In Battle of E’s, Ephrata Gets The W As Mounts Hold Serve At Home In Turning Away Elizabethtown Effort To Keep Postseason Dreams Alive
Written by: Andy Herr on January 26, 2024
Ever since Manheim Central and Warwick combined to join forces inside of Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two boys’ basketball a few years ago now, seeing both the Barons and Warriors effectively take the division by sheer force has largely been one of the worst kept secrets found within the conference since that powerful tandem came into existence. Needless to say, those close to the scene may have rightly been left wondering who, if anyone, would be able to rise up and challenge either one when it comes to section supremacy. Well, throughout the first go-round of league play found so far this season, it appears as if there may be there is a purple-dressed rider storming in on horseback to try and lend a hand.
Ever since head coach Scott Gaffey got the keys to the Ephrata Mounts’ machine four years ago, the purple and yellow have been on a steady –albeit methodical at times– climb back up the L-L League echelon. This year, it seems as if Ephrata has at long last been able to make the transformation from being the cute little story to being a legitimate threat to take heed of. And perhaps that was no better evidenced than with the Mounts’ 41-37 win on January 5th at home over one of those two aforementioned stalwarts, Manheim Central, as the Mounts were able to hand the Barons their first loss of the entire season, with Ephrata also in the midst of winning four of what would prove to be five consecutive victories spanning from late December into early January at the time before eventually seeing that wins streak come to an end by virtue of falling short at home to the other foremost juggernaut, Warwick, by a fairly decisive 63-46 final verdict in front of a raucous crowd their overall success had helped stir up.
For their efforts, when Ephrata entered their Friday night home matchup against E-town, the Mounts were still firmly entrenched in the thick of the Section Two race as Manheim Central and Ephrata began the evening with both tied amongst themselves with two league losses apiece with each falling victim to Warwick on their home floors already. That said, Ephrata could’ve just as easily been found standing all by their lonesome in second position had they not dropped a game at home against an up-and-coming Garden Spot bunch on Tuesday night in a setback that may prove to be the deciding factor as to whether or not Ephrata is able to make the league tournament this season once everything eventually comes out in the wash in just a few weeks.
Beyond that though, Ephrata’s solid 10-5 overall record achieved thus far is equally appealing when it comes to the District 3 playoff race as well. In that regard, the Mounts began the night while placed in the 14th hole which is vital considering how only a dozen teams will receive bids to that 6A field once everything gets decided. So, suffice to say, welcoming the Bears into their purple palace known as Ephrata Middle School was a challenge that Ephrata could ill afford to let slip.
For the Elizabethtown Bears on the other hand, it’s admittedly been a bit of an uphill climb so far this season. However, even despite their 2-15 overall mark which they owned upon entering Friday evening, one could easily argue that the Bears’ record is nothing if not deceiving all things considered. How so you ask? Well, aside from the fact that E-town was able to essentially stun the entire league a week before Christmas with an impressive 65-52 road win at Penn Manor, still one of the best teams found in L-L Section One pound for pound, the Bears have most certainly kept the rest of their divisional brethren honest along the trail. For that, look no further than a narrow one-point loss to Garden Spot along with Manheim Central having to ride a Herculean-type performance courtesy of Aaron Enterline’s 32-point outburst for the Barons to finally head home unscathed with a hard-fought 56-50 triumph on Monday night this week. From there, aside from tallying their other win on the year in the form of a 40-34 decision against Solanco earlier this month, E-town made the division front-runner, Warwick, earn every bit of the Warriors’ eventual 61-48 win that took place on Thursday evening.
The only missing ingredient from E-town’s resume thus far? Certainly the oddity that Friday night, January 26th, would be their first matchup against Ephrata this season in a game that was postponed from earlier this month due to Mother Nature getting involved at the time. Then, when you factor in the Bears’ propensity for making essentially all of Section Two already be forced to fight tooth and nail against them at some point during the year, especially with Ephrata having already dropped a section game at home this week, it was easy to see as to why the Mounts were right to be on high alert in the event of E-town being more than capable of springing another trap in their house.
Fortunately, as far as they were most concerned that was, while E-town would pose their share of challenges throughout the night, this one was largely a game bathed in Ephrata’s colorway come the end of 32 minutes’ worth of play.
When it came to the first little of separation between these two on the final evening of the work week, Ephrata would be the one to reap those spoils.
Specifically speaking, Brayden Brown as it turned out was only just getting started once he fired in a corner trey early on to give the Mounts a lead which they would never relinquish the rest of the way at 6-5 with three minutes having gone by in the first. Beyond that, Brown, the eventual team-high scorer on the night in posting a baker’s dozen to pace the Mounts, was able to help double up E-town roughly a minute later as the junior flashed many on the same attributes he possesses during the fall for the school’s football team in playing running back as the Ephrata junior was able to finish off a steal with a layup in transition to put the hosts on top, 10-5, before a Cooper Truskey trifecta made it a 13-5 ballgame just a few second afterwards. All told, the Ephrata lead would climb as high to as many as ten as the Mounts were later seen enjoying a 15-5 buffer following a pair of Marqus Hardin freebies at the charity stripe with 2:35 still showing on the first quarter clock.
Finally, right when they needed it most assuredly, E-town would be able to get into a groove and turn the dial up against their opposition right then and there.
And while a smooth jumper knocked in by 6’1 senior wing, Noah Locke, may have seemed rather innocent at the time considering it only made it a 15-7 game with 75 seconds left in the opening act, a 3-ball poured in by way impressive 5’9 sophomore guard, Nate Poff, wasn’t far behind as the Bears were able to successfully weather the early storm for all intents and purposes despite their 15-10 shortcoming at the end of the first.
