CB West fell to Cumberland Valley in Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA title game at Hershey’s Giant Center. To view photos of the action, please visit the photo gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/g/032015_cb_west_vs_cumberland_valley_dl
By Mary Jane Souder
HERSHEY – Nicole Munger had just fielded every question thrown her way by a crowd of reporters outside of her team’s locker room. As she headed down the ramp leading into the Giant Center to join her teammates, the senior standout let down her guard for the briefest of moments.
“You know the hardest thing…was just taking off the jersey,” said Munger, the intense emotion associated with that final gesture impossible to miss. “It took me a little bit to do it. It was hard.”
For Munger and her Central Bucks West teammates, there was nothing easy about Friday night’s ending in the PIAA Class AAAA title game. Things hadn’t gone the Bucks’ way in a 40-35 loss to Cumberland Valley, and the happy ending West – winners of 26 in a row - appeared destined to have didn’t happen.
“Shots weren’t really falling for us, but things happen like that, and it’s okay – it really is,” Munger said. “We really have nothing to be ashamed of.
“It’s been a fun four years, although it’s hard to say it now. I guess when we look back on it – I think we’re really going to believe that because it’s a really special group. I know I have and I know as seniors we really had a great four years here.”
The Bucks completed a season that will be difficult to match. They won 32 games and lost just two, completing their SOL Continental Conference season with a perfect 14-0 record and going on to capture the program’s first District One AAAA title.
“It was amazing,” senior Mackenzie Carroll said. “Just getting to this point – obviously, we would have liked to win, but it was amazing that we got to this point, and I’m so proud of the whole team. I’m so happy we could do it together and get this far and play the maximum number of games because I just wanted to be with the team as long as I could.”
No one will argue that teams – on their first trip to the Giant Center – struggle with depth perception in the large arena, and in a game that saw both teams struggle offensively, the Bucks had the worst of it, connecting on just 13-of-53 shots (24.5 percent) and making just 3-of-22 from beyond the arc (13.6 percent).
“We just didn’t make shots,” said West coach Terry Rakowsky, refusing to use the backdrop as an excuse. “It probably wasn’t a great game to watch with the missed shots, but hopefully the people got their money’s worth with the energy that was out there.”
The Bucks took a short-lived 2-0 lead after Munger came up with a steal on the defensive end, blew by three defenders in her path and converted a layup. Moments later, Kelly Jekot completed a three-point play after coming up with an offensive rebound, and the Eagles led 3-2.
A three-pointer by Mackenzie Carroll knotted the score 5-5 at the 5:28 mark, but that was followed by a West scoring drought of 7:22 that was broken when Peyton Trainer buried a short jumper two minutes into the second period to make it a 12-7 game.
The Bucks trailed by just one (16-15) after consecutive baskets by Makenzie Mason and Traina – a trey. Both came with Maggie Rakowsky assists. Although the Bucks connected on only 7-of-25 shots in the opening half, they were still very much in the game, trailing 19-17 at the intermission.
Early in the second half, Corrinne Godshall, an undeniable force in the paint, was whistled for her fourth foul on the offensive end. Seconds later, Morgan Baughman was fouled shooting a three-pointer. She buried all three shots to put her team on top 24-18. The Eagles stretched that lead to 30-18 before the Bucks staged a late rally, trimming that lead to 32-24 after three quarters when Rakowsky buried a three-pointer late in the frame.
“Usually, the second half is our thing, but we just came out flat,” Carroll said. “We got in a little foul trouble, and it slowed the game down.
“All those (media) timeouts kind of got to us because we like to keep the pace up, and it was stop after stop. They played a good game.”
The Eagles led 38-24 just over two minutes into the fourth quarter after a Jennifer Falconer three-pointer, but the Bucks didn’t go away. A pair of Godshall foul shots made it a 40-31 game with 2:23 remaining, and with the Eagles misfiring from the charity stripe (they were 1-for-12 in the final quarter), the Bucks crept back into the game. Munger turned a steal into a bucket to trim the Eagles’ lead to seven, and her basket with 38 seconds remaining made it a 40-35 game. They had a chance to get closer but couldn’t connect.
“I thought we played with a lot of energy, a lot of heart, but we just didn’t make shots tonight,” coach Rakowsky said. “It was one of those nights where our shots were not falling.
“We got in a little foul trouble with Corrine. Obviously, her not being in the game changes a lot of what we do. We don’t have that inside presence without her, but we still had those shots at the end. A couple rolled down, a couple rolled around, but that’s basketball.”
Munger dominated the backboards, pulling down a game-high 12 to almost equal the Eagles’ total of 15. She led the Bucks with nine points.
“They really went after her,” coach Rakowsky said. “They were banging her on drives.
“I was telling her – I thought maybe pull up a little bit more and hit that 15-footer because she’s deadly from that range. The fourth quarter she started to instead of taking it all the way to the rim where we just weren’t getting those calls. They played good defense.”
Rakowsky bids farewell to a senior class that includes four-year varsity players Munger, Godshall, Carroll and Traina.
“It’s been an awesome run,” the Bucks’ coach said. “League, conference and district champs, all the wins they’ve had over the years, the character of the kids. It’s just an incredible group, and they’re taking it hard, but you would expect it.
“They play hard, and we lost to a great team. They’re two-time state champs. Things just didn’t go our way tonight.”
This year’s West squad became a point of pride to its school and its community, and as the players received their silver medals, the West student section – its support unwavering – began chanting, ‘We are…CB West, we are…CB West.’
When it came time to accept the runner-up trophy, Carroll, Godshall, Munger and Traina linked arms and walked as one to center court to accept it.
“The hardest part is knowing we’re not going to play again together,” Munger said. “I was crying yesterday at practice because it was the last practice.
“Win or lose, I would be crying right now.”
Cumberland Valley 12-7-13-8 40
Central Bucks West 5-12-7-11 35
Cumberland Valley (40) – Meghan Rhoades 3 0-0 6; Jennifer Falconer 2 1-4 6; Katie Jekot 1 1-8 3; Taylor Sneidman 2 0-2 5; Kelly Jekot 5 3-3 13; Ashley Johnson 0 0-0 0; Morgan Baughman 1 4-5 7; Totals 14 9-22 40.
Central Bucks West (35) – Corrinne Godshall 2 4-6 8; Mackenzie Carroll 2 1-2 6; Peyton Traina 2 0-1 5; Nicole Munger 4 1-2 9; Maggie Rakowsky 1 0-0 3; Makenzie Mason 2 0-0 4; Abby Spratt 0 0-0 0; Meghan Tillger 0 0-0 0; Totals 13 6-11 35.
3-point field goals: CBW-Mackenzie Carroll, Peyton Traina, Maggie Rakowsky; CV-Jennifer Falconer, Morgan Baughman, Taylor Sneidman.
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