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By: Kate Harman
Every time the West Chester Henderson lead started to shrink.
Every time it looked like Villa Maria gained momentum.
Every time the outcome went from getting clearer to in question.
There Grace Ferguson was.
Whenever the Warriors needed a rebound, a quick bucket, or a stop on defense at Temple’s Liacouras Center, Ferguson provided the spark.
The junior forward consistently came up with the clutch play on Saturday afternoon, as West Chester Henderson captured the program’s first ever District 1 championship, defeating the Hurricanes, 41-32, in the Class 5A match-up.
“I almost starting crying when we were running together at the end,” Ferguson, who finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks, said. “It’s so exciting – we’ve never won this before. It’s the first year we will ever have a banner [hanging in the gymnasium] and I’m just so excited to put up the one that says Districts 2018, champs. This means the world, I’m so happy we got this together as a team.”
Why’s the banner especially significant? For senior Maddie DePrisco, it goes back to last season.
“There was no way we coming into this year and not accomplishing anything after last year,” the guard said. “We got into quarterfinals and then we lost in Districts. We got into states and we lost – and we almost got into Ches-Monts but we lost. Last year it was a lot of falling short, now it is actually accomplishing things.”
The contest was tight throughout, as the majority of the game was played within an eight-point margin. The length and speed of Villa (20-8) provided early problems for the Warriors (28-0) but Henderson always found a way to respond, even when outside shots weren’t falling.
“It was all about time of possession. We really tried to get the open pass – the open layup – to make sure we got the closest or highest percentage shot,” Ferguson said. “I think we did a great job of doing that in the fourth quarter and waiting for the shot that we wanted.”
While the Hurricanes missed plum opportunities down the stretch, Henderson converted, especially at the free throw line, as the Warriors scored 15 second half points from the stripe.
And then there was Ferguson.
Three of her blocks came in the final three minutes of play with the game on the line.
“That absolutely gets us going, it gets us fired up,” Erin Thompson said. “Those are the things that we find more success out of when things aren’t going our way. We didn’t make our outside shots, so we needed to find things that were helping us – to find a way to win.”
Find a way to win?
Henderson sure did.
@Ka_Harman
KateRHarman@gmail.comVilla Maria 10 4 7 11 – 32
West Chester Henderson 8 14 2 17 – 41
VM: Abby Walheim 12, Paige Lauder 11, Morgan Warley 5, Maddy Ryan 4
WCH: Grace Ferguson 11, Abbey Shea 10, Maddie DePrisco 9, Erin Thompson 8, Erin Torrance 3