DISTRICT 3 LEAGUE TOURNAMENT RECAPS
Written by: Jerry Shenk on February 18, 2018
BERKS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT:
Quarterfinals – Games Played Last Week
Reading 51 Brandywine Heights 38
Berks Catholic 59 Governor Mifflin 49
Exeter 51 Wilson 45
Conrad Weiser 62 Kutztown 50
Semifinals –
Reading 54 Exeter 26 – At Santander Arena, Ricki Lopez had 12 points and eight rebounds as the top-seeded Red Knights routed the fifth-seeded Eagles (15-9) in a Berks Conference semifinal Monday night. Wesley Butler had 10 points for Reading High, which will face second-seeded Berks Catholic for the title Wednesday night at 8. Alex Javier had eight points for Exeter, which committed 37 turnovers. FROM: Berks Game Day
Berks Catholic 53 Conrad Weiser 33 – At Santander Arena, Luis Garcia had 16 points and Keba Mitchell had 12 points and eight rebounds as second-seeded Berks Catholic breezed past six-seeded Conrad Weiser. The Saints started fast, scoring the first seven points of the game and led 21-5 two minutes into the second quarter. They were up by 22 at halftime and ahead by 31 three minutes into the third quarter in winning their 17th straight game. Casey Jack had eight points, all in the first half, six rebounds and four assists for the Saints. The Scouts shot just 3-of-18 from the field in the first half against the league’s top-rated defensive team. FROM: Berks Game Day.
Championship –
Berks Catholic 51 Reading 46 – Tre Dabney scored a game-high 18 points and fronted a tremendous defensive effort by Berks Catholic as it knocked off three-time defending champ Reading High 51-46 in the Berks Conference championship game at Santander Arena. The victory gave Berks Catholic coach Snip Esterly his 700th victory and third over the Red Knights in the county title game.
The Berks II champion Saints (23-2) jumped ahead 13-2 and led the entire way, though the Berks I champion Red Knights (21-4) closed the gap to two points in the final minutes. Xavier Starks led the Red Knights with 14 points but the Saints, employing both man and zone defenses, were able to hold Reading scoring leader Wesley Butler to eight points. The Saints got a scare when rim protector Keba Mitchell fouled out with 2:24 left and his team leading just 43-41 but Kyran Mitchell and Luke Painton each forced turnovers before Painton scored on a critical inbounds pass from Kyran Mitchell for a 47-41 lead with 1:07 left. The Saints put it away with free throws from Luis Garcia and Dabney in the final seconds. The championship is the third for Berks Catholic and first since back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2012. Garcia scored 10 points and Casey Jack and Keba Mitchell nine each for BC. FROM Berks Game Day.
LANCASTER/LEBANON TOURNAMENT:
Quarterfinals –
Lancaster Catholic 55 Garden Spot 45 – The Crusaders had a defensive victory vs. Spot as they held the Spartans to 2 4th quarter points. Top scorers for LC were Dwayne Caine 13 (and a great dunk), RJ VanTash 12. The Crusaders feature the most balanced scoring team in the LL. Lancaster Catholic won Section 3, and they are currently a top seed in 4A for the districts. FROM: Dell Jackson, editor LLHoops.com
Ephrata 84 Cedar Crest 69 – The Mounts are the second place team out of Section 2. They have won their last 7 games. Ephrata hit on 14 (yep 14) threes vs. Crest. Top scorers in that game: Zac McGillan 30, Brad DaBella 22, Dilyn Becker 13, Xavian Rodriguez 12. The Mounts defeated LS a few weeks ago. FROM: Dell Jackson, editor LLHoops.com
Hempfield 58 Northern Lebanon 41 – The Knights won Section 1 with a 13-1 record (only loss to Crest by a score of 41-39) The Knights were led by Ryan Moffatt 16, Anthony Alston 15, Eli Washington 11, David Martin- Robinson 10 Hempfield features a veteran bunch, as most played key roles on the PIAA/District 3 run last season. FROM: Dell Jackson, editor LLHoops.com
