In Battle Between Two District 3-6A Power Brokers, Wilson Completes The Job, Keeps Cedar Crest At Arm’s Length As Bulldogs Prevail In Saturday Nonconference Affair

Written by: Andy Herr on January 11, 2025

Coming into this season, we figured that things would look a little bit different for the Cedar Crest Falcons in the 2024-25 campaign. Not the winning part, however. That’s something that’s now just inherently baked into their cake automatically every season given just how successful the Cedar Crest boys’ basketball program has proven itself to be over the last decade. But the ones doing the winning out on the floor? Yeah, that’s what was expected to look considerably different.

Ready or not, this past spring saw the graduation of one of the most memorable groups that the Falcons have had in their recent history – no small achievement in reaching that sort of acclaimed status mind you – following not just the program’s successful capture of the Lancaster-Lebanon League title one year ago, but also parlaying that into an eventual state playoff berth as well which eventually saw the Falcons bow out of the tournament to one of the most famous programs found in all of Pennsylvania, Lower Merion.

And as one may righty assume when talking about a club that loses a hefty chunk of its varsity roster by way of diplomas, mortarboards, and gowns, there figured to be bumps in the road along the way. Yet even for a program that has now established itself as one of the L-L’s premier brands, not even Cedar Crest was found to be immune to the cyclical nature of this beast known as high school sports as the start of this year has demonstrated.  

It hasn’t been all bad of course when describing the Falcons’ first month of the season of course. There’s been the high-water marks. Perhaps none greater than right out of the chute in seeing Cedar Crest vanquish the stalwart known as Chester High as the Falcons were able to successfully do in their second game of the season that helped pave the runway for would turn into a very sultry 7-1 clip throughout the Falcons’ first quadrant of the slate.

Since then though, it’s been a little of this, and a little of that for Cedar Crest in their most recent outings.

After dropping a pair of games against Conestoga Valley and Manheim Township respectively, the Falcons picked up what was not just a crucial win in the here and now on Friday night with a successful venture over to Millersville in taking down Penn Manor, but every win – especially on the road – figures to be monumental in the long range forecast considering the cluster that is the top of the L-L Section One race at the moment with four of the division’s six teams deadlocked in a four-way tie for first place after the run through the divisional slate. Then, add in the fact that the Falcons’ first loss of the season within that aforementioned eight-game stretch came on their home floor at the hands of McCaskey, a Tornado crew that just one win to their name at the time in which they toppled Cedar Crest, and it’s easy to see why the peaks and valleys have been prevalent for these Falcons seen learning on the job throughout the first month and change.

But who’s to say? Perhaps that win registered on Friday night at Penn Manor would serve Cedar Crest well in their future endeavors.

For that, their most pressing of ventures following their victory over the Comets, the road to ho didn’t exactly fit into the nice and tidy box of being classified as “easy” seeing as how it was an early Saturday afternoon outing at Wilson not even 24 hours later against a Bulldogs crew that came into the weekend positioned rather comfortably at the #2 seed line within the District 3-6A playoff chase with still a month yet to go.

But as would be established early on in Saturday’s affair inside the borders of Berks County between these two big-school brands, Saturday would not provide a repeat of Friday as far as the Falcons were most concerned.

Simply stated, the hosts came out hot and blitzed their guests right from the opening tap.

In fact, Cedar Crest was seen calling an early timeout with 4:05 left in the opening stanza following a 3-ball dialed up by way of Wilson senior guard, Madyx Gruber, as Gruber’s trifecta had made it a 13-4 Bulldogs’ cushion with the Falcons already knocked back on their heels before they could get going.

From there, the Wilson lead would continue to swell upwards following a bucket inside chipped in courtesy of 6’3 big man, Michael Glover, which then preceded a steal and subsequent run-out finish by way of senior guard, Jon Etim, as the Bulldogs’ bark was showing to be just as bad as their bite considering their dozen-point lead at 17-5 with now inside of two minutes left in the opening stanza and the Falcons still stymied.

And while Cedar Crest would finally get some tangible bit of late first quarter momentum found in the form of an Owen Reager triple after the nice kickout pass tossed in his direction from fellow senior, RJ Young, the Falcons would nonetheless end the first quarter while staring up at a fairly considerable Wilson advantage given the 17-8 count.

However, Wilson just kept pushing the envelope once the second quarter came into existence.

In fact, the Bulldogs were able to enjoy the spoils of their largest lead of the day yet to that point, 23-10, following a pair of treys cashed in by junior sniper, Correll Akings, and Etim respectively, allowing the hosts’ lead expand outward to a baker’s dozen as Cedar Crest took yet another timeout to try and stem the tide with 5:33 left in the first half by that point.

