Despite Near Miraculous Comeback Bid, Penn Manor Falls Short Against West York On Night Where Lower Family Cements Thier Legacy In Lancaster-Lebanon League History
Written by: Andy Herr on January 3, 2025
Michael Lower With Dell Jackson, His Dad’s Coach At Penn Manor, With Both G.J. And Michael Lower Now 1,000-Point Scorers At Penn Manor
“Time waits for no man.” We’ve all heard that phrase before, I’m sure. Try as we might at times, there still hasn’t been a scientific way proven to not just stop the passage of time altogether, but much less slow it down for that matter. And truthfully, nothing perhaps brings that notion to light more than the inevitable flip over to a new calendar year at the start of every January. Fair point, but for one team in particular, the Penn Manor Comets boys’ basketball team, while they have reason to be optimistic and excited about what potentially lies ahead for them in January 2025 and beyond, please don’t find fault with them if the group from Millersville might want to revel in the spoils of their December 2024 resume for a little while longer all the same.
Candidly, how could they not? In fact, much of the reason as to why this month and beyond look to be so exciting for this 6A outfit is largely correlated to their work compiled through the month of December thus far.
Hard to knock an 8-1 overall record through the first month of the year. That’s exactly what the Comets put forth through December this year with their lone defeat coming by all of 11 points at the hands of the Exeter Eagles, a program that was just in the 5A state championship game all of 20 months ago. Beyond that, the Comets compiled a perfect 3-0 showing against their fellow Lancaster-Lebanon League Section One brethren before punctuating their stellar start out of the chute with a Warwick Holiday Tournament title after knocking off the host Warriors in an overtime duel just this past week between the two teams currently residing at the top of the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section One and Section Two standings respectively.
Simply put, while you don’t want to necessarily be awestruck at Penn Manor’s success to start the campaign, it admittedly was somewhat of a surprise seeing as how the 2024-25 season was the first in the AB timeline – after Benne – as the Comets saw their best player in almost two decades, Ethan Benne, exit stage right and head literally just a few steps down the street to the Millersville University campus following his graduation this past spring. And for anyone that knows, Benne’s loss wasn’t just massive on the floor as much as it was off it as the newest member of the Millersville men’s basketball team could probably run for mayor of the town and win in a landslide if he ever so chooses to put his hat in that ring someday.
But much like the passage of time, it indeed does not wait on anyone. For that reason, just two days into the year 2025, Penn Manor would have to get right back up on the horse and ride again, even if they knowingly did so at the last moment, seeing as how a newly-added game against a strong West York outfit – one who has already plagued L-L League teams this year as it is – surfaced to the schedule for a tasty nonconference tilt on Penn Manor’s campus on Thursday night to help ring in the new year.
And speaking of time, while this night wouldn’t be Penn Manor’s finest hour in terms of the 32 minutes in which the Comets played, there was something far more special behind it that will only get better and more special, yes, something only possible with the passage of time.
To begin, West York simply came out firing right from the jump early on.
True to form, after eventually breaking free from the Comets’ press, run and jump, trapping style defense which Penn Manor has chosen to rely upon on this season, the Bulldogs seemed right at home from the outset by knocking home their first three field goals of the night from beyond the arc before jumping out to a quick 9-4 gap following a dead-eye trifecta knocked down by way of Luke Hoffman with nearly half of the opening stanza already expired given 4:10 left standing on the clock at the time.
And while Penn Manor senior guard, Michael Lower, would come up with a timely pullup jumper to whittle the West York lead back down to three on the ensuing trip down the floor for Penn Manor, a strong take to the rack later on by way of Chase Christofoletti pushed the Bulldogs’ cushion up to a touchdown at 13-6 before a final 3-ball knocked home inside of a minute left in the first quarter courtesy of Anthony Mann helped to bring Penn Manor back within a half dozen, 15-9, as the Comets’ rangy junior forward was able to splash home a critical trifecta from the top of the key to aid in the hosts’ overall cause.
But in the second, West York continued to keep the pedal down to the floorboard.
Right on cue, especially considering just how prolific the Bulldogs had largely been up until that juncture, a Jaedyn Kohler triple on the Dawgs’ first trip down the floor offensively helped to lay the groundwork for what was yet to come in the second act. Then, after seeing Hoffman finish off his easy deuce after a nice flash inside to catch the Comets’ defense napping somewhat, West York had built their lead up to double figures, 20-10, with Penn Manor forced into burning a timeout while still stuck in the mud offensively and 4:14 left to play in the opening half.
Yet the hits, or the West York buckets, just kept coming fast and furious.
In fact, while an Asaad Salim bucket at the tin might’ve seen rather innocuous at the time, it was certainly massive in its own right considering how the Comets’ senior guard helped to trim West York’s lead down to 11 at 25-14 with now inside of two minutes left to play in the second quarter. But even here, while they tried their darndest to try and keep pace with their guests, an easy lay in mere moments before the first half buzzer compiled by West York’s Conrad Beatty seemed to personify the opening 16 minutes perfectly as the Bulldogs were able to head into the clubhouse for the intermission while also doubling up their hosts given their 30-14 advantage at the break.
Somehow though, while West York was impressive amid the first half without much in the way of any real debate, their third quarter performance against Penn Manor was somehow even more picturesque.
How does a 20-point bulge up on the scoreboard work for you? Well, following Jaedyn Kohler’s second 3-ball of the game, that’s precisely what West York was seen working with as the Bulldogs had stormed out of any possible second half malaise by grabbing the 36-16 lead with just 2:10 having ticked off the third quarter timer. From there, their lead grew even more impressive in size and stature following a bucket in transition put home courtesy of Grady Hoffman with his deuce not just prompting Penn Manor into burning another timeout to stem the tide, but also making it seem like an almost insurmountable hole for the Comets to try and dig themselves out of considering it was now a 40-18 affair with exactly one dozen minutes left in the contest overall.
