After Back-And-Forth Battle, Methacton Is Able To Pull Away As Warriors Find Separation In Late Rally To Stave Off Young Hempfield Bunch For Nonconference Road Win
Written by: Andy Herr on December 21, 2024
This time of year, all one needs to do is to take a step outside and feel just how cold and unforgiving the winter season can be at times. In some ways, while not necessarily a direct line of comparison you’d always think, so too can this time of year be just as harsh and unforgiving, even for those who stay inside to conduct their business when it comes to playing basketball. Yet while sometimes the start of a season and the losses within it can seem nothing at all different from that of a brisk winter’s wind that cuts right through you, sometimes all you need is one small spark, one small flicker of light when it comes to warming up.
For the Hempfield Black Knights, it’d be understandable if they could reconcile with such a thought.
Coming into their Saturday matinee that involved hosting the Methacton Warriors, Hempfield admittedly had been sputtering by and large out of the gate thus far to begin the 2024-25 campaign. Granted, while there was the tough-as-nails three-point victory over Chichester in the opening game of the Carlisle Tip-off Tournament back at the start of this month, that had remained the lone win that the Knights had been able to post up until this point. Since then, it’s been a bit of grind considering the four-straight setbacks which followed the triumph over Chichester, including no higher than a 41-point performance offensively in any of those subsequent contests, all while en route to what was a 1-5 record in totality entering this weekend. Suffice to say, the group from Landisville was eager to try and ignite some sort of fuse that could help break them out of their early winter spell.
Then again, lining up against the likes of a program such as Methacton, almost an exact mirror-image of Hempfield considering the way in which the Warriors have long since established themselves as a power broker in both the Pioneer Athletic Conference and District 1 ranks, much in the same vein as their Saturday hosts have done in the Lancaster-Lebanon League and District 3 for years on end, wouldn’t exactly be the easiest of chores given this ardent of an opponent to try and get healthy against.
Yet for a team that has obviously been having a rough go of it initially, you’d be hard-pressed to know any better. For that, given the way in which the Black Knights competed for the duration of the entire 32 minutes against Methacton, the Black Knights’ ability to turn the corner here and rattle off some wins may not be all that far behind if they are able to package and deliver that same effort night after night from here on out.
But as far as the home patrons were most concerned, that elusive win to try break this current hex would have to wait for another day and time. Sure enough, like the hallowing winds found right outside the Buchanan Gym doors, Methacton would blow in and pick off a key victory once the buzzer sounded on Saturday afternoon.
Right from the opening tap, it was especially clear that these were two teams that appeared to be on eerily-level playing fields with one another.
Sure, while Methacton junior big man, Jahmir Carter, would set the stage for what was largely an afternoon spent bullying defenders inside the lane with a bucket inside to his team claim the early 3-2 lead, here came Hempfield retaliating right back. For that, the Knights leaned on the efforts of junior guard, Ashton Lewis, as a pair of Lewis pullup buckets propelled Hempfield back in front, 7-6, with a shade over half the opening frame still left to go.
All told, while the hosts would claim the 16-13 advantage after the initial eight minutes, thanks in no small part to a 3-ball dialed up by junior forward, Tate Guthrie, which preceded a breakaway layup at the cup right before the horn courtesy of Lewis, it didn’t seem all that likely that Hempfield would be able to bottle up and maintain their momentum come the start of the second period nonetheless.
Not that they were incapable of doing so of course. But rather that Methacton simply wouldn’t let them get away it.
As if to be right on cue, on the Warriors’ opening possession of the second quarter no less, a timely trifecta splashed down courtesy of Methacton senior wing, Jack Bradford, knotted things up at 16-apeice in extremely short order with the visitors jumping right back up and onto level footing.
But if there was one underlying reason as to why Hempfield was staying right within reach of their guests throughout the entirety of the first half, it was most certainly due to their overall balance. A feat that became crystalized with eight of the nine Black Knights who saw time on the floor inside the opening 16 minutes working their way into the scorer’s book.
As far as the seventh among that list was concerned, Kaleb Eshleman proved himself far worthy of doing the job as the Hempfield junior was able to knock home yet another Black Knights’ triple early on, this one giving the hosts a 23-20 advantage, before yet another equally popular Jahmir Carter bucket within the paint on the day for the Warriors’ contingent would quickly follow suit as the Carter’s traditional three-point play following a freebie at the line knotted things back up at 23-apeice with then 4:25 remaining in a first half where the lead seemed to change hands every other possession it felt.
Speaking of the lead, Hempfield would later enjoy their largest of the afternoon at that point while riding on the heels of a Spencer Troyer offensive rebound and stick-back which then made it a 33-28 difference in the Black Knights’ favor, all while before both teams would retire to their respective corners for the halftime break in this basketball-turned boxing match with each going jab for jab against one another with Hempfield having ownership of the slim 34-31 cushion.
