West Chester Rustin Falls To Plymouth-Whitemarsh In District Playoffs

West Chester Rustin went 20-3 during the regular season, including winning the Ches-Mont League championship. For their impressive season, the Golden Knights earned a No. 6 seed in the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA playoffs.

Some reward.

Rustin had probably the toughest road to the District 1 finals than any of the 32 teams invited. It included meeting Penncrest, a difficult team to play and last year’s Central League champions, then Penn Wood, state finalists in 2010 and 2009 state champions—and then if the Golden Knights past those two tests a confrontation with the defending state champion Plymouth-Whitemarsh Colonials.

That’s the last two state champions Rustin had to go through to reach the district semifinals.

Rustin advanced to the district quarterfinal round, pulling off what some might consider a mild upset in beating Penn Wood on Tuesday. And save for roughly three minutes on Friday night, Rustin may have very well toppled the mighty Colonials—if not for a three-minute, second-quarter drought Rustin couldn’t recover from, eventually leading to a 63-47 Plymouth-Whitemarsh victory at Plymouth-Whitemarsh.

The loss dropped l to 22-4 overall and into the consolation bracket of the district playoffs, while Plymouth-Whitemarsh advanced to the semifinal round.

By winning the first two rounds, the Golden Knights have qualified for the PIAA Class AAAA state playoffs. Now the best they could do is play for the fifth-place seed from District 1, the most powerful area in the state for basketball, producing five of the last six state champions—and nine of the last 12 state finalists.

The state title is something the Colonials aren’t exactly ready to relinquish that easily and it showed Friday night. Led by a game-high 26 points from Sam Pygatt and 14 points and 18 rebounds from Pittsburgh-bound Jaylen Bond, the Colonials broke what had been a close game open with a 13-0 spurt in the second quarter.

Pygatt and Bond scored six points each during the run as Plymouth-Whitemarsh separated themselves from a 13-13 tie to take a 26-13 lead by the middle of the second quarter. From there, Rustin was forced to play catchup, every once in a creeping to within six or seven points, needing a defensive stop and a clutch three-pointer to climb back within striking range.

But those opportunities never came.

Zack Butcher single-handedly kept the Golden Knights close, finishing with a team-high 17—responsible for scoring 17 of Rustin’s first 24 points. Cory Blake, Rustin’s 6-foot-4 senior, began picking it up in the second half, finishing with 13 and Anthony Nash played strong the whole game, ending with 12 points.

“We got hurt by a lot of second-chance points,” Nash said. “Plymouth-Whitemarsh got us out of the tempo we like playing, and that forced us into a pace we didn’t want. I think we learned we have to play our offense, and more importantly, forget about this game and move forward.”

A Nash basket midway through the third quarter brought the Golden Knights to within 35-28. A defensive stop and a made trey would have cut that to a mere four points. But Pygatt would answer. Or Bond would put back a miss—and the Colonials would be up again by 10 or 11.

So it went.

“We usually do start slow,” Bond admitted. “I think once we put on the defensive pressure and began making smart decisions, that was the difference. I think there is some pressure that comes with being the defending state champions. It means we have to continue playing smart.”

The loss snapped a 19-game Rustin winning streak that goes way back to late December. Three of the Golden Knights’ four losses have now come against Neumann-Goretti, the defending Class AAA state champions, and Archbishop Carroll, the 2009 Class AAA state champions. Both are in this year's Philadelphia Catholic League finals and now Plymouth-Whitemarsh.

“You have to give [Plymouth-Whitemarsh] credit,” Rustin coach Keith Cochran said. “We didn’t execute the way we should have, and they’re a tough team to get down against. We rushed things a little and we paid for it. But we’ll be back.”