Central Dauphin East Defeats Central Dauphin 85-81 in OT: Kehler on Hoops
Written by: Dell Jackson on February 10, 2023
Central Dauphin East Defeats Central Dauphin 85-81 in OT
Central Dauphin East defeated visiting Central Dauphin 85 to 81 in overtime on Thursday night in the final game of the season for both teams. The schools are rivals, and the game was played at a high level of intensity. Both teams are members of the Mid Penn Conference Commonwealth Division. Central Dauphin’s superb head coach, Wayne Fletcher, was home with an illness.
These squads know each other well, and the game began with some feeling out. About midway through the first quarter, East began to run, and from that point, they ran at every opportunity. East took advantage of five Central Dauphin turnovers in the first quarter, and they concluded the first frame with a 6 to 0 run, consisting of a drive by 6’ senior Demetrius Matthews, a fast break layup by 6’ senior Anthony Stevens, and a floater by 5’ 8” junior Eli Vega. That put East ahead 13 to 7 at the end of the first quarter.
There was a lot of fouling in the contest, and excellent free throw shooting kept Central Dauphin in the game in the second quarter. Central Dauphin made all 10 of their free throw attempts in the second period. East, on their part, began to get the ball inside to 6’ 4” senior Thurston Wells, who was tough for Central Dauphin’s man-to-man defense to stop. CD switched to a 2-3 zone defense for a while, then Wells hit a 3-pointer from the left baseline corner. Wells had a terrific second quarter, scoring nine points in the frame, but five Central Dauphin players scored in the second period, four of them getting to the free throw line. East led 29 to 26 at halftime.
The pace of the game picked up markedly in the second half. Central Dauphin went back to man-to-man defense, and both teams filled the hoops. Six players from each team scored in the third quarter, and the game picked up intensity. Central Dauphin, which had committed 12 turnovers in the first half, had only three miscues in the third quarter, but East led throughout the third period. Although Wells had to spend some time on the bench due to foul trouble, East had several eight point leads in the third quarter.
Trailing 52 to 46 at the end of the third quarter, Central Dauphin mounted a fierce rally, opening the fourth quarter with a 7 to 2 run on a floater by senior Keon Dockens, three free throws by freshman Jelani Easter, and a floater by sophomore Wayne Fletcher II. That cut East’s lead to 54 to 53. A three point play by Vega and a follow by Stevens sandwiched a drive by Central Dauphin’s Easter, and East was up 59 to 55. Then, Central Dauphin took their first lead since early in the first quarter on a long 3-pointer by Fletcher and a three point play by Dockens. That made it 61 to 59, Central Dauphin. East recaptured the lead with 2:17 left in the fourth quarter after Vega stole the ball, was fouled, and sank two free throws to make it 65-64, East. Central Dauphin kept it close, though, and a long banked 3-pointer by CD junior Lleyton Fried with a few seconds left in the fourth quarter tied the game at 71 and sent the teams to overtime. Central Dauphin’s fourth quarter rally was spurred by Dockens, who had 12 points in the period. CD was nine of 12 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
East scored first in overtime on a three point play on a putback by 6’ 1” senior Terrance Copney-Jackson, and they never trailed from that point. Copney-Jackson scored 10 of East’s 14 points in overtime, stepping up big with the game on the line.
East out-rebounded Central Dauphin 33 to 29. East had 14 turnovers, and Central Dauphin had 19 miscues. Free throw shooting was a very important part of this game. East was 19 of 34 from the line, while Central Dauphin was 26 of 30. East made two 3-pointers, and Central Dauphin scored six times from beyond the arc. There were five ties and three lead changes.
Central Dauphin East finished the season 10-12, and Central Dauphin was 8-14.
Central Dauphin East scoring: Anthony Stevens 23, Thurston Wells 18, Eli Vega 14, Terrance Copney-Jackson 13, Alijah Cooper 9, Josiah Stanley 4, Demetrius Matthews 2, and Preston Bruner 2.
Central Dauphin scoring: Wayne Fletcher II 18, Keon Dockens 18, Lleyton Fried 16, Jelani Easter 14, Malachi Coffield 9, Daron Haggans 4, and Georgios Arahovas 2.
Central Dauphin 7 19 20 25 10-81
Central Dauphin East 13 16 23 19 14-85
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