Kennard-Dale Is Able To Ride Logue’s Heroics, 29-Point Second Half Past Lancaster Mennonite As Rams Post Crucial Overtime Victory To Hang Around District 3-4A Bubble
Written by: Andy Herr on February 6, 2024
This is a bit of an open-ended question, but how is this possible? How is it possible that a defending state champion, the first one that the L-L League has seen in 20 years, is somehow flying under the radar? Granted, while one could argue that Lancaster Mennonite never really receives the lion’s share of attention during the regular season slate most years, this year seems to be even more of an oddity quite frankly.
And it’s not even as if the Blazers have been exactly him hawing around with a pedestrian record either. Far from it considering how the defending Pennsylvania 2A boys’ state champs began the week with a 15-5 overall record. Beyond that, the Blazers sit just a game outside of a first-place tie for the Section Four title which will get decided later this week in their season finale against Columbia, along with LMH comfortably residing in the #1 slot in the District 3-2A field with the Blazers dead set on trying to make it four consecutive crowns when it comes that achievement as well.
But maybe all of that right there serves as to why Lancaster Mennonite will enter next week’s league tournament arguably the quietest of the entire slate of eight.
That of course being that no matter who oversees the Blazers’ bench, whether it be Geoff Groff, Seth Buckwalter, or now, Jeff Hartenstine, Mennonite successes from December thru early February are just so commonplace that everyone generally comes to expect it without much in the way of over-the-top fanfare. Then, once we get in any form of postseason, the entire Lancaster-Lebanon League usually ends up hitching its collective wagon to the Blazer cause with LMH being the last remaining team left standing more often than not. Simply put, while Mennonite may still be one of the biggest mysteries heading into the postseason which will get underway come this time next week, the Blazers nonetheless deserve some recognition before this particular regular season draws to a close.
As mentioned, save for their lone slipup against Columbia in the pair’s first matchup two weeks ago, Mennonite has largely rolled through the remainder of the division this season in posting a 6-1 mark heading into this final week. In fact, those very matchups against their Section Four foes, the Blazers have won by an average of 23 points per outing. If you’re keeping score (literally), that’s all but a mercy-rule being triggered whenever the Blazers see an L-L Section Four jersey opposed from them. Then, aside from protecting their own neighborhood so to speak, Mennonite has also scheduled up. Like way, way up.
Unionville, Methacton, Chester, Dock Mennonite, Church Farm, Academy Park. Forget about being a 2A school for a second. That’s a laundry list of opponents right there that most teams wouldn’t even dare touch. Instead, to their credit, the Lancaster Mennonite brass, Coach Hartenstine in particular, is well cognizant that the Blazers’ need a lot of hay in the barn if they want to make each venture in the state tournament to be a long and productive one. Sure enough, as the overwhelming odds-on favorite to walk away with another District 3 title at the Giant Center in just a couple weeks’ time, Mennonite will be more than peppered and ready for any challenge the likes of a Constitution or Aliquippa may inevitably pose come March.
But, before that time comes, there is still plenty of business left to tend to in the month of February initially. First in that department came the Blazers’ final home game of the 2023-24 regular season campaign when they welcomed a well-traveled foe who might be best described as being an honorary L-L League member of sorts.
No, it certainly wouldn’t be due to their location on the map. Not when they are literally the school inside the entire state whose campus sits closest to the Maryland state line. As far as the product on the floor however, the Kennard-Dale Rams are certainly well-versed when it comes to lining up against Lancaster-Lebanon League competition this season.
3-1. In their four games played thus far, Kennard-Dale has gotten the better of L-L squads more often than not this winter. In a bit of irony however, the Rams’ lone loss came to Mennonite’s biggest nemesis, that Columbia Crimson Tide bunch, with K-D appearing to be more than competent and capable when this York-Adams outfit happens to branch outside of their familiar confines. That said, there was far more important business to tend to as far as the Rams were concerned when they ventured to Mennonite’s campus on Monday night to tip off the final week of regular season play. For that, being a 4A school in size and stature, Kennard-Dale sat exactly one spot outside of the cutline entering the night with ten teams earning bids into the dance which will become official and set on Valentine’s Day. Needless to say, a possible loss to a 2A crew, albeit none that much better than Lancaster Mennonite, could prove catastrophic for the Rams’ postseason aspirations.
