York High Completes Second Consecutive Business Trip Into Lancaster County As Bearcats Continue To Pillage L-L Foes, Knock Off Hempfield Following (Another) Barnes’ Big Day

Written by: Andy Herr on January 3, 2026

Each year, these early days of January are most always reserved for New Year’s resolutions. Typically, while these are often goals set on an individual basis, so too can they apply to groups. Like, say Lancaster-Lebanon League boys’ basketball.

Throughout the month of December, it’s admittedly been a bit of a rocky road for the L-L League at large when it comes to their track record put up against other leagues they’ve interacted with thus far. As far as the numbers go, the L-L entered January with a 52% winning percentage against schools from outside the conference borders in totality. Look deeper inside those numbers and you’ll soon see that the league came into the new calendar year with a winning record against just two other conferences within the local District 3 footprint altogether when looking at a 100% winning record against Tri-Valley League foes, but a much more modest 53% winning clip against Berks competition. Beyond that, a dead split with YAIAA teams, and losing records to both the vaunted Mid-Penn Conference in addition to the CCAC, the league that most notoriously houses the likes of Linville Hill for reference.

Now, as far as the individual teams within this entire L-L conglomerate were concerned, they too likely felt as if they themselves were looking to amends with a fresh start now upon entering January as well. Say, the Hempfield Black Knights perhaps.

Coming into this season, the buzz of promise in and around Landisville, Mountville, Centerville, and all places in between within the borders that make up one of the largest school districts inside central Pennsylvania in that of Hempfield, was nothing if not palpable. In some ways though, that might’ve been somewhat hard to square considering how Hempfield came into this 2025-26 campaign while fresh off their worst season during the tenure of the conference itself (1972-73), as the Black Knights were only able to navigate their way to all of three wins last winter that resulted in a 3-19 overall mark.

And like the conference in which they reside, while packed with a bit of irony given how the Black Knights will nonetheless reenter L-L Section One divisional play this coming week while sitting in a four-way tie for first place by virtue of a 2-1 divisional mark with a triumvirate of other squads, Hempfield came into Saturday afternoon’s nonconference affair against the York High Bearcats, fresh off a win against McCaskey in their own right last time out, while looking to snap what was an ongoing three-game losing skid that concluded their month of December while en route to a 3-6 clip overall, coming part in parcel with a 1-5 mark compiled against non L-L foes to best highlight the earlier factoid.

However, while their residency remains stamped as the city’s flagship school back home in York County, don’t find fault with these Bearcats if they happen to stick their chest out just a little bit further as the now de-facto leaders in the L-L Section One race provided they could knock off their second consecutive L-L Section One outfit in as many games – both on the road no less – with this Saturday afternoon matinee excursion over to Landisville in tangling with Hempfield. Oh yeah, if you’re now curious then as far as a side-by-side comparison as to where York High happens to stack up inside Section One of the YAIAA in a quasi-assessment of both conferences, the Bearcats will dive back into their own league play while sitting all by themselves in the #4 slot of their division, putting them squarely in the middle of the pack.

Again, while not necessarily a true scientific way to measure teams that come from opposite sides of the tracks, it’s rather obvious that these Bearcats are far sultrier crew than the misleading 5-4 record they brought with them across the river to match up with Hempfield on Saturday afternoon. And while Hempfield most certainly wanted to begin the 2026 calendar year by reversing some of the same trends in which they ended 2025 on, York High simply wasn’t the least bit interested in seeing the Black Knights buck any of those prior trends. Or, in other words, the Bearcats would indeed become the metaphorical leaders in the clubhouse when it to the make-believe L-L Section One title chase as Saturday’s eventual outcome came into view.

Part of the reason as to why this yet again proved itself to be a successful mission over to Lancaster County for the York High contingent on this day? Most notably seeing Nasir Barnes go off on an absolute heater for starters.

