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Cocalico Rights The Ship, Overcomes Slow Start To Complete Season Sweep Of Northern Lebanon On Thursday Night
 

Cocalico Rights The Ship, Overcomes Slow Start To Complete Season Sweep Of Northern Lebanon On Thursday Night

Written by: Andy Herr on January 22, 2023

 

The last time we saw the Cocalico Eagles live and in action, their season was at a bit of a fork in the road if you will. Sure, that probably seems blasphemous on the surface considering that the Eagles were squarely staring down the barrel of a 3-0 start to section play –a start which admittedly was a bit surprising to some on the outside – when they welcomed not only the preseason Section Three favorite, but perhaps even the entire conference at large, the Octorara Braves, who rolled into Denver a few short weeks ago. And far as the fork in the road was concerned, Cocalico ended up veering slightly left following that eventual 72-56 setback at the hands of the up-tempo Braves. Even from there, the road to ho continued to remain difficult it would appear given that the blue and white proceeded to drop three of their next four games after that –two of which came in divisional play – which meant that time was suddenly of the upmost essence for a ballclub that came out of the chute relatively strong before entering the new calendar year. Suffice to say, successful nights at the office have now become the primary method of operation as far as the Eagles are concerned for the remainder of the regular season, a point in time which they obviously hope culminate in an eventual postseason berth of any kind. And first up in that very assignment came a home date with Northern Lebanon on Thursday night.

Ironically, the last time we had seen the Vikings in person as well, it was in this very same game played up at the Northern Lebanon “Snakepit” back in the middle of December. Unfortunately for the group from Fredericksburg, the overlaying theme that arose from not just that night, but the entire year as a whole, was an all too familiar theme in that it signified the Vikes coming up on the short end of all 14 games up until that point before that Thursday night tussle against Cocalico to try and settle an old score from earlier in the season.

So, if nothing else, the opportunity at hand for either team was most definitely the fact that for two teams that came in somewhat reeling, the chance laid out in front of both clubs engaging in this battle was tantalizing in the sense that someone would finally break through and quench their thirst for a much-needed victory as each frankly desired it just as much.

And in the end, not only would Cocalico end up receiving nourishment, but they also happened to bring their brooms along with them as the Eagles would end up completing the season sweep against their neighbors to the north.

But the eventual end result in this one certainly seemed somewhat muddied considering that the Vikings began the evening with a vengeance. So much so in fact that following a 4-0 spurt courtesy of 6’1 senior guard James Voight, the Vikings had packed a considerable first punch by virtue of their 9-2 advantage possessed at the 4:25 mark of the opening frame.

However, that would be the last bit of tangible momentum which the visitors would maintain for the remainder of the evening.

Case in point, following a Cocalico spurt –this one via the efforts of 5’11 junior guard Aaryn Longenecker – the Eagles suddenly found themselves back within a pair, 9-7, just 1:05 worth of game time later. From there, Cocalico was able to claim the lead following a put-back from another underclassman in the Eagles’ rotation, 6’5 sophomore forward Camden Ochs, which put the hosts up by a penny at 10-9 one minute after that. All told, it would prove to be a 13-0 run in totality that Cocalico would exert over the Vikings over the course of the final four minutes and change of the opening quarter, a feat of achievement capped off on the final play of the stanza as Cocalico’s Tyler Custer unselfishly gave himself up for a charge on the defensive end of the floor which was a fitting and apropos end to a wild eight minutes of play that showed Cocalico up by a 15-9 count once all was said and done.

But the hits (and points) just kept coming for Cocalico once the second quarter got underway.

Case in point, a 3-ball dialed up by of Longenecker inside the initial two minutes which awarded the Eagles a double-digit lead, 19-9, with the snowball clearly rolling downhill at Northern Lebanon by this point.

Then finally, and certainly not a moment too soon as far as they had to be concerned, the Vikings would be able to finally end their nearly quarter-long scoring drought thanks a timely triple knocked down 5’10 junior guard Kade Erdman to get the guests back into a bit of a groove offensively.

That said, the hill continued to grow even steeper for the boys dressed in blue as the second quarter progressed, something best exemplified by a Cocalico trey, this one thanks to the aforementioned Custer, as the Eagles then saw their lead increase to a two-touchdown margin at 28-14 with a shade over three minutes left to play in the opening half.

Yet to their credit, Northern Lebanon did their best to try and nibble away at the Eagles’ existing cushion from there on out. And perhaps in no way better was that illustrated than with a Riley Messinger trifecta mere moments before the second quarter buzzer blared out as the Vikes’ sophomore allowed his troops to get within a dozen, 31-19, as both sides retired to their respective dressing rooms for the halftime respite.

In the third quarter though? Well, Cocalico just kept right on rolling.

Granted, while Northern Lebanon, namely Donovan Brandt, would display some good mojo once he checked into the contest and promptly sunk a deuce to ignite the Vikings’ collective charge, an immediate rebuttal down on the other end seen in the form of a Tyler Hambright trey upped the Eagles’ margin right back up to 15 before a spot-up jumper tallied by the Cocalico 5’10 senior guard wouldn’t be far behind, helping to make it a sizable 41-24 advantage before the third quarter would expire 1:45 later with the Eagles holding serve at 43-28.

That said, if ever Northern Lebanon was going to try and mount a comeback that could perhaps result in their first win of the season, time was clearly of the essence. Well, to their credit, the Vikings would indeed rattle off a solid final charge.

For the specifics of it all, the impromptu Northern Lebanon flurry began with a key triple nailed from beyond the arc thanks to the handiwork of another impressive young gun found on the Vikings’ roster, sophomore guard Brian Bicksler, which got the guests within a baker’s dozen, 46-33, with six minutes and change yet to go. From there, an impressive reverse finish at the cup via James Voight would come roughly one minute later, effectively allowing the Vikings to get somewhat within reach at 46-35 time starting to dwindle.

Speaking of dwindle though, that would also accurately describe the Vikings’ chances of coming back for good as the final stanza continued to round into form.

Sure enough, in the immediate aftermath following the Voight bucket, Cocalico would proceed to rip off an 8-3 salvo to follow suit, a run which was capped off by a sweet reverse finish inside thanks to 6’1 junior big man, Adam Laudenslager, as the Eagles were then well on their way to victory as evidenced by their current 54-38 lead with two minutes and change still yet to go.

And once the clock ultimately did expire for good, the lights displayed on the scoreboard displayed high above either end of the floor made it readily apparent as to how and why Cocalico had picked up a much-needed divisional win at the hands of Northern Lebanon in the form of a 54-41 final triumph once the dust had finally settled shortly before 9 o’clock on Thursday night.  

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