The bad news for Kennard-Dale? They certainly had to work for it. The good news, however? Their labor was not in vain as the Rams, namely Dylan Logue most specifically, finished off a frantic second half comeback which effectively kept their dream alive following what would be a memorable overtime triumph Monday night on Lancaster Mennonite’s home floor.
Yet despite a rather timid start by either team with the offense struggling to come to them by and large, it would prove to be the hosts who would garner the first bit of separation when it came to Monday evening.
And while it may have taken nearly every morsel of the first five minutes, the Blazers would indeed get kick-started in gear with a Cody Fisher layup at the tin while in transition as the Mennonite sophomore scoring dynamo made it a 6-4 Mennonite advantage before Fisher then decided to take his act outside the arc and bury a trifecta inside the final minute of the opening quarter as the Blazers were able to saunter into the second stanza with the 13-6 difference for a final first quarter score that was nothing if not deceiving given how Kennard-Dale was there at nearly every turn save for Mennonite’s late outburst to pull away.
Now, with a brand-new quarter put forth before them, Mennonite only exacerbated their existing advantage.
Ironically, when Myles Halvorsen cut backdoor and finished off a drive at the cup that made it a 15-8 affair, Halvorsen’s bucket would be the first Mennonite points tallied by someone not in the sophomore class as the junior guard was able to keep the Blazers’ first quarter margin intact on Mennonite’s first offensive trip of the period.
However, as Mennonite was keenly aware of by that point already, Kennard-Dale, a team fighting to largely keep their season alive for at least another couple of weeks, wouldn’t be the easiest of subjects in putting to bed.
Case in point, a put-back bunny put home from point-blank range courtesy of Landen Miller, slicing Mennonite’s lead down to three at 17-14 with 5:20 left in the first half by that point with the Rams being able to feast on the offensive glass throughout a majority of the first 16 minutes on Monday evening.
But, just when K-D may have started to feel good about themselves, Mennonite was right there to negate any sort of momentum the Rams may have felt they’d be able to conjure up by that point.
For the rebuttal, it would come in the form of Mennonite’s eventual team -high scorer, Cody Fisher, as the 5-0 salvo tallied by Fisher from both beyond and inside the arc gave the Blazers their largest lead of the evening, 22-14, not even 30 seconds later. From there, the Blazers’ lead would swell upwards to double digits following a Brady Grau take to the tin which then made it a 26-16 ballgame with two minutes and change left before the break.
All told, the Blazers would continue to put the finishing touches on a solid latter half of the second quarter as a Kellen Jones bucket at the cup immediately followed the aforementioned Grau deuce before Mennonite was able to trudge off into the dressing room while owning a 14-point lead found in a 30-16 score, a remarkable feat in which 28 of the Blazers’ 30 first half points were scored by 10th graders while the outstanding pair was contributed by a member of the junior class.
Gradually, and certainly not a moment too soon for how they had to feel, Kennard-Dale started to put the initial stages on a comeback bid together.
Again, while it wasn’t overly loud in any sort of overt nature, it was nonetheless effective as four straight Rams’ points bucketed inside by Levi Sharnetzka whittled the difference down to a dozen at 32-20 with 3:20 left to play in a third quarter where both offenses seemed to lack any sort of rhythm and flow.
But if rhythm and flow was what everyone was looking for, rest assured that Dylan Logue delivered every bit of that and then some from there on out against Lancaster Mennonite.
Granted, while his stat line may not have been the most eye-popping coming out of the first half of play in posting just two points next to his name, the Rams’ junior guard would be nothing if not commanding when it came to his scoring output with the game, nay, their season hanging in the balance.
First up in that department came a silky smooth, step-back trifecta that got Kennard-Dale back within single figures, 34-27, before a steal and finish right before the third quarter horn by Logue made it a 34-29 contest with the visitors from Fawn Grove somehow getting a new lease on life thanks to their late charge in a game where it seemed as if they had been left to wilt away under the hot Mennonite sun.
That said, it became readily apparent that Dylan Logue was operating on an absolute heater and there wasn’t much in the way of anything that Mennonite could conjure up when it came to perhaps slowing him down.
