Young Falcons Show Off Their Moxie As Cedar Crest Uses Fourth Quarter Surge To Secure Divisional Road Win, Push Away Penn Manor
Written by: Andy Herr on December 22, 2021
Let’s talk for a second about identity. Rest assured, whether we’re talking about sports or just life in general, your identity -perhaps more so your character- is the true essence of your very being. To be sure, what comes out of you when you get squeezed is the one true marker of who you really are and what you’re made of. And without a shadow of a doubt, these are characteristics are things simply not developed overnight. No, these are traits that are instead woven into the fibers of your DNA that only the constant passages of time and experience can provide. Sure enough, even in the world of high school basketball of all places, teams themselves quite often come with an unmistakable identity too. Just take the Cedar Crest Falcons for example.
Throughout the entirety of the Lancaster-Lebanon League boys’ basketball scene, if there’s a team that has a better identity than Cedar Crest, the list of candidates that could possibly equal them is certainly very small in number. Always playing with a chip on their collective shoulders that seems to take on the size of a massive boulder, the Falcons routinely seem to play like their backs are pushed up against the wall. And the crazy thing about it is, it almost seems to always work considering that Cedar Crest under the direction of head coach Tommy Smith has been able to perform as arguably the best L-L franchise of the last decade. Now, the origins of where that underdog, “Us against the world mentality,” comes from can still be argued. Perhaps it stems from being the only Lebanon County school to be placed amongst their fellow Section One programs, a fact of life that comes coupled with road trips that involve traveling into an opposing county for every single divisional contest. And hey, how could you not reasonably feel as if the chips were stacked against you if that were the case? But more importantly though, regardless of the where exactly that narrative begins to take shape and mold into form, Cedar Crest has consistently maintained those same tried and true characteristics within their program no matter who comes and who goes, the constant fact of life when operating within a finite eligibility-laden business the likes of high school hoops. And when you get right down to it, that right there is the true essence and indicator on what a program truly is.
But this year, perhaps more than ever before in their recent past, the Falcons will need to be able to lean on their identity considering this 2021-22 version of Cedar Crest is incredibly young, a fact best evidenced by the fact that the Falcons have nothing but underclassmen residing in their starting lineup, four of which amazingly are sophomores. And while the early road this season has been filled with ups and downs which can likely be expected with such a green and inexperienced ensemble taking their first turns at playing in the varsity ranks, their Tuesday night divisional tilt on the road at Penn Manor may ultimately prove to be spring-board of sorts for these young Falcons to gradually build themselves into household names inside the L-L League over the next several years.
Speaking of Penn Manor, they too have an identity.
Without much question, the Comets must be considered the L-L League’s biggest sleeping giant. With a large school district to build upon that also just so happens to bump up right against likes of the Lancaster city border, along with a campus that shares itself with the county’s lone PSAC university, it would appear that nearly all of the tools are already in place for the Comets’ program to truly take off. And hey, you would also think that the multi-million-dollar facelift that the high school campus itself is currently undergoing would certainly help inject some additional school spirit considering that likely no school in all of Lancaster County will be as nice as Penn Manor’s will be once the construction project finally does wrap itself up. And while Penn Manor has certainly had its fair share of positive moments over the last several years, perhaps none more than the 2018-19 Comets that seemed to make a living off of last-second game winners and memorable comebacks, -many of thanks which need to be distributed to senior guard Kevin Roldan at the time- the uphill climb that comes with competing inside L-L Section One has unfortunately proven to be difficult for Penn Manor to try and emerge from on a consistent basis. However, this year, with the hopes that the league playoffs will once again return back to a two-team format per division once again, save for what appears to be Hempfield locking up one of those precious spots thus far, there is hope that this could be the year that this Penn Manor squad -a group that has appeared to be markedly improved at least based on their performances on the offseason circuit- can finally get back to being a legitimate threat that will put the rest of Section One on notice. And if that were to be the case, their Tuesday night date against a youthful cast from Cedar Crest would likely prove to be instrumental in that desire becoming a reality.
However, in the end on Tuesday evening, Cedar Crest would go on to demonstrate that while this may be a group that those on the outside of Cornwall have yet to hear and learn about, they will be a force to be dealt with for plenty of years to come.
Speaking of Cedar Crest, perhaps their other unmistakable characteristic is their potent dribble/drive offense that has continued to hold serve over the last several seasons. However, much to their credit, Penn Manor head coach Larry Bellew wisely put the clamps down on the Falcons’ ability to live comfortably to start this particular contest.
