Warfel carries Downingtown East past Downingtown West

Give Paige Warfel some room to shoot and she'll knock down the three-pointer.

Better watch the lane, too. The Downingtown East guard will flash through, her hands up and ready to receive the pass.

On defense, the 6-foot junior clutches loose balls and jumps high enough that each rebound is well within her grasp. Oh, yeah, and as the point guard she also dribbles the ball up the court to start each Cougars possession.

The versatile Warfel was everywhere on Tuesday night for East against rival Downingtown West. She scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to put the Cougars over, 39-36.

"You need to prove to yourself first of all that you are a good team," coach Bob Schnure said. "And you do that by winning close games. So this was a real nice step forward for us."

Heading into Tuesday night, Warfel was averaging just more than 12 points a game. She surpassed that mark in the second quarter.

"She got some good opportunities, got some baskets to fall," Schnure said. "She made some things happen, but she got some nice passes inside, too.

"When she was open inside we got the ball to her and she made some nice moves to take advantage of it."

After a tight first quarter, things broke open for the Cougars in the second. Warfel netted eight points in the quarter.

"I want my team to be able to rely on me when I have the ball," Warfel said.

After the Cougars (2-2 overall, 1-1 Ches-Mont National) went up by as many as 10 points in the third, the Whippets (3-2, 1-1) surged back, getting within a basket with 46 seconds left.

Trying to ice the game in the waning minutes, Downingtown East made sure the ball was most often in Warfel's hands. She didn't let herself get rattled by Downingtown West's tenacious defenders.

"It's not as nerve-racking as you would think," Warfel said. "When I have the ball I have to do my best to take care of it."

Downingtown East    9    14    14    2 --   39

Downingtown West 9   8    13    6 - 36

DE: Paige Warfel 24, Lindsay Kent 8, Kaelyn Johns 5, Aryah Aungst 2

DW: Maddie Dew 14, Holly Schanck 8, Megan Camden 6, Heather Camden 4, Hanna Supplee 4