Did we mention by this point that the game was essentially being played on a seesaw considering the way in which both Hempfield and Methacton could take turns looking up at the scoreboard at any singular moment and likely seeing their side with the larger number at any one point in time? Again, not even a brief stoppage for the game’s intermission did much of anything in terms of mitigating or altering that overall storyline on Saturday.
In fact, Hempfield’s lead was wiped out entirely following a pair of triples knocked down by way of Methacton’s Wes Robinson and Mason Conrad respectively, a six-point barrage of sorts by the Warriors’ junior pair that awarded the lead back over to the green-dressed troops at a 39-38 count with roughly over five minutes still left to tick off the quarter’s clock.
Yep, another lead change was about to take shape as you could likely surmise.
Here, after culminating what would end up being a 5-0 Hempfield swing capped off by a trifecta, this one off the handiwork of Sean Forsyth’s shooting ability from beyond the arc, the Black Knights were then suddenly back in control given their 43-39 lead following the junior’s timely bucket from bonus distance with 3:50 left to play in the third.
But c’mon now. You already know Methacton would have an answer for this too, right?
Specifically, the Warriors’ rebuttal was kickstarted with a steal and finish at the cup through contact by way of Conrad with his free throw added on top to boot, a quick swing which trimmed the Knights’ lead down to the slimmest of margins, 43-42, just 1:20 after the earlier Forsyth triple. From there, Methacton would spurt back to the lead in the aftermath of a Wes Robinson baseline bucket which then gave the Warriors the 44-43 advantage. From there, that exact same one-point margin of separation would remain in place come the start of the fourth act with Methacton leading by a 46-45 count.
Needless to say, if one team could find even just a few scores and stops stacked on top of each other here in the waning stages, that might figure to be just enough in terms of tilting the scales in their favor with time now of the upmost essence for whomever who could garner such fortune.
Granted, while Methacton may have thought they had successfully found such a buffer in the form of a 3-ball sunk by Sal Iemmello which then put the Warriors up by two at 51-49 with just under six minutes remaining, that notion would also fall by the wayside in relatively short order considering a runout layup finished at the cup by way of Hempfield sophomore forward, Jayzen Gant, as Gant’s bucket in transition knotted things up at 51-51 with now just a tick over half the fourth quarter still left to go.
Then, while understandably hard to decipher given how this game had evolved into a game of glorified tic-tac-toe with the barbs being traded back and forth, what seemed like a relatively quaint John Leet trifecta for the Methacton contingent would ultimately proved to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back as it turned out.
Following the Leet triple, the Warriors would gradually build up their lead with the game inside its most critical of junctures.
First up in terms of the distance gathered, a three-point play compiled by Iemmello, but this one upping the Methacton lead out to a touchdown and a 58-51 difference with all of 2:47 left to play.
However, while Hempfield would continue to keep fighting, something no better exemplified than by Ashton Lewis proceeding to bury a trifecta on the Knights’ ensuing trip down the floor offensively, the dam was able to burst in Methacton’s favor. For that, a breakaway layup finished off by Wes Robinson which made it a 60-54 ballgame inside of the final minute largely put this one out of reach. Yet if Robinson’s penultimate bucket already hadn’t, a final deuce by Lucas Leckerman surely would be the final nail in sealing this highly competitive game between two feisty teams that ultimately became decided in the form of a 62-54 Methacton victory once the clock showed all zeroes. With it, a win which came courtesy of a timely 11-3 Warriors’ spurt with the game hanging in the balance inside crunch time would largely prove to be its eventual difference.
As a result, while this one is sure to sting, for reasons not the least of which could be directly correlated to the vigor in which Hempfield had exercised and demonstrated in coming back time after time despite being knocked off their pins by their guests amid Saturday’s scrap, this is a Hempfield team that almost surely won’t go quietly into the rest of the season without so much as a whimper. Simply put, who on the Black Knights’ roster do you exactly devise a gameplan against when they have the ability to put as many as eight players into the scoring column, an achievement which came to fruition on Saturday afternoon, all while the outcome was still anything but decided? Not only that, but consider that all of that balance found in their 54 points tallied against Methacton came exclusively by way of underclassmen, and it’s also easy to see as to why the future looks bright out on the horizon for this Hempfield contingent.
Yes, while there was still a bitterly cold embrace from Mother Nature awaiting them once they exited out the doors on Saturday following their eight-point loss at the hands of Methacton that kept from basking in the warmth of a victory prior to entering the holiday break, there are sure to be far warmer and brighter days ahead in Hempfield’s future. Right now, we are seeing just the initial stages of what this Black Knights’ core can ultimately round into. Yes, while the growth experienced right now during the winter months can be cold and unforgiving at times, the good news is that spring, a time known for rejuvenation and growth, is always right around the corner. And once that time comes, whether it be this year or even into next if necessary, don’t be all that surprised once this Hempfield bunch also starts to blossom right along with it.
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