Cumberland Valley Grinds Up Hempfield As Heady And Mature Eagles Make History, Advance To Program’s First District 3 Title Game In 21st Century
Written by: Andy Herr on February 28, 2023
When you reach this point of the season where the month of March is literally only a handful of hours away and the basketball postseason is only heating up with even more fervor, this is usually when Cinderella typically awakes from her slumber. Now sure, while underdogs with their can-do narratives typically end up stealing the larger audience’s heart and imagination, there’s something to be said when you get down to the nitty-gritty of it all –such as the case with Monday night’s District 3-6A semifinal round in particular — and the cream ultimately rises to the top. Granted, while maybe there isn’t necessarily a darling to be found here, sometimes that’s just as well. And true to form, chalk ended up holding serve at least in terms of the bottom of the boys’ 6A bracket entering the round of four when third-seeded Hempfield met up with second-seeded Cumberland Valley for the right to advance to Thursday night’s grand finale up at the Giant Center. Then, once you realized that this matchup not only checked all the boxes purely in terms of name recognition with two powerhouse programs, seeing that both had lived up to the lofty preseason aspirations placed before them and then some given their shared 45-5 records, Monday night inside “The Dome” on the campus of Cumberland Valley figured to put on a contest worthy of living up to all its preordained billing and then some with the stakes of the upmost importance for either side.
And at least in this matchup, chalk would yet again bend in favor of Cumberland Valley here as well on Monday evening.
That said, it would be the visitors from Landisville who would be the ones to land the first punch.
There, aided by a silky-smooth pullup jumper tallied by 6’2 junior wing Ben Troyer, the Black Knights had ushered themselves out to the early 6-2 advantage just three minutes into the contest.
However, believe it or not, but that would be the final time the rest of evening in which Hempfield would play with the advantage of the lead up on the scoreboard hanging high overhead.
In fact, following a three-point play courtesy of powerfully built 6’3 sophomore guard Nolan Buzalka, Cumberland Valley had cut the Black Knights’ lead down to just one, 6-5, before yet another Eagles’ three-point play a few possessions afterwards, this by way of 5’11 senior guard JD Hunter, made it an 8-6 advantage for the hosts with just 1:40 left to play in the opening stanza. And sure enough, the deficit would remain at two heading into the second as Cumberland Valley continued to hold serve by virtue of their 10-8 lead after the opening eight minutes of play with fruitful possessions akin to that of precious gold.
In the first quarter, all the field goals save for two were tallied somewhere within the painted area for both Cumberland Valley and Hempfield respectively. Finally, right from the outset of the new period which was then birthed, the shot chart for either side would begin to show some slightly different variations.
Case in point, a Dylan Levis trifecta which helped to raise the curtain on the second quarter as the Eagles’ 5’9 senior guard knocked the 3-ball to give CV the 13-10 lead just 55 seconds in.
That said, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Well, with that in mind, it was understandable as to why Cumberland Valley continued to butter its bread in the best way it knows how –by going inside – as a pair of hard-earned buckets from point-blank range courtesy of 6’5 senior forward Nolan Gilbert upped the Eagles’ lead to five at 17-12 with 5:20 left to go before half.
Then, if you can get both facets working in tandem with one another, you’ll surely be all the better for it. For proof of that, it’d be easy to cite the magnificent inside/out game employed by Cumberland Valley right then and there as a pitch out to Levis standing by his lonesome beyond the arc led to another Eagles’ trey as the senior made it a 25-19 affair with just inside of two left to play before the intermission. And once both teams retired for the game’s recess, it would be Cumberland Valley who was then firmly on the verge of perhaps running away and hiding, yes, with even an entire half yet to unfold, as the Eagles trudged into the break with the 27-19 advantage.
But run away and hide they would not.
That was if Hempfield’s Miguel Pena had anything to say about it of course as the Black Knights’ newly-minted 1,000-point scorer sunk a much-needed triple for his squad which chopped Cumberland Valley’s lead down to just one possession at 27-24 with only two minutes having been expired in the third at that point. Then, the Black Knights were firmly able to wedge Cumberland Valley into a corner seeing as how a Kamyn Lawrence bunny inside would follow suit, good for two more en route to the 6’5 senior big man’s team-high 14-point outing, making it a 27-26 Cumberland Valley lead with the Eagles forced into calling an early second half timeout.
No worries though if you happen to have a Cumberland Valley rooting interest. Simply put, you’d need more than a little spurt to knock these Eagles out of their nest.
Sure enough, even in the immediate aftermath of Hempfield having landed a significant body blow against them to begin the third frame, Cumberland Valley remained just as steadfast in their methodology. There, over the span of nearly the next three minutes of play, the Eagles were able to add to their lead, an achievement which was greatly assisted by a three-point play by way of JD Hunter which made it a 32-26 ballgame, with 3:25 left in the third. From there, following a pair of freebies converted at the charity stripe thanks to the handiwork of Nolan Gilbert with 1.6 seconds on the third quarter clock, the Eagles were able to head into the fourth with what felt like a commanding 36-28 lead all things considered.
And for a team playing with the opportunity of competing for their first District 3 title for the first time since 1995, you had the feeling that the fourth quarter may end up serving as some sort of coronation. Well, it would for Cumberland Valley.
