell, Neff, Collins 3.
See More from Peter DiGiovanni
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