Fisher’s ‘Rock Freaking Solid’ Night (And Final Erasure) Seals The Deal As Lancaster Mennonite Fends Off Young Catasauqua Crew In PIAA-3A Second Round, Advances To Fifth Consecutive Elite Eight State Appearance
Written by: Andy Herr on March 13, 2025
It’s among the oldest cliches and worn-out phrases possibly used in the world of sports. That is to say that a team is “built for this.”
Built for what exactly? It’s admittedly a bit of a leading question that doesn’t necessarily require a specific answer depending on how you yourself choose to best answer the inquiry. Then again, if were talking about the 2024-25 version of the Lancaster Mennonite Blazers boys’ basketball team, they are most certainly “built” for whatever you deem necessary of them.
For those are that familiar with Mennonite’s offseason regimen, this time of year most specifically is the underlying impetus as to why this true 1A-sized school that is being forced in playing two classes above their literal level challenges itself when the stakes aren’t nearly as magnified, and the unforgiving summer heat pounds down. Those trips to Philadelphia, Allentown, and other parts unknown, are what primes the Blazers to make waves and disrupt brackets by the time winter’s postseason eventually rolls around on a perennial basis. And never more was that better exemplified perhaps than by their performance last time out, a largely dominant showing against Lansdale Catholic in the opening round of the PIAA-3A bracket on Saturday afternoon on Mennonite’s home floor.
By now, you’ve probably become familiar with the fact that LMH’s opening round competition made it into the state playoffs this year with a sub .500 record – six games under as a matter of fact – with having only won exactly one game since the calendar flipped over to 2025. Fans of six classes, eat your heart out.
Nevertheless, while Lansdale Catholic may not have passed the eye test in terms of their overall record and body of work looking only at numbers perhaps, the fact that the Crusaders compete in arguably the most arduous of conferences in the eastern United States, the Philadelphia Catholic League, is more than enough to make anyone’s hair on the back on their necks stand on-end. All told, even though Mennonite was a little tardy out of the chute in falling behind by a 7-2 count to their guests following the opening jump on Saturday’s lid-lifter, the Blazers largely played the rest of the afternoon drama-free once they were able to take control of the scoreboard and never look back en route to a Wednesday night date in the second round of the state playoffs in sequestering Lansdale Catholic.
Their opponent waiting there for them at Governor Mifflin’s palatial new confines with the opportunity to advance on to this weekend’s Elite Eight round? Well, let’s just say that they might’ve taken the road far less traveled.
While the state tournament always seems to deliver when it comes to offering up storylines that routinely possess the ability to pull at the heart strings of the masses, the Catasauqua Rough Riders would like to submit their resume for your consideration this year.
How about starting off the year 0-4 before then turning the ship around in a big way and proceeding to reach your league championship? From there, how about going on a three-game winning streak in the District 11 playoffs, not the least of which included supplanting a juggernaut known as Mahanoy Area along the way, all before winning your school’s first district championship since 2006 and only it’s third since the mid-60’s? Then, for the cherry on top, how about winning your program’s first state tournament game for the first time since that aforementioned 2006 campaign in front of your very own home patrons?
Simply put, it’s been one heck of a ride for the “Roughs” in what this season has had to offer this public school located northeast of Allentown in the outskirts of the town of Northampton. Not only that, but given that the Roughs featured only a pair of graduating seniors on the roster who won’t be back in tow come the start of next season, while you don’t want to necessarily brush everything to the side here and say that everything from here on out is “house money,” especially being not all that fara away from a state championship in this very moment, Catty certainly has cemented itself as a foremost power player in the 3A ranks over the course of the next year and change.
Ironically, for these two second round opponents, Catasauqua and Lancaster Mennonite respectively, this meeting may be a harbinger of things yet to come as both of these programs feature almost exclusively nothing but underclassmen talent across the board, all but assuring that both the Rough Riders and Blazers figure to be key factors in the 3A state title chase come next season as well.
But here, on this night at least, the idea of punching a ticket into the state quarterfinal round of the 2025 state tournament was obviously the primary task at hand for these clubs with remarkably bright futures between them.
And in the end, what’s old is new again. That being Lancaster Mennonite reaching the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs for what is now the fifth consecutive year following their thrilling win over Catasauqua on Wednesday night in front a of a partisan Rough Riders’ audience.
In the early going, the difference between these two teams seemed nothing if not miniscule. Granted, while it may have taken the Rough Riders almost an entire half of the opening stanza to finally play with the lead for the first time in the contest, they were never truly overmatched or inadequate to say the least. In that context, Catasauqua would indeed play from in front for its first time following a triple splashed home by 5’11 junior guard, Reece Lopez, as the Roughs surged out in front by a 7-4 count with 4:20 left in the opening period.
