Columbia Tastes Fruits Of Early Labor As Crimson Tide Serves Notice To Fellow 3A Foes In 20-Point Road Win At Camp Hill
Written by: Andy Herr on December 12, 2023
(Artie Poindexter, LLHoops Player of the Game Against Camp Hill Following 20-Point Effort)
At the tail end of last season, the Columbia Crimson Tide found themselves on the receiving end of some particularly hard and painful lessons. Ok sure, but it certainly wasn’t as if they had failed to study and simply not participate in some of the practice exams prior the year-end slate of finals however. Far from it in fact as anyone worth their salt that lives in and around this slice of the high school basketball universe can attest to knowing full-well that the Crimson Tide truly live by the moniker of “Anyone, anywhere, anytime.” In fact, it could rightly be argued that pound-for-pound, perhaps no one more so than Columbia annually inserts itself into the discourse and discussion around which team that calls the Lancaster-Lebanon League it’s home can boast about when it comes to possessing the toughest schedule. And quite frankly, rightly so for a program that can (and should) correctly view itself as one of the premier players when it comes to the state’s 3A overall landscape. Even still, there’s a clear method to the madness that comes with scheduling the likes of Trinity, Executive Education, Manheim Township, Harrisburg, Berlin Brothersvalley, and Muhlenberg to name just a small sampling of the eastern Pennsylvania power brokers that Columbia willingly elects to go up against in the nonconference portion of their slate. A crucial ingredient in Columbia’s secret sauce since these were lessons that the Tide quickly learned firsthand near what would be the eventual end of their 2022-23 campaign.
Simply put, the primary goal and objective for the Columbia boys’ basketball program will always start with winning their section title within the L-L League. As far as last year is concerned, the Tide checked off that box in a very big way by laying claim to yet another divisional crown, this of the Section Four variety, as Columbia was able to withstand advances from the likes of the eventual 2A state champions, Lancaster Mennonite, found living in their own backyard. And with the spoils of that comes of the biggest prizes that the conference can pass out – a home game against a much bigger school in the opening round of the league playoffs. Truth be told, there couldn’t have been a better example to cite than the magic of what the week-long local tourney can offer than what was illustrated in Cedar Crest’s visit high atop the famed Hill in Columbia in the opening round of leagues last year. However, while Columbia would do their best to take the fight to the Section One runners-up, the size and depth that came with playing against a playoff-bound 6A school proved to be too much at the end of 32 minutes as the Falcons moved on to the league semis following their 54-40 vanquish of a game and ardent Crimson Tide crew.
Okay, on to bigger and better things, right?
Granted, while fileting a 6A piece of meat in their home gym was an assignment that doesn’t come along all that often for the Tide, their overall body of work was enough to award them with the #1 seed in the District 3-3A field once that tournament got underway in earnest a week or so afterwards. Unfortunately, especially as their die-hard fans are sure to always remember, the Tide surrendered a sizable 30-13 halftime lead to Delone Catholic, on their home floor no less, before eventually falling by a disheartening 54-48 final verdict. And suddenly, after having gotten knocked out before the district title game took place without them even being in it, Columbia woke up the next morning and found itself with it’s season on the line in a do-or-die game against Oley Valley. Finally, in that game against the Lynx, Columbia was not only able to avert a possible three-game skid which would’ve ended their season instantaneously, but it also awarded the Tide with that precious final bid into the state playoff bracket.
Problem is, the bronze medalist coming out of District 3 receives no party favors whatsoever from the bracket generators.
That said, even after feeling as if they had properly prepped for what all the 3A bracket had to throw in their direction, there was simply no stopping the Philadelphia West Catholic Burrs, Columbia’s opening round opponent in state’s last March. And while Columbia would own the lead against this rapidly-rising Catholic League behemoth, albeit by a modest 3-0 count in the opening minute, West Catholic left absolutely no doubt as to the eventual end result by virtue of their dominating 73-39 victory once all was said and done.
No shame in that though seeing as how the Burrs largely went through the playoffs without much in the way of any sort of damage or credible threat considering how West Catholic was able to lay claim to the 3A state championship last year, a journey that began in taking down Columbia at West Philadelphia High School on a quiet Saturday afternoon outside the city itself.
