Hempfield 56 Wilson 47: wrap

Written by: Dell Jackson on March 2, 2022

Hempfield 56 Wilson 47
6A playin game
March 2, 2022

Although this game was not the featured game for the evening, it was difficult to pass on 2 big school with veteran coaches playing in our backyard. Danny Walck of Hempfield spoke about bringing energy to the game. Coach Matt Coldren of Wilson watched his team stretch before the game and spoke about opportunity to get to the state playoffs. It’s a rare occurrence to find coaching match-ups with a bunch of W’s and playoff experience galore. The crowd was not up to it’s usual standards at Hempfield, but the players got after it.

When thinking of Wilson, one usually imagines good defense, low turnovers and controlled offense. This years version seemed to prefer a more up and down game. Sparked by Cameron Jones’, 5;11” jn (some discussion via twitter on football- but …:) , drives to the basket, the Dawgs opened up a 10-7 lead at the 2 minute mark of the first quarter. The Hempfield Knights would hang around with buckets by Cole Overbaugh 6’4” sn, remarkably playing with a broken nose and an NBA style face mask, a Parker Wolfe-steady all night- drive, and a Miguel Pena follow at the 9 second mark. Hempfield 13-12 after one.

Wilson would string together 2 mini runs in the second period. The first involved a layup by Cleveland Hardy. 5’11” jn, and a three ball by Jones. Cole Overbaugh scored on a follow for the Knights. Wilson’s second run (6-0) was keyed by the Dawgs getting to the rack- drive , layup and layup. Probably a key part of the game with Wilson leading 23-15, The Dawgs had at least 2 and probably 3 opportunities to increase their lead but didn’t. Hempfield took advantage scoring the last 6 points of the quarters the last on an Overbaugh post. 23-21 Wilson at the break.

The Knights have a tendency to fall behind in the first half and mount a comeback in the second half or late in the game. Tonight the Kinghts came out of the locker room determined to make the PIAA tournament. Ben Troyer, 6’3” soph., put his stamp on the game. He scored 8 in the quarter, mostly off of follow up on misses. Hempfield slowed down the Wilson fast break in the quarter, limiting the Dawgs to 7 points in the quarter. A Pena drive at the end of the quarter gave the Knights a 35-30 lead after 3.

Hempfield would stretch the lead to 10 off a layup by Troyer- 44-34. Wilson could not string together enough stop or offense during the 4th to make a strong run at Hempfield. The Knights handled Wilson press very well- capped off by a monster dunk by Overbaugh at the 1:00 mark- putting a huge smile on Coach Walck’s face – another rare occurrence during a game 🙂

Unofficial stats:
Rebounds: Wilson 23, Hempfield 20
Turnovers: Wilson 8, Hempfield 11

Points:
Wilson- Cameron Jones 17, Keegan Coldren 12
Hempfield – Ben Troyer 18, Miguel Pena 12, Cole Overbuagh 10, Parker Wolfe 9

Sidelines…Hempfield will play at home vs Chambersburg for seeding in the PIAA tournament….The Knights qualified to the PIAA…Miguel Pena has hurt on a late foul going in for a layup. He was helped off the floor- hoping he is ok going forward. ..Small crowd at Hempfield but LLhoops had a great view…Warwick defeated Central Dauphin in 6A semis- Wrap HERE…Gearing top for a busy few days. ..LL boys teams had 5 qualify for the finals this Thurs and Friday at Hershey- fans must get their tix online- no cash sales at the Giant Center this week. …LLhoops hopes to live stream the LS/Shippensburg final Thurs….Bruce Badgley will be covering the Columbia and Warwick games via pay for view subscription on NFHS network- more info to follow…Andy and Dell will be providing updates and wraps for the LL teams in the finals.