Starting off in a zone that seemed to throw Cedar Crest out of sorts initially, the Falcons took their time at determining how to best dissect the challenge put in front of them. As it turned out, they would respond to the chore rather marvelously given their inside/out attack against the Penn Manor outfit, quite often being rewarded in doing so with their fair share of triples to gain some early separation from their counterparts. Case in point, a rare four-point play tallied by way of sophomore guard, Owen Chernich, to start the contest off, making it a 4-0 Falcons’ lead to successfully cap off Cedar Crest’s second offensive possession of the night.
From there, while Penn Manor would immediately retaliate with a trifecta of their own to cut the Cedar Crest lead down to the slimmest of margins, this triple sunk by Comets’ 5’9 senior guard, Randy Short, the Falcons only continued to exacerbate the difference. In fact, using many of those same inside/out tools, a powerful deuce inside authored by physically-imposing sophomore big man, Aidan Schomp, just as quickly made it a 6-3 affair in favor the guests shortly thereafter.
That said, speaking of long-range bombs, the Falcons would continue to maintain the hot-hand in that regard as the opening stanza wore along.
In fact, following the Schomp bucket, the Falcons turned to yet another 10th grader, Fernando Marquez, who proceeded to bury a 3-ball of his own which was quickly followed up by another one hurled in by junior sniper, J’Veon Reyes-Vega, to make it a 14-8 Cedar Crest lead with 2:20 left to go in the opening frame. From there, over the course of the final two minutes and change, the half-dozen point lead owned by the Falcons would remain in place as both teams prepared for the second quarter with Cedar Crest holding serve at a 16-10 count.
However, the break in between quarters didn’t appear to slow the Falcons down all that much when it came to their propensity to bomb it in from bonus distance. For proof of that, look no further than Owen Chernich’s 3-ball to start the second quarter proceedings, a bucket which allowed the Falcons to flirt with a double-digit lead right out of the chute.
But to their credit, Penn Manor would have no interest whatsoever in allowing their houseguests to simply run away and hide.
In fact, the Comet’s gradual build back towards trying to methodically chip away at the current Cedar Crest lead started off with a pair of nice buckets sunk in the paint by Dhamir Wesley and Ian Lutter respectively, a four-point swing that got the Comets right back into the thick of things. From there, the Comets then proceeded to slice down the Falcons’ cushion by way of the three-point play, both of the old-school and new-school variety. First, a timely triple nailed from the top of the key from 5’11 senior guard, Noe Perez, to get the Comets within four at 23-19 with 3:15 left prior to intermission before Perez then capped that off with an even sweeter play by finishing through contact at the cup shortly thereafter to suddenly made it a three-point bulge at 25-22 later. Yet speaking of takes to the rack, Penn Manor’s DeShawn Stanley would then follow suit with a determined finish to end the first half of play as the 5’9 junior’s bucket just moments before the second quarter horn made it a nail-biting 25-24 contest in favor of Cedar Crest once the two teams retired to their respective dressing rooms for the halftime break.
In the third frame though, Penn Manor kept insisting that they would provide nothing but stern resistance.
In fact, at the 4:10 mark of the period, the Comets finally found themselves back on level-ground following a yet another tough bucket inside chipped in by Dhamir Wesley, a 6’4 sophomore forward who would go on to share team-high scoring honors with Randy Short on the night with a 12-point performance respectively put forth by each of them, as the score was suddenly knotted up at 28-28.
From that point on however, Cedar Crest would do their best to push Penn Manor away for good.
Immediately on the heels of the Wesley basket just moments’ prior, an equally tough and impressive deuce by Cedar Crest’s Fernando Marquez gave the lead right back to the visitors. From there, yet another sophomore, Leo Tirado, took his turn at inflicting damage upon the Comets’ effort with a timely triple of his own, a 3-point momentum-shift right back in the Falcons’ favor which made it a 33-30 Cedar Crest lead with 3:25 left to play in the quarter. Yet with the Falcons’ long-range arsenal already at full display up until that point, it seemed apropos that Reyes-Vega would proceed to bury yet another 3-ball to break Penn Manor’s back before the third quarter clock was set to expire, a timely triple which made it a two-possession Cedar Crest lead at 36-32 at that point in time. And as it turned out, two possessions would indeed remain where things would stand at the end of the quarter with the Falcons still in charge by virtue of their 40-35 advantage.
Speaking of Reyes-Vega, he would prove to be the straw that would stir the Falcons’ drink down the homeward stretch.