Sure, while a Nolan Buzalka 3-ball, three more en route to the sophomore’s netting of team-high scoring honors in posting a 14-point effort had kept the difference at eight, 39-31, an immediate Chase Calabretta bucket for Hempfield down on the other end kept the Black Knights afloat, albeit just for a little bit.
But that would largely be the end of things right then and there from the Black Knights’ perspective.
At this stage of the season, while there is certainly something to be said for teams that contain the most talent inevitably winning championships and everything of the like, there also must be an appreciation for teams that display an incredibly high basketball IQ as well. And if you’re a basketball purist, Cumberland Valley would be a team that would do one’s heart good.
While some teams may have gotten a little trigger happy shall we say given what appeared to be open driving lanes presented to them along with open opportunities when it came to hoisting shots heading down the final stretch, the Eagles weren’t about to take the cheese and squirm into the impending metaphorical trap that Hempfield had laid out for them in the game’s waning minutes. As a result of their undeniable maturity, not only was Cumberland Valley able to continue holding the Black Knights at bay, but the hosts would actually be able to add to their lead. For that, look no further than a sensational take to the cup by way of Tzuriel Ogunnaike that made it a 41-33 contest with four minutes left to go, not a bad way for the 6’3 junior wing to tally what would be his only points of the entire evening.
And while a Kamyn Lawrence would be able to complete a sweet reverse finish at the cup with one minute left to go, that would effectively be the last bit of damage that Hempfield would be able to afflict on this night.
So, with Cumberland Valley proceeding to dribble out the remaining few seconds, it would prove to be a celebration that had been waited on for decades seeing as how the Eagles were able to advance to their first District 3 championship since the 20th century, 1995, thanks to their physical and workmanlike 46-35 triumph over Hempfield inside the Eagles’ dome on Monday night.
Again, while talent will help you at the very least compete on a journey the likes that Cumberland Valley is riding along right now, it’s the total team effort that can help push you over the proverbial finish line once all is said and done. Rest assured, that Cumberland Valley certainly is the textbook definition of T-E-A-M.
“When you look at the word team and you describe the word team, these guys don’t care who gets the credit, they don’t care who scores,” Eagles’ head coach David Vespignani said of his club in the aftermath of their victory which vaulted this 2022-23 Cumberland Valley crew into some rarified air in terms of the program’s larger history. “They push, they pull for each other. And even the guys on the bench bust their butts during practice to make all those guys better,” he added. “This is just a really good group who believe in each other, trust each other, and they’re just all about each other.”
Suffice to say, the sum of all parts is always greater than just one lone cog.
“It was different guys in spurts,” Vespignani said when talking about Monday night’s game specifically. “In that second quarter, we were struggling to score and Dylan Levis knocks down a couple in a row. In the third, Nolan Gilbert has a couple nice post ups and scores, Nolan Buzalka gives us seven (points), but even beyond that, Tzuriel (Ogunnaike) defended and played well. I mean, Jake Snyder knocks down his first three of the year, pretty good timing to do that. But yeah, it was just an entire team effort all night.”
And confidence too. That most certainly goes a long way without question. As it turns out, Vespignani has no qualms when it comes to offering that level of support to his troops too.
“We told our kids when the playoffs started, ‘Look, every time you step on the floor, I want you to think you’re the best player on the floor. Truly believe that you’re the best player out there and go play like it. If you have an open shot, shoot it. If you have a play to make, go make it.’ I thought our kids did that tonight,” Coach V added with a hint of undeniable pride in his voice.
Confidence in not just your own abilities, but the confidence to know and understand that your team will be able to withstand any storms that may arise on your pathway. If you’re wondering, yes, Cumberland Valley happens to have that in spades as well.
“It’s funny, when I first took over at CV, that first summer, we went down to Hempfield’s summer league and that was kind of my first time coaching our kids. I got the chance to know Coach (Walck) and he’s just an unbelievable guy and an even better coach,” Vespignani said of his fellow cohort. “We told our at halftime and going into the fourth that we’ve seen this (Hempfield) team be in situations like this five or six times on film where they’re down going into the fourth and they just find a way to win. We knew we were going to have to battle. Even with a minute left where we’re up eleven or twelve, our guys knew that until that clock hits zeroes, this isn’t over.”
But once it was over, it was due in no small part to the incredibly high basketball-IQ that Cumberland Valley possesses that is clearly obvious to even the most elementary of those with a roundball nuance.
“Again, I think our kids just trust each other,” said Vespignani of how a clear directive of culture manifests itself out on the floor, but particularly in crunch time. “I think our kids trust that if I give the ball up, I’m gonna get it back when I’m open…No one is concerned with, ‘Oh, I gotta get 20 (points).’ They just want to win the game. They know that if I make that extra pass, at some point, they’re gonna make that extra pass back to me,” he continued.
“I’ve been with this group of seniors since they were in eighth grade,” V offered in closing. “This is one of the first groups we’ve had come through and they truly believe in what we’re asking them to do which is great.” And if they hadn’t already, surely the bright lights and big stage that await them just a few minutes shy of the 8 o’clock hour on Thursday night at the Giant Center before they take on the Reading Red Knights for the District 3-6A title fight should lend even further credence to that what is taking place in New Kingstown is obviously working quite well.
Follow LLhoops on Twitter @LLhoops