Lampeter-Strasburg 70 Lancaster Mennonite 60 – Ryan Smith 39, Isaac Beers 15 led the Pioneers. The Pioneers are top seeded in 5A for the upcoming District 3 tournament. LS rolled thru Section 2 play, losing only close games to Elizabethtown and Ephrata. LS has the LL’s biggest and most dominant big man, Ryan Smith, although he has a lot of scoring help from LS’ perimeter game. FROM: Dell Jackson, editor LLHoops.com
Semifinals –
Lampeter-Strasburg 47 Hempfield 45 – Pioneers defeated Hempfield 47-45 in the semifinals. LS got off to a 19-2 start. Hempfield clawed all the way back, using a trapping defense in the 4th quarter got the lead down to 42-41 and 46-45, but LS hung on with some defensive stops and a foul shot down the stretch. Isaac Beers (22pts) provided some scoring punch, along with Ryan Smith (16 pts), to lead the Pioneers into their first ever LL title game. Hempfield was led by Ryan Moffatt with 17 points. FROM: Dell Jackson LLHooos.com
Lancaster Catholic 44 Ephrata 42 – Lancaster Catholic took on the hot shooting Ephrata Mounts at Penn Manor and won to reach the final. The game was close throughout. Each team putting together mini runs but neither team could pull away from the other. Ephrata was up early 14-7, but LC continued to play tough defense to inch their way back in the game. Catholic would take a 4-point lead early in the fourth only to see Ephrata come back on a 3 ball by Brad DaBella. RJ Van Tash would hit a jumper at the 3:29 mark to even the game. Catholic would take the lead on a a steal and a super sweet drive and layup by David Kamwanga. Ephrata ties on the next possession a bucket by Dilyn Becker. The Crusaders milked the clock for the last minute plus. After a timeout, LC worked the ball inside to Kamwanga in the post. He missed but Ephrata was called for a foul (lots of controversy on this one)—Kamwanga sank both to propel the Crusaders to the finals. David Kamwanga 10 and Miles McCaskey and Johnny Besecker both had 9 points to lead LC. Brad DaBella, Zachary McGillan, Xavian Rodriguez all scored 9 points for Ephrata. FROM: Dell Jackson LLHoops.com
Championship – Lampeter-Strasburg 50 Lancaster Catholic 40 – This one was special to me. Way back in the early 1950’s there was no Lampeter-Strasburg. There was a West Lampeter HS, a Strasburg HS, that burned down in 1942 and was never rebuilt. I lived in Strasburg Township and all we had were 10 one room school houses that only went to eighth grade if you wanted to go farther their were three high schools that bordered Strasburg, including West Lampeter. In 1953 the three school district’s merged to become Lampeter-Strasburg. When I was in fifth grade at Walnut Run I started to read the AP story every Monday in the paper that would give a rundown of the whole state and started to follow high school basketball thoughout the state three years before I ever knew I would be going to Lampeter-Strasburg. In September of 1956 the doors of L-S were to open but it was not ready so they put us all in West Lampeter High until L-S was ready in October. The new high school was to be 7th to 12th grade but West Lampeter did not have enough room so for that month and a half, some of us went to school from 8 to noon and the other half went from noon to 4 pm. That was nice.
L-S had their share of good basketball teams one of the best was 1959 my junior year when we lost to mighty Columbia 46-45 at Penn Manor the first to have what people now call the old glass backboards. That was the old Lancaster County League, so the Pioneers never won a county title let alone a LL title until this night when they hung one on Lancaster Catholic for their first ever championship. Even West Lampeter never won a County title. They won several Section titles but never a County title. Enough to the history on to the game.
