Penn Manor Slays 34-Year-Old Gorilla As Comets Use Fourth Quarter Comeback To Charge Past Lampeter-Strasburg, Into League Semifinals For Program’s First L-L Tournament Win Since 1990
Written by: Andy Herr on February 13, 2024
At first blush, you might assume that the connections found between Lampeter-Strasburg and Penn Manor would be remarkably similar. Easy to think that seeing as how roughly 10 miles separate the school’s two campuses from one another with the tiny hamlet of Willow Street essentially serving as a 48th parallel when it comes to determining whether you’re a Pioneer or a Comet. And while it is true that their proximity on a map is incredibly close, their boys’ basketball postseason lineage, especially when it comes to the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs in particular, likely makes those measly 10 miles seem as if they were more like 10 galaxies apart instead.
As far as Penn Manor’s story was concerned, their Monday night trip to Lampeter to help raise the curtain on this year’s league playoffs was a bit of a rare sight to put it mildly.
Incredibly, in a division where essentially everyone else but the Comets has taken their respective turns at rising up and ascending to the top of the Section One ladder within the span of the last decade and change, 2023-24 understandably began with large expectations to shoulder inside of Millersville when it came to its high school team. That said, certainly a welcomed change no doubt in that this winter would indeed be different. For that, the primary source of optimism being found in the return of the one who would later become just the seventh member of the Comets’ 1,000-point club, Ethan Benne, back in tow for this, his senior campaign wearing the blue and gold.
Granted, while the Comets would fall short of reaching Cedar Crest when it came to possessing the section title this season, it was nonetheless fruitful in many ways seeing as how their quest to make it back to the league to the league playoffs was about as rare as the way in which they stamped their ticket to dance was in Penn Manor holding on for roughly 13 do-or-die minutes against Hempfield in a game who’s remainder was pushed back a few weeks due to a scary and traumatic injury which understandably didn’t leave its competitors nor spectators with much of an appetite for concluding as far as that particular night when it occurred were concerned. To their credit though, Penn Manor was able to protect their home court last Thursday night not just in downing Hempfield, but by then turning right around and defeating Dallastown just two hours later in a rare double-header, effectively shutting their rivals from Landisville out of the postseason picture altogether which surely made it just a tad bit sweeter if they’d be totally transparent about the scenario playing out that way. And for their troubles, Penn Manor would receive not just a ticket to the District 3-6A tournament which begins next week, but their Hempfield triumph also awarded the Comets a slot into the L-L League tourney, their first trip back since 2010, a feat that has to be one of the more mind-boggling stats to come out of this year’s prep work in terms of the league tourney.
On the other bench, well, this is kind of old hat for them honestly.
We’ve already been over this before, but pound-for-pound, you won’t find a more prolific program on the hardwood around these parts, especially Lancaster County in particular, than the one found in L-S’ boys’ program over the last decade and change most specifically. And to the surprise of basically no one, this winter yet again proved that L-S continues to rule the roost of its home section, making this year the Pioneers’ third straight such accomplishment of the sort and eight of nine years overall with L-S owning the section crown outright save for the lone exception coming in the 2020-21 COVID-littered season, a year in which L-S still only finished a game behind the champ, Cocalico. Suffice to say, seeing the Pios make it into the league tournament has become so commonplace that you can darn near Sharpie them into the bracket in early December as league tournament berths have become something akin to that of a birthright if you happen to spend your youth years growing up inside the L-S basketball program.
But isn’t that part of the fun and the magic that always seem to reign supreme over this chaotic week-long chase towards its final destination that ends at Manheim Township? In what world other than high school sports could a school from the big, bad ranks of L-L Section One and the 6A classification system be dubbed as the proverbial “sweetheart” and underdog story as opposed to a 5A school by comparison who happens to cut its teeth at the league’s Section Three level from December thru early February? Yet for all the whimsical themes that could have hung over the Lampeter-Strasburg campus on Monday night like a cloud for the quarterfinal round between these two backyard neighbors, those feel-good narratives would be nothing if not meaningless if the ensuing 32 minutes out on the floor would pale in comparison.