Yet as the Rough Riders were about to soon discover, putting the clamps on one Cody Fisher was a chore that was far easier said than actually done on Wednesday night at Governor Mifflin.
And the Blazers’ 6’3 junior wing wasted next to no time when it came putting his early stamp on things as Fisher proceeded to light the lamp for a pair of deadly 3-balls sunk in the waning stages of the opening act, the last of which awarded the lead back to Mennonite, 14-12, with just 2:10 left to play that juncture.
But if Fisher wasn’t the one doing the bulk of the damage himself, his fellow junior running mate in the backcourt most certainly was.
As he routinely does on a nearly every night occurrence, Lancaster Mennonite’s Chase Hurst continued to be the 5’9 riddle that simply can’t be solved — this time with Catasauqua soon discovering — as Hurst’s stellar opening to this second round state game became evident on the Blazers’ opening possession of the second quarter as a tough reverse finish at the tin capped off by the junior guard upped the Mennonite lead out to a 20-15 bulge which also signified Mennonite’s largest lead up until that point.
However, that early mojo would quickly be erased courtesy of Catasauqua’s flummoxing fullcourt zone defense that was being employed.
Sure, while it was sometimes either feast or famine from the Roughs’ perspective in that it may lead to easy deuces finished off offensively once the Blazers were able to break free from its rangy clutches, it also would at times also come racing to Catasauqua’s aid all the same.
Case in point, a steal and finish authored by Hamaad Jenkins, as the Rough Riders’ 5’10 junior guard was able to not just bring his troops back within a pair at 22-20 with 5:30 left in the opening half, but Jenkins’ pilfer and finish would in turn helped to turn the wheels of momentum back in Catasauqua’s favor just when they needed it most.
From there, the Roughs would get to within the slimmest of margins at 27-26 following a nice take along the baseline courtesy of the youngest member of their overall rotation, Aalani Nix, as the budding 6’0 freshman talent continued a solid night at the office which would conclude with Nix finishing with runner up honors when it came to Catasauqua team-high scoring totals in finishing with a respectable nine-point bucketing.
Ironically, the Rough Rider who would capture those honors, Frankie Pujols, who spurred the Catasauqua charge with a 14-point outing once the night was over with, came away with the tying trey not long afterwards which made it a 29-29 affair following his triple which is precisely where things remained locked in place once the final 70 seconds evaporated off the second quarter clock as both teams were able to head into the break with absolutely no margin of separation between them given the current stalemate of 29’s shared up on the scoreboard.
And just for the record, but remember that earlier theme centering around both of these clubs being incredibly young and poised for bright futures found of tomorrow? Well, how about 52 of the game’s 58 points at intermission being tallied by players expected to return next season and beyond. Carry on.
But if there was one thing that had seemed to be otherwise prevalent up until that point once the game’s second half ultimately rolled around, it was that no matter how hard and determined Catasauqua desired to be, Lancaster Mennonite was proving themselves to be an itch that couldn’t easily be scratched.
Sure, while a trey knocked down by way of Aalani Nix put the Rough Riders back in front by a 34-31 difference near the five-minute mark of the third period, a Cody Fisher triple wasn’t far behind it as Fisher’s marvelous night continued in earnest following his 3-ball sunk at the 4:43 mark of the quarter which in turn created yet another deadlocked score at 34-34.
But if there was a particular moment in which Lancaster Mennonite seemed to enter the metaphorical danger zone, it was most certainly near the latter stages of the third quarter on Wednesday evening.
There, after spotting Frankie Pujols yet another triple to keep with his own sensational evening, this one extending Catasauqua’s lead out to the largest it had been all night long at 39-34, things could’ve easily gone haywire and unraveled for the Blazers in a hurry careening towards what could’ve easily been the final 10:15 of their season’s story.
Instead, for a Lancaster County-born dynasty that was right on the precipice of reaching some rarified air when it came to making it to the state quarterfinal round for the fifth consecutive year, there would be far greater and powerful storms required when it came to knocking these Lancaster Mennonite Blazers off their desired course.
In fact, following a 3-ball on their first trip to begin the final stanza by, you guessed it, Cody Fisher, Mennonite had put the finishing touches on a timely 9-2 spurt after being down by five points not long prior with Fisher already well on his way towards capturing far and away game-high scoring honors in tossing in a spectacular 26-point evening against the Rough Riders in this one.
