Henderson Earns Convincing Win

DOWNINGTOWN – It’s now six down, two to go as the Henderson high school basketball team continued to persevere as “road” Warriors, overcoming Bishop Shanahan and its homecourt advantage with a 67-48 victory in Ches-Mont National Division play Thursday night.

It was the McCormick brothers show once again for the Warriors, who are still 12 days away from their first home game, when the twin brothers should be in for a warm welcome after tearing it up through the first part of the season, leading their team to a 3-3 record.

The road trip continues Wednesday, Dec. 28,  at 5:45 p.m. in Media against Council Rock South in the Penncrest High School Holiday Tournament.  It ends Thursday, Dec. 29,  against Sun Valley or Penncrest in the tournament’s championship or consolation game.  Henderson finally arrives home on Tuesday, Jan. 3, for a 7:30 p.m. start against Downingtown West.

“This is an especially tough place to play,” Henderson coach Chris Bruno said about the Shanahan gym after his team prevailed in an emotionally-charged contest that was closer than the final score might indicate.  “It’s loud in here and we had to be ready.”

Ready they were at the game’s outset, scoring the first seven points enroute to a 24-8 lead that surprised fans of both teams and kept the home crowd subdued.  The McCormick twins were outstanding once again, combining for all of the first 11 points as Shanahan started tentatively against the Warriors’ zone press.

Dylan Alderman and Devon Sweeney led Shanahan on an 8-3 run midway through the second quarter to get the Eagles on track and that paved the way for a second-half comeback that was fueled by the raucous home crowd.

Henderson failed to score for the first three and one-half minutes of the third quarter as Shanahan closed to within nine behind the powerful inside play of 6-5 Dae’mond Pierce, whose physical battles with Henderson’s frontcourt of T.J. White and Declan Kane kept the referees on their toes throughout the evening.

The confrontation reached a crescendo early in the fourth period when Pierce got fouled on a shot attempt underneath and Henderson was also called for a technical.  With four free throws plus possession, the Eagles had a chance to set up a tight finish, but two misses at the line and an ensuing turnover added up to a missed opportunity.

“Hats of to Shanahan, they made adjustments.  They took us out of our rhythm on the offensive end and that affected us defensively,” continued Bruno.  “They did a nice job of getting the ball into Pierce.”

Now up only nine, Henderson responded with a Scottie Cullinan layup and a White three-point play and Shanahan could get no closer than 13 the rest of the way.

Among the reasons Henderson was able to stay in control were a 14-16 performance from the free throw line and the all-around play of Kane, who had six assists, six rebounds and two blocks while battling the bigger Pierce, who ended up with 17 points.

Chas McCormick finished with 26 points and Jason added 19 plus three assists as the twins impressed throughout with a near-mistakeless performance.  While Chas has been starting since freshman year, Jason is just coming into his own now as a junior.  “All he needed was the opportunity,” marveled Bruno. 

Ryan Conrad had 14 points for Shanahan and Seeney ended up with 10, but the Eagles converted only 12 of 22 free throws, dropping to 1-5 on the season.  For Henderson, White had seven rebounds, Dave Goodman six and Spencer Rymiszewski got the start and contributed four assists.

In the junior varsity game, Scott Seifert scored 20 points as Shanahan topped Henderson, 46-38.  Luke Weaver led the Warriors with 17 points and Colin Costello added 10.