Penn Manor Continues Strong Start, Withstands Twin Valley Counterpunches As Comets Improve To 3-1
Written by: Andy Herr on December 10, 2022
Without a doubt, one of the most fun things to do at the end of the first week of a season to try and conjure up storylines and long-term projections based on how just a morsel of games have turned out thus far, all while being somewhat absent-minded perhaps to the fact that the lion’s share of the year has yet to even begin to round into form. That said, not every flimsy forecast coming out of the first week need be fleeting and not based in hard, factual evidence. Instead, there can be tangible proof as to just how far teams have come in such a short period of time. Just take the Penn Manor Comets for instance.
It’s not a secret. Winning at Penn Manor on the boys’ side of the hardwood in the winter months hasn’t exactly been a prevalent theme the last handful of years. Okay, sure, but that doesn’t mean that the school that shares space with Millersville University has to forever be relegated to such a role. Sometimes, when you can marry that precious talent piece alongside the coaching acumen that someone the likes of Comets’ 11th-year head man Larry Bellew has to offer, it can lead to happy matrimony. And yes, while the 2022-23 campaign is only just a few days old, there are ample reasons already on hand to suggest and believe that this season may be a turning point of sorts for the Comets to finally take that much-needed surge up the Section One standings once and for all.
Coming into their Friday night game against Twin Valley, while their 2-1 start to the season might have appeared a tad unassuming, getting off on the right foot is always the first piece that leads to belief which is something that the Comets was able to accomplish in their pair of triumphs over York Tech and Oxford respectively. Then, with that element figured to be stored away, enter in the fact that the Comets’ first three leading scorers are underclassmen, and then it’s much easier to see why optimism should abound this season. Oh yeah, not to also neglect the crucial fact that some of the results posted thus far from around Lancaster-Lebanon Section One may lend credence to the belief that Penn Manor nor their fans should feel as if any door has already been slammed shut on them.
But as with any young club, learning how to thrive under the glare of the varsity lights is only a lesson that can be achieved once the ball tips up for real in December. And next on the Comets’ list of assignments came a tricky test to the outer regions of Berks County in the form of a date with the Twin Valley Raiders, a program with a familiar fresh face to those inside L-L channels, former Manheim Central assistant coach Matt Herbener, who for years learned at the side of Barons’ head man, Charlie Fisher. Fortunately for “Herbie,” it doesn’t appear as if he took the lessons of sweater vest-wearing to the same degree as his former boss does. For his own sake of course…
And on Friday night, while Penn Manor was most certainly tested along the way, the Comets’ resolve to fight back in the face of adversity was nothing if not demonstrative. So much so in fact that the net result was an eventual 19-point victory over a very game Raiders crew.
Speaking of getting tested, those lessons came right away following the opening tip. In fact, even while Penn Manor’s Ethan Benne was able to net the first five points for his squad in the early going, Twin Valley just kept counterpunching.
Sure enough, following a nice feed inside from the Raiders’ sophomore duo of Evan Myers to Evan Johnson underneath the cup, Twin Valley was able to remain on level ground, 9-9, with 4:20 still left to play in the opening period. And if Johnson wasn’t the recipient of assists, he had no issues whatsoever with dolling them out as well considering his dish to senior big man, Kannon Zdimal, put the hosts in front by a 13-12 count just 40 seconds later.
However, with the ever-present theme of first quarter rebuttals emerging as the prevailing theme, it seemed apropos that the Comets would counter back with a 6-0 spurt of their own in the immediate aftermath as a DeShawn Stanley runout paired with a Luis Frias bunny inside put Penn Manor back in front, 18-13, with two minutes still left to play. Yet with constant blows continuing to be exchanged over the final few minutes of the opening frame, Penn Manor was able to maintain a two-possession lead at 21-15 once the first quarter horn eventually blared out.
Then, once the second period got underway, Penn Manor continued to keep their hosts at arm’s length.
First, things for the Comets’ effort got started from beyond the arc.
For that, Penn Manor’s Dominick Guzmann was on the scene as the Comets’ 5’11 senior guard fired in a trifecta which preceded a pair of Benne buckets, the last of which resulted in a Twin Valley timeout to try and stem the tide given Penn Manor’s 28-18 cushion with 5:18 left to play before the break. Speaking of Penn Manor’s herculean 6’5 junior big man, Ethan Benne would go on to finish his impressive end with a resounding 24-point effort to snatch game-high scoring honors once all was said and done.
Again though, just when Penn Manor may have assumed that perhaps they broken Twin Valley’s collective will and spirit, the Raiders were quick to demonstrate that those beliefs were most certainly farfetched.
Case in point, a 3-ball dialed up Zdimal, Twin Valley’s leading scorer on this night with an impressive and well-rounded 22-point outing in his own right, that came coupled with a pair of buckets from point-blank range within the final few seconds of the second quarter courtesy of another Raiders’ senior, Josh Phillips, as the hosts were able to make a serious incision into what was once a fairly comfortable Penn Manor cushion not long before, with the Comets trotting into the locker room with the 37-30 lead.
Suffice to say, with momentum starting to teeter in either direction coming out of the break, the first few minutes of the third quarter figured to prove critical to what would be the eventual end result. In that respect, Penn Manor most certainly responded in spades to the situation at hand.
