Haverford Falls In The Playoffs To Downingtown West

They left the court Friday night feeling the slight sting of defeat, but the girls’ basketball team walked off not regretting anything. It’s a team and a season that will — and should be — remembered. It’s the team and a season that marked a comeback, which yanked the Fords back to respectability.

The Fords didn't want this season to end, but a 52-38 setback in the first round of the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA playoffs to Downingtown West prevented that from happening, ending Haverford’s season.

Downingtown West will now advance and play the winner of Lower Merion and Great Valley in the second round, while the Fords finished 14-9 overall this season — a gaping step forward from their 2009-10 season, when they finished 3-19 and the district playoffs weren’t even a thought.

Downingtown West’s Elizabeth Coyne led all scorers with 19 points, while Brittany Sicinski contributed 16 points. Haverford’s Chelci Asbury led the Fords with eight points.

The Fords, who played without starting point guard Jill Root who had a scheduling conflict due to a soccer commitment, stayed with Downingtown West for a few quarters, before the Whippets took control of the game in the second half.

“We could have played better, it just wasn’t clicking for us, they got us on backdoor plays; we let them sneak to the basket and we let them keep doing it,” said the Fords’ Jaclyn Gantz, who scored six points. “But we were happy we made it this far, knowing we only won three games last year. I definitely look at this season as a huge success for us. It’s why there was some emotion after the game.

“I think there will be more emotion at the banquet. We’ll see each other on Tuesday when we hand in our uniforms. It does kind of hit you that it’s over, but we had a lot of fun this year. I think I’ll remember the big games against schools that demolished us in past years, like beating Springfield (on a Caroline Price last-second shot). That was huge. I’ll always remember that game, just because all of the excitement after that. We got killed by them last year.”

Downingtown West and Haverford were locked in an 8-8 tie after the first quarter. But Downingtown West’s second- and third-shot chances, superior height and defense began taking a toll on the Fords. The game stayed competitive until late in the third quarter, forcing Haverford coach John Berardoni to get out of his game plan and chase the Whippets in an attempt to get within striking distance.

“Coyne and Sicinski were the two we had to stop and we just couldn’t do it,” Berardoni said. “We started off in a zone, but we had to switch out of that to put pressure on the ball and tried to get back into it. Afterward, I congratulated the girls on a great season and a wonderful year. I told the seniors when they came in and were struggling to win two, three games a year and they left winning 14 games.

“We got back this year and now we have a real nice group to build on. They really brought us back. This season really was a lot of fun from start to finish. This was absolutely a successful season. No one was hanging their heads afterward. We were very happy as a group where these girls have come and how they brought the program back.”