Twin Valley Passes First Test As Raiders Overcome Offensive Malaise, Rally Past Solanco For ‘Confidence Booster’ Overtime Victory
Written by: Andy Herr on December 2, 2023
It’s funny sometimes how everything can come full circle. Certainly, this premise can hold true in high school basketball as well. Case in point, Friday night’s opening game of the season contested between Solanco and Twin Valley.
Ironically, it was in this very game a season ago, the lead-off game at the Octorara Tip-off tourney no less, when the Golden Mules officially embarked on the Anthony Hall era to usher in a new day for the program by way of Quarryville. In that game, Solanco certainly played with an overall edginess and ferocity not seen by a Solanco team for quite some time which ultimately helped them to prevail in a 53-40 final decision over Oxford to undoubtedly ingite the new chapter. However, as is the case in most every first year during a rebuild, not the least of which was hindered by key injuries but also compounded in having to reside in the same neighborhood as the defending District 3-6A runners up in Warwick from the previous season, but also the eventual L-L and District 3-5A runners up a season ago in Manheim Central, the wins after the initial lid-lifter against the Hornets were in relatively short supply as the Mules finished the 2022-23 campaign with a 6-16 overall record to their name. That said, if the general consensus is that teams typically make their biggest jumps from game one to game two, surely a program in general could do the same, especially for the Mules given how a year in Hall’s program should clearly demonstrate to the players within it what exactly is expected of them. Or, to put it simply to the naked eye, anyone considered the least bit “soft” need not apply.
Yet in speaking with the theme second-year coaches, their opposition sitting on the other bench on Friday night had a similar story to tell as it turned out.
Prior to the start of last season, Matt Herbener, a 2013 Ephrata grad who played under current Annville-Cleona head coach Jason Coletti, finally got his turn at taking over control of a program. For him, it happened to be the Twin Valley program found in Elverson after several years learning the tricks of the trade, perhaps most notably in serving admirably as one of Charlie Fisher’s trusted assistants for a handful of years. But like his fellow first-year cohort during the winter months of 2022-23, the wins were just as elusive it seemed for a Raiders program eager to make a jump up in the overall Berks landscape.
Suffice to say, with a pair of teams that likely seemed as if they were equally at eye-level with one another entering the first night of this brand-new season at Octorara on Friday evening, a tooth-and-nail battle figured to be afoot that would go right up until the final gun. However, not even that initial final buzzer would be enough to settle who would eventually triumph as the eventual victor.
As one may be apt to suspect, especially with it being the first game of the season, emotion and intensity figures to be at a fever pitch by and large. Well, in that regard, while the calendar may have stated that it was December 1st, this matchup in the early going between Solanco and Twin Valley felt as if the clock has somehow fast-forwarded itself all the way to March 1st.
Case in point, both Evan Myers of Twin Valley and Noah Bailey of Solanco taking their shared turns at bombing in trifectas for their side respectively in the opening minutes with Bailey’s trey knotting things up at an 8-8 count almost two minutes in. And while the Raiders would counter back with an immediate rebuttal in 3-ball form thanks to the handiwork sophomore guard, Matthew Knight, on their ensuing offensive trip, Bailey would continue to have the hot hand for the Golden Mules in the early going as the junior forward completed a nifty step-through the Twin Valley defense to put his side in front by a 15-11 count with roughly three minutes left to be played in the opening stanza.
But as would be the prevailing theme that would emerge throughout almost the entirety of the evening, just when Solanco may have appeared to be playing with momentum, Twin Valley kept hanging around and hanging around while simply refusing to budge.
In fact, over the span of those final few minutes of the opening quarter, Solanco would be able to manage nary a point while also surrendering a 5-0 salvo to Twin Valley in the waning stages, capped off by the second of Myers’ trifectas in the opening frame as the standout quarterback on the Raiders’ football team filled the role of long-range sniper quite admirably as the junior point guard helped the Raiders carry the slim 16-15 cushion with them into the second quarter.
