Hempfield Oozes Mental Fortitude And Overall Toughness As Black Knights Rally To Knock Off CD East In Potential District 3-6A Playoff Primer
Written by: Andy Herr on December 31, 2022
You know, one would have to think that if ever there was a group of players inside the entire Lancaster-Lebanon League that has become more keenly aware of the wild ups and downs associated with competing inside one of the area’s best conferences over the course of an entire season, it would most certainly be this particular core group still hanging around at Hempfield.
Hard to argue with that assumption when you consider that the Black Knights created an identity of sorts last year when they routinely referred to the 2021 league title game –a game which they lost in heart-breaking fashion to the Lebanon Cedars — by inscribing the final score of said game on their wristape, 41-40, before taking to the floor in all their contests just a season ago as a reminder to not feel that same level of pain ever again. And while Hempfield would indeed make good on that promise of making it back to Manheim Township to participate in the league title affair once more last season, their eventual loss to Lampeter-Strasburg in the title fight that came via a Ty Burton pullup triple inside the game’s final few seconds was most certainly all the more painful given just how much of an emphasis that the Black Knights placed on making it back to the game, only to see it cruelly slip out of their grasp yet again inside the waning stages.
This year, with many of those same faces coming back in tow for one last ride in Landisville, a core cast that includes but is certainly not just limited to the likes of Miguel Pena, Michael Hester, Michael Rieker, and Kamyn Lawerence to name just a few, there was ample reason as to why this winter may finally, finally be the year in which the Black Knights crash through what has rightly or wrongly become their proverbial glass ceiling of sorts in claiming what would be an eventual league title. But while one may assert that Hempfield “deserves” such an honor simply based on the heartstring-pulling narrative that has enveloped their past couple of years here that could serve as the dictionary definition of close but no cigar, rest assured that no one found lined up opposite of them on the Black Knights’ schedule was the least bit interested in allowing them a free pass purely out of the goodness of their heart. Sure enough, that would be a lesson the Knights would learn literally right out of the chute to begin the year.
Ironically, Hempfield was awarded with the rare opportunity of trying to right the wrongs done against them at the hands of L-S following last season’s league title game as the Black Knights made the trek to tangle the Pioneers in the very first game of the year. However, here too Hempfield would have to become familiar with the lesson of bouncing back from adversity given that an untimely 17-4 fourth quarter swoon that went against them was so drastic to their detriment that it ended up proving to be the difference in the end considering that L-S went on to post a resounding message-sending victory over Hempfield to the tune of a 45-38 final verdict. And while Hempfield would indeed respond rather marvelously following that initial bit of hardship to the begin the campaign in ripping off a prompt six-game winning streak following the L-S loss, something best evidenced by their Carlisle Tip-Off Tournament title achieved just a few days afterward, another gut-check test would await them this Friday night.
It would be both a mental and physical challenge placed in front of Hempfield on Friday inside Buchannan Gymnasium on their school’s campus given that CD East had come into town. Yet as if the fact of facing an ultra-talented Panthers’ squad wasn’t already enough, how about the fact that the game would come just 48 hours following a decisive 52-36 home loss the Black Knights would experience at the hands of a familiar District 3-6A outfit they will likely have to make it through at some point in time this postseason, the Wilson Bulldogs? True, yes, but if one thing became abundantly clear following both the snapshots in time that followed their earlier loss against L-S and throughout all 32 minutes against CD East in this one as well, it’s that Hempfield will bounce right back up off the mat when times may seem to be at their darkest. In short, it has quickly become a group that is nothing if not easy to root for through their trials and tribulations experienced just in this first month of the season alone. And their eventual victory over CD East would help to lend credence to that.
As one would figure, especially here in a battle waged between two teams that came into the night residing on the #5 and #6 seed lines in the District 3-6A power rankings respectively, this one was a tight fit nearly the entire way through. Sure enough, the first real bit of separation up on the scoreboard would not come until the 2:50 mark of the opening frame once Hempfield 6’5 senior big man, Kamyn Lawerence, finished through contact inside to put the hosts up by five at 9-4. From there, the Black Knights’ lead would increase to a touchdown in the aftermath of five straight points authored by 6’3 senior point guard, Miguel Pena, making it 14-7, before a Michael Hester 3-ball to beat the first quarter buzzer gave Hempfield their largest lead of the evening at that point, 17-9, as the Black Knights’ trio of seniors had so clearly been the key catalysts as to why the home team found themselves in front at the end of one.
At the onset of the second period, Hempfield found themselves knocked back on their heels somewhat given the lightning-fast start that CD East had lobbed in their direction.
