Hempfield Completes Successful Encore As Black Knights Follow League Championship By Eliminating Central York, Readies For Battle Against Cumberland Valley In District 3-6A Final Four
Written by: Andy Herr on February 26, 2023
If it’s true what they say that the truest mark of someone’s character is how they respond in the aftermath of adversity, you can best believe that the Hempfield Black Knights boys’ basketball team has done plenty of that and then some over the last few years. But also, it’s possible that two things can be true at once. Sometimes, it’s also correct in saying that how you handle success can also define your legacy as well.
As most everyone is already aware of by this point, but Hempfield has spent the last two consecutive seasons occupying one of the illustrious two spots in the Lancaster-Lebanon League finale held at Manheim Township. And, as you’re also likely aware of, those were two trips that were somehow both equal parts memorable as they were heartbreaking considering that Hempfield came up excruciatingly short against Lebanon and Lampeter-Strasburg respectively in that pair of attempts. Ironically though, in the 2020-21 season, Hempfield’s first attempt at redemption could come against, you guessed it, Lebanon –on the Cedars’ home floor no less — just a few days after the Black Knights had watched their opposition receive gold medals to signify their crowning achievement. And in that matchup, a game that felt eerily reminiscent to that of the league title game just a few days prior, Hempfield was able to successfully turn the tables on the Cedars and halt Lebanon’s season right there in its tracks as the group from Landisville lived to play another day. Not a bad way to make amends, eh?
This season though, while it wouldn’t necessarily be a litmus test on Hempfield’s character when it came to bouncing back from a tough defeat at Township in the final L-L game of the season, it would be equally important for the Black Knights to come back down to earth so to speak seeing as how they were finally able to accomplish a goal that was both somehow twelve years, yet also two years in the making simultaneously as the Black Knights were able to capture their eighth league crown in program history and first since 2011 last Friday following a thrilling victory over Manheim Central.
To be sure, for a group that had understandably poured so much time and energy over the last 24 months and then some when it came to having the opportunity to rightfully be called the conference’s premier club, there were also bigger fish still left to try out on Hempfield’s 2022-23 unfinished resume. And wouldn’t you know it, but those fish would be worthy of mounting up on the wall right out of the chute no less once Hempfield entered this week’s District 3-6A tournament field. Chief among them of course being the Knights’ initial test against Central York, a club that has also earned the right to be called it’s league top team seeing as how the Panthers came away with the YAIAA title last week as well in taking down York High, a team that also found itself inside the final group of eight left standing amongst the 6A ranks once Friday evening rolled around.
And as if to be serve as some sort of perfect microcosm, Hempfield’s effort against Central York over the course of 32 minutes in this matchup best exemplified and demonstrated as to why this is not only a rock-solid Black Knights’ team purely based on the basketball aspect of it all, but also a very mature group as well. In short, this would be a game where both their physical and mental prowess would be pushed to the limit.
When describing Hempfield’s start to begin this game on Friday night, simply saying it was “hot” wouldn’t really be doing it much justice.
No, when you consider that Hempfield effectively jumped on their guests early. Like, not even 40 seconds in early given that the hosts found themselves out in front by a 6-0 count with 7:21 still to go in the opening frame, an opening salvo that exclusively came courtesy of 6’4 junior forward Ben Troyer.
Not to be outdone however, it would be an underclassman on the Central York side, Ben Natal, who would get the Panthers into a rhythm as the silky smooth 6’1 sophomore guard tallied the first four points for his troops, making it a 10-4 Hempfield advantage before a Kamyn Lawrence flip inside not long after allowed the Black Knights to double up their adversaries by virtue of the 12-6 lead with 5:20 still left to play in the first.
But they weren’t finished there.
In fact, following a Michael Hester move inside the paint roughly two minutes later, the Knights’ lead would then balloon up to ten, 16-6, before a 3-ball sunk by the Hempfield 6’4 senior wing made the difference a baker’s dozen at 19-6 with two minutes and change still to bleed of the clock. And speaking of personal rallies, Lawrence proved himself to be a game-wrecker all night long as his four-point addition here in the waning stages of the opening frame not only propelled the 6’5 senior big man out to game-high scoring honors in posting a 17-point effort, but also more importantly allowed Hempfield the opportunity to coast into the second quarter having delivered an emphatic first blow given their 23-10 cushion held at the end of the opening eight minutes of play.