But while Fisher may have stolen the show in terms of individual performances displayed against Catty, the Blazers as a collective unit were nothing without the efforts of their lone senior, Jordan Lilly, on this night especially.
Sure, while the Mennonite 5’10 senior guard’s stat line might not have turned heads considering it came to the tune of half a dozen points – all of which came during the second half of play – Lilly’s persistent and consistent contributions throughout this state playoff game were impossible to simply gloss over. And never would that come home to roost more than with his tough-as-nails three-point play through contact with 5:35 remaining — complete with a flex gesture and yell on top of it all — saw Mennonite jump back in front, 47-45, for a lead which the Blazers would never surrender the rest of the way home save for a tie.
Speaking of which, following a pair of free throws sunk by way of one the very few soon-to-be graduates this spring found playing in this game for either club, Matt Fotta, the Rough Riders’ senior big man’s successful 2-2 trip to the charity stripe –highlighted by banking in the final attempt within the offering — knotted things up once more at 49-apiece with just 1:53 left to play.
And while Catasauqua wouldn’t quite summit the Mennonite mountain over the course of the final minute and change, the Roughs certainly had glimpses of doing so with time winding down on them.
Chief among them, an unfortunate Rough Riders’ missed bunny at the cup that came on the heels of what appeared to a largely unimpeded move en route to the hoop before oncoming traffic quickly closed in, resulting in an LMH defensive rebound with all of 45.6 seconds left to play.
But that would be Catty’s final instance of playing on level ground while having possession of the pill prior to the final buzzer.
Remember the efforts of Jordan Lilly? Rest assured that Catasauqua will almost surely see Lancaster Mennonite’s #1 in uniform residing in their nightmares for quite awhile considering how a missed Blazers’ bucket with time winding down led to an extended possession as Lilly was able to knife his way through the masses and come up with the biggest rebound – this of the offensive variety – to save Lancaster Mennonite’s season.
And so, with Lilly doing the yeoman’s work, the dirty work if you will, the stage was now set for someone, anyone, in a Blazers’ uniform to step up and be the team’s hero.
It almost had to be Cody Fisher, right?
There, after fulfilling his role in being the inbounder on the Blazers’ baseline out-of-bounds play with just 9.1 seconds remaining, Fisher was able to step right inside the line and post up before receiving the feed back in to him via Bill Rothwein before Fisher promptly turned around and hit the fadeaway jumper on the low block to put Mennonite back in front, 51-49, with now just 4.1 seconds left standing between Mennonite and a date upcoming on Saturday.
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Surely that was then the end of Cody Fisher’s remarkable night, yes? Now it just became an issue of the Blazers trying to hold on for dear life with the Rough Riders tasked with having to travel the length of the floor with their season on the line, no?
So you thought perhaps.
Instead, the game ended in the most fitting of ways possible for both Cody Fisher and Lancaster Mennonite in tandem as the Rough Riders wouldn’t be able to even get off one final shot attempt with the clock winding down as Fisher’s clean rejection of a would-be Catasauqua game-winner in front of the Roughs’ bench was the final nail hammered home on this night as not only did Mennonite survive a very game effort against this worthy adversary by way of Lehigh County, but they also stamped their ticket into the Elite Eight of the state playoffs – spread between both the 2A and 3A ranks — for the fifth consecutive year following their thrilling 51-49 victory on Wednesday against Catasauqua.
For Cody Fisher, while obviously the micro of having been the key catalyst that helped get Mennonite over the hump in this one was special and all, undoubtedly his sudden flip of the switch that has come in leading his fellow Blazers in point production over the course of their first two state playoff games to the tune of 38 points combined, that too feels quite nice for him while looking towards the macro.
“Yeah, I would say so,” Fisher said after emerging for a joyous and celebratory Lancaster Mennonite locker room postgame that was blaring Lil Baby’s “Low Down” on Wednesday as to whether he himself has noticed an uptick in his overall game with the lights now shining at their absolute brightest. “I had a couple of off shooting nights, so I had to figure some things out and find other ways to impact the game with defense, rebounding, things like that,” the promising rising senior continued. “It did feel nice to finally have the ball go in tonight,” he acknowledged with a soft smile.
Yet while he may have played the leading role here on this evening, he too knows that he can do next to nothing without the contributions of his fellow brothers in arms. For that, Cody Fisher is equally as content and grateful.
“I’m so proud of this team, man,” Fisher then said with a chuckle. “It’s just so fun to play with all these guys, especially when everyone is doing their thing…We know we can compete with the best in the state. It’s so fun. It’s just so fun playing with this group and all these guys.”