In fact, Kennard-Dale had been able to successfully erase any sort of sizable deficit they had been founding fighting against earlier in the evening once Logue was able to come away with a follow bucket at the tin which made it a one-point Blazer lead at 34-33 before Logue went back to the long ball and poured in a triple which saw the Rams somehow surge all the way back in front, 36-34, with Mennonite clearly backpedaling on their heels with 6:20 left to play in the fourth.
However, just as ardent and determined as Kennard-Dale was when it came to coming away with a win in hopes of keeping their playoff hopes alive and well, the underlying fact of them trying to do so while on the home floor of a defending state champion was certainly appealing in its own right. Of course, when dealing with a state champ, they too obviously know how to fight back when it comes to dealing with adversity head-on.
Sure enough, Mennonite would respond to the Logue trey in kind with one of their own, this one tossed in by Cody Fisher, putting the Blazers back in front at 37-36 with roughly five minutes left. Speaking of Fisher, he would continue to inflict the greatest amount of damage upon Kennard-Dale all night, not just with his team-high 17-point performance, but with his crucial hoops with the worm starting to turn. In that regard, one with a rooting interest in the Blazers’ fortunes had to be feeling easier once Fisher would cut backdoor at finish at the rim for a bucket that gave Mennonite their largest lead in quite some time, 41-38, with 1:50 left to go in regulation.
That word regulation not being thrown around lightly though of course.
Yes, while Mennonite may have been sitting pretty at the time while stealing all the palpable momentum inside the gym back in their good graces, Dylan Logue on the other hand had other ideas in mind.
Ironically, while Mennonite would call a timeout immediately following the Fisher bucket while up by three to try and set their defense, it wouldn’t much matter. At least not when Logue proceeded to somehow get all alone along the sideline after the Rams were able to break free from the Blazers’ press game as the ball found Logue and Logue found the bottom of the net as the junior’s massive trifecta knotted things up at 41-apeice with 80 seconds left at that point.
And when Lancaster Mennonite proceeded to come up with an empty trip down the stretch that in turn led to a Kennard-Dale defensive rebound and offensive possession which turned into 8.1 seconds left following a Rams’ timeout after burning much of the remaining minute off the game clock, the stage was set for a potential Kennard-Dale buzzer-beater which would steal a massive win in their favor. However, even despite making those best laid plans during the stoppage, the final K-D possession would result in a try bouncing off the back rim, sending this game into an extra session despite Mennonite being in what felt like firm control of things just a few minutes prior.
At this point, why not go with the one who had brought you to the dance? Wisely, that’s exactly what Kennard-Dale proceeded to do once the overtime period got underway as a Logue pullup jumper on the Rams’ initial offensive trip got the visitors started off on a bit of a high note. From there, it was Mennonite’s turn to answer back as a tough Chase Hurst bucket scored at the tin knotted things back up at 43-43 with 2:30 left standing in overtime by that point. And if you’re wondering and/or keeping track, with Hurst being a sophomore as well, that would eventually culminate in an evening where all but six of the Blazers’ points on Monday against Kennard-Dale came via the sophomore class. Beyond that, the remaining half dozen were compiled by juniors, a strong indication that Lancaster Mennonite isn’t going to fade into the background any time soon.
However, as far as the here and now was concerned, a trifecta sunk by yep, Dylan Logue, on the Rams’ ensuing trip down the floor following the stalemate gave K-D a lead which they would never relinquish throughout the remaining two minutes and change. Then, in trying to seal the game up, a pair of Logue freebies cashed in at the charity stripe put Kennard-Dale up by what felt like a largely unsurmountable five-point buffer, 48-43, with time suddenly winding down on a Mennonite comeback venture.
And in the waning stages on Monday night, it seemed nothing if not fitting that Dylan Logue close the game out by cashing in three more free throws while en route to tallying what would be a truly incredible 29-point second half and overtime period, meaning that Logue had scored all of eight Kennard-Dale points following the halftime recess.
Finally, while perhaps at one time largely being inconceivable given the way in which Mennonite had seemed to be dictating the terms of engagement, the game would eventually culminate in a dizzying 53-46 Kennard-Dale overtime victory within the Blazers’ confines as the Rams were able to punctuate a key victory when it comes to the prospects of their overall season at large.
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