Finally, and certainly not a moment too soon as far as they had to be concerned, Central York finally came out of the other side of the initial tsunami.
Granted, there was the Miguel Pena trey which helped lift the lid on the second frame that made it a 26-10 affair in Hempfield’s favor, the Panthers would respond later on by hitting 3’s of their own –two to be precise – as the pair sunk by RB Brown and Natal respectively helped the orange-clad crew claw back within ten at 26-16 with a shade over five minutes still left in the opening half.
In fact, the sizable Black Knights’ lead would later be clipped all the way back down to a modest seven all things considered once Natal would come up with another bucket en route to his sharing of team-high 14-point scoring honors on this night alongside another sophomore, Ben Rill, which made it a 28-21 ballgame with 2:30 left at that time.
Even still, while Hempfield was able to trot into the intermission with ownership of the 32-23 lead, there was a lingering feeling in the air that Central York had weathered the initial storm without taking on a great amount of damage all things considered. And never more would that prevailing theme morph into reality than once the third quarter began on Friday night.
However, while the Panthers started off like a rocket given a Ben Natal theft and finish which began the third quarter proceedings, a historic answer on the Black Knights’ ensuing trip down the floor offensively by way of a Miguel Pena trifecta not only stemmed the tide somewhat, but it also marked the Black Knights’ four-year point guard having successfully eclipsed the 1,000-point-threshold, a true mark of achievement for the heady 6’3 floor general when you consider all of those who have donned the Hempfield colors previously before him throughout the program’s existence.
But once the game resumed, it was evident that Central York didn’t feel like being all that hospitable to their hosts.
Case in point, following four straight points tallied by uber-talented 6’6 junior wing Greg Guidinger, the Black Knights’ lead was sliced down to four at 38-34 before an old-fashioned three-point by Guidinger yet again made it a one-point contest, 38-37, with three and a half minutes still to play in the third.
And while Pena would counter the Central York charge with critical trey to get momentum back in Hempfield’s favor, the Panthers just kept coming at them.
True to form, following a two-handed flush by way of the lone senior on the Central York roster, 6’2 forward Ethan Dodson, the visitors had successfully whipped their side of the gym into a frenzy given Hempfield’s precarious one-point lead of 47-46 heading into the final period.
In the fourth quarter, while the sport being played might have been basketball, it could’ve easily been volleyball or tennis considering how both teams threw jabs back and forth with one another.
Sure enough, while Central York would find themselves playing with the lead at 48-47 following a Guidinger take to the tin inside the opening minute, a Kamyn Lawrence stick-back from point-blank range put Hempfield back in front, 51-50, with a hair over four minutes still yet to transpire.
Yet while the Black Knights may have felt that they had gotten out of dodge once a Pena take to the cup made it a 55-52 affair in their favor, Ben Rill was on the scene to reel Hempfield right back into the Panthers’ collective grasp as his bucket underneath with one minute left trimmed the hosts’ lead down to just a penny at 58-57. From there, Rill would continue to be the catalyst for the Central York effort as the 6’8 sophomore would toe the charity stripe with 38.9 seconds remaining in the regulation and split the offering which knotted things up at 58-apiece with time running out.
But tied score or not, an extra session would not be needed on this night. Not if Chase Calabretta had anything to say about it that is.
There, on what would effectively be Hempfield’s final tangible offensive possession of the night, the Hempfield 6’4 senior wing delivered what would perhaps the shot of his life as his second-chance bucket at the tin not only rescued the Black Knights’ offensive trip of going unfulfilled, but it also pushed Hempfield back over the top with the 60-58 lead with inside of 20 seconds left to go.
Now, needing to answer to try and prolong their chances of perhaps reaching the Giant Center on Thursday night to compete in the 6A championship game, Central York needed to score by any means necessary. Well, perhaps unconventional or not, but the foul line would be where the Panthers would have to make their hay heading down the final few seconds. Unfortunately, after the first attempt cruelly danced around the rim before ultimately falling back down to the earth without protruding through the net, Central York’s attempt at trying to miss the second attempt on purpose following a timeout to discuss the assignment also went unrealized as a lane violation whistled against the Panthers gave the ball back to Hempfield without any incision having been dented into their lead.
