Henderson Conquers Downingtown East

WEST CHESTER – Usually, it’s the McCormick twins who are co-catalysts when the Henderson High School Basketball Team takes control of a game enroute to another win. Chas and Jason are double trouble, opponents know it and there is still not much they can do.

Tuesday night, though, the patented Henderson surge was keyed by senior captain T.J. White, who had seven points and one big assist in the decisive run as the Warriors chalked up their fourth straight win, 59-47, in the long-awaited home opener at Henderson.

After eight games on the road, the Warriors finally had the comfort of their homecourt, moving to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in the Ches-Mont National Division with a couple of more road games on tap this week.

Thursday, Henderson visits Avon Grove (7:30 p.m.) in another Ches-Mont National Division game and then squares off with the one-loss Great Valley Patriots Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“T.J. is the captain of this ship - a true Warrior,” Henderson coach Chris Bruno nodded with amazement after the senior football star’s 13-point effort.  “He gives 100 per cent effort 100 per cent of the time.”

That effort was most prominent on the offensive boards, where the 6-2, 220-pounder’s physical inside play produced a second-chance basket to give Henderson a five-point lead early in the third and another put-back that delivered a three-point lead to blunt another Downingtown East comeback.  White then found Declan Kane underneath for what became a three-point play and then gave the Warriors their first double-digit lead, 44-34, with a power move as the quarter drew to a close.

“We came in hoping to contain the McCormick brothers because their energy has a lot to do with Henderson’s success,” offered D East coach Dan Massimini.  “ But T.J. White, the football star, is also a lot to deal with.”

Because of the inside scoring skills of White and Kane and the rim-attacking style of the McCormicks, Henderson routinely faces tight zone defenses designed to slow the pace and take away the high-percentage inside shots.  So, the Warriors play a frenetic, pressing defense to force the action and they bang inside for opportunities that result in easy baskets or free throws.  On this night, Henderson ended up 13-19 from the charity stripe, including 5-5 during the late-game stretch in which the lead went from six to 17 with 3:30 remaining.

“We’re learning how to execute against these zones and that’s going to help us as the season continues,” offered Bruno.  “And we’re going to be over-aggressive rather than under-aggressive along the way, that’s for sure.”

Downingtown East, now 3-6 overall, was equal to the challenge early, taking a 12-7 lead behind Colt Saska, who scored his team’s first seven points and ended up with 12.  Chas and Jason combined to score the next 15 points for Henderson, as the Warriors moved out to a seven-point lead.  The Cougars’ Corey Miller then tallied eight of his team’s next 10 points and Downingtown East moved into a 34-33 lead on an Elijah Griffin basket off an inbounds play with 3:31 left in the third.

That’s when White got going and the eventual 13-0 run put the Warriors in command, much to the delight of the raucous (and entertaining) student cheering section, which gets to do its thing as Henderson’s regular season culminates in January and February with seven out of 11 home games.  The first of those is rival Rustin on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 7:30 p.m.

Chas McCormick closed the night with 17 points and Jason added 12.  D East got nine from Miller and 10 from Gary Jay as they move on to a road game at Bishop Shanahan Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Downingtown East won the junior varsity prelim behind Basil Szustak’s 14 points.  Luke Weaver had 19 and Mark DiMatteo 13 for Henderson.