In terms of that, the early body blow offered by the Comets came via their pair of “twin towers” if you will. First, after a beautiful first play executed to start the third that resulted in an Ethan Benne deuce from close range, a Dhamir Wesley bucket inside wasn’t far behind either, effectively knocking Twin Valley back on their heels with the third quarter barely have gotten underway.
Yet again though, the Raiders just continued to hang around.
Yes, while Twin Valley was able to keep things at a baker’s dozen following a Kannon Zdmial bucket which preceded an Evan Myers bucket inside as well making it a 45-32 Comets’ lead two minutes into the quarter, Benne was able to fire back with four straight points of his own not long afterwards, effectively upping it to a 51-36 lead while simultaneously dousing some Raiders’ flames for the gold-clad guests with 4:10 still left to tick off the third quarter clock.
And for much of the remainder of the third, Penn Manor was able to enjoy a similar-sized advantage as the quarter wore along highlighted by a triple knocked down by sophomore sniper, Aidan Mattern, which came before a DeShawn Stanley 3-ball of his own, with Stanley’s trey serving as the punctuation mark for the conclusion of the penultimate quarter which ended in a 61-44 Penn Manor difference.
Speaking of momentum, here stood Twin Valley’s last gasp in terms of finding it and perhaps riding it home.
As a means to try, the Raiders opted to press Penn Manor to try and speed the Comets up. Sure enough, for a crew that had looked comfortable operating with the ball in their hands all game long up until that point, Penn Manor finally began to show some cracks as the TV helter-skelter pressure prompted Penn Manor into a handful of turnovers, leaving the door open for Twin Valley to try and muster something. And muster something they certainly would considering the Twin Valley quarterback turned shooting guard, Evan Myers, was able to pour in a much-needed triple for the Raiders’ collective effort, making it a 65-51 count with 5:10 left to go.
However, that would be all the more interest Penn Manor had in allowing Twin Valley to believe that the eventual outcome was even up for discussion.
For just as quickly as Twin Valley had started to conjure up some mojo, Penn Manor was there to steal it away as four straight points tallied by 6’5 junior big, Dhamir Wesley, not only upped it a 68-51 Comets’ lead with 3:15 left to play, it also allowed Wesley to end his sound evening with a strong 14-point effort to aid in the Penn Manor cause.
From there, the Comets were able to close things out defensively while also finishing the affair off at the charity stripe, such as the case when 5’11 junior wing, Devin Figueroa, was able to toe the line and knock down both in his offering. And once the dust had finally settled, it had proven to be a successful night at the office as far as the Comets had to be concerned considering that it ended in a 75-56 verdict in their favor, pushing this rapidly improving club out to a 3-1 mark on the early season.
“We put on the board with (Twin Valley), that they were scrappy, aggressive, and they weren’t going to quit. That’s just Matt’s (Herbener) personality,” Comets’ head coach Larry Bellew said afterwards of how he described his team’s opposition prior to them taking to the floor against them on Friday night. “Every time we would get to that breaking point where maybe (Twin Valley) would break, they would hit a couple shots and make a couple plays. I would say they got a lot of 50/50 balls, but for them it was probably an 80/20 ball,” Bellew said with a relieved laugh while lauding the Raiders’ sheer determination. “That would just restart their momentum.”
“For us, we’ve won three games the past two seasons,” Bellew candidly pointed out. “We have to learn how to learn. We got a little sloppy with the ball, got in a hurry there when they pressed us, but these are things that you are only going to learn winning a regular season game,” he added. “You can practice all you want, you can do it in the offseason, but it’s a different animal now.”
“I know we’ve put in the time. The kids have been working,” Bellew said when asked as to how and why the Comets have come out of the gates strong this season. “I know the leadership of this team is strong, so I know we’re going to be able to work through some possible issues a little bit better. And ultimately, when you have a couple guys that can put the ball through the hoop, that can bail you out when times may seem at their most dire.”
Yes, while things up until this point have been overwhelmingly positive for Penn Manor all things considered out of the chute, there remains that underlying feeling that the actual proving ground of the season has yet to appear on the horizon, although it most certainly will in a relatively short order.
“We have a couple of guys who deep down in their soul believe and know they can play with anyone. You can’t teach that. That’s a great place to start,” the Comets’ head man remarked. “Obviously, we have a lot to prove in Section One given our track record the last couple of years. But next Friday night when we roll into McCaskey, it’s ‘Here we go.’ And that’s not downplaying Ephrata. I know Ephrata’s played one game, so he (Ephrata head coach Scott Gaffey) might know my team better than I know my team right now,” he remarked with another chuckle. “But yeah, that Section One beast starts next Friday night. That’s been our kryptonite, so we have to figure out a way to get over that.”
NEXT UP: As Coach Bellew alluded to there in the postgame, Penn Manor will have one more nonleague test when they welcome in the Ephrata Mounts for the Comets’ first home game of the season on Tuesday night. Then, the grind that is the big boy division of Section One play begins in earnest next week. However, even though Penn Manor has not been able to find themselves near the top of the standings for quite some time now, again, this group just appears to have all the earmarks of being “different” in a very good sense. And in sticking with that very same word choice, while seeing Penn Manor fight and compete for what may be in an upper-crust divisional finish this season would be different, it would also be a sight for sore eyes. After all, ask anyone around and they’ll surely tell you that having the Comets emerge as a factor and threat in the Section One race makes the product itself so much all the better for it.
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