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WEST CHESTER >> Saturday afternoon at West Chester University in the Ches-Mont League semifinals, the West Chester Henderson boys basketball team showed the heart of a lion.
They came back from a 20-point first-period deficit to stun Unionville, 61-58 in overtime. The Warriors will now face National Division rival Coatesville for the championship Tuesday at West Chester University at 8 p.m.
The comeback was fueled by the tremendous play of senior Nyle Ralph-Bayer, who led all scorers with 30 points. It was his big three-pointer late in the fourth period that sent the game to overtime. Ralph-Beyer was nine-for-nine from the field in the second half in a virtuoso performance, that included six three-pointers.
“I knew that was my shot,” Ralph-Beyer said. “That is what I work all summer and during the season for moments like that. We were down early, but we stuck together as a team and slowly got back in the game. I am just going to soak in this moment and get ready for Tuesday night and be excited about playing for a Ches-Mont championship.”
Unionville (20-3) was on fire early, bolting out to a 23-3 lead early. The Longhorns were led by the scoring of James Anderson and James Brenner to forge the advantage. Unionville shot a torrid eight-for-10 in the frame.
But, the Warriors took a deep breath and went on a 20-7 run of their own to get close. The Warriors outscored the Longhorns, 14-9, in the second to trail, 32-23 at halftime, and you could just feel the ship has been righted.
The Warriors outscored the Longhorns, 36-22, in the second half to force the extra session. Henderson was starting to get hot with Ralph-Beyer and big man Nelson Lamizana doing the damage. Lamizana scored 14 points to go along with six rebounds before fouling out in overtime.
The Warriors (21-3) also lost Connor Fleet to fouls late in the fourth after recording 11 points.
After Ralph-Beyer tied the game 54-54 with 19 seconds to play, Unionville could not hit on two shots and the teams went to OT.
The Longhorns were hampered by a putrid six-for-17 effort from the free-throw line.
Lamizana hit one of two free throws for a 55-54 lead with 2:57 left. The Longhorns got the ball inside to big man Nick Diehl. who had a big game, scoring a team-high 15 points to go along with 10 rebounds. But, Lamizana made a great play blocking the shot and the Warriors had possession with 2:34 to play.
Dylan Delucia hit a three-pointer from the corner for a 58-54 lead with 2:06 left. It was Delucia’s only basket of the night, but no one was any bigger.
Brenner then went strong to the hole for a score to creep to within 58-56 with 1:40 to go. The Warriors then turned the ball over, but Unionville missed on two open jumpers and Lamizana grabbed the rebound, then got fouled. He hit both free throws and Henderson had a 60-56 lead with just 43 seconds to play.
Charlie Kammieier then scored on a driving layup and got fouled. But, again, the Longhorns missed the big free throw and the Warriors had a 60-58 advantage with 33.4 seconds to play.
Henderson got the ball inbounds and Jesse Smith was fouled. He hit one of two free throws to make it a three-point lead with 22.4 seconds to play. After a timeout, the Longhorns misfired on two shots and Delucia was fouled with 4.6 seconds to play. But, Delucia gave the Longhorns life by missing both free throws. But, a last ditch three-pointer was off the mark and the Warriors had a very thrilling overtime win.
“We just never gave up and we showed our residence,” Warriors forward Evan McFadden said. “We never gave up and just stuck together. It feels great to be playing for the league championship on Tuesday night.’
Henderson coach Jason Ritter was drained after the gut wrenching win as he talked about the comeback.
“It was made by a resilient and tough group of seniors and kick started by a junior in Dylan Delcuia.”
WC Henderson 61, Unionville 58, OT
WC HENDERSON: Lamizana 5 3-4 14, Ralph-Beyer 11 2-2 30, Bell 0 0-0 0, Delucia 1 0-2 3, Fleet 3 4-4 11, Smith 1 1-2 3, Nelson 0 0-0 0, McFadden 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 10-14 61.
UNIONVILLE: Brenner 5 0-1 11, Anderson 6 0-5 14, Robbins 0 0-0 0, Lockwood 0 0-0 0, Brown 4 1-4 11, Diehl 6 3-4 15, Kammieier 2 2-3 7. Totals 23 6-17 58.
WC Henderson 9 14 13 23 7 – 61
Unionville 23 9 13 9 4 – 58
3-point goals: Lamizana , Ralph-Beyer 6, Delucia, Fleet, Brenner, Anderson 2, Brown 2, Kammieier.
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