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E-Town Makes A Statement As Bears Pick Up Signature Victory, Knock Off Unbeaten Hempfield In Crossover Action
 

E-Town Makes A Statement As Bears Pick Up Signature Victory, Knock Off Unbeaten Hempfield In Crossover Action

Written by: Andy Herr on January 5, 2022

 

When the calendar flips to the new year, it’s always a good time to sit back and look at some of the storylines that most would have figured were going to round into form before the season began in earnest just a handful of weeks ago. Sure enough, perhaps two of the biggest narratives that have indeed taken shape come from the ranks of the aptly-named Section One and Section Two groupings respectively.  

Inside Section One, a division that routinely steals nearly all the eyeballs and headlines -rightfully so if you look at history though- one team was largely figured to rise above all others. Now granted, while the season isn’t quite at the halfway point yet, it certainly seems as if the Hempfield Black Knights have been able to live up to all their anticipated billing and then some entering this week of action.

For a team that fell just one-point of shy of securing the league title last season, an achievement perhaps even more noteworthy given that the L-L tournament invitations were extended to section champs only last year, the outlook coming into this season appeared to be extremely bright. And how could it now when you consider that the Black Knights brought back the likes of Cole Overbaugh, Michael Hester and Miguel Pena into the fold, arguably the best three-man tandem that the L-L League has to offer. Then, all the talent, skill and coaching pushed aside, the added fuel that Hempfield figured to have with them would be bursting out of the tank given that the Knights’ final two losses last season came in the aforementioned league title game against Lebanon before yielding a runaway victory to the Wilson Bulldogs in the District 3-6A tournament, a defeat which would end Hempfield’s campaign that figured to serve as the biggest catalyst for the Black Knights to return back to form given the cruel nature in how each of those two contests eventually unfolded. Sure enough, at least given their 8-0 record that they carried with them into Tuesday night’s affair at E-Town -including a pair of tournament titles already this season- all signs pointed in the direction of Hempfield being right on track heading into January.

Of course, the other elephant in the L-L’s room was just how nutty Section Two is from top to bottom this season. That said, the E-Town Bears have more than done their fair share of helping to add to the zaniness of everything so far this season.  

For a division that for the last couple years that has largely been dominated by Warwick, a school that made it to the league final in 2019 and 2020 respectively, the Lebanon Cedars rose to the challenge last year and took home the entire league crown as mentioned against Hempfield. But pull someone from either the Warriors’ or Cedars’ camp aside and ask them who arguably was their toughest competition was save for each other the last few years and chances are that they’ll respond in unison by saying, “E-Town.” This year, while the focus isn’t necessarily transfixed upon one team in general, the Bears appear to be just as feisty as they’ve ever been. I mean, when you have a player that programs in the Big Ten are starting to take notice of and bring onto campus for visits, that can’t be a bad place to start, right?  But don’t let the Bears’ 4-4 overall record coming into Tuesday night fool you. No, this has been a team that’s been playing their best brand of ball their last handful of games, save for a six-point slipup at home on Monday night against an always staunch Hershey Trojans squad.

So, with all of that said, the stage was set for a collision-course type affair when the Black Knights walked into Daubert Gymnasium to begin the week. Would Hempfield keep right on rolling or would E-Town get that signature win to help kick-start a postseason push? Well, suffice to say, the Bears would be the ones to autograph all their names on the dotted line by the time the night was over with given their total team effort in knocking Hempfield from the ranks of the unbeaten.

In the early going on Tuesday night, the leading roles were seemingly reserved for two main actors on either side. For E-Town, 6’9 sophomore center Matthew Gilhool took his turn at stardom by pumping in the Bears’ first four points of the evening before Hempfield’s Ben Troyer would follow suit by tallying the Black Knights’ first six points in his own right as the two sophomores more than did their part in help to carry their team’s collective weight in the opening few minutes. Finally, when it came time for someone other than Troyer to emerge in the scoring column, those honors would be bestowed upon Cole Overbaugh as the Black Knights’ 6’5 senior center did his part to give Hempfield the lead at 8-6 following a smooth spot-up jumper sunk at the two-minute mark of the opening period. From there though, Gilhool would prove himself to be a nearly seven-foot nightmare for Hempfield to try and match up against all night long, but particularly in the waning stages of the first quarter as Gilhool proceeded to notch a pair of buckets in quick succession, an exchange in momentum which allowed the Bears to carry the 10-8 lead with them heading into the second stanza.

 Yet even in the second quarter, it seemed as if Hempfield had no answer for the Gilhool riddle.

Case in point, the sophomore big man opening the second frame with another pair of buckets to push the Bears’ lead up to 14-10 with Gilhool outscoring the top team in Section One at that point in time all by his lonesome by a 12-10 count with 4:30 left to play before the intermission.

Without a shadow of a doubt, whether the Black Knights could match up physically or not, the onus for Hempfield became to answer back via the offensive end of the floor. Well, fortunately for the Landisville contingent, they would get their wish on the ensuing Hempfield offensive trip when 6’2 junior forward, Michael Hester, proceeded to bank in a timely trey to slice the E-Town lead back down to the slimmest of margins at 14-13. Ironically, the Bears’ cushion would remain at one following yet another Hester bucket shortly thereafter, this one making it an 18-17 ballgame about two minutes later. Then, and not a moment too soon as far as Hempfield had to be concerned, the Black Knights would ascend back into the lead by way of an Overbaugh bunny inside, making it a 19-18 Black Knights’ lead on the very next Hempfield trip. However, Hempfield’s tiny lead would not hold up for the remainder of the final minute and change given that E-Town was able to head into the halftime recess with ownership of the 20-19 advantage.