Against McCaskey last weekend, the Bearcats’ supremely talented lefty junior guard proceeded to torch the Tornado for a 38-point days’ worth of work in helping York capture the bronze medal of McCaskey’s own holiday tourney. On Saturday, new opponent and all, Barnes still looked right at home inside an L-L gym all the same as Barnes rattled off the Bearcats’ first five points of the day from both inside and outside the arc against Hempfield on this day, only to witness that somewhat comfy early lead get trimmed all the way down to the slimmest of margins, 5-4, in the aftermath of a pair of Spencer Troyer buckets inside the paint to help settle the waters somewhat for the Black Knights’ troops early on.

However, while next to impossible to reasonably predict at that snapshot taken in time, the homestanding Knights would get no closer at any point throughout the remainder of the game’s 29 minutes and change.

As far as the first member of the York High contingent not named Nasir Barnes who tallied points in the scorebook on the afternoon was, those honors would be bestowed upon Dawone Hodges as the junior’s bucket upped the Bearcats’ lead to a 9-4 count before a follow bucket at the cup put home by way of senior big man, Brandon Deshields, prompted Hempfield into burning a timeout while now staring up at an 11-4 deficit with 2:57 remaining in the first stanza.

Yet while Hempfield would claw themselves within a half dozen courtesy of a dead-eye triple sunk by Black Knights’ senior guard, Ashton Lewis, making it a 13-7 ballgame, a Deshields trifecta inside the waning stages of the opening frame off a baseline-out-of-bounds play quickly saw York High double up their hosts at 18-9 before the sun would set on the game’s first eight minutes with the visitors holding serve with their largest lead of the day accrued at the time, 20-9.

Within the game itself, if there was an unmistakable factor as to why York High had able to able to not just withstand but then build upon their lead inside the first quarter, it was Hempfield’s unfortunate propensity in gratitude when it came to turnovers awarded over to the Bearcats.

Fittingly, considering the manner in which such a feisty start on the defensive end of the floor had largely spurned their efforts forward to get Saturday underway and in motion for their side, York would then put forth a masterclass in prowess on that very end of the floor to raise the curtain on the game’s second act as well.

Specifically, it was a defensive possession which spanned 1:08 of game time. There, with it occurring all within the shrunken confines of the halfcourt, the Bearcats’ ability to scramble defensively and not let the Black Knights get a singular moment to essentially breathe while trying to navigate offensively, it seemed apropos that this too would end in a Black Knights’ turnover, which is precisely what happened to stymie Hempfield come the onset of the second quarter with the hosts being unable to even get a shot up in the air on this initial trip.

Then, in true complementary fashion with the Bearcats’ defense already being nails while continuing to flummox Hempfield into even more turnovers all throughout the game’s first 16 minutes, the iron was hot when it came to York High getting the offense to then follow suit.

Without much in the way of drama or relative suspense as to who exactly would largely inflict this greatest of damage, a majority of those offensive efforts would come courtesy of Barnes once more as another 3-ball knocked home by Barnes which had preceded a tough take to the rack of his right afterwards then made it a commanding 34-13 lead in the Bearcats’ benefit with all of 90 seconds left in an opening half where the orange and blue dictated nearly all of the terms of engagement prior to the first half crystalizing with the guests owning the sizable 36-19 lead serving as the proverbial wind inside their sails.

Steadily though, while undoubtedly freshly energized for an impassioned meeting back in the locker room at half, Hempfield methodically began plodding and charting their way forward to try and get back within shouting distance.

Then again, it’s not as if Nasir Barnes made the chore any easier on the Black Knights as he proceeded to bury a 3-ball at the 3:50 mark of the third quarter mark to make it a 45-26 Bearcats’ difference, with Barnes on his way to finishing with yet another sizzling 30-plus point day come the final buzzer, ending this most recent rampage with a 34-point day tallied against these Black Knights once the dust settled on Saturday.

However, not a moment too soon, here came Hempfield warming to the fight brought onto them.

