Lancaster Country Day Receives Good Tidings Found In Victory Prior To Christmas Holiday As Cougars Erase Second Half Deficit, Snap Two-Game Losing Skid With Hard-Fought Triumph Over Schuylkill Valley

Written by: Andy Herr on December 23, 2025

“What are you gonna do now?”

While not necessarily the specific line that they have internally inside their own walls per se, that largely felt to be the prevailing theme from the outside chatter when it came to discussing the 2025-26 edition of the Lancaster Country Cougars.

And frankly, like it or not, that outward questioning came with just and sound reason.

After all, when you come off the greatest two-year run that your program has ever had – capped off by a trip to the state semifinals last season – and you happen to bring a core group of the same cast back into the fold, this is what comes with the territory. And hey, this is good territory in which you reside where the “e” word comes into play for your program – expectations.

Ironically, wondering what Country Day would do next – like in the most immediate of manners – was equally as justified coming into this holiday week.

While not currently positioned in a make-or-break situation by any means, seeing the Cougars halfway through December with a dead even 3-3 overall mark and a 1-1 record in Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Four play truly personified that Country Day’s first half dozen games have contained a little of this, a little of that. Beyond that, LCD began this new week while also riding the frustration that came part in parcel with a two-game losing streak in setbacks suffered against Northern Lebanon and Coventry Christian – both at home inside Parents’ Fieldhouse – their last two times out.

But as is the case that comes with being the L-L League’s lone 1A outfit, the nonconference schedule is where Country Day routinely makes their most significant hay in constructing their resume come what they hope is postseason time. And on Monday night, that’s exactly what the doctor had ordered when it came to LCD potentially snapping out of this current hex when he prescribed a 4A script in the form the Schuylkill Valley Panthers for the Cougars to take in their hopes of potentially getting back healthy.

Fortunately, as far as Country Day was concerned, and as is almost the case universally, winning truly is the best medicine known to man.

Funny enough, even the initial action on Monday’s night between Schuylkill Valley and Lancaster Country Day contained many of those same underlying themes when it came to suggesting how as exactly the Cougars in particular would respond.

Case in point, while Lancaster County Day senior guard, Jordan Ashby, came away with a pair of consecutive buckets to put the hosts up by a 10-9 count with 3:40 left to play in an opening quarter that came contained with jabs aplenty landed between the two sides, it would be the Panthers’ turn to answer the dinner bell next time up in the form of an Ervin Ortiz steal and finish in transition that came prior to Ortiz doing the gift-giving himself as his assist to Alex Aletras on the junior’s 3-ball just as quickly put SV back in front, 17-13, with Country Day currently feeling the game’s indigestion and calling a timeout with 90 seconds left in the period.

Speaking of shooting from beyond the arc, that element couldn’t have been more palpable than it was for either side at times throughout the duration of Monday evening.

In fact, no sooner had Schuylkill Valley jumped back in front than had Country Day retaliated right back in kind as Ashby and Chase Leed proceeded to knock down a duo of triples inside the final minute of the first quarter, good for two more en route to what would blossom into 11 triples sunk on the evening as a whole for the Cougars’ entire contingent, as LCD possessed the ownership rights of a 19-17 lead after the first set of eight minutes.

Problem was, as least as far as SV had to feel, the brief stoppage in between frames did next to nothing when it came to slowing down this suddenly hard-charging Country Day crew.

Sure enough, while ignited by a pair of treys exclusively splashed home by LCD’s rapidly rising junior wing, Chris Tucker, the homestanding Cougs were suddenly flirting with a double-digit lead. Finally, that flirtation would lead to tangible results once another member of the LCD cast who made significant strides amid last year’s galivant through the state playoffs, Kane Kirby, took his turn at dialing long distance as the senior’s trifecta made it a 28-17 Country Day cushion with five minutes still left to evaporate off the third quarter clock.

More impressive though was Country Day’s defensive effort as a collective whole during this time.

Specifically, Schuylkill Valley was left wandering the desert of the second quarter up until the 2:15 mark before finally tallying their first field goal via the handiwork of a nice step-thru move at the cup courtesy of 6’2 senior big man, Tanner Staus, as the Panthers were still looking up at a ten-point gap, 30-20, with LCD potentially being on the verge of running away and hiding for the duration.

But uh, Schuylkill Valley really just made up for lost time as the Panthers would dictate.

For a team that mustered all of a single point throughout the first six minutes of this quarter, seeing the black-clad guests retaliate with a jet fuel type of close to the first half didn’t figure to be in the cards based on what just had transpired.

