By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

Throughout the rich history of basketball, the greatest teams ever assembled have been orchestrated by the work of duos, alpha one and alpha two partnerships that when combined, have lifted their teams to great heights. 

Russell had Cousy. Reed had Frazier. Shaq had Kobe. Jordan had Pippen.

During Kennett High School’s Jan. 11 contest against visiting Downingtown East, two such teammates emerged, just as they have done all season: center Conner Schumacher and guard Aiden Talbert, and while it was Schumaker who dominated the offensive scoring, it was Talbert’s free throw with three seconds left that lifted the Blue Demons to a come-from-behind 54-53 victory and evened their record at 7-7.

With pivotal players Derek Kronenberg, Sam McGrory and Jaden Panda out with injuries, Kennett came into the game at a disadvantage but managed to stay with the Cougars for most of the first quarter. However, Head Coach Brian Grashof’s team held sway in a quarter that was highlighted by two three-pointers by Connor Littlepage, but finished with a last-second jumper by Talbert in the key that brought the Blue Demons to within two points, 12-10.

Downingtown East’s full-court press stymied Kennett for much of the second quarter, leading to poor passes, turnovers and a momentum shift that saw the Cougars jump out to a 21-14 lead after a three-pointer by Sergio Hunt with 4:28 remaining in the first half. After a near dunk by Abraham Sesay extended the D-East lead, Schumacher drilled a bank shot to cut the Cougars’ lead to 23-16 with 3:40 left in the half, but shots by Littlepage and a three-point shot by Howard Neff helped give the Cougars a 31-26 lead at halftime.

While the third quarter saw Downingtown East continue to hold on to a small lead, the fourth quarter saw Kennett use the free throw line to their advantage, led by Schumacher’s five points from the line. The center was hounded by Sesay near the key throughout most of the fourth quarter, which led to two early fouls by Sesay, the second of which led Schumacher to the line where he converted two free throws with 6:40 left to bring the Blue Demons within one point, 39-38. After a stolen pass by Joey Pell led to a basket by Chase Krupansky that gave D-East a 42-38 lead, Schumaker converted both ends of a three-point play with 5:14 remaining to bring the Blue Demons to within two points, 43-41.

With 3:56 left, another foul against Schumacher saw him make another free throw that tied the score at 45-45. Over the game’s last minutes, both clubs traded leads: Neff’s drive tied the game with 1:19 left; Kennett’s Will Hogan’s shot gave his club a short-lived 53-51 lead with 32 seconds left; Neff’s two free throws with 21 second remaining tied the score at 53-53; and following an in-bounds pass, Talbert was fouled with three seconds remaining and calmly sank the game-winning free throw. 

“My mindset going into every game is to get to the basket and help my team,” Schumacher said of his team’s comeback win. “I am taking on a leadership role this year, to bring the guys together and going into that quarter being down a few points, I knew it was up to Aiden and me to keep the team together. We have to come together with the young guys who are stepping up from JV and build a team chemistry. 

“Going on that fourth quarter, I just knew that if we trusted in our coach and the plays that we had, I knew that it would work out well for us.”

Blue Demon Head Coach Vince Mostardi praised his team for its resilience to overcome a late deficit.

“That has been the model of our team this year and that’s what we’re trying to bring to the table,” Mostardi said. “We want to be a tough-minded team. Our practices are tough and physical, so that we make the games easier. I told them at half time we have to be the last team to punch today and that’s what we did today.

“We’re down three players in the rotation now, so it’s the ‘next man up’ mentality and that’s what we did today.”

With the win, Kennett – who was led by Schumacher’s 25 points and 14 points by Talbert – will play host to Great Valley on Jan. 16 and Chichester on Jan. 19. Downingtown East – who was led by Neff’s 18 points – fell to 7-8 overall and will visit Avon Grove on Jan. 16.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].