If you’re sensing a theme here that Matthew Gilhool would prove himself to be a problem, you’re not mistaken.

In fact, the Bears’ big began the second half with much of the same fervor as he did to begin the contest by promptly rattling off a 5-0 run to start the third quarter proceedings -including splashing in a trifecta from beyond the arc just for good measure- giving the Bears what felt like a gargantuan lead at the time of 25-21 near the midway point of the quarter. All told, Gilhool’s performance would stick out like a sore thumb, especially when you considering he ended the night by posting a game-high total of 28 points by the time the night was through, an entire 18 points better than the next closest challenger.

However, Hempfield too has their share of stars as well. In that regard, enter Miguel Pena.

With his team’s ship starting to take on water at a dangerous moment in time, the Black Knights’ junior floor general proceeded to bury a timely trifecta following Gilhool’s own 3-point exploits with one his own before following that up with a sweet turnaround jumper in the lane inside the final 10 seconds of the third quarter of play, the latter of which was a much-needed bucket that would give Hempfield their first lead in quite some time at 28-27 heading into the final eight minutes.

Ironically, by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, if you happened to find yourself on the E-Town roster but your last name was not Gilhool, you had not yet had a chance to break into the scoring column considering that both Matthew and big brother Pat had compiled all the scoring contributions for the Bears up until that point. Well, that all changed on E-Town’s opening offensive possession of the final frame when 5’10 senior guard, Techeal Gonquoi, promptly cashed in on a triple once the Black Knights’ defense sagged off on him, giving the lead right back to the Bears with the fourth quarter getting underway.

Yet unphased by the magnitude of the existing situation, Hempfield kept right on chugging.

In fact, the visitors would not only persist, they would go on to claim ownership of the lead once again at 34-32 following a bucket inside courtesy of Michael Hester after a picture-perfect execution of the Black Knights’ delay game with 3:20 left to play.

But alas as far as Hempfield was concerned, that 6’9 thorn in their side was on the scene to poke them once more on the very next offensive trip as Matthew Gilhool then rattled the rim with a two-handed dunk to knot things back up at 34-apiece.

Even still, Hempfield executed their delay game to perfection yet again considering that this next series too would end with a Cole Overbaugh deuce inside to give the lead right back to the Black Knights at 36-34 with just 1:10 left to go. On the night, Overbaugh would go on to share team-high scoring honors with Ben Troyer as the senior/sophomore duo combined for 20-points between them with each contributing 10 equally to pace the Hempfield effort.

However, if there was an unsung hero that helped contribute to the E-Town victory, it’s pretty easy to give those honors to one individual in particular- Braden Cummings.

All game long, but particularly down the stretch, Cummings was everywhere defensively. After drawing the assignment on having to try and handle the lion’s share of keeping the lid on one of the league’s most explosive players, Miguel Pena, the Bears’ 5’11 junior guard was more than a pest on the defensive end of the floor, he was downright venomous. So, in perhaps the most fitting of ways possible, Cummings got his comeuppance on the offensive side by authoring a game-saving drive to the rack inside the final minute to even the score once more at 36-36. And while Hempfield would get one last look at things in regulation, Gilhool had no desires in seeing Hempfield win in walk-off fashion by using the length of his wiry frame with the upmost grace in blocking a would-be Hempfield game winner before it even had a chance to really get started, sending this crossover contest into a deserving period of extra time.

In the extra session, E-Town finally delivered their knockout punch.

Aided by a hard-nosed take to the cup by way of Cummings through contact which made it a 39-36 affair near the midway point of overtime, all signs pointed to the Bears ending this contest in a celebratory mood. To be sure, their temperament likely got a bit more spirited once Hempfield then turned the ball over shortly thereafter without inflicting any tangible damage upon E-Town’s existing cushion. And while Matthew Gilhool would be the largest source of the Black Knights’ headaches on this night, it was Pat Gilhool who would gladly pour salt in Hempfield’s open wound with a pair of back-breaking buckets inside after getting lost behind the back line of the Black Knights’ trapping style defense, all of which proved valuable in the end as E-Town would go on to send shockwaves across the entire L-L landscape by virtue of their 43-38 overtime victory over previously undefeated Hempfield.

 

NEXT UP: Well, what are you gonna do for an encore after that? For E-Town, it’s a well-deserved respite of sorts over the next few days before the Bears lace it up again on Friday night when they welcome fellow Section Two foe Ephrata into town before ending their current four-game homestand against Solanco on Monday night. Then, it’s yet another tasty and intriguing game, this time against Manheim Township, for a key crossover battle in Neffsville next Friday evening. Suffice to say, an already insanely competitive Section Two landscape just got a heckvua lot more interesting around the 9 o’clock hour on Tuesday night once their triumph over Hempfield hit the wire with the Bears barging into the scene an injecting themselves into the discussion with an extremely high amount of volume following this victory in particular.

For Hempfield, the task now becomes not letting this setback against E-Town morph itself into something greater. Of course, that’s always the underlying chore when residing in Section One, but it takes on even greater significance when your rivals are next on deck, the McCaskey Red Tornado, at home on Friday night, a McCaskey club that is much like E-Town in the sense that they too are looking to make waves by knocking off arguably the top team in the entire league this season. Then, following their first matchup with McCaskey this season, the Black Knights will also tangle with Ephrata as well with their matchup against the Mounts coming next Tuesday night at home in Landisville. Lastly, speaking of next Friday night, perhaps the game of the entire night will take place at Hempfield High School when the Warwick Warriors come calling for a matchup that features two of the teams that largely figure to be right in the thick of the league championship discussion come mid-February.

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