West Deptford Girls Meet Their End in Low-Scoring Quarterfinal

A season and an era ended Thursday night.

Seniors Megan Kirschling, Danielle McKeown and Tarryn Bundy put on the basketball uniform for the final time, and it should come as no surprise that following the Eagles 32-18 loss to No. 2 Middle Township, no one was ready to take the uniform off.

"I told the girls after the game, 'The great thing about this team is that you want to play this team again right now,’" said head coach J McKeown, who admitted to being in tears in the locker room. “‘You don’t want to go home because you don’t want this to end.’

"They are players who dive on the ground and do everything they can for the team. They are just very intense. I have coached a lot of teams in a lot of sports over the years, and this is the closest team to a family I have ever had. They really do care about each other.”

The No. 7 Eagles entered Thursday’s contest at less than full strength as Kirschling was suffering a foot injury that occurred in the second quarter of Tuesday’s win over Deptford. McKeown said he gave her plenty of chances to opt out of playing, but the veteran would not have it. She played through the pain, even though she clearly wasn't near 100 percent.

“The whole first half, she was walking on egg shells a little bit,” McKeown said. “As the game progressed she kept trying to do more. By then end she was running around like nothing was wrong, and I think that’s because she knew it was her last game.”

With Kirschling ailing, McKeown had his offense work at a slow-down pace to try to keep the game low-scoring. The Eagles won the tipoff to open the game, and proceeded to run two full minutes off the clock before converting a basket.

The strategy worked for few possessions, though, as Middle led 11-6 after the first quarter and 13-8 at the half. Tarryn Bundy did her best to keep the Eagles in the game, scoring a team-high 10 points, but the Eagles never found their stroke, as Kirschling was held to two points and McKeown scoreless.

“(Middle) watched us play Haddon Township, and Danielle had a good game that night, so they put their best defender on her and played her tight,” J McKeown said. “That was the only kid playing close defense and it kept her from getting any good looks. Since Kirschling wasn’t effective early with her injury, it was really difficult for us.

"Credit them; they were a very good defensive team. ”

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak and gives the Eagles a final record of 20-8, breaking the previous season-bests of 18-5 and 18-10.

Check back next week for a full-recap of West Deptford’s record-breaking season.