Once the second frame began however, the see-saw of momentum would tilt back in Solanco’s favor.
Sure enough, the Mules were able to cap off a timely 5-0 spurt in response to Twin Valley’s early momentum swing as an elevator screen play worked wonders as far as Nolan Wagner had to be concerned as the Solanco sophomore guard was able to pour in a much-needed 3-ball off said set which suddenly made it a 20-16 Mules’ lead nearly halfway through the second.
Yet again though, just when Solanco may have thought they had the remedy to really create some distance between themselves and the opposition, Twin Valley clearly had other ideas for them.
Granted, while the Solanco cushion would later swell up to as many as half a dozen inside the second quarter, the Raiders were to shoot that back down to size both literally and figuratively as a key triple dialed up junior guard, Kooper Zdimal, cut the deficit in half, 22-19, with inside of a minute left in the first half by that point. Then, just as he had done in the quarter previous, Evan Myers continued to pour in a key triple to aid in his team’s efforts as this, the third of his first half threes, came just as the horn sounded, making it a 23-22 Solanco lead heading into the intermission.
That said, even despite falling victim to a late Twin Valley surge prior to regrouping in the locker room for the halftime respite, that certainly seemed as if that’s what Solanco did upon coming out for the second half on Friday night. And in turning many of the most critical tasks over to their most grizzled of players with the game teetering on the edge by and large, the Mules seemed reinvigorated to begin the second half.
Easy to say perhaps once Noah Bailey came through with a hard-earned take to the cup which helped make it a 27-22 Mules’ lead with 5:45 left in the third, good for two more en route to his game-high 20-point outing on the evening. That said, while the offense production was certainly most welcomed, it was the Mules’ collective efforts on the defensive side of the floor that inevitably helped shift momentum ever so clearly in their favor. In fact, Solanco would go on to enjoy their largest of the evening by that point, 30-22, following a 3-ball sunk by another sophomore in the Mules’ rotation, Kiran Ludgate, as Ludgate’s trey surely added salt to the open Twin Valley wound given how the Raiders had yet to score throughout the first 5:20 of the third act.
Yet if you’re starting to sense a theme here, you’re not wrong. Especially with Twin Valley helping to write the story of course.
Again, just when it had seemed as if Solanco had finally found the antidote to quell Twin Valley once and for all, the Raiders came right back to the table. Case in point, erasing the gap back down to four in the waning stages of the third quarter once a sophomore found in the Raiders’ lineup this time around, Carter Schmidt, was able to fire in a triple which made it a 31-27 ballgame which is precisely where things remained once the final 1:30 evaporated off the third quarter clock.
Undeterred though, Solanco came out swinging to begin the fourth.
For proof of that, look no further than Noah Bailey deciding to step out from beyond the arc before coming up with what felt as if it could have been a back-breaking trifecta seeing as how it upped Solanco’s advantage to a 36-27 difference with the fourth quarter still well in its infantile stages.
But as is the case no matter what the sport, no matter what the level of play, chances are that if you leave the door open long enough, the other team will gladly saunter in and take advantage of your gratuity.
Sure enough, while the Mules were suddenly enjoying their largest lead of the night following the Bailey triple, they weren’t doing so not long thereafter given how a timely 5-0 personal run tallied by Kooper Zdimal, good for five more en route to his team-high 15-point showing on the evening, clipped the Mules’ hooves down to 36-32 with 5:30 left to play. From there, the Twin Valley onslaught just kept coming as a sweet dime inside from the junior duo of Evan Myers to Aris Drake underneath officially got the Raiders back on level ground at 36-36 with then 3:20 still to go.
Try as they might though, Twin Valley would have to contend with Noah Bailey’s antics. Not just throughout the entirety of the night, but particularly in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter most especially.
