Rustin makes Ches-Mont final at Henderson's expense

Size matters.  So does speed.  And senior leadership is a coach’s best friend.

Rustin used all three to take care of business in the Ches-Mont Final Four confrontation with Henderson Saturday night and came away with a never-really-in-doubt, 65-52 victory over the Warriors at Oxford High School.

Rustin now meets Coatesville, a 63-59 winner over Octorara in the other semifinal, Tuesday night, at Coatesville, in the Ches-Mont Championship Game.

The size comes in the persons of Corey Blake and Anthony Nash.  The speed is the entire Rustin rotation, which includes freshman Ethan Ridgeway, who was a factor for the Golden Knights again Saturday night.

The senior leadership came from Zach Butcher, who scored 18 points, including 10 in the second quarter, when Rustin made it clear that this would a night when Golden Knights’ fans  travelling almost an hour for the intra-city rematch would go home happy.

“I had to step up and be a leader for the team,” said Butcher after the game.  “Coach told us,’Just play with energy’ and that’s what we did.”

Coach Keith Cochran had identified Butcher as a key in pre-game interaction with the media and, sure enough, the senior  delivered 12 first half points, including two threes, to trash the Henderson zone designed to control the two-man frontcourt of Blake and Nash, who have terrorized Ches-Mont opponents all season long.

Butcher also brought it in the second half, delivering a key block and then two free throws in the fourth quarter, when Henderson mounted a near-legitimate charge that kept things interesting for the sizeable playoff basketball crowd.

“I knew that they (Henderson) would be doubling and putting pressure on our big guys in the middle (both 6-5),” said Rustin coach Keith Cochran.  “Zach’s our best shooter and when he can score it opens things up for our inside game.”

Nash and Blake made things happen on the inside both in the halfcourt and in transition, when each registered a resounding dunk to the delight of the Rustin faithful.  Nash matched butcher with 18 points and added a host of defensive rebounds, some of which were needed to halt various Henderson runs during the course of the final two quarters.

It wasn’t until the second half that Henderson found itself, courtesy of Rustin’s man-to-man defense. 

“They’ve got a great man-to-man set that should take them a long way in the district tournament,” praised Henderson coach Leon Bell.  “We were out of synch.  But I was proud of the way we played hard to the end.”

That Rustin man-to-man forced Henderson into a first quarter that consisted of only three free throws.  In the second quarter, Austin Constable, Chas McCormick and Tim Ramirez (three) scored, but the halftime tally was 29-10. 

The margin made its way to 43-20 in the third quarter before Henderson mounted a serious charge, highlighted by Constable’s eight points in seven seconds early in the fourth quarter as the Warriors pulled to within 12.

But there was only 1:59 remianing and Butcher’s block and key free throws followed, securing Rustin’s slot in the Ches-Mont Championship Tuesday night at Coatesville.

Blake had eight points and the Rustin team converted 14 of 19 free throws.  Henderson cashed only 12 of 21 from the charity stripe but ended up with 20 from Constable, 11 from McCormick and 10 from point guard Des Alston.

For Henderson, attention turns now to the District I tournament, which begins this coming week.  “We have talent, but if our defense isn’t up to par it is a problem because we are outsized most of the time,” offered Bell. “We’ll be ready.” 

District I tournament matchups for Henderson and Rustin will be determined at a PIAA meeting on Sunday.