Despite trailing by 21 points nearly eight minutes prior, that once fat York High lead felt like it hit the gym somewhat and slimmed down once Cam Harris, the junior transfer to Hempfield by way of Lancaster Country Day, finished off a backdoor reverse cut at the cup to make it a 45-32 ballgame with roughly two minutes left in the third and Hempfield amid their most fruitful charge at any point yet seen throughout the day.

Later, also fitting in some ways considering how he had been the key stalwart who had helped power Hempfield through their initial fits early on, Spencer Troyer would then come away with a pair of back-to-back buckets inside the paint to help close the book on the third quarter action, a key stretch which got the Knights back to within their closest margin in some time, 47-36, with the final period just getting set to commence.

That said, even when it may have seemed as if Hempfield was about to embark on a frantic final stanza to perhaps steal a victory and walk home free unscathed just a short while later, York High again refused to play nice.

In fact, after another take to the tin by, you guessed it, Nasir Barnes, the Bearcats’ lead had just as quickly swelled back upwards to a nearly 20-point gap, 59-40, with the grains now running thin on Hempfield’s sand dial.

Yet even though Hempfield would get solid contributions throughout Saturday afternoon for a variety of different parties as evidenced by Jayzen Gant and Spencer Troyer sharing in 16-point scoring days yielding only to Ashton Lewis who led the charge with a 17-point effort, it was almost certainly Lewis as the lone Black Knight that York could ill-afford to lose track of defensively.

Well, unfortunately for that contingent, Lewis would indeed work himself free from the Bearcats’ collective clutches by then raining in what would be his fourth of five trifectas on the day to get the hosts back within single digits, 59-50, with three minutes still outstanding on the game clock.

And while Barnes would counter back this latest Hempfield advance with another bucket to add onto his day to push the difference back out to 11, an old-fashioned three-point play by the aforementioned Gant on the ensuing Hempfield trip down the floor trimmed it to a 61-53 affair with now inside of two minutes left to play.

Remember Ashton Lewis? Well, York High mistakenly seemed to forget him inexplicably.

There, after seeing Barnes split an offering at the charity stripe just moments prior, Lewis’ fifth and final 3-ball on the afternoon quickly made it a truly white-knuckle affair with York High suddenly clinging to a 62-56 lead with 1:11 left to be played.

By this point, while something akin to divine intervention wouldn’t be required given how the Black Knights had done the legwork in getting themselves back within a puncher’s chance, an added bit of good fortune certainly wouldn’t hurt the Black Knights’ cause.

Sure enough, that’s exactly what Hempfield found waiting for them as the Bearcats would go 0-2 from the line after getting fouled with 58 seconds remaining, setting the stage for the Knights to make their largest indentation into this York High lead since the early stages of the first quarter.

However, even when it may have seemed as if they had quelled and overcome their bout with the turnover bug at just the right moment, there it was again – at the absolute most inopportune of times – as a throwaway pass on a miscommunication on the next Hempfield possession resulted in the ball rolling towards the Bearcats’ bucket with Brandon Deshields coming up with the loose pill before getting fouled with Deshields then calmly sinking both of his offering to allow York High to exhale.

Sorta.

Refusing to go away anything but tempered and quietly, Jayzen Gant would promptly author a triple to get the Knights within five at 64-59 with 30.3 seconds remaining as the junior guard continued to step up in the game’s brightest of moments to help power the Hempfield train onward.

Yet as most cut-stoppers tend to do, Nasir Barnes would stop the bleeding and close the wound for the Bearcats exactly when they needed it the most.

Granted, while it wasn’t the most sensational or highlight-worthy of moments by any stretch, don’t let the magnitude of the moment misconstrue it. There, with the eventual outcome still anything but truly decided, Barnes would proceed to go a combined 4-4 from the foul line inside the game’s final 24 seconds to ultimately help punctuate and put a period on a victory that York High led wire-to-wire, though not without its moment of turbulence of course, as the Bearcats made it two successful business trips to Lancaster County following this most recent verdict, a 68-61 triumph over Hempfield early Saturday afternoon.