In terms of the specifics, it would be a 6-0 Panthers’ rally that was punctuated via a Terrence Jackson-Copney trifecta which sliced the Knights’ cushion down to a modest two, 17-15, with Hempfield having to call timeout with 4:37 left before the half. Even still, the Panthers just kept swinging. Chief of among them being an absolutely sensational freshman guard, Alijah Cooper, who would rattle off eight straight consecutive CD East points –including six of which came from beyond the arc—as the guests then found themselves with ownership of the 25-23 advantage with 1:40 still left to go in the opening half. On the night, Cooper certainly did not hurt his chances of earning some high-major scholarship offers potentially coming down the pike in his direction when you can cite his 20-point performance on the road against a 6A blueblood on Friday evening.
However, even with the winds of change starting to perhaps go against them, Hempfield, Miguel Pena specifically, would do his best to turn the ship around right then and there as his timely 3-ball shortly thereafter whittled CD East’s lead down to the slimmest of margins, 27-26, inside of the one-minute left to go. But that would be all the closer that the Knights would get to the opposition the rest of the way as the Panthers were able to strut into the locker room with the 30-27 lead at the intermission.
In the third quarter, the back-and-forth nature that had already taken over the game’s general narrative continued to hold serve.
Case in point, while Hempfield was able to surge back in front at 36-34 following a Ben Troyer trifecta at the five-minute mark, CD East would counter right back in the form of a triple of their own, this one sunk by Eli Vega, before a steal and runout layup converted at the cup by Panthers’ 6’1 senior guard, Demetrius Matthews, made it a 43-38 CD East advantage with 3:09 remaining in the third quarter of play. That said, the guests’ cushion would later balloon up to a difference as large as half a dozen not long afterwards as a strong take to the rack by way of Terrence Jackson-Copney would make it a 47-41 Panthers’ lead inside of a minute left to go in the third.
However, and as he would prove to be for Hempfield throughout the entirety of the evening at large, the Black Knights simply could not have done what they did had it not been for the efforts of one Nick Deeg.
Here, with his fellow troops needing some sort of antidote to try and snap themselves out of the spell that CD East seemed to place upon them at that point in time, the Black Knights’ 5’8 junior guard came away with a monstrous trifecta to beat the third quarter horn, making it a 49-44 Panthers’ lead heading into the fourth.
Yet even if Deeg wasn’t coming up with plays that directly affected the scoreboard, his consistent and persistent hustle found in diving after loose balls and things of the like was certainly contagious for his teammate to rally around and embrace. Then, with an even more direct example of his overall unselfishness, a pretty Deeg assist to Chase Calabretta underneath off the two-man game between the pair cut the Panthers’ lead down to the slimmest of margins, 50-49, just 1:30 into the final period. And with Deeg already having helped set the table in various ways, Miguel Pena found his opportunities to strike as a pair of takes to the cup by eventual game-high scorer put Hempfield back in front, 51-50, just a few moments later. In terms of the scoring output, it was in many ways just another night at the office for the Black Knights’ point guard given that would finish the game by netting 26 points to lead the field.
But those various jabs thrown between both clubs weren’t about to slow down in the least.
In fact, just when Hempfield would go back in front following a Deeg tripe which made it a 54-52 Black Knights’ lead, a traditional three-point play down on the other end via CD East’s Anthony Stevens would follow suit, surging the Panthers back into the pilot’s chair at 55-54. Undeterred though, guess who, Nick Deeg, would come away with another enormous play to aid his team as his hoop plus the harm in transition made it a 58-55 Hempfield lead with just 1:48 left to go at that point.
That said, as closers tend to do, Miguel Pena was about to turn off the lights on CD East with the game still hanging in the balance.
Yes, while CD East would roar back to within a penny at 60-59 courtesy of an Alijah Cooper take to the tin that came in the aftermath of Deeg’s latest batch of heroics, the most dangerous man wearing a Black Knights’ uniform saw the light of day in sizing up his defender, taking him to the cup along with him, as Miguel Pena’s bucket through the foul upped the Hempfield lead to 62-59 with just 33.9 seconds left to tick away. And while Pena’s subsequent free throw would fall just off the iron, a volleyball-type tapout on the miss courtesy of Michael Hester helped to save Hempfield’s bacon, much less the possession itself, as Pena would end up getting fouled anyhow once the ball found its way back to him and in turn putting the Knights up by four following a 1-2 trip to the line, 63-59, with time obviously starting to run dry on CD East at that point. Then, with the Panthers coming up empty-handed on their ensuing offensive excursion down the floor, two more Pena freebies at the charity would seal the deal from there as a gutsy and courageous Hempfield effort found in the form of a comeback win was finally cemented, 65-59, against a very game CD East crew that will almost certainly figure to be a headache for the rest of the Mid-Penn to try and contend with over the duration of this season.
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