Now, as a result, playing somewhat with a bit of house money if you will in that everyone save for the critical Jordan Lilly comes back into the fold for Lancaster Mennonite again next season, these joyous bus rides to different areas of Pennsylvania gets to continue onward for at least another day.
“I would definitely say there is a little bit of looseness to us,” Fisher remarked of his primarily underclassmen-powered unit now carrying the mantle and advancing onward to the program’s fifth straight Elite Eight appearance with a game to come on Saturday. “But our expectations are the absolute highest they can be,” he was quick to add. “We’re all trying to meet those expectations. We’re just taking this game-by-game while trying to play our butts off.”
As far his head coach, someone who has known nothing other than reaching the state quarterfinal round in his now two years in charge of leading the Mennonite bench, he knows full well that these types of things aren’t exactly a birthright. In fact, the Blazers’ somewhat sluggish start out of the gates could’ve easily been their downfall against these Rough Riders.
“I think what ended up happening was we almost didn’t know exactly what to expect out of their defense,” Mennonite head coach, Jeff Hartenstine, explained postgame of Catasauqua’s methodology which in turn led to some timidness and equally rare turnovers for his club. “We knew they were going to be flying around, but we weren’t totally sure on what happens after they get done flying around. Like, ‘Are we going to be able to run our stuff? Is this going to happen? Is that going to happen?’ It kind of turned out where our ad-lib stuff was what was working best because (Catasauqua’s) defense would get out of position,” said Hartenstine.
“But one of the main things slowing us down was Rothwein getting in foul trouble early on,” the Mennonite head coach made sure to include of his key junior big man cog. “He’s just such a rock for us,” Hartenstine continued of Bill Rothwein. “You can point to his points, rebounds, whatever he had, I just know that when we run our stuff, he is our five man, so we ended up having some guys play out of the usual rotations. When (Rothwein’s) out, sometimes we’re sluggish and get stuck in the mud, so we had to get him back in there with some fouls. I think that’s what helped get us going again.”
That said, after receiving 51% of his team’s total scoring in this game being funneled exclusively through one player, the Blazers’ head coach is happy to see such a switch turn on when it comes to Cody Fisher’s overall game of late without question.
“Since the playoffs started, there’s just a different mentality to him,” Hartenstine described of Fisher. “A lot of these games require us to win the rebounding battle. A lot of these games require us to have someone tangle and get physical in there. He’s just loving that role. He played his butt off against Warwick, but we were just a little bit overmatched in that one. Since that game onward, he’s darn near our MVP just by what he gives us,” he continued in lauding Fisher’s efforts. “Maybe it doesn’t show up in the stats all the time. In the stats though, he’s usually close to a double-double. He’s just rock freaking solid.”
Speaking of which, had it not been for Jordan Lilly’s night either, almost surely none of this would’ve mattered in the end as this game could’ve easily ended in a loss for Lancaster Mennonite. For that, Hartenstine is also indebted to one of his players.
“He was huge. So huge,” the head coach said of his team’s lonesome senior. “A secret about Jordan Lilly is that he’s injured a lot, so he misses a decent amount of practice. But he knows every single play. It’s like there’s a computer in his brain. It’s shocking just how much he knows and retains to where I don’t even have to tell much of anything,” Hartenstine joked. “I don’t need to teach him. I don’t need to jump on him. When he’s out there, he can just wear so many hats and do so many different things. His speed out there tonight was definitely a difference-maker. He was amazing.”
Understandably so, no one wearing black and yellow wants this ride to end anytime soon. Especially if it means Jordan Lilly doesn’t end his Mennonite career without a second state gold medal come the final weekend of the month.
“I honestly think that they we played for the majority of the game against Trinity, that kind of sent us a message to us of, ‘Maybe we don’t have to wait until next year to make a serious run. Maybe we can make it now.’ It kind of started sinking in when we played Trinity very closely there for most of that game that we don’t need to wait,” said Hartenstine. “Some of these young guys, (Jackson) Bare, Daulton Nolt, all those guys are growing kind of quickly now.”
“Number two, we don’t want to waste Jordan’s senior year. I know he doesn’t want to stop playing. He wants to battle through it. We owe him big time,” he remarked of Lilly. “Tonight, none of us wanted to go home.”
For Mennonite, they hope that the time for rest and relaxation comes in April and not next week or anytime prior. And while a game against the school the Blazers beat in order to get to the 2A state championship two years ago, Holy Cross, lies in wait on Saturday, Wednesday night helped demonstrate as to why Lancaster Mennonite continues to have a bad case of cabin fever. Certainly not the worst diagnosis for a high school basketball team to receive during the month of March.
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