Grube, Reyes-Vega, Fellow Seniors Torch The Nets As Offensive Showcase Breaks Out In Annual Lancaster-Lebanon All-Star Game
Written by: Andy Herr on April 7, 2023
By any objective measure, when describing the 2022-23 Lancaster Lebanon League boys’ basketball season in all its totality, you’d have to say it was largely shaded in some sort of hue resembling that of success. After all, we bore witness to more than a few storylines that will surely resonate around the local hoops landscape for years to come. Shoot, even generations perhaps.
Among those achievements you ask? Well, we saw the conference’s all-time three-point record effectively go down in flames for starters. And although we can never really “root” for a team, you’d need to possess a heart made of stone not to feel some measure of satisfaction in seeing Hempfield finally eliminate their cruel demons as the Black Knights’ third-straight trip to the league championship would end on a happy note as opposed to the previous two years which were much more harsh and shrill in the grand finale held at Manheim Township once the buzzer sounded. But of course, the crown jewel of them all was unequivocally Lancaster Mennonite being able to finally scratch the L-L’s 20-year itch when it came to crowning a state champion –much less even getting there of course – as the Blazers’ powerful win over Aliquippa two weeks ago at Giant Center at long last gave the league another team that will forever be cemented into memory banks.
That said, the one common thread that can unite all of those notable accomplishments seen inside the L-L this season? The presence of senior leadership. And while one may have figured that the dust had finally settled on the 2022-23 campaign once Lancaster Mennonite hoisted that sought-after trophy high above their heads in Hershey that Friday afternoon just 14 days ago, there was still one last bit of business to take care of. That of course being the annual senior all-star game.
Now sure, while this has steadily evolved into a game where defense rarely if ever makes an appearance, big numbers and explosive plays figured to be plentiful. For if that be your cup of tea, Thursday night at Hempfield was well worth the price of admission and then some.
Remember that earlier nugget about the league’s all-time mark for 3-balls going by the wayside this season? Well, the agent of chaos when it comes to the league’s record books was up to his old tricks in this his final swan song as Manheim Central’s Trey Grube proceeded to get the evening kick-started by bombing in a trifecta of ridiculously long treys to help get the action underway as the future Lancaster Bible Charger propelled his white-uniformed squad out to an early 19-11 advantage near the halfway mark of rapidly-moving opening stanza.
But while Grube was the one pacing his squad, the crew who had assembled on this night by way of McCaskey was right there to cut their team’s early deficit back down to size.
Case in point, while a pair of back-to-back buckets chipped in by the De’Shaun McFadden cut the gap down to one at 25-24 with a shade over two minutes remaining in the opening quarter, an Eric Centeno triple knocked down by the other half of the Red Tornado duo made it a 27-25 lead in their team’s favor before the tennis match turned basketball game ended with the home jerseys owning the 29-27 after the opening 10 minutes.
Granted, while Grube continued with his tricks once inside in the second quarter –something best exemplified by two more long bombs en route to his game-high nine from outside the semicircle which spurred him to capturing a 27-point night’s worth of work – upping his team’s advantage back to double figures at 37-27, dunks on the opposing side by state champion Cam Hurst and Octorara’s Elijah Hamilton helped to close the gap before a patented spin move by Mennonite’s David Weaver allowed his team to enjoy the 48-46 lead with inside of four minutes left to play in the opening half.
From there, it was Jaevon Parker’s time to shine as the Lancaster Catholic Crusader proceeded to tally six straight points inside the waning stages of the first half to help give his side the upper hand at 52-50 before the dark uni’s ultimately ended the first half with the 59-56 lead to their name.
In the second half, the lead only continued to trade hands back and forth.
Ironically, the player who had the honors of scoring the very first points of the evening, Conestoga Valley’s Griffin Rishell, began the third quarter with a bang here as well seeing as how his 3-ball in the opening moments of the second half helped put his team back in front before a 3-ball down on the other end was immediately answered thanks to the efforts of E-Town’s Caiden Zeager as the soon-to-be graduating Bear gave his team the slim 71-70 lead with just inside of six minutes left to tick off in the frame.
And while yet another Elijah Hamilton dunk –good for two more en route to his team-high scoring honors in a 21-point performance – was preceded before a Cam Hurst 3-ball, the “home” side would be the ones going into the concluding quarter of their high school careers with the 86-85 lead thanks to a triple knocked down by another Manheim Central Baron, Zach Benner, which came right before the quarter’s final horn.
In the first half, Trey Grube had largely proven himself to be headliner who was putting on the show with an aerial assault from beyond the arc. Fortunately for him if he had any burning desire to come out on top with his assigned crew in this one, he had the good fortune of another long-range bomber there beside him on this night to help aid in the cause– Cedar Crest’s J’Veon Reyes-Vega.
Simply put, it was fitting that both Grube and Reyes-Vega happened to be the ones wearing the white jerseys on this night. Reason being how both two guards were donning the color resembling the hottest part of a flame given their shared white-hot shooting touch from bonus distance on Thursday night.
Here, inside the opening portion of the final act, Reyes-Vega proceeded to bury the first of his back-breaking triples which gave his team the 93-91 advantage with 8:30 left to play.
Coincidently, his 3-ball followed one sunk just moments prior thanks to Lampeter-Strasburg’s Luke Hines as the glue that helped to hold the Pios’ season together this year was justly rewarded with a 3-ball here in his final scholastic basketball game.
But the truth was, Reyes-Vega was only just getting started.
With his team already in front by a 96-94 count and time starting to wind down, another 3-ball sunk by one of the Falcons’ few departing seniors helped to make it a 99-94 ballgame before a Zach Benner triple not long thereafter made it a 102-94 affair with just inside of seven minutes left to play.
And while things admittedly got a little hairier heading down the final stretch, Trey Grube was on the scene to finish what he had helped start.
There, with his team trailing by the very slim 112-110 difference with time winding down, two more trademark daggers inserted by one of the faces metaphorically etched on Manheim Central Basketball’s Mount Rushmore made it a 116-112 contest before a 3-ball knocked down by yet another member of his particular program’s 1,000-point club, Hempfield’s Miguel Pena, gave their side the lead for good at 119-118 with just 90 seconds remaining.
Yet while the final score likely won’t ever be remembered (124-120 by the way in favor of the “home” team), this final ceremonial gathering had nonetheless achieved its intent and overall purpose when you consider that everyone who had come to Hempfield to play on this night was able to get themselves into the scoring column while wearing their school’s colors one final time.
Yet as for this 2023 senior class, they can rest easy knowing that they helped to author one of the more memorable chapters in this conference’s 51-year history. And while it may be totally inconsequential, I know I speak for everyone in saying that it’s been nothing if not fun to watch, much less help chronicle their shared journeys along the way in some small way these past four winters. Suffice to say, they all leave behind legacies that won’t soon be forgotten.
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