Afterwards, while they certainly wouldn’t want to give the game’s result back, the Bearcats knew full well and were cognizant enough to recognize and appreciate that there were still plenty of loose ends throughout the 32 minutes on Saturday that saw things get far more tense than they largely needed to be.

“It’s a consistency thing,” York High second-year head coach, Kerry Glover, most formally the head man of the Columbia Crimson Tide, acknowledged following his team’s win over Hempfield. “Our goal was scoring 18, 20 points a quarter and then giving up no more than 10 (points) a quarter. We did a really good job of that in the first half. Coming out of the half, we just kind of came out lackadaisical,” Glover admitted of the game’s change in tone and emotional shift following a largely emphatic York High first half showing. “We didn’t take care of the ball, didn’t do a good job staying in front of the ball…Basically everything we did well in the first half, we went to the complete opposite.”

“Yeah, we won, that’s the end goal that we want, but we have to put together four good quarters,” Glover continued. “We still have a habit of playing inconsistently. That’s not the mark of a good playoff team. That’s not what I’m looking for,” said Glover of the message reiterated to his troops. “I’m looking to see the same team, the same product, no matter who we’re playing. It shouldn’t matter if (the opponent) has zero wins, or if they’re undefeated. We still have some work left to get there obviously, but it’s going to happen.”

Part of the reason why “it” figures to happen? Having the likes of a Nasir Barnes at your disposal certainly isn’t a bad jumping off point. Even still, a nearly 40-point day tabulated yet again and all, Glover still sees that the ceiling has yet to truly be tapped when it comes to the growth of his junior phenom’s game.

“Nas is a special player, man. He’s a gym rat,” the Bearcats’ coach said lauding praise on Barnes. “It doesn’t matter if it’s practice days or game days. He’s putting in shots, working on moves, doing things before we even get on the bus. Like, he’ll go to the gym, he’ll go to the Y, he’ll go to one of the local basketball centers in York, and he’ll go work for an hour,” he remarked of Barnes’ burning desire to get better. “He’ll get in work for an hour, go home and shower, then come to the school and get on the bus because we have to go to a game,” Glover chuckled.

“(Barnes) just doesn’t stop,” Glover continued. “Sometimes, it looks like he’s settling for some high degree of difficulty shots that he doesn’t have to take, but he works on that. Like, there’s never been a shot that (Barnes) takes that he doesn’t work on every single day. Now, that doesn’t mean that the exact game situation, the time and score situation necessarily calls for that, so that’s the next level of growth for him that I’m trying to help him out with right there.”

“He’s a special player,” he added in closing of Barnes. “Super respectful, great kid, great teammate. He’s doesn’t talk enough though,” Glover joked. “I wish he would talk more, but that’s just his personality.”

Rest assured though, his game does plenty of talking. Speaking of which, there are other volumes that the Bearcats as a collective have yet to reach in this, Glover’s second year at the helm of his alma mater.

“I just wanted to elevate the program back into the discussion of being one of the best teams in the area, whether it’s counties, districts, or states,” Glover said when asked about where he felt like the overall operation was into his still early tenure. “The goal for me personally is to have everyone understand that when they play the York High Bearcats, you better in a good night’s rest before,” he shared with an unwavering confidence.

“Other teams need to know that they need to withstand our pressure, that we’re going to attack, we’re going to be relentless, and we’re going to be tough physically and mentally. For me, with the players right now we have in the program, the biggest thing is the emotional and mental toughness. It’s not the shot-making. The emotional and mental toughness is what we’re striving for.”

“I want that to be something that’s shared by everybody,” Glover said of the recognition and appreciation by all future Bearcats’ foes when they see the York High logo lodged inside their upcoming schedule in the not-so-distant future. “Not game-to-game matchups, but everybody across the board….I want our home games to get back to the point where the entire upper level (bleachers) have to be pulled out and every game is jam-packed. Not just when we play certain teams, like only two or three teams, but every game because (the fans) know it’s a show that they don’t wanna miss.”

If you were to ask a member of the L-L audience, it’s a show that already gets two thumbs up.