Unfortunately, from the Falcons’ perspective, this would largely prove to be the extent of Wilson’s hospitality for the remainder of the afternoon as the Bulldogs never truly allowed the Falcons to creep much closer with a true threat of capturing the scoreboard.  

Sure enough, following a bucket authored at the tin by Tommy McFadden which then set the table for a Cam Zullinger 3-ball found right behind it, the pair of Wilson seniors had done their part in propelling the Bulldogs out to a commanding 31-14 cushion with mere seconds left to be played before squads would retire to their respective clubhouses for the halftime break. And for an opening 16 minutes that seemed to be nothing if not bathed in the red and white school colors of Wilson, an easy put-back bunny at the cup following a missed shot at the buzzer that was chipped in by another Bulldogs’ senior, Christo Hunsicker, seemed apropos as Wilson possessed the 33-16 lead at the intermission after having largely been unimpeded up until that point.

Short of oversimplifying the obvious given their current situation coming out of the locker for the start of the second half on Saturday, time was of the upmost essence if Cedar Crest would have any sort of rebuttal left in the tank as they tried to chase down their hosts throughout the duration of the afternoon.

To his credit, Owen Reager, the eventual team-high scorer for Cedar Crest who finished with a 13-point effort, certainly seemed up to the challenge as the Falcons’ 5’10 senior guard exploded out of the chute come the start of the third frame rattling off Crest’s first eight points of the stanza, the last two of which helped to close the gap back down somewhat to the tune of a 37-24 Wilson lead after the evaporation of the first three minutes of the quarter. From there, obviously sparked by Reager’s early salvo and momentum boost, another of the Cedar Crest senior guards, Danny Speaks, took his turn to shine as the 6’0 lefty fired in a critical trifecta to then make it just a ten-point lead with Wilson continuing to hold serve at 37-27 roughly one minute later.

Yet as would remain the framework of the construction for the entire afternoon at large, no matter what Cedar Crest seemed to try, Wilson was simply having none of it.

Even here, while trailing by what was their slimmest margin found since the initial stages of the second quarter, the Falcons simply found no way to puncture into the Bulldogs’ balloon and get the margin down into single figures.

And over the course of the ensuing few minutes, the Wilson lead would only grow larger in size and stature.

Case in point, following a pair of successive explosive takes to the tin by way of Madyx Gruber, Wilson’s lead once again stood at 13, 43-30. Afterwards, after taking the show back outside the arc, a Jon Etim triple quickly upped the Bulldogs’ lead to a 15-point difference at 47-32 before the third quarter would later expire with Wilson carrying a crystalized 16-point gap and a 48-32 score with them into the start of the final period.

By this point, with the way in which Wilson had played up until that point on the day, it didn’t seem all that likely that the hosts would suddenly become nothing if not overly hospitable to their L-L League guests. Luke Levan, Wilson’s 6’6 senior big man, certainly wasn’t feeling of the generous ilk come the outset of the final period most of all as a pair of Levan buckets inside the paint not just helped him reach double figures scoring on the day by tossing in a 10-point effort against Cedar Crest, but it also made it a 55-39 ballgame with all of five minutes remaining.

Later, with the outside game getting back up to speed just for good measure, a 3-ball sunk by yet another Wilson senior forward, Joe Houck, added five more to the existing difference as Wilson now found themselves up by a 60-39 count with just three minutes to go.

And while Cedar Crest’s Owen Outman would tally the second of his fourth quarter buckets which would have him slotted alongside fellow junior, Cameron Tirado, in finishing the day as the pair of Falcons not a part of the soon-to-be 2025 graduating class that were able to reach the scoring column against Wilson, the curtain was then lowered on what was largely a decisive victory on the Bulldogs’ behalf that culminated in a 66-43 final verdict once the clock hit zeroes on Saturday afternoon.

Suffice to say, obviously not the outcome that Cedar Crest had been hoping for, but especially considering that this contest came on the heels of what was a crucial victory in respect to their desires found back in the home territory of the Lancaster-Lebanon League just one night prior.  But to know Cedar Crest, does anyone truly think that the Falcons will simply just surrender the league crown to another suitor without so much of a fight? Of course not. That much is a given. And once the defending champs jump back into the league play, as they do on Monday night at home against Hempfield, now is the time for Cedar Crest to assert themselves and push away all the other wonkiness that comes part in parcel with this current four-team logjam at the top of the section standings. For them, even while they enter next week with an 8-4 overall record to their name and begin within the cut line of the District 3-6A playoff race at the moment, the Falcons still hold all their cards and control their own destiny since nothing – anything at all really – has been decided in one way or the other. For this group, one that directly follows in the footsteps of their most recent brethren that just exited stage right last year with banners and trophies to their name, the pen is in now in current group’s collective hands. And if we’re taking previous history to try and serve as our guidebook here, chances are that these Falcons too know exactly what to write when it comes to detailing their legacy.

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