However, if you find yourself believing in the school of thought that Penn Manor was indeed the underdog in this scenario, let’s just say that the slipper still fits. At least going into Wednesday night if nothing else.
Right from the jump however, it largely seemed as if one team was used to this stage while the other was still trying to gain their sea legs inside this crucible of an environment.
In fact, while Penn Manor seemed to struggle mightily against L-S’ trap out of the zone that the Pioneers applied defensively, the Comets in turn would be besmirched by an early case of the turnover bug. And once that happened, with L-S leaning to their bread and butter –the three-point shot—the Pios grabbed the early 9-4 advantage on the heels of Dean Herr’s second trifecta of the opening frame before a timely bucket chipped in on the ensuing Penn Manor trip by way of Villanova football signee, Dhamir Wesley, got the visitors back within three, 9-6, with 3:20 left to play in the first.
Yet while he was largely held in check up until that point by the Pioneers’ collective clutches, Ethan Benne finally got loose in the waning stages.
There, while assisted by the aid of four straight Benne points chipped in from the painted area, the Comets would erase their early deficit entirely as the Millersville University basketball signee would help his team navigate through their choppy early waters as the Comets raced into the second frame with the 12-11 advantage, a lead which they had largely played without inside of the initial eight minutes.
But did we mention that L-S has a propensity for spraying it in from beyond the arc? If not, that became readily apparent once the second act got underway on Monday evening.
Case in point, L-S’ leading scorer, Chase Smucker, burying a pair of early 3-balls to help raise the curtain on the second quarter as the Pios’ explosive 5’11 junior guard was well en route to his team-high 17-point outburst by the time the night was over with. Then, with Smucker laying the L-S groundwork as he so often does, another triple knocked in by the hosts, this via the handiwork of 6’3 senior big man, Justin Glick, put Penn Manor in an extremely precarious position of a 24-17 disadvantage with 4:40 left to play in the opening half by that stage.
Then, like, well, a Comet quite frankly, here came the Comets streaking in right on cue.
Of course, could it be anyone other than Ethan Benne leading the way? And yes, while the supporting cast around Penn Manor’s #44 certainly carried their fair share of the labor on Monday night without a doubt, Benne was largely the catalyst who lifted his team out of danger once called upon.
Case in point, a timely three-point play by Benne which not only helped stem the tide back in the Comets’ favor with time winding down in the second stanza, but it eventually helped land the late counterpunch thrown by Penn Manor that led to the guests trailing by only three, 26-23, which is where things remained once the halftime break did roll around 30 seconds following Benne’s haymaker.
But then again, new and half or not, L-S simply could not slam the door on Penn Manor when they had the chance.
Sure enough, even while L-S surged out of the halftime break and found themselves up by what would again prove to be their largest cushion of the evening as it was also seen early in the second quarter, seven points, following a Chase Smucker trifecta that made it a 30-23 L-S lead with only 1:40 having ticked off the third quarter clock, it was indeed danger time for Penn Manor yet again.
This time around, the supporting cast found around Ethan Benne, the true secret sauce as to what makes this Comets’ team operate, did the yeoman’s work with their ace in the hole somewhat slowed during the third period.
In this instance, the lion’s share of the honors would be bestowed upon 6’0 junior guard, Michael Lower, as the tough-as-nails sniper cashed in on a triple to not just trim the Pioneers’ lead down to a pair at 30-28 later in the frame, but Lower would then tally himself a bucket at the tin which finally got Penn Manor back on level ground, 30-30, with their side of the gym understandably whipped into a frenzy with 4:45 left in the third.
Fair enough, but the key element at play by that point was that no matter how hard it seemed that Penn Manor had worked, they simply could not retake control of the scoreboard going all the way back to the first eight minutes.