But to a man, Columbia head coach Kerry Glover knew after having gone toe-to-toe against what would later prove to be the best team in the state inside the classification level where his program resides, his earlier efforts of scheduling top-notch competition were certainly not in vain. If anything, it only helped to open his eyes more that his club needs stiffer challenges along the way.
“It’s tough because on one side of it, I try to reach out to a lot of 5A, 6A schools, and a lot of them just won’t play us,” Glover said postgame following the West Catholic outing. “We know the battle that we’re facing. We aren’t going to see anybody in our section like (West Catholic).”
Of course, when you factor in that nearly all the Crimson Tide production off last year’s team was due to come back into the fold again this season save for one or two pieces by way of graduation and/or transfers out, Glover and crew knew they had to step things up in the offseason.
True to form, after a grueling offseason that featured the likes of playing against literal grown men in outdoor summer leagues and the like, Columbia did all they could possibly do to help emulate and prepare themselves for the basketball wars they are sure to find themselves in at several points here over the next few weeks and months collectively. And if you know anything about Columbia, forget about the boys’ basketball program for a sec, but also the town itself, cowardly backing away from a challenge is something that is grounds for getting your citizenship revoked. Wouldn’t you know it, here came the Crimson Tide taking on all comers at the onset of the season.
Remember Executive Education? Yep, Coach Glover certainly had their number saved in his phone seeing as how the Tide scheduled the Allentown-based school right out of the chute to start the year. From there, just a very casual excursion to the City of Basketball Love Winter Showcase event held at Exeter this past weekend where Columbia opened with Upper Darby, yes, 6A Upper Darby, winning that by a close 43-40 count. The next day, the Tide were invited back and followed Upper Darby up by taking it easy on themselves in lining up against a 5A school (blatant sarcasm alert) in Dobbins Tech by way of Philly, a school that made it to the 5A state tourney last year with 25-3 overall mark.
Needless to say, while Columbia’s overall 1-2 record may have looked rather pedestrian to some on the surface, evidence would show that their opening triumvirate was littered with the antithesis of cupcakes. So, in scheduling such a daunting stretch to open things up, Columbia would finally be able to see how they stacked up against someone in their weight class on Monday night when they traveled to Camp Hill.
Ironically though, taking Camp Hill’s record with nothing more than a passing glance may be equally as foolish.
In all sincerity though, hats off to these two 3A schools in particular for scheduling up in the early portion of the season. After all, those in charge of these programs know that due to the lack of schools in the local area that seriously pale in comparison to other areas found in other pockets around the state, every bid into the state tourney for those who are so fortunate to do so will feature anything but a clean runway once there. With that mind, while the Camp Hill Lions began the week with an 0-3 record to their name, it bears repeating that due to being a school that lacks in sheer waves of bodies, seeing the school win the state soccer championship tied along with the football team making a deep run in the state playoffs in its own right, Camp Hill didn’t exactly have the luxury of easing themselves into the year in a basketball sense. That only compounds the issue then when you draw Chester Charter, arguably one of the best 1A teams in the state, before following that up with Philadelphia’s Calvary Christian which comes sandwiched right between a game with the local brand known as Delone Catholic right after that. In many ways, Camp Hill had taken a page right out Columbia’s playbook. And to their credit, yes, knowing that moral victories don’t show up as valid stats for a reason, losing all three games by a combined nine points against those teams in particular certainly says a little something about this Lions’ team that began the year somewhat behind the 8-ball all things considered.
So, with all that already in mind, both Camp Hill and Columbia had to be equally curious as to what some of their early returns on investments looked like going head-to-head with a fellow opponent they will be duking it out against from a power points perspective for the remainder of the regular season inside the 3A grouping. Yet as would become rather apparent right from the jump in this one, it would be the Columbia who likely felt a little bit richer come the end of the evening when it came to playing the basketball equivalent of the stock market game thus far.
