Big Spring Starts Fast, Holds Off Furious Donegal Rally As Bulldogs Prevail In Nonleague Tilt
Written by: Andy Herr on January 15, 2021
In Lancaster-Lebanon League circles, it’s really been no secret that the Donegal Boys’ Basketball program has fallen on hard times over the last decade or so since that memorable state tournament run in 2013. Unfortunately, aside from a brief appearance in the District 3 tournament a few years ago, wins for the Indians on the hardwood have been in short supply. However, with L-L Section Four appearing to be more wide-open than it’s been in recent memory this year, along with a bevy of returning talent coming back into the fold this season, indications remain high that the gang from Mount Joy will be able to snatch a few victories as this 2021 season moves along. In fact, one only needs to look at the Indians’ first two games of the season for proof of that in outings which saw Donegal fight a very underrated Northern Lebanon squad tooth and nail before finally succumbing to the Vikings in a 61-53 final decision, before very nearly coming up victorious the very next afternoon deep in the bowels of York County at hands of Susquehannock, 71-67. To be frank, although the sample size remains small, it is evident through just those few initial contests that Donegal is a team that has vastly improved over the course of the longer than normal offseason. So, with Donegal finally returning home on Thursday evening for their home opener that just so happened to be parlayed into 2021 Senior Night, Donegal was eager to finally get rid themselves of the demons that have continued to haunt them when they welcomed the Big Spring Bulldogs into town.
In the opening few minutes on Thursday night, both Big Spring and Donegal continued to throw jabs at one another. When the Bulldogs will hit a bucket, so too would the Indians on the next trip down the floor. Well, that was until Big Spring’s Tucker Lowery proceeded to get loose from behind the arc as the Bulldogs’ 5’11 junior guard popped in three triples in the opening few minutes, helping Big Spring get out to the early 11-9 cushion. And while Lowery was the catalyst who had gotten the party started, his fellow Bulldog, freshman Jake Knouse, poured in a 3-ball of his own shortly thereafter, upping the Big Spring lead to 14-8 just past the midway point of the opening stanza.
Sensing a theme here? If you’re thinking that Big Spring would bomb in yet another trifecta, you’d be correct.
With the Bulldogs protecting their lead at half a dozen, 6’2 senior guard Matt Ward then got into action, promptly nailing his own 3-ball to make it a 17-8 Bulldogs’ lead, forcing Donegal to burn a timeout with 3:07 remaining in the first to try and figure out a way to cool off the hot-shooting group from Newville. Ironically, seeing as how Ward had just canned a trey moments earlier, it seemed only fitting that he then do it the old-fashioned way, finishing off the hoop plus the harm with the free throw added on top to then make it a double-digit Bulldog lead at 20-10, before the finally 1:30 of the opening frame eventually expired with the Bulldogs’ lead standing at a dozen, 22-10.
Once the second quarter got underway, it seemed as if a brand new Donegal team had emerged from the break in between quarters. For that, look no further than Jaden Fabian’s 3-ball to start the second quarter proceedings, getting the Indians back within single figures at 22-13. From there, arguably Donegal’s most valuable commodity, 6’2 junior forward Khalil Masden, showed off his weaponry by tallying the next six Donegal points, with moves that varied from finishing at the cup along with a sound midrange game. However, just when it had seemed that perhaps a Masden-engineered run would help fuel a Donegal surge, the Bulldogs’ poured the cold water on those aspirations with yet another triple, this one from Knouse, helping Big Spring push their lead back out to double digits at 31-20. From there, while Fabian would go on to nail the second of his third triples on the evening to help draw Donegal ever so closer, Big Spring was eventually able to head off into the locker room with ownership of the 37-22 lead.
Right from the onset of the third quarter, it quickly became rather obvious that Big Spring had no desire whatsoever to allow their hosts to even flirt with the idea that the opening minutes of the second half would be any different than the final few minutes which had preceded it. For that, look no further than Matt Ward’s 5-0 run right out of the chute, helping him proceed en route to his game-high 23-point performance on the evening, allowing the Bulldogs to race out the commanding 42-24 lead with the second half just barely in its infancy.
Yes, even though it was near impossible to ignore the fact that Big Spring’s lead was alarmingly high at that point in time, it didn’t appear as if it really phased the Indians all that much.
Just when it had seemed as if the Bulldogs’ would be able to run away and hide for the remainder of the evening, Khalil Masden clearly had other ideas. After earning himself a steal with a subsequent bucket down on the other end, before then following that up with yet another finish in transition shortly thereafter, the Indians’ dynamic junior had clipped the Big Spring lead back down to a dozen at 49-37 with 1:30 left to go in the third. On the evening, Masden was clearly the centerpiece of the Donegal effort, finishing the contest by posting a team-high 19-point outburst. And with Masden already having done the brunt of the legwork up until that point, the Indians were then able to cut into the Big Spring lead even further coming on the heels of another Jaden Fabian triple, making it a 49-40 ballgame heading into the final eight minutes.
Suffice to say, especially given had much of the contest had already played itself out, it was nothing if not remarkable to even give credence to the idea that Donegal may be able to pull this one out of the fire given how Big Spring had largely controlled things up until that point. Yet here they were, trimming the Bulldogs’ lead down even further in the opening minutes of the final period.
Seeing as how Thursday was already given the designation of Senior Night, it seemed rather apropos to have a senior step up in his team’s time of need. And while he had largely been kept in check by the extremely active Big Spring defense throughout a majority of the night, Donegal’s 5’11 senior point guard, Luke Yunginger, was eventually able to shake himself free from the Bulldogs’ shackles, collecting a well-earned steal before finishing it off at the cup to make it a five-point Big Spring lead at 49-44 with six minutes still left to go. From there, Yunginger remained a steading and calming hand for the Indians down the home stretch by sinking a cool pullup jumper later on, keeping Donegal within shouting distance at 51-46 with 3:57 still to go.
And while it seemed almost unfathomable given how much momentum was clearly riding with Donegal at that very snapshot in time, that would prove to be all the closer that the hosts would get for the remainder of the night as the Indians were unable to make any more incisions into the Big Spring cushion from there on out, allowing the Bulldogs to stave off a valiant Donegal charge with a crucial 6-0 run down the final furlong, thanks in large part to their stifling defensive effort, to avoid a setback at the hands of this pesky Indians’ crew, 57-46.
NEXT UP: For Donegal, the road certain doesn’t appear to get any easier for the Indians their next time out considering that they will be tasked with traveling up to Myerstown on Friday night to matchup against what appears to be a very good and improving ELCO group, especially considering that the Raiders had just gone on the road and knocked off another Section Four favorite, Octorara, on Wednesday night. And as if that wasn’t already enough, the Indians currently possess a schedule that doesn’t see them leaving L-L Section Four competition until February 6th when they travel up to Berks County to tangle with Schuylkill Valley. Even still, if Donegal can replicate some of that same energy and intensity that they were able to ride with throughout much of the second half on Thursday night, don’t be so surprised to look up and see the Indians eventually crack into the win column this year, whether it be in Section Four or otherwise.
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