March 6, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

CHC freshmen shine in successful finale
by TOM UTESCHER

Chestnut Hill Colege’s Kevin Whaley (#14) scored 32 points. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

Back on February 7, Chestnut Hill College freshman guard Brandon Williams missed four of his last five free throws in a 72-70 loss to visiting Wilmington College. Down at Wilmington last Wednesday night, Williams redeemed himself, scoring 16 of his 25 points in the second half and, just as importantly, knocking down three of his final four foul shots to help the Griffins close out their season with an 80-75 victory.

His effort was complemented by a spectacular shooting night by his classmate and backcourt companion, Kevin Whaley, who homed in from the perimeter to make seven of his 11 three-point attempts and put up a game-high total of 32 points. A third CHC rookie, forward Trenton Davidheiser, encountered rough going down low against 6’11” Wilmington center Justin Tomlinson (two points, 12 rebounds, four blocks), but even so, his six points in the contest gave Chestnut Hill’s talented freshman class a total of 63 points in the contest.

That, of course, portends well for the future, and it was an encouraging note on which to close out a season that produced an overall record of 6-21 and a 4-12 mark in the Central Atlantic Athletic Conference. Guards Dan Burke and L.B. Rebstock were the only seniors on the roster for a CHC squad that, as expected, took some lumps during its first season at the Division II level.

Chestnut Hill Academy grad Julian McFadden, a sophomore guard who started in 18 games this season, was out with the flu on Wednesday, so the ballhandling chores fell primarily to Williams and also to reserve guard Bryant Lennon. With seven assists, Lennon shared game-high honors in that category with Wilmington’s Mike Shipman.

For much of the night, Wilmington’s size helped it control the boards, where the Wildcats wound up with a 47-30 advantage in the game. On the other hand, the open floor belonged to Chestnut Hill; the deft Griffins thrived on 21 Wilmington turnovers while committing just eight themselves. Williams and Davidheiser each had three steals in the game, and on a few occasions late in the contest, the rattled Wildcats simply threw the ball away out of bounds.

The game began as it would end, with a free throw by CHC’s Williams. Whaley’s first “three” of the night and a trey by Larz Jeter (15 points, six rebounds, two steals) opened up a 7-0 lead for the visitors with two minutes elapsed, but Wilmington quickly recovered to inch ahead 8-7, and after that the teams were neck-and-neck much of the way until the intermission.

Chestnut Hill gained a five-point advantage several times in the middle of the period, then with six-and-a-half minutes left the Wildcats were up by a point, at 24-23. The hosts again held a one-point lead well into the final minute. Forward Antonio Sherrod deposited a dozen points for the ‘Cats in the last eight-and-a-half minutes of the period, and his last basket, a lay-up which came off a steal with ten seconds to go, moved the hosts ahead 38-35.

Having secured the Griffins’ first victory of the season with a three-point buzzer beater, Whaley feels comfortable taking clutch shots, and here he beat the horn with a three-ball from the left corner, leveling the count at 38-all for halftime.

Over the initial 11 minutes of the second round, Wilmington twice went ahead by four points, the last time leading 59-55 with 9:08 to play. About four minutes into the second half, Whaley went down hard on his right forearm in a baseline collision with the Wildcats’ Tim Sowden (18 points, six rebounds). After icing his arm on the bench for two minutes, the rookie marksman was back in the game for the visitors, and after missing one shot, he quickly regained his former form, adding another dozen points to his total.

With eight-and-a-half minutes on the clock, Williams transformed a steal into a lay-up, then Whaley drained a three-pointer and a foul shot that came along with it. The Griffins were now ahead for good, and a “three” by Williams made it 64-59 with 7:22 to play.

A few minutes later Chestnut Hill was up 69-63 when Wilmington’s Sherrod, (who’d been shut down after his early outburst) scored his lone point of the second half to trim the gap to five. Now Williams drove to the hoop twice, continuing for a lay-up in the first instance, then pulling up for a little jumper the second time, boosting the visitors to a 73-64 advantage with 2:13 showing.

Most of CHC’s lead disappeared in less than a minute, though. Wilmington high-scorer Maurice Furrowh (20 points) stuck his fourth three-pointer of the night from the left corner, and then Taurean Temple (14 points, seven rebounds, six assists) hit from the right baseline. With 1:17 left to play, the Griffins committed their seventh team foul, and the Wildcats’ Sowden extracted both points from the one-and-one to make it a two-point affair, 73-71.

Fouled on a lay-up attempt with 49.7 seconds on the ticker, the Griffins’ Davidheiser made both free throws as CHC joined its host in the one-and-one bonus. The Wildcats got the ball over halfcourt and called time-out, but their possession would end with CHC’s Williams tipping the ball away into the hands of Rebstock. The net result was a one-and-one for Chestnut Hill’s Jeter, who bagged both shots for a 77-71 lead.

The gap narrowed to four points with 17 seconds remaining, when Wilmington got a lay-up from Sowden. Williams secured the front end of a one-and-one, but another Sowden lay-up got the ‘Cats back within three (78-75) and they called their final time-out with 11.9 seconds left. A tenth team foul by Wilmington sent Williams to the line for two tosses, and he converted them both with 10.4 to go, putting the final score of 80-75 up in lights.

As the last seconds disappeared off the board, Temple missed a two-point field goal attempt, and Shipman had no better luck from the three-point arc. The Griffins had punctuated the end of their season with an exclamation point.