McCaskey Gets York County Retribution As Red Tornado Respond To York High Loss, Vanquish Dallastown In Intriguing Nonconference Matchup
Written by: Andy Herr on January 5, 2023
While some may not think it initially, sometimes teams from different lands are not all that far different from one another. Shoot, just look at both Dallastown and McCaskey for proof of that.
Granted, aside from the actual logistics of both the Wildcats’ and Red Tornado’s operation itself –a break-neck pace that features an up-tempo style that will leave you gasping for air on any given night — along with the fact that each play inside the “big boy” Section One of their respective conferences as it is, the two clubs also could have also commiserated somewhat with one another prior to their Wednesday night meeting in Lancaster city had they chosen to do so.
Yep, ironic as it may be, both Dallastown and McCaskey cruelly fell in the championship game of their respective holiday tournaments last week, both in overtime no less, to teams hailing from the opposing league in an even greater twist of irony found in D-Town’s loss to Warwick and McCaskey’s home defeat at the hand of York High. So, if nothing else, a nip-and-tuck affair likely figured to be in store when these two butted heads for their midweek contest given the shared narratives in and of itself.
Sure enough, while it would be struggle for each side to make any great hay against the opposition at times with the margin of separation being nothing if not relatively miniscule, an early January nonconference throwdown was precisely what the patrons who flocked to Shultz Transportation Gymnasium bore witness to over the course of 32 minutes on Wednesday night. Fortunately for them, well, those supporting the home club that is, they were able to head home happy once the dust had finally settled.
In the early going, it was evident as to how McCaskey intended to yield its feast. And in a story as old as time it seems around these parts, the Red Tornado began the evening by trying to impose their will by way of the transition game. In fact, the theme seemed to be so prevalent early on that following a 3-ball sunk courtesy of Dallastown senior guard Will Scott that knotted things up at 8-apiece with 5:07 left to play in the opening frame, Wildcats’ head coach Mike Grassel wisely called a timeout to try and set his team’s defense to keep the Tornado snowball from continuing to roll downhill on them.
That said, McCaskey did not seem the least bit interested in trying to play nice with those best laid plans.
In fact, over the span of the next three minutes and change, the Tornado lead would swell to a 14-9 difference following a steal and finish by way of senior guard, Eric Centeno, before a tip-in right at the buzzer allowed the hosts to double up their opponent, 18-9, with McCaskey junior wing, Aiden Burgess, receiving the honors of said deuce.
In the second quarter, McCaskey keeping Dallastown at arm’s length continued to remain a prevalent theme.
Case in point, while the Wildcats would be able to cut into the existing deficit with a smooth pullup jumper splashed home inside the arc via junior guard Ziveon Kyle which made it a 21-15 ballgame with 4:30 left in the opening half, McCaskey would refuse to blink from there on out by and large. And true to form, the Tornado troops would yet again flirt with a double-digit advantage in the aftermath of a timely Burgess trifecta, a bucket which opened it up to a 25-17 Red Tornado gap, before a Centeno layup at the cup made it 27-19 with the second quarter clock starting to run dry at that point.
But to their credit, Dallastown wouldn’t crack in the face of the existing Red Tornado salvo. And while it may have occurred in a fairly nontraditional manner if you will given that it took place without a bucket being tallied from the field, a perfect 4-4 shooting display at the charity stripe from D-Town’s Michael Scott inside the final minute of the second quarter helped his cast to close the gap back down to size, 27-23, as both teams retired for the halftime recess.
Finally, and a not moment too soon as far as they had to be concerned, Dallastown finally made their most valiant push inside the third frame.
Now sure, things may not have appeared to start out particularly rosy initially considering that McCaskey star senior point guard Jonathan Byrd was able to hit a walk-in triple to begin the third quarter proceedings against the Dallastown zone, but the Wildcats slowly but surely made their persistent and resounding argument.
For that, the visitors largely relied upon the efforts of their own senior table-setter, DJ Smith.
Fittingly enough seeing as how Smith would finish as the Wildcats’ game-high scorer in this one with a 15-point bucketing I suppose. But here, inside the third quarter, is where Smith truly proved his worth for his club. And with his team seeing their shared shooting from the field not be overly favorable and courteous to them, Smith proceeded to take the ball to the tin to try and put McCaskey’s defense back on its heels somewhat. That being said, the plan seemed to work like a charm when you consider that a determined Smith journey to the tin would cut McCaskey’s lead down to the slimmest of margins at 30-29, just two minutes into the stanza, before yet another Smith excursion down the lane through a litany of traffic gave Dallastown their first lead at 35-34 roughly three minutes afterwards as Smith tumbled to the foul after finishing through contact.
However, that would just about wrap up the evening in terms of Dallastown playing with the lead.
Even now, despite the current Dallastown momentum shift in the Wildcats’ direction, McCaskey more than proved their worth.
In terms of the specifics of the matter, the Red Tornado would promptly retaliate following Smith’s go-ahead deuce by going on a 7-2 jaunt the remainder of the quarter, a run that was punctuated with a pair of takes courtesy of Jonathan Byrd and Eric Centeno respectively as the Tornado carried the 41-37 lead along with them heading into the final period.
In the fourth quarter though? Well, although they would get challenged, that’s finally where McCaskey found the necessary footing at their disposal in order to run home with the victory.
However, it wasn’t exactly like sailing on pristine glass throughout the entirety of the fourth quarter mind you for the hosts. No, especially not when D-Town’s Michael Scott would finish things off with a tough take to the rack which would cut the Tornado lead down to a half dozen, 47-41, with five minutes and change still left to tick off the scoreboard. And it surely did not feel like that whatsoever once Will Scott poured in a pair of 3-balls late in the frame for the Wildcats which made it a 59-53 ballgame with 29.4 seconds left to play.
That said, there is simply no leadership like senior leadership and rest assured that the Tornado can boast that in spades this season.
There, with the game still hanging in the balance somewhat with time beginning to evaporate, a pair of clutch freebies sunk at the foul line by Red Tornado senior forward Markelle Caine in the immediate aftermath of the D-Town rally helped the McCaskey troops wipe away the beads of sweat that had likely begun to appear across their respective foreheads at that point. And with the Wildcats coming up empty-handed down on the opposite end their ensuing offensive trip down the floor, another free throw, this one courtesy of Jonathan Byrd, helped seal the deal after all as McCaskey was able to get to its winning ways with a hard-fought and well-earned 62-56 victory over Dallastown that to a man, they would probably admit was not their most glamourous of outings that they figure to have as this season plays out. In other words, it’s time to be put on notice, Lancaster-Lebanon Section One. McCaskey is on the way back up.
Follow LLhoops on Twitter @LLhoops
