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Comets display size, balance in road win at McCaskey
 

Comets display size, balance in road win at McCaskey

Written by: TJ Eck on January 29, 2024

 

Everyone associated with the Penn Manor boys basketball program knows the importance of each game remaining on the schedule.

“It’s those dog days of January, beginning of February and we know we need each one,” said Penn Manor senior forward Ethan Benne. “We know each one is gonna be a battle, especially in Section 1.”

Benne and company started fast and finished strong in a 74-55 road win at McCaskey Monday night in a game the Comets simply had to win to keep their postseason hopes alive.

The Comets scored 42 points in the first half and overcame a sloppy third quarter before putting 26 points on the board in the final frame to pull away for a comfortable victory.

“We played pretty well,” said Penn Manor head coach Larry Bellew, when discussing the offensive explosion in the first half. “Got some easy ones, got some cuts, got some layups.”

Benne, who is listed at six-foot-six, led the way with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Penn Manor senior six-foot-five forward Dhamir Wesley logged 16 points and 14 boards while six-foot junior guard Michael Lower netted 19 points and finished just short of a double-double with nine rebounds.

The Comets outrebounded the Red Tornado, 47-23.

“We knew we had the size advantage,” said Benne. “We knew we could pound the glass and take advantage of that and we were able to make it happen early.”

Bellew added: “Plenty of shots, there were lots of misses tonight and thankfully we were able to rebound a bunch of them.”

The Comets played with great energy in their first game since last Friday’s contest against Hempfield was suspended in the third quarter following a scary head injury to Penn Manor senior guard Devin Figueroa.  Figueroa is recovering and improving but did not attend Monday night’s matchup against McCaskey.  The Comets played with his jersey on their bench.

“We knew he couldn’t be with us tonight,” said Benne. “We wanted to keep him part of it. We just really want to keep him involved as much as we can.”

McCaskey was led by sophomore point guard De’Andre Jones, who poured in a team-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds and two steals. Senior guard Nemias Tirado scored 12 points and dished out three assists while fellow senior guard Kamryn Pugh finished with 10 points and six boards.

The Red Tornado drops to 6-13 overall and 3-5 in league play.

Penn Manor improves to 13-5 overall and 4-3 against Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 competition. Monday night’s victory was critical for the Comets in their pursuit of a L-L League playoff berth and keeps them in contention for a spot in Class AAAAAA District 3 tournament.

The Comets trail Hempfield by one game for the second L-L League Section 1 playoff spot and entered Monday night No. 13 in the Class AAAAAA District 3 power ratings. The top twelve teams qualify for the district tournament.

“We’ve given up all our opportunities to slip up,” said Bellew. “So we’ve gotta be on top of it from here on out.”

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