The first quarter was tight with L-S up 11-10 after one. They actually trailed 5-0 but used a 21-5 run to take a 21-10 lead late in the second and led at the half 28-17. LC scored the last 7 points of the third quarter to pull within 38-31 and got as close as 46-40 with 1:04 left but did not score again. Beers led L-S with 22 points and Smith had 12pts, 8rebs and 5blks. RJ VanTash 16, and David Kamwanga 13 led Lancaster Catholic
MID-PENN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT:
Semifinals –
State College 95 Greencastle-Antrim 62 – The State College boys’ basketball team rolled to a 95-62 win over Greencastle-Antrim in the Mid Penn semifinals at Cumberland Valley High School. Drew Friberg scored 27 points to lead the Little Lions. Max Benner finished with 17 points for State College, Tommy Friberg added 15 and Brandon Clark had 11. State College led Greencastle-Antrim 39-29 at halftime and 70-50 going into the fourth quarter. FROM: Centre Daily Times
Milton Hershey 77 Hershey 68 – In a game of fierce runs between fierce rivals, Milton Hershey earned another gold star Tuesday for pressing its agenda. Point guard Donyae Baylor-Carroll scored 23 points and forward Pedro Rodriguez netted 20 as Milton Hershey outlasted crosstown Hershey in a Mid-Penn Conference tournament semifinal. This one did not come as easily as last week’s 80-64 rip over the Trojans. But another signature sprint, a hallmark of Mark Zerbe’s Spartans, finally gained separation from Hershey in the final eight minutes. The Capital Division champs owned the fourth, 27-17, with Rodriguez and Treyvon Ferguson connecting for eight points apiece in the final eight minutes. Joshua Parra added 11 points, and Ferguson 9, for the Spartans. Sean Coller (16 points), Nick Hines (15) and Chase Wallace (13) were busy keeping Keystone rep Hershey on track in the opening half. Coller had 12 of his total in that stretch and couple of Griffin Jackson 3-pointers helped set up a dramatic finish. The Trojans (19-3) even took a 51-50 advantage into the fourth. As the Spartans’ pressure increased, however, Zerbe’s crew quickened its pace. Jaiden Young added 11 points for Milton Hershey. The final five minutes belonged to the Spartans, who collected every loose ball and forced the Trojans into a handful of empty possessions. It helped that the Spartans converted 9 of 11 from the free-throw line in the fourth. FROM: Penn Live.
Championship –
State College 90 Milton Hershey 84 – In a wild Mid-Penn Conference finale that featured a little bit of everything – brilliant runs, dynamic assists and lots of flash – State College claimed its second consecutive. Drew Friberg netted a team-high, yes, team-high 39 points and the Commonwealth-champion Little Lions edged a game Milton Hershey at Central Dauphin. The back-and-forth affair saw State College command a 25-12 lead after one period before Donyae Baylor-Carroll and the Spartans decided to sprint uphill. Baylor-Carroll posted 41 points, including 16 in the second period that guaranteed a nail-biting second half. It ended with Maxwell Bennett’s three-point play with 2:50 to play, tilting the Lions ahead 84-78, and enough hits from the free-throw line to keep Milton Hershey at bay. Tommy Friberg added 17 points, and Brandon Clark 10 for the Lions (22-1). Baylor-Carroll hit 7 triples for the Spartans (19-4), hoping to couple the 2016 MPC crown with this one. FROM: Penn Live
YORK/ADAMS LEAGUE TOURNAMENT:
Quarterfinals – Games Played Last Week
Kennard-Dale 61 York Catholic 45
York Northeastern 65 York Tech 26
Central York 71 Littlestown 55
New Oxford 59 Dover 51
Semifinals –
York Northeastern 58 Kennard-Dale 44 – The Bobcats got out to a 20-13 first quarter lead after the first quarter. Kennard-Dale played even the middle two quarters as both teams scored 25 points. Northeastern added on to their lead with a 13-6 forth quarter to reach the finals. Fred Mulbah led the way with 25 points. Kennard-Dale was led by Adam Freese with 15 points.
Central York 56 New Oxford 42 – Central advanced to their fourth consecutive league title game with the win over New Oxford. They led 14-8 after the first quarter and advanced the lead every period. Cade Pribula 16,, Landyn Ray 13, and Saa’hir Cornelius 10 led the winners, while New Oxford was led by Abdul Janneh with 13.
Championship –
York Northeastern 65 Central York 62 – Seniors Fred Mulbah (20) and Antonio Rizzuto (28) led the Bobcats to victory over rival Central York to win their second consecutive York-Adams League tournament title. Northeastern didn’t take its first lead until 1:53 remaining in the third quarter when Rizzuto hit a 3-point bucket from deep in the right corner. Subsequent baskets by Quay Mulbah and Fred Mulbah in the final 1:09 of the third quarter gave the Bobcats a 45-39 advantage heading into the final eight minutes. Garrett Markey led the losing Panthers with 13 points.
TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE TOURNAMENT:
Play in Game –
Lancaster Country Day 56 Millersburg 40 – A 19-5 2nd quarter by Lancaster Country propelled them to a win over Millersburg in the TVL play in game. LCD got off to 13-5 lead over the Indians after 1 quarter but cold shooting all night long by Millersburg didn’t help matters and kept them from making any kind of run. Bradley Fry led the Cougars and led all scorers with 13 points while Sam Duncan added 12 and Andrew Williams added 11 for the victors. Lance Hoover led the Indians with 12 all by the 3 ball and Aiden Harman added 10 points. FROM Penn Live.
Semifinals –
Halifax 48 Lancaster Country Day 29 – Nothing avaiable
Juniata 44 Greenwood 33 – Ben Lauver and Bryson Clark led Juniata in the defeat of Greenwood, in a Tri-Valley League boys basketball playoff semifinal. Lauver had himself a night to remember, finishing with a game-high 22 points for the Indians, but no points were more meaningful than his second to last field goal of the contest. It was an ordinary two-point shot that came in the midst of a much-needed run for the Indians, but it was a far from the ordinary basket as it put him in Juniata’s history book with his 1,000th career point. Greenwood closed to within a point on four separate occasions but just couldn’t get the field goal or free throw that would tie or give the Wildcats the lead. In fact, Greenwood never had a share of the lead at any point in the game thanks in large to Juniata’s 11-0 run to open the contest. The Indians could thank Clark for such a great start, scoring 12 first-half points — nine from beyond the arc. He finished with 17 points. The Wildcats biggest contributors were Austin Bower and Aaron Morder, who dominated the boards for much of the middle quarters and combined to score 25 points.
Championship –
Halifax 48 Juniata 46 (OT) – They say the ‘best offense is a good defense’ and ‘defense wins championships. Well, Halifax gave credence to both of those proclamations in its overtime defeat of Juniata in the Tri-Valley League boys Championship game. With time winding down and the Indians trying to protect a lead, the Wildcats generated a pair of steals and fast break baskets to pull back to even force the extra frame. Broc Grosser (9 points, 5 rebounds) and Nate Blasick (11, 8) generated the quick steals and buckets which kept the ‘Cats ninth life from running out. The back-to-back breakaways tied the game at 39 after the Indians had built a 39-32 lead on the strength of seven Ben Lauver (14 points, 10 rebounds) fourth quarter free throws. Remington Paul then nailed a big 3-pointer to put Halifax up 42-39, but Deaven Nealman (13 points) had the answer on the other end. Following an empty Halifax possession, Juniata had one last chance to win in regulation coming out of timeout with 5.5 seconds left, but Bryce Leonard’s (eight points) contested 3 at the buzzer was off the mark. Halifax only had two field goal attempts in the overtime, but they made them count as both went through and coupled with a pair of from the line it was enough for the win. Luke Blasick (11 rebounds) was a major disruptive force inside who helped the Wildcats dominate the glass 37-24. Dylan Wells was also an Indian killer delivering 11 points and four steals. A Leonard 3 at the first quarter buzzer gave Juniata a 12-10 lead after one, but the ‘Cats rallied back to claim a 22-17 at the break and maintained it at 29-25 through three setting up the exciting fourth quarter and overtime. FROM Juniata Sentinel.
COMMONWEALTH CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT:
Semifinals –
Berks Christian 51 West Shore Christian 43 – Berks Christian jumped out fast and led the whole way to advance to the finals. Jarred Jermacans led with 15pts, Matt Henderson had 10, while both Daylon Boston-Williams and Isaiah Egziabher scored 9 points. The Bobcats were led by Brian Glen with 13,
High Point Baptist 42 Lancaster County Christian 33 – Chad Evans with 13 points and Zach Kauffman 12 in the win over Lancaster County Christian. LCC’s top scorer was Justin Peifer with eight points.
Championship –
Berks Christian vs. High Point Christian – Was to have been played Saturday. Snowed out.
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