That said, while the run might have started off somewhat quietly in the form of two triples sunk in succession via 6’0 junior guard, Zach Reeser, to make it a 32-26 contest, the close to the first half was anything but tempered.

For proof of that, a pair of treys in the literal final seconds of the quarter knocked home via Resser and Derek Grim respectively, as the Panthers had suddenly, almost miraculously in some regards, drawn themselves back onto level footing at the intermission by virtue of a 32-32 stalemate at the game’s recess.

By this point, if the first 16 minutes by that point hadn’t already proven it, despite these being two clubs that are separated by three levels of classification when it comes to Schuylkill Valley’s 4A rank and file compared to that of Lancaster Country Day’s 1A distinction, these two teams appeared to be dead-even with one another. Sure enough, the action contained within the third quarter did little to deter that very assumption.

Sure, while Country Day’s Jordan Ashby, the eventual game-high scorer with his 23-point showing against the Panthers, would come up with a traditional three-point play through contact to make it a 41-36 Cougars’ lead, an identical scenario was later capped off by SV’s team-high scorer on the night, Alex Aletras, making it a 44-44 match with 3:15 left to play in the third with Aletras on his way towards finishing with an 18-point night at the office in pacing his Panthers’ club.

But when it came to the final little piece of the third quarter in totality, Schuylkill Valley didn’t seem all that interested in continuing to play the role of hospitable houseguests.

Suddenly, following another of Aletras’ four treys splashed home on the night, the Panthers had built themselves upwards to a 54-46 lead, their largest such occasion of the night, as Country Day had to carry themselves into the game’s final act while looking up at a 54-49 shortcoming despite a key Chase Leed trifecta sunk just prior to third quarter horn to get the Cougars back within reach all things considered.

Maybe a precursor there with Leed having gotten the fire ignited mere moments before the fourth quarter got underway, but whatever it was, Country Day nonetheless proceeded to have their finest quarter of the ballgame inside those final eight minutes.

Speaking of 3’s, Ashby would take his turn at firing one in to conclude the Cougars’ first offensive possession of the quarter before knocking in a second not long afterwards, this one trimming the difference down to the slimmest of margins, 58-57, with 5:21 still outstanding.

However, somewhat apropos considering how his personal damage seemed to breathe life into the Cougars at their lowest of lows seen in the latter portions of the third quarter, Chase Leed’s game-saving plays continued to be in high demand.

Case in point, the Cougars’ sophomore guard playing well beyond his years of experience as Leed sunk two triples in back-to-back fashion with the outcome still hanging in the balance — good for half of shots from bonus distance nailed in rapid fire — as Leed’s most recent exploits from beyond the arc made it a 65-62 Country Day lead with 1:38 now left to play.

It would prove to be a lead in which Lancaster Country Day would never relinquish for the remainder of the night.

Not to say it wasn’t precarious at times of course.

No, especially not when Tanner Staus fearlessly answered Leed’s second trey with key bucket in the paint for the Panthers on the ensuing SV possession down the floor, now making it a 65-64 contest with possessions now being equal to that of precious gold.

However, over the course of 13 seconds within the final minute, both Schuylkill Valley and Lancaster Country Day would take their turns at giving the ball away via turnovers as both perhaps succumbed to the mounting pressure.

Unfortunately, for visitors who had trekked down from Leesport by way of Berks County, with them being the party to commit the last of the two giveaways, that meant Lancaster Country Day would travel to the foul line with the Panthers’ collective hopes of extending the game hinging on missed LCD opportunities via the charity stripe.

That notion didn’t seem all that fruitful however once Chris Tucker, a 22-point scorer in his own right Monday evening, calmly knocked down both of his offering to then make it a 67-64 Cougars’ lead with 16.8 seconds remaining.

And while Schuylkill Valley’s Derek Grim would answer with a take to the cup to make it a one-point hole once again at 67-66 with 10.9 seconds left, a Kane Kirby 1-2 trip to the line that was immediately followed up in the most emphatic of fashions by virtue of a Chris Tucker steal defensively on the ensuing inbounds pass and finish through contact at the cup finally put this game on ice for the Cougars as Lancaster Country Day was able to not only stave off a very game effort from Schuylkill Valley that came crystalized in the form of a 71-66 victory, but it more importantly allowed the Cougars to head into the holiday break with some good vibes before they get set to embark on the most critical month of the season once the new calendar year begins.

It wasn’t lost on anyone wearing the LCDS school colors either.