True to form, even while the Comets had knotted things up following Lower’s most recent exploits which helped him capture 16-points on the evening as a whole, the Pioneers continued to keep their guests at bay throughout the remainder of the quarter.
For that, even once Devin Figueroa, the one who had suffered that nasty fall in the Hempfield game mentioned previous, tallied a bucket to trim the L-S lead down to two at 34-32, a Yasin Abdi bucket on the ensuing Pioneers’ trip down the floor upped the Pios’ lead back to four.
And still, even with Figueroa continuing to remain hot with the Comets’ 6’0 senior guard splashing in a 3-ball which sliced the gap down to the slimmest of margins at 36-35, a final L-S point inside the final 30 seconds of the third paved the way for L-S carrying the two-point lead of 37-35 with them into the final eight minutes of play.
But remember how Penn Manor just quite couldn’t summit that hill when it came to taking the lead? Well, forget all that noise once inside the final stanza.
Ironically, while he may have only tallied all of five points next to his name in the Penn Manor scorebook on Monday evening, you’d be hard-pressed to find a much bigger bucket all night long than Andrew Gallion’s corner triple with 6:20 which gave the Comets a 40-37 lead, an achievement not for nothing in that their stalwart, Ethan Benne, had still been held scoreless since the opening half.
Unfortunately for L-S, not only had Penn Manor as a team risen to take them on as a collective unit, but Mr. Benne wouldn’t be far behind his fellow troops either.
There, with L-S going ice-cold from the field, particularly when it came to hoisting from long range in the third quarter, Penn Manor was able to seize upon the opportunity given to them. And while he would yet again conclude the evening in capturing game-high scoring honors, this in the form of an 18-point exhibition on Monday night against L-S, Penn Manor’s 6’6 wing was able to come away with a timely 5-0 salvo to make it a 45-37 Comets’ lead. Then, just for good measure, a Benne rejection of a would-be Pioneers’ shot on their ensuing trip down the floor that was so clean it was probably a jump-ball more than anything else, helped all the momentum in L-S’ gym find itself sitting on the Comets’ bench.
Suffice to say, L-S needed to find some answers pronto if they wanted to reel Penn Manor back into their grasp with the time in the sand dial quickly escaping from them.
Finally, as far as they were most concerned, Justin Glick would lead the charge in that regard as the Pios’ big man was able to contribute a traditional three-point play to keep L-S well within the fight at 45-40 with 3:15 left to go.
By this point though, it was evident that if Penn Manor was indeed going to seal the deal, the Comets would have to do so with by way of two different avenues. First, continuing to get stops defensively obviously. Beyond that, with L-S starting to play the foul game, the Comets needed to at least be serviceable at the charity stripe. The bad news for the Comets’ contingent? They wouldn’t be serviceable in those areas. The good news, however? They would instead be proficient.
Yes, while the cause was undoubtedly aided by L-S pitching an 0-fer in terms of their shooting from bonus distance inside the final quarter on Monday night, the Comets would indeed gradually push their hosts away by way of the foul line down the final furlong. Case in point, a pair of Figueroa freebies which put the Comets up by a touchdown, 47-40, with 2:30 left to play. From there, Dhamir Wesley, the obvious target of L-S’ decision to start fouling relatively early, would also aid in the Comets’ cause as the 6’5 275lb big man split the offering with now inside of two minutes left to go. Then, it perhaps the most apropos way possible, the one who had given them the lead, Andrew Gallion, would successfully notch two more free throws as the 5’10 junior guard upped the Comets’ lead to an almost unreachable 50-41 difference with just 70 seconds left.
As it turned out, it was indeed an unreachable hill for L-S to climb with time winding down. And with it, a celebration almost 40 years in the making was about to be kicked off as Penn Manor’s 56-45 victory over L-S on Monday night moved the Comets onto the second round of the league tournament on the micro. But, on the marco, it also gave this starved program their first taste of victory in the event since 1990. Indeed, without much in the way of debate, not only had a basketball game just been won, but a history lesson had also just taken place with the Comets at the head of the class serving as the teacher.