Just when they needed that precious bit of energy the most, Bailey would deliver the goods for his troops as a reverse finish at the cup put the Mules up 38-36 with 1:20 remaining before an old-fashioned three-point play by the Solanco junior their ensuing trip down the floor afterwards made it a 41-38 buffer in their favor with just 15 seconds left to play in regulation.
Keyword there being regulation.
Needless to say, the time was now if Twin Valley had any aspirations whatsoever in trying to extend this game into a deserving extra frame. Well, fortunately for the group clad from head-to-toe in forest green, Kooper Zdmial would carry the mail (and the parcels) for his crew as a beautifully-executed play on the Raiders’ final offensive possession ended with Zdmial coming free off a screen with the ball delivered perfectly right in the shooting pocket with the Twin Valley junior proceeding to knock down the devilish trifecta just moments before the fourth quarter buzzer rang out, sending Solanco and Twin Valley into an extra four minutes of play with nothing having been yet decided given the 41-41 stalemate.
Once inside overtime though, both teams continued to throw jabs at one another.
Just when Twin Valley had been able to draw first blood at 44-41 following the hoop plus the harm by way of Matthew Knight, Solanco just as quickly was able to even things up following a fearless trey splashed home courtesy of Austin Wenger with not even one minute having yet gone by. Then, even though it may have lacked in excitement and fanfare, the Raiders likely didn’t care whatsoever had an eventual lead came into existence, such as the case when Twin Valley’s towering junior big man, Riley Gray, proceeded to knock down both of his free throw attempts which made it a 49-46 TV lead with 1:26 still showing on the clock. That said, if they somehow felt as if they were lacking in the excitement department, Carter Schmidt was there to lend a hand as his bucket plus the foul kept the difference at three, 51-48, with inside of a minute left to play.
But in a cruel tempt of fate, at least from Solanco’s perspective no doubt, it had to feel as if Twin Valley had then returned the favor in leaving the door open for them to come barging through.
Easy to say no doubt given how the Raiders promptly had an ill-timed bout with chilly shooting from the charity stripe as an 0-4 stretch kept the margin at that aforementioned 51-48 count with the Mules having one last gasp. However, even despite getting a final look in the waning seconds, the Mules’ shot at the buzzer went begging, officially signifying Twin Valley’s perhaps while not totally improbable, but certainly unlikely it seemed at times destined, 51-48 overtime triumph over Solanco to start the year off in come-from-behind fashion.
Rest assured, their head man knew what this victory took and what it could mean down the line for his group, both in the micro and the macro.
“We’ve had this issue since last year. Like, we go in spurts of eight to ten minutes of just not scoring,” Twin Valley head coach Matt Herbener explained when asked how this group in their first test under fire was able to weather the peaks and valleys within a hard-fought game. “Our goal in those scenarios is to try and get to the paint. Try and get inside to where we can kick it out for something wide open, a layup, or get to the foul line,” he added.
“The biggest thing with us though has been our mindset,” Herbener was just as quick to point out. “Last year, when we got down and started missing (shots), it just piled on and piled on. That mindset now is starting to change with some of these juniors. They’re confident regardless of whether they’re making or missing. Just the mindset of when we get down is the biggest change for us.”
“We’ve had adversity since the get-go,” Herbener continued in assessing this particular game as a bit of a microcosm throughout the first few weeks of the season. “We’ve had injuries, we’ve some guys be ineligible, so that’s self-inflicted, but our rotation right now is at seven. It was six for awhile while we had our injuries. But yeah, there’s no better confidence booster…A win like that, that means a lot more than winning by 10 or 15.”
And while Coach “Herbs” or “Herbie” depending on who you ask was referencing 10 or 15 in the vernacular in terms of points there most specifically, obviously the goal and the intent is that a victory the likes of what this one entailed over Solanco may perhaps set the table for “10 or 15” ideally being in the number of wins Twin Valley is able to scavenger up this season. At least through opening night, they could do no better while embarking on that three-month journey.
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