Dallastown Passes Stern Test, Uses Late-Game Tactics To Get Past ELCO As Wildcats Advance To Eastern York Holiday Tournament Championship
Written by: Andy Herr on December 30, 2021
No matter what a new year may seem bring, there often are the same old familiar storylines that eventually bubble-up and rise to the surface. Chief among them of course is that Lancaster Catholic typically will own whichever section of the Lancaster-Lebanon League that happen to call home. As far as most recent history is concerned, it has been Section Four in which the Crusaders have largely paid the mortgage for. This year however, following a litany of Lancaster Catholic graduation losses that left the Crusaders on the precipice of playing for a state title last season, perhaps the door remains open a smidgen for someone to barrel in and kick the door down by finally taking the division away from Lancaster Catholic once and for all. And hey, if the task at hand literally involves something related to pure, brute strength, this year’s edition of the ELCO Raiders certainly need to have their name tossed into the discussion.
For years, fans of L-L League basketball have grown accustomed to seeing ELCO rely heavily on what seemed to be an embarrassment of talented guards, highlighted by an occasional centerpiece big man the likes of transformational talents such as Colton Lawrence and Asher Kemble for example. This year however, that’s all changed. Instead of a tiny bunch of sharpshooters running around the floor hoisting from deep all over the gym, the Raiders’ frontline of 2021-22 would even make some small college programs blush. It’s true though. Behind the towering height of guys like Corey Attivo, the sheer size and strength of fellas like Luke Williams who clearly knows where any weight room may happen to be located, and a nice blend of both elements seen in the likes of a player such as Rheece Shuey, this ELCO group would surely feel right at home mixing it up inside with the intent to bully the opponent rather than running right past them.
And to their credit, that’s largely what the group from Myerstown has been able to do throughout the first few weeks of the season.
Coming into the Eastern York Holiday Tournament on Wednesday night, the Raiders were able to boast a 4-1 overall record, including a perfect 3-0 mark in Section Four play up until this point. So yes, while the sample size may be somewhat small, if anyone appears ripe for the challenge of perhaps snatching the crown away from Lancaster Catholic in that particular division, ELCO most definitely deserves some recognition in that regard.
Yet all that being said, the Raiders figured to face their stiffest test of the season yet to date in terms of proving their worth to a wider audience in an opening round matchup at Eastern York against one of York County’s most prominent heavyweights, the Dallastown Wildcats. And boy oh boy. For a matchup that came innocently tucked away in an opening round holiday tourney game, a quasi-playoff game in late December quickly ensued high atop Wrightsville.
In the early going on Wednesday night, ELCO wasted little time in proving that they held all the cards in terms of owning the paint. Case in point, Corey Attivo authoring a half dozen points out the chute to pace the Raiders’ effort as ELCO’s 6’7 senior center quickly helped his fellow troops jump out in front at 8-4 with nearly half of the opening quarter already having been expired. In fact, the Raiders’ cushion would later increase to as many as six following Rheece Shuey’s layup with 2:20 left to play in the opening stanza, a deuce which made it a 12-6 affair.
However, much in a way that personifies their very nickname, the Wildcats came back scratching and clawing as the opening quarter wound down.
In fact, following the Shuey bucket, an immediate answer courtesy of Dallastown 6’2 senior, Nazir Henry, allowed the ‘Cats to cut into the ELCO lead which also happened to double as a respite to quell the Raiders’ rising momentum. From there, Dallastown would be able to trim the ELCO lead down even further at 12-10 following a theft and subsequent layup by way of 5’11 junior floor general, DJ Smith, which is precisely where things remained once the final minute and change evaporated off the first quarter clock.
In the second quarter, Dallastown began to dial it up from long distance.
For evidence of that, look no further than Owen Strouse’s triple at the 5:30 mark of the second quarter as the Wildcats’ 6’2 junior sniper gave Dallastown their first lead of the evening at 14-13. Then, shortly thereafter, Strouse continued to remain white-hot from bonus distance by promptly burying yet another trifecta, this one upping the Dallastown lead to two at 18-16 with three minutes and change now left to play before intermission.