Ironically, for as comfortable and carefree as Ephrata had appeared to be while operating on the offensive end against E-town in the opening frame on Monday night, the cruel winds of change swept in and promptly knocked the Mounts off course.
There, with Ephrata having cooled off considerably as the second quarter moved onward, a Brandon Andrews take to the cup for E-town suddenly made it a much more mundane 17-14 Ephrata lead considering how it appeared initially that the Mounts may have been able to fairly quick work of the Bears given how the outing seemed to start.
Yet for as much as Ephrata may have sputtered at times while struggling to put the ball through the net, the key difference with this year’s team when compared directly against some of their teams of the more recent past, it’s that an offensive lull these days isn’t necessarily an automatic killer that puts them in a position of which they cannot overcome. In fact, as the Mounts showed on Friday night, they have the ability to put up some fireworks of their own.
First up in that regard came a timely rejection defensively by Brayden Brown before he would immediately race coast-to-coast to the tin with his newfound prize in tow as the quick four-point swing in terms of momentum authored by Brown made it a 19-14 Mounts’ advantage with 3:20 left in the first half by that point. From that point on though, the Mounts were off and running.
In fact, no sooner than when it felt as if E-town may have finally been able to draw back even –if not make a deeper incision into Ephrata’s lead at the very least — did things quickly turn on a dime from their perspective. That said, when Ephrata 5’11 junior guard, Cayden Landis, proceeds to tally his own personal 5-0 salvo both from beyond and inside the arc, it’s understandable as to why the gap would suddenly swell back up to double figures, 24-14, roughly 1:10 afterwards. However, the Mounts would only continue exacerbating the difference up on the scoreboard prior to the halftime break from there on out as a triple knocked down by Gavin Haupt, gutting it out with his sturdy leg brace and all, helped to vault Ephrata into the locker room following a whirlwind of a second quarter finish which saw the hosts climb back in front, 29-14.
Perhaps it was maybe just the odd-numbered quarters acting in duality, but many of the same threads which had enveloped the opening frame on Friday evening appeared to ring true yet again come the third as well. Most specifically, that being Ephrata’s ability to kick their feet up and operate rather comfortably while on offense.
Sure enough, on the Mounts’ opening possession of the second half no less, did Ephrata find easy pickings from close range as a wonderfully drawn up play out of the intermission would result in Marqus Hardin finishing off a lob play at the cup which helped the impressive 6’1 junior finish his evening with a solid 12-point night of work personally. From there, the Mounts would roar out to a 38-19 advantage on the heels of yet another trifecta dialed up by their 6’0 junior sniper, Cooper Truskey, with only two minutes and change having evaporated off the third quarter clock by that stage.
At this point, it was obvious that E-town needed to find answers if they wished to keep the deficit at a level of which they could try and manage throughout the remaining second half minutes. And pronto too. For that particular assignment, the Bears would turn to one Brandon Andrews. Smart choice as fate would have it.
While he may not garner as many headlines as other top ballers found inside the league this season, Brandon Andrews nonetheless deserves his fair share of flowers too without question. Granted, while it may be easy to overlook the efforts of someone on a sub .500 team, that would be doing the Bears’ 6’3 junior an incredible disservice seeing as how Andrews can flip the switch and quickly go off when it comes to scoring in bunches with the best of ‘em. In fact, that’s largely the reason as to why Andrews is the Bears’ leading scorer on the year in posting a rather sultry 15 points-per-game clip if you round it up. And as Ephrata was soon to discover, they were about to be his latest victim.
First, while it may have seemed rather tame considering how an Andrews take to the cup only made it a 42-23 affair with 4:25 left in the third, he just kept forcing the issue upon the Mounts in short order. Case in point, a trifecta thrown in that made it a 14-point differential a minute later at 42-28. Finally, with Andrews largely helping to put the Bears on his back, E-town found themselves flirting with potentially cutting it back to within single digits, 44-33, as the game-high scorer would add three more en route to what be a very loud 18-point night of work in totality for Andrews.
However, with the game starting to teeter and topple somewhat, the question was whether or not Ephrata would bounce back up off the mat with many of their postseason aspirations still largely in front of them despite things appearing to spiral away from them. In short, respond they most certainly would.
In eventuality, even amid Brandon Andrews doing yeoman’s work when it came to helping steer E-town back into the fray, a timely 7-0 Ephrata spurt to wrap up the third frame –punctuated by a coast-to-coast finish by 5’10 sophomore guard, Ty Custer – allowed the Mounts to conjure up some of that much needed breathing room as they proceeded to carry the 51-33 lead with them into the final eight minutes.
But inside the final stanza, E-town would continue to be kept at arm’s length for the most part.
Case in point, while a Marqus Hardin bucket inside kept the gap at 16, 53-37, a 3-ball fired in by way of another of the Bears’ potent underclassmen scorers, Nate Poff, cut it back to a baker’s dozen at 53-40 with 2:09 left to play.
Yet in the end, that would unfortunately be all the further the Bears would get the rest of the way as far as those who had made the trek from the other side of the county were most concerned on this ridiculously foggy night outside as a Hardin reverse finish from point-blank range in the waning stages helped put a bow on a pivotal Ephrata victory in the form of a 57-42 final verdict that certainly kept the Mounts and their dreams of playing postseason basketball very much alive and well heading into the start a brand-new week despite what E-town doing their best to throw a wrench into those best laid plans.
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