“What a win. What a game. I’m just really glad we were able to get that win,” Jordan Ashby said with some relief after emerging his team’s victorious locker room on Monday night. To be sure, while he wasn’t alone in getting the Cougars over the finish line triumphant, Ashby himself had done quite a large portion of the team’s piloting all the same.

“I’ve been at Country Day since freshman year to this year. I’ve kind embraced that role of leadership as the years have gone on and I’ve made my way through this program. I enjoy it,” the senior remarked of the journey that’s been. “I do it in games, do it in practice, all the time. Even off the floor,” Ashby said of his added onus as a leader and captain. “If I see guys fooling around at practice or whatever, I’m quick to tell them, ‘Hey guys, c’mon. Let’s get locked in.’ Whatever it is, I’m always making sure my guys are on track. Even tonight, I had two of my guys come up to me after (in the locker room) and say, ‘Thanks for getting on me.’ I embrace that role. I really like it.”

His head coach wouldn’t disagree.

“When he came in as a freshman, he came off the bench and was primarily a corner shooter. That was basically his game. But he’s added onto his game every single year,” Lancaster Country Day head coach, Jon Shultz, said when reflecting on Ashby’s journey through the ranks to now being the consummate senior floor general in charge. “His work ethic is incomparable,” Shultz continued. “I’m sure there are other kids that work hard, but no one works harder than that kid. Not only that, but he studies the game. Not only his assists, but I’d love to know how many screens (Ashby) set tonight because he gets his teammates open….He does so much for his teammates out there and he trusts in them that if I give (the ball) up, it’s going to come back to me in a good position.”

“Leaps and bounds,” Shultz stated of that once upon a time 9^th grader. “He’s always been a great kid, but he’s really matured in that way. And as a basketball player, he’s got a really high IQ. (Ashby) talked at the beginning of this year on how he wanted to be a playmaker. He got his 1,000 career points the other night and that was a cool thing, but he’s all about what we need to do to win…In fact, we put in a little bit of a new offense for him because even for me, I felt like I had to do my part and up my game more in helping in him out because of how hard he’s going for all of us,” Shultz remarked of a slight philosophical change in helping Ashby and the entire cast of Cougars aim for a higher ceiling.

“On Saturday, we were doing something at practice and I stopped it and asked, ‘Jordan, how many screens did you just set?’ He says, ‘Five.’ I go, ‘Who here has set a screen for Jordan?’ Nobody’s hands really go up. It’s like, ‘He’s working so hard for you guys to make you all better. Let’s all help him out here.’”

“We’ve had that conversation for months. They’re going to follow you,” the Cougars’ All-State nominated coach from last season said of prior conversations exchanged between he and Ashby prior to the start of this 2025-26 campaign. “There was a practice where things weren’t going his way and he’s kind of moping around and I go, ‘Jordan, there’s no energy now. Your teammates are going to do what you do.’ He’s still a kid learning all that, but he gets that.”

“Guys like Chris Tucker and Chase (Leed), they played last year, but they don’t have all that experience. For them, they should be learning that leadership style and I think they are,” Shultz then commented of his junior and sophomore 1-2 tandem who will come back next year and beyond once Ashby and the other seniors graduate this spring. “Next year, Jordan and Kane (Kirby) unfortunately have to leave, but guys like Chris and Chase can take that mantle on. Adryan (Cruz) can take that mantle on. It’s nice because we have that setup to where things look and feel pretty sustainable.”

Not only that, but on the micro, getting back on the winning track certainly didn’t hurt matters either.

“I think our preparation our last two practices really set us up well for this game,” Ashby then stated when asked how this outcome proved to be different from the Cougars’ previous two showings. “We came into practices these last two days, flushed everything out from those last two losses, and came ready to play today for sure. Everyone came in with fresh mindsets, positive attitudes, and it really helped us out today.”

Well, that, plus Ashby and Chris Tucker going off for 45 points shared between them collectively too, no doubt.

“I think we feed off each other’s energy really well, especially defensively,” Ashby commented on his junior running mate in Tucker. “We both like to communicate, fly around defensively, and try and get steals. In the half court, we like to drive and kick to each other a lot. We practice that in practice, and we did that a lot in the offseason,” he continued. “When we’re doing that, when Chris and I are on the same page with each other, I think it’s definitely scary for other teams.”

Suffice to say, it was scary enough for Schuylkill Valley to handle on Monday night. And while “scary” is probably an adjective best reserved for Halloween and not necessarily Christmas, rest assured that Ashby had that base covered too.

“Merry Christmas, guys. Merry Christmas, Coach,” Ashby said prior to heading out of the doors on Monday night. And to all, especially Lancaster Country Day, to all a good night.