But like finely-tuned pendulum, ELCO would swing right back.
After spotting the white-clad Wildcats their initial lead of the contest, ELCO -namely Dallas George- came right down the floor on the Raiders’ ensuing possession following the latest Strouse triple and knocked down a timely floater in the lane to knot things back up at 18-18 within the blink of an eye. From there, the Raiders stole the lead right back following a knockdown triple thanks to the handiwork of 5’11 sophomore guard, Camden Marquette, as ELCO regained control at 21-18 roughly one-minute following what was at that time their largest deficit of the game.
Granted, although momentum was clearly sitting on ELCO’s bench at that point in time, a late Dallastown bucket, this one coming off a gorgeous DJ Smith dime to a curling Connor Barto at the hole which not only sliced the Raiders’ lead down to the slimmest of margins at 23-22 just mere seconds before the halftime recess, but it would also prove to be a bit of foreshadowing as well. More on that later.
Coming out the halftime break, ELCO went back to what seems to be hard-wired into their program’s DNA- bombing long-balls in from beyond the arc. Case in point, Rheece Shuey being able to light up the Dallastown defense with corner trey to make it a 26-24 ELCO lead once again just 1:30 into the second half of play to help get the Raiders started with another dose of momentum.
However, whatever mojo ELCO seemed to be enjoying at that point quickly got doused by the Dallastown contingent.
In fact, after successfully completing a quick 4-0 blitz that was capped off by yet another DJ Smith steal and finish which made it 28-26 in the Wildcat’s favor, a charge immediately then taken down on the defensive end on the ensuing ELCO offensive trip by 6’0 senior, Lavere Powell, helped lay the foundation for Dallastown’s largest and arguably most successful punch of the entire evening.
Truth be told, while the Powell charge would help demonstrate Dallastown’s grittiness, a pair of 3-balls rained down on two later trips -sunk by Owen Strouse and Smith respectively- helped show off the Wildcats’ glitz and glamour while also more importantly upping the York County crew’s lead to its largest of the night at 36-28 with the third frame starting to wind down. Finally, just when they needed it most, ELCO would finally start to whittle out of their existing hole with a late third quarter rally to roar back to within shouting distance, a run which was punctuated by yet another tough bucket tallied inside by Corey Attivo, making it a 36-32 Dallastown lead with the final quarter getting set to commence. Speaking of Attivo, there was little doubt as to who would prove to be the largest player on the floor -both in a literal and figurative sense- as the fundamentally-sound ELCO big man finished the evening by posting a game-high 21-point performance once the dust had finally settled.
Then, once inside the latch batch of eight minutes, Attivo would prove to be equally as dominant in this quarter as well.
In fact, following a hoop plus the harm, Attivo was able to make things all square at 36-36 within the blink of an eye, or more precisely 1:50 into the fourth quarter to be more exact. But just when they too needed a spark, the Wildcats would find one in DJ Smith as the savvy and shifty junior -who would go on to claim team-high scoring honors with a 14-point outing- went on to tally a pair of key floaters in the lane down the homeward stretch, the last of which made it a 43-36 Dallastown lead with just 3:47 left to play.
Speaking of sparks, it would prove to be Rheece Shuey’s opportunity with the game on the line as it turned out for ELCO.
After completing a sensational tap pass to a streaking Luke Williams in transition which trimmed the Wildcats’ lead down to 33-30 just 17 seconds later, Shuey would then have the honors of the shoe being on the other foot in terms of scoring the rock as the 6’2 senior’s bucket through contact knotted things back up at 43-43 just 35 seconds following his magnificent assist. And while Dallastown would rebuke that with a take to the hole by, you guessed it, DJ Smith, which handed the lead right back to the Wildcats, a dead-eye triple sunk in front of his teammates on the ELCO bench by a wide-open Dallas George quickly made it a 46-all affair with just 1:20 left to play.
Ironically though, for a team that likes to play as if any court they play on happens to be the Audubon, Dallastown proceeded to take the air out of the ball on their final offensive trip. Well, whether it’s how the Wildcats like to play or not, occasions such as what took place inside the final seconds on Wednesday night will certainly help give credence to the notion of slowing things down occasionally being in their best interest.