Prior to tip on Monday night in this L-L/Mid-Penn tussle, if Columbia had talked about getting off to a fast start against their hosts from Camp Hill, let’s just say that the message uttered back in the Crimson Tide locker room was received loud and crystal clear.
Specifically, following a 3-ball knocked down by Artie Poindexter on the Tide’s first offensive trip which preceded as a steal and finish by way of the other wiry starting guard in the Crimson Tide lineup, Jordan Poole, Columbia had raced out to a 7-0 lead with 1:07 having gone by and Camp Hill being prompted into calling an early timeout to try and regroup.
And while the Lions, namely junior forward Alex Long, would respond to the challenge in due time with a trifecta following the early stoppage, Poindexter was able to parlay his early offensive work with that of the defensive variety as the 5’10 12th grader fearlessly took a charge for his crew. Then, speaking again in terms of the two-headed snake found in the Columbia backcourt, Poole came right in behind Poindexter’s earlier exploits with a 4-0 salvo of his own just past the halfway point of the opening quarter, forcing another Lions’ timeout with home club staring up at a 16-5 deficit with 3:11 left.
Regardless, the margin seemed to largely stay within that ten-point window no matter what over the final three minutes and change of the first quarter –as evidenced by a triple sunk by Camp Hill senior guard Jack Kennedy which made it an 18-9 affair—with Columbia claiming ownership of the 21-10 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
Here, once inside the second stanza, this too featured many of the same characteristics and narratives as the quarter previous.
Case in point, while senior guard Micah Reeves was able to tally a trey to aid in the Camp Hill effort to begin the quarter’s proceedings, the gap would race back up to a dozen not long afterwards courtesy of a nice flip inside via the handiwork of multi-year starter, Brelon Miller, making it a 25-13 Columbia lead with a shade over two minutes having expired from the second quarter clock. Later, the see-saw appeared to tilt back in the hosts’ favor once Jonathan Drawbaugh was able to tick off a 5-5 clip from the charity stripe that cut the Tide back inside of double digits, 29-20, with 2:16 left to go before the recess by that juncture.
That said, the teeter-totter went back in Columbia’s favor, largely for good, over the course of the final few minutes of the opening half.
While it’s fair to say that the Poindexter and Poole will typically receive the lion’s share of the scouting report on any given night for an opponent opposite the Tide, the fact of the matter is that when Columbia is clicking, any one of the starting five can burn you, maybe even when you least suspect it.
For that, look no further than Ladarian Miller triple sunk in the waning stages of the second act that seemed to slam the door on Camp Hill for good once Miller’s 3-ball helped to usher Columbia in the halftime break with the somewhat commanding 34-20 advantage.
Speaking of Artie Poindexter, he was up to his old tricks once the third quarter rolled around as well.
By the time the dust finally had settled, Poindexter was able to scoop up game-high scoring honors in netting a smooth and fairly efficient 20-point night at the office. In the early portions of the third quarter most specifically, here came a two-point addition tallied to his overall count at 5:40 mark of the frame in the form of a floater in the lane which helped to up Columbia’s lead outward to a 41-25 difference.
And while Camp Hill appeared to find some success living in the lane in using their sheer height advantage against Columbia –best exemplified by a pair of bunnies scored from Brighton McKnight and Alex Long respectively – a Poindexter trey immediately afterwards continued to keep momentum on the visitor’s bench given the 46-29 score with 3:25 left in third by that point.
Regardless, if he wasn’t the one doing the scoring himself, Poindexter had no qualms whatsoever in distributing the pill either as a beautiful dime from he to Jordan Poole who had leaked out in transition not only made it 48-29, it also helped lay the groundwork for Columbia to carry the 54-34 lead with them into the final period.
Fittingly, perhaps because it’s in their very nickname, the Lions refused to lay down without a fight in the fourth despite the aspect of the mercy rule being triggered against them appearing to be far more likely than that of a comeback bid just in terms of the mathematics. Sure enough, the Camp Hill counterpunches came fast and furious inside the fourth.