Keyword there being “almost.” For if Penn Manor had any sort of desires of making this a night to remember – in more ways than one – the Comets needed to start acting fast.
To their credit, while closer to falling victim to the mercy-rule rather than mounting a stellar comeback considering the time and score at hand, Penn Manor proceeded to eat the proverbial elephant bit by bit. And then, following a pair of triples knocked in by way of Logan Barnes and Michael Lower respectively, the once mighty West York cushion had been trimmed down to a 41-30 count before one final Bulldogs’ bucket in the waning stages helped to send the navy-clad visitors into the final frame with the benefit of having the baker’s dozen-sized lead of a 43-30 difference.
But the Comets continued to press the envelope down the stretch, in some ways personifying their helter-skelter defensive approach to a T.
Later, again, somewhat impossible to comprehend given where they just were a few minutes prior, Penn Manor had not just stolen momentum while riding on the heels of a pair of trifectas splashed in from the junior duo of Barnes and Kyle Knutsen respectively, but they had nearly stolen the lead altogether as Knutsen’s long ball made it a 49-45 affair with now inside of two minutes left to play.
Suffice to say, the time was now for West York not to get flustered and overstimulated considering they knew that all sorts of organized chaos if you will was sure to await them on their next offensive trip down the floor. But to their credit, the Bulldogs worked the situation perfectly, not just burning up precious time to make Penn Manor’s try at summitting the mountain even more arduous, but a key take to the cup to punctuate their extended offensive possession from Luke Hoffman made it a 51-45 bulge with now inside of a minute left to play for a massive two-point addition to their existing lead.
Maybe not enough time to steal the eventual outcome of the game perhaps, but more than enough time to cement a legacy all the same.
For that, following a breakaway layup finished off by Michael Lower which may have only made it a 51-47 contest with all of 1.9 seconds left to go, there was more to it than that. Granted, while it may have been the Comets’ final bucket of the evening in falling short of climbing the West York hill that they had worked so valiantly to overcome, it did however mark Lower’s climb over his own personal hill, the 1,000-point career hill, as the two-year Comet forever marked his place in program history by ending the evening with his career point total sitting at a sultry 1,001 overall.
Afterwards, while not necessarily totally inconsolable considering how his personal achievement came in the same game in which his team fell by a 52-47 final verdict against West York, Michael Lower was understandably not overjoyed that he didn’t get to celebrate the mark while also basking in the afterglow of a win for what would have made for a perfect evening. But that’s a good thing. Honestly, it’s a great thing for one of the foremost leaders to have while leading a team that has desires of their own in chasing down even greater program history as this winter continues to evolve. But while getting the mark is special, doing so while wearing the same uniform as your dad once did, someone who also is one of the few members of the Penn Manor 1,000-point club, is something that is quite frankly historic.
“I definitely felt a little bit of pressure,” the newest member of the Comets’ prestigious club admitted afterwards after posing for pictures and greeting a throng of well-wishers. “But I was just thinking about the game. I didn’t want to just lose and end up getting it. I really just wanted to win tonight,” Lower added.
As for the one who came before him, like any father whose son accomplishes something meaningful, he couldn’t have been happier for his next of kin, regardless of what the outcome of any final score may have said.
“Great genetics. Great genetics,” G.J. Lower, a 1990 Penn Manor grad and 1,027-point scorer in his day quipped afterwards. “But no. Just very proud of Mike.”
“Lots of time. Lots of time shooting with Mike,” the elder Lower said of the formative years between the two of what helped to help reach this momentous occasion behind 508 points compiled at St Joseph’s Catholic Academy in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania during his son’s freshman and sophomore seasons before what now becomes 493 (and counting) at Penn Manor by the end of this night. “Lots of YMCA memberships. Even to this day, we still go to the gym and shoot,” G.J. Lower explained to his high school coach during his career at Penn Manor, Dell Jackson, with Jackson doing a postgame video hit for his website, LLHoops.com. “Michael’s put in a ton of work to get here today. I couldn’t be prouder of him. Just very proud of him.”
Like anything, this will prove to be an evening that will get only more impressive as time slips by. Sure, there’s the current moment that comes part in parcel with dropping your second of the game of the season which now makes you an 8-2 ballclub heading into the first weekend of January. That’s understandable and easy to reconcile. But there’s a reason why they don’t put the circumstances involved in hitting such a career milestone up on the banner too. Once the time comes, the flag put up inside Penn Manor’s gym will list all of seven names under the header, “Boys’ Basketball 1,000-Point Scorers.” Ironically, two of them will also happen to make it look like a makeshift family tree of sorts. And in doing so, G.J. and Michael Lower become what is believed to be just the second father-son combination in L-L League history to hit the 1,000-point mark with both doing so at the same school in joining Michael Poole Sr and Jr at Columbia, with those two hitting their marks in 1986 and 2021 respectively for the Crimson Tide.
Rest assured, there will be no asterisk that says “52-47 loss against West York,” next to his name when the time comes. Instead, while this sting of this loss will eventually subside in short order, years from now, no one will probably easily recall the game, much less the outcome, in which Michael Lower joined his father in walking arm-in-arm in the annals of Penn Manor history with their names being listed on the same piece of cloth together. That’s a forever thing. Much like the relationship and love shared between a father and a son.
Follow LLhoops on Twitter @LLhoops