So, with time winding down, much in the same way it was in the second quarter, a successful delay-style attack ultimately ended in yet another DJ Smith to Connor Barto bucket from point-blank range, none of which were bigger than this finish through contact this time around which made it a 48-46 Dallastown lead with ELCO having to then travel the length of the floor if they wanted to provide some late-game heroics while having to navigate past just 3.1 seconds left to play.
And while ELCO would eventually be able to travel up past the halfcourt line inside the final handful of seconds, the Raiders’ final shot would be off the mark, effectively handing Dallastown the well-earned and hard-fought 48-46 final triumph over a very stingy ELCO cast to help vault them into the championship round right back at Eastern York on Thursday against the host Golden Knights.
Afterwards, while he may have had to sweat it out, rest assured that Dallastown head coach Mike Grassel was pleased to leave Wrightsville victorious on Wednesday night, no matter how the details inside the final verdict may have looked.
“We’re young and we’re still trying to learn how to win,” Grassel admitted just moments after addressing his victorious team in the locker room. “We go up one or two, then (ELCO) hits a three. Even when we had the lead at five, we jack a quick three, they come down and get a quick layup, we turn it over, then they come down and get an and-one and suddenly it’s a tie game,” the Wildcats’ head man said harkening back to a key stretch during the final quarter which allowed ELCO to regain some of their footing before going on to emphasize, “I was happy with our composure down the stretch. That was a nice pass by DJ Smith and a nice finish by Connor Barto,” in reference to final score which helped get his squad over the hill for good.
“A win’s a win,” Grassel went on to say. “With a young team, we need to see winning. Every game where we can see a win, we can even play a single-A school, as long as we can get a win right now and get that taste in our mouth for our guys, that’s big.”
As mentioned though, perhaps the most ironic part for the way in which Dallastown was able to ultimately prevail, by taking the air out of the ball for a team that so often loves to use every square inch of hardwood allotted to them, learning how to win, even if goes against their instinctive nature, is a lesson best-learned over the spoils of a victory.
“It’s a give and take,” said Grassel of his team’s desire to play with good-natured abandon while also learning how to maximize each and every possession. “Good teams, even the McCaskey’s, the Harrisburg’s and York High’s of the world, when they needed to, they could run two-minutes off the clock with the delay game. Now, if we get a shot clock installed, that changes everything up. Hopefully that happens soon,” he quipped. “Yes, we go, go, go, but we work every day on situations and getting good looks,” he went on to say his regarding his team specifically. “In the Cedar Cliff Shootout (in October), we shot a quick shot up by one point with 50 seconds left in overtime… They’re getting better at it though. I told our guys and I bring that up over and over, ‘This ain’t the Cedar Cliff Shootout. This is the regular season now.’ But yeah, if (his players) could shoot off of one pass, they’d live a great life and I’d have more white hair, but they’d love it,” he said with a laugh.
All told though, whether it just be the Eastern York holiday tourney or not, if Dallastown could head home as champions by the time late Thursday night rolls around, it’s safe to assume that it would be an achievement worth celebrating should the Wildcats be able to do so.
“It’s a culture thing,” Grassel said in closing for what he is trying to simultaneously achieve this year while also trying to rack up the tangible wins as well. “I want our guys to feel winning. If we can win (on Thursday), that’d be a three-game winning streak. If you would’ve told me that two to three weeks ago, I certainly would’ve taken that at the time.”
NEXT UP: While Dallastown moves onto the championship round, ELCO will take part in the consolation contest on Thursday night against the Spring Grove Rockets, a group that came up just short against Eastern York by a 55-45 final count in opening round action. Then, coming out of the holiday break, the Raiders set forth once again on their journey with a pair of games against Annville-Cleona and Hamburg respectively, before a much-anticipated first matchup with Lancaster Catholic in Myerstown on Friday night January 7th before embarking on an entire slate of Section Three crossover contests over the next couple weeks with an another powerful squadron, the Wyomissing Spartans, lying in the weeds within that stretch of crossover play.
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