“I’ve thought about this moment since, since second grade,” a triumphant Ethan Benne said emerging from his team’s victorious locker room on Monday night. “To be honest, coming down the stretch of that game (against L-S), when we start taking that lead, and we’ve been kind of a fourth quarter team as of late, but when we got that last layup that seals it, I couldn’t help but fall to a knee on the floor. It’s unbelievable. I don’t even know what I’m feeling right now,” said Benne with a mile-wide smile.
But for him, the one who rightly gets his due credit on a nightly basis, he himself was most satisfied that his guys around him wearing that same gold uniform more than pulled their own weight to assist in this one.
“Oh my goodness,” said Benne without hesitation when asked about what his fellow Comets brought to the table. “I know it’s talked about. Those helping hands,” as he coined it. “We have so much talent on this team. If we can figure out down the stretch to get everyone to work together and get everyone involved, we’re a hard team to stop. We have a lot of weapons. There’s nobody that can stop Dhamir (Wesley) in the paint,” he said with a laugh of his fellow twin tower on the Penn Manor frontline. “We know that for sure. Shooting wise, we have so many options. We just have to figure out who’s open at the time. Tonight, we did.”
As far as his head coach was concerned, this one too was a little bit different for him as well.
“It’s out of this world,” Penn Manor 12th– year head man Larry Bellew stated afterwards of the feeling he and his squad were experiencing. “I’ve had a lot of years sitting on Coach Goodling’s bench at Hempfield and you kind of take it for granted,” Bellew candidly admitted. “12 years here and a lot of beat downs. This, this is special.”
“These guys are pretty loose,” Penn Manor’s coach would add of his team in general. “I think they look at #44 (Ethan Benne) and they know that when things aren’t going quite right, he can fix it pretty quickly. I think that gives a lot of guys confidence. It gives me confidence.”
And that right there is the primary reason as to why Penn Manor was able to emerge triumphant. The sum of their parts working in conjunction with one another.
“Normally Ethan carries the load for us, and he made a couple big buckets in the middle there to just give us a little bit of a cushion, but I remember that Gallion makes a three, Devin (Figueroa) makes a three. Mike (Lower) is obviously one of our (scoring) guys, but he makes a couple free throws. Then defensively, we finally made some stops,” said Bellew rehashing the total team-effort found littered across the board. “(L-S) comes out and hit six threes in the first half, so you’re hoping the law of averages comes back in your favor to where they’ll miss a couple of good looks which they did and thankfully we were able to rebound enough of them.”
“I think our defense feeds off of us scoring,” the Comets’ coach continued of complementary aspect of the game at work. “I don’t think we’re the greatest defensive team in the world, but when we score, it gives us that little extra boost, that extra bit of energy,” Bellew surmised. “Early on, we weren’t scoring, and our defense slacked off a little bit I thought. Then, in the fourth quarter, you’re up two, you’re up four, five, seven. All of a sudden, we look like a team that wants to play defense,” he quipped.
And because of all that, Penn Manor gets the opportunity to do something that hasn’t been seen in the 21st century—Find themselves with an extended stay in the league tournament with the opportunity on Wednesday night against Warwick to punch their ticket to Friday’s finale.
“I might cry. Let’s put it that way,” Bellew said about the magnitude of the moment as his voice began to crack with audible emotion. “Some people always ask me, ‘Why do you keep doing it?’ You do for it for the kids,” he said while trying to fight back the tears. “It just so happens that this is the first time in a long time where we’ve had the right mix of kids to get it done. It’s a special group. And they want to keep it going,” he continued with pride. “That’s the important part. It doesn’t matter how bad I want it , or how bad any of their parents want it. When (his players) step in between those lines, this has to be what they want to do. That’s what got us to this point.”
Or, more simply put, just two wins away from becoming a Penn Manor Comets’ team whose legacy will live on forever.
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