First up, Jack Kennedy having the honors in landing one against the Tide the form of a triple in the early going before a hard-earned bucket plus the foul via Alex Long a few minutes later almost made those in attendance start to think a little bit with the scoreboard now reading 61-44 with 3:26 left. Truth be told, the pondering almost surely got ratcheted up even further once another of the Lions’ noticeably tall frontline men, AJ Serdar, was able to finish off two point-blank buckets of his own to slice even further into Columbia’s existing margin.
Fortunately, at least those who had arrived at the Camp Hill campus donning the predominately maroon-based color scheme on this Monday night in early December were most concerned, their trip to the West Shore would not be in vain by the end of it all. If nothing else, their excursion across the Susquehanna River was all the more fruitful once James Harris checked into the contest and delivered the first points of his varsity career as the 6’2 sophomore remarkably became just the second player to score in a Crimson Tide uniform the entire night that is not a member of the 2024 graduating class.
And by the end of it all, while Columbia was able to complete their wire-to-wire win over Camp Hill in the form of a 71-51 final verdict in an early litmus test the gauge the District 3-3A pecking order of sorts, perhaps the most eye-popping stat was that 85% of the entire Crimson Tide scoring in its entirety came courtesy of starting five in this 20-point triumph.
Afterwards, Columbia’s head coach admitted that he too was curious to see what some of his team’s early tests would demonstrate against a possible team on Monday that the Tide may encounter come the postseason in the District 3 playoffs.
“It was something that I talked about with my coaches. Me and my brother Kevin (head girls’ basketball coach at York High) talk all the time,” said Kerry Glover postgame on Monday night. “I just had to keep my guys encouraged because I told them, ‘We’re not going to see anybody built like those teams until we get to states.’ The on-court maturity and growth that I wanted to see out this group from last year to this year, whatever we may have lacked over the summertime, the first three games helped us catch up,” he said with a chuckle. “Those games were all by design. We ain’t going to run from anybody….Upper Darby, Dobbins, Executive, those were three really good challenges for us out the gate. We knew we needed that.”
But the ones perhaps receiving the vast majority of the on-the-job training? Certainly without much in the way of sound debate that being the Crimson Tide starting five as again, 85% of the scoring on Monday evening against Camp Hill came by way of them. Even still, despite being what appears to be extremely reliant on a finite core group, Glover nonetheless trusts what the entirety of the roster can do for him when called upon.
“Honestly, if everyone contributes at least something, I don’t think it’s a problem,” Columbia’s boss when asked if he was in any way the slightest bit anxious looking forward in relying so heavily on the initial rotation. “When you look at most teams from top-to-bottom, there’s like two or three guys that do the bulk of everything. Sometimes, four, but that fourth person is probably the sixth man anyways, so I don’t mind being top-heavy,” he stated. “But we’re never a large program anyway to where we have a lot of guys,” Glover was equally quick to point out. “As long as guys come in off the bench and give two, two and a half minutes a quarter, like if you get anything outside of that, I’m as happy as can be….With the way we condition ourselves as well, we condition ourselves so that (the starters) can last for four quarters if need be.”
So yes, while Columbia now sports a .500 record at 2-2 through its first four games, there’s no need to hit the panic whatsoever in this river town. Just heed the words of the head coach directly if nothing else.
“I think we’re on track,” Glover added in closing on Monday. “I would’ve liked to go 2-0 over the weekend because I just knew what Dobbins lost from last year. Once I saw them on film though, I’m like, ‘This is a tough task.’ But if we can go out there and compete, I think we have a chance. I never feel like we don’t ever not have a chance,” he remarked proudly. “After that, coming into today, Lebanon on Tuesday, then York Catholic on Saturday, it’s nice because now we get to see some 3A teams, two of them in one week that we could possibly see in districts… I told my guys, ‘Don’t know worry about the record. 1-2 is fine. 1-2 could easily be 6-2 or 7-2 by the time we hit the New Year break. Let’s just take it one game at a time and remember those first three games, even though we didn’t lose all three, let’s remember how those games felt and give it that same type of energy and focus.”’
And if Monday night is to in any way perhaps be a harbinger of what’s to come from Columbia when they venture into competition against their own weight class later in the season, it’s quite possible that the Crimson Tide may very well end up donning the belt come the end of February this year.
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