Aided by a pair of silky smooth bombs to start the final stanza thanks to the Falcons’ wiry southpaw, the Cedar Crest lead had suddenly ballooned up to a 46-35 buffer before anyone could really blink, prompting Penn Manor to call a timeout and right the ship with 6:37 left to play. And yet while the Comets would indeed come back and get back within single figures at 48-40 following a 3-ball cashed in from 5’8 senior guard, Cameron Scholl, yet another Reyes-Vega triple on the ensuing Cedar Crest possession proved to be an early dagger with the Falcons’ lead now standing at 51-40 as the fourth wound itself down to the five-minute mark.
But if even if he wasn’t scoring the rock with the game on the line, Reyes-Vega had no issues whatsoever with getting his teammates involved as well, something that could be gleaned from his magnificent baseline pass out to a ready and waiting Fernando Marquez who would go on to bury the timely trey which only upped the Falcons’ lead from there. Fittingly, by the time the night was over with, both Reyes-Vega and Marquez would go on to pace the Cedar Crest onslaught with Reyes-Vega pouring in a game-high 17-point performance, an achievement not to be outdone by Marquez’s sweet 16-point effort in his own right.
Yet even though Penn Manor would certainly try their best to claw back into it in over final minutes and change as evidenced by a pair of Comets’ 3-balls knocked home by way of Randy Short and Noe Perez respectively, the damage done was too far great for the hosts to try and overcome by the final buzzer as the dust would finally settle with the Falcons earning themselves a hard-fought Section One 58-50 win on the road against a very game Penn Manor bunch.
In a lot of ways, especially with such a young cast of characters that Cedar Crest has in the fold this season, any win, no matter how you slice it, is a learning experience.
“We’ve played Hempfield at home with a live crowd, but you’ve got to create your own juice and bring your own energy into a game like this,” Cedar Crest head man Tommy Smith said in the aftermath of his team’s triumph against Penn Manor. “A win’s a win on the road in Section One. Any win in Section One is a good win, but on the road is even better,” he acknowledged.
Even better of course when the young pups can turn it on when the lights are at their brightest- the fourth quarter.
“(Penn Manor) played a zone, so through three quarters we were kind of working on our zone offense and trying to get better,” Smith said of what Penn Manor largely did to help keep his team’s offensive rhythm and flow operating with honesty early in the game. “Finally, we went to what we’re familiar with, our attacking offense, and it just flipped the switch on both sides of the floor. We started knocking down shots and getting buckets to where we’re getting after it on defense now as well which is how we were able to stretch the lead there,” he went on to add regarding what was the catalyst behind his squad’s furious finish.
Yet as mentioned, this is a group that is only going to continue to grow and develop as time continues to move along. The scary part though? It sounds as if there are even more reinforcements soon ready to report for battle.
“We got some more guys coming,” Smith said with a wry smile on what he sees in the long-range forecast for the program he is tasked with overseeing. “We’re going to take some lumps. We are, and I know that,” he then admitted candidly. “The nice thing about these guys is that they won’t accept that. They’re going to keep grinding and keep fighting. I do think we have some pieces to the puzzle. We’re trying to put it together on a game-by-game basis. That’s just what you’re going to get.”
In other words, while you may not be all that familiar with their names and faces yet, be prepared for the same old Cedar Crest that you’ve grown accustomed to seeing ascend towards the top of the ranks league-wide as the next few years commence. If not that, but perhaps an even better version than we’ve ever seen from them before.
NEXT UP: Following their win over Penn Manor on Tuesday night, a win which moved them to 3-2 overall and 1-1 inside the L-L race, Cedar Crest finds themselves absent from competition until after the Christmas holiday. Once they do, the Falcons will then return to the floor when they partake in hosting their annual Christmas tourney, a bracket that is always heavy on the Lebanon County flavor. After that, it’s no rest for the weary considering a road date with Central Dauphin looms large on January 3rd before the Falcons reenter league play against their arch nemesis of recent past, McCaskey, on January 5th.
For the Comets, it’s right back to work following the Cedar Crest outing. In fact, just 24 hours after hosting the Falcons, Penn Manor will once again open its doors -this time to Garden Spot on Wednesday evening- in a contest between two teams desperately trying to find some positive energy before they too take a brief break over the holiday. Then, coming out of Christmas, Penn Manor will make the short trek south to Quarryville to participate in Solanco’s Holiday Tournament, a grouping of teams that comes bursting at the seams in terms of L-L names given appearances by not only the Comets and Golden Mules, but Conestoga Valley and Manheim Central as well respectively.
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