Fittingly, given the way in which he had helped usher Hempfield out of the gates to begin the night, Ben Troyer would be the Black Knight to help close things out as the junior would proceed to tally one more free throw inside the final 1.5 seconds therefore awarding the L-L League champions the opportunity of moving on the semifinal round opposite of Cumberland Valley with a date set between the two superpowers on Monday night inside the Eagles’ famed “Dome” following their tough-as-nails 61-58 victory over Central York on this night.
“Without a doubt, I’m thrilled with our resilience. I’m thrilled with our competitiveness, especially with how the game started,” Hempfield head coach Danny Walck said afterwards back in the team’s locker room after having vanquished an extremely talented Central York club. “This is playoff basketball. You knew after that start, like c’mon. This is a big-time game. This is a really, really, really good team over there,” Walck offered on the quick blitz his crew employed against Central York. “(Central York) has all kinds of pieces, so I’m like, ‘Let’s not get too excited here.’ We talked about that at halftime,” he said. ‘Both teams are gonna make runs, we just need to stay composed.’”
And staying composed? Well, that’s something that can’t be fake and can’t be artificial. That’s something that can only truly be gained after having gone through shared battles together Rest assured, this particular Black Knights’ unit has lived through plenty of those examples and lived to tell a tale or two.
“They’re a true family,” said Walck proudly of his team. “What I mean by that is when they come into the huddle, they don’t always agree with each other, but I can guarantee you that they’re a brotherhood. They can argue in (the huddle), but when they go out there and the ball goes live, they’ve got each other backs. That’s special. It’s that chemistry, that belief that you have a brotherhood you’re a part of and that’s what they have.”
But the elephant in the room? The aspect of it all that made this win so special? The fact that Hempfield was able to compartmentalize last week’s achievement of snatching league gold with the forethought that there was more business left to take care of, both here locally in the mid-state for this week in particular, but perhaps on a grander stage as well.
“The thing that helped us was that this game was a week later,” the Black Knights’ head man acknowledged of having his team’s opening round District 3 playoff game take place exactly seven days after beating their neighbors from Manheim. “We had last weekend and even into the first couple days of this week to get rid of all that while still enjoying it. I took (his players) out for breakfast at 6:15, 6:30 in the morning and you have people coming up to them saying, ‘Hey, I saw you on TV!’ Okay, let enjoy that. However, I’ve doing this for a few years and I’m always questioning this…(Central York) came in here with a playoff game already under their belt and we’ve been off for a week. They’re coming in here pretty confident having just played which is always better than practicing against yourself, having won pretty convincingly, and I’m here saying, ‘We need a good start,’ shared Walck of his thought process heading into Friday night’s game against the Panthers. “We got that, but I knew Central York was going to make a run. Had we not gotten that start, their run would’ve obviously been trouble.”
“In 2011 when we won, we had the play-in game for districts the next night,” he added of the last time he found himself in charge of this very same situation. “We were supposed to play here (at Hempfield), but they had sectional wrestling or something. We had to play at Warwick. South Western came in and knocked us off and I thought we had been playing pretty good basketball. But I could tell in warmups when sitting there and we’re doing our stuff, I looked over at Coach Brown and said, ‘We’re in trouble.’ You could just see these spent, blank stares from spending so much energy and emotion in enjoying the win while also trying to get our feet back under us. So, yeah, it was nice to have that time period off this time around.”
But as is the case for everyone, time waits for no man. Sure enough, father time will come calling on Hempfield once more on Monday night for another mammoth game yet again following their gutty win against Central York once the Black Knights roll across the Susquehanna to engage in battle against an extremely sound and well-rounded Cumberland Valley bunch with the right to ascend to the Giant Center up for grabs. Here again, enjoying victory while remaining humble in the pursuit of more will be the name of the game for Hempfield. The good thing going for them of course is that they have the right man to enforce such a directive.
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