Dec 7/8 Wrap and Misc thoughts
Written by: Dell Jackson on December 10, 2018
Dec 7-8 Wrap
‘Twas a busy weekend for the LL teams. All the LL boys played at least one game, and most played two as the tip off season started and ended.
Dell saw four games this weekend (5 teams). Andy caught the MC Barons 2 times and the Football Barons once.
Dec 7th. TWP tip
Etown played Central York in the first game. C York ALWAYS has players who can shoot it from distance and this year’s version was no different. The Bears had turnover issues early and found themselves down 14-4 in the middle of the first. Coach Rocky called a timeout and seemed to settle the team as the Bears cut the lead to 1 at 20-19. The half ended at 28-19.
The second half was a repeat of the first. CYork would run out to a nice lead (38-25 middle of the third) only to see the Bears cut it down. Etown’s bigs (Locker, Eberly) took over late in the fourth with scoring the last bucket of the period – 38-35 Central.
Etown would not get closer than 6 points in the final stanza. Braden Richard for Central was outstanding. He hit jumpers, post, drives and foul shots. He scored 14 pts. in the quarter.
Points
Central York
Braden Richard 23
Alex Salter 15
Etown
Elijah Eberly 12
Larry Locker 12
TWP vs Lincoln
Lincoln played for the PIAA 6A championship last season and lost a close game. TWP qualified for the PIAA and won a game. So….each team was seasoned coming into the first night.
Lincoln fell behind early as TWP popped some threes (Tyler Crespo 2 and Will Greiner 2) and attacked the zone defense. TWP led 21-14 at the end of one. Neither team put together strong runs in the second quarter. TWP did get Lincoln in foul trouble, which would play into the game down the stretch. The half ended with the Streaks holding a slim 31-27 lead.
Lincoln made a nice adjustment at the half. They used a 2-2-1 full court trap with a 6’8” shot blocker in the back. TWP did not turn the ball over too much but were forced into quick shots- some at the basket and some from the deep corner. Lincoln was on the run. At one point the score was 48-41 Lincoln. The Steaks used the 3ball (Mickey Stokes popped 2) to keep things close 56-49 after 3.
The fourth quarter featured 4 lead changes and a tie at 64. Mellot’s bucket at :20 tied it up. Lincoln ran the clock down to 5.9 ticks – called a time-out, in-bounded to Emanuel Charleston, drove and scored with 2 seconds left. TWP had no timeouts left as Lincoln survived 66-64
Points:
Lincoln
Shaquill Bender 20
Neji Reid 15
Emanuel Charleston 10
Assem Lucky 10
TWP
Tyler Crespo 18
Brendan Mellot 14
Mickey Stokes 12
ELCO/Red Land
I was late getting to this game so not a lot to report. ELCO was in total control leading by 20 at the end of the third. The Raiders looked a lot like Crest with dribble drives, drops and kicks for 3. Newcomer big, Asher Kemble 6’5” jn, was intimidating. The Raiders have some nice pieces and could make a run at the Section and an LL berth.
Crest/Lebanon
The rivalry continues. With the stands full of fans, some from ELCO, some for the wall of fame presentation, your basic Cedar fans and a bunch of media types:)
The first thing that one notices with these schools is the ability to “get up and in you” on the defensive end. Bump, grind and battle. Everything was challenged in the first quarter. The Cedars relied on the 3 ball. Crest – a little of this and a little of that.
The quarter ended at 9-9.
The Falcons seemed to get their legs in the second. The Cedars turned the ball over 6 times in the period and the Falcons took advantage. Logan Horn was a nightmare for the Cedars. He controlled the game from the point position. He drove for layups, he popped three balls, and he dished to the bigs. The Falcons ripped off a 18-5 run to take control of the game. 33-18 at the half.
Mr. Horn was not finished as he nailed 3 three-balls in period 3. Falcons up 47-27 after three.
Lebanon would fight back using some full court pressure and capitalizing on a “t” on Crest. The Cedars got it under 10 very late in the game, but Crests’ lead was way too much to over come.
Points
Lebanon
Scottie Porter 14
Jahlil Young 12
Crest
Logan Horn 32
Coach Smith’s thoughts after the game
Ephrata/M Central wrap by Andy
Photo Galleries
Lebanon/Crest
TWP/Lincoln
ELCO/Red Land
Misc thoughts…
Section 1 looks to be tough as always. Hempfield, Crest, and PM all won this weekend. TWP split vs toughest competition will help them down the road.
Section 2…Should be very competitive….although none of the teams came out of the weekend with a loss, most games were very very close.
Section 3..Big weekend for the Cocalico Eagles (2-0). LS splits in the battle of the intials (CD and LD).
Section 4…Octorara wins 2 in their own tip off gig. The “great unkown”.
Section 5…Lancaster Country Day gets out of the gate quickly. It’s difficult to tell how this race will go until the teams start playing each other. BTW Lebanon Cath, is unbeaten!
We “sold” t-shirts this week. Will get more in the mail before Christmas. Order here.
Soundcloud inteview with Mike Gross about the rivalry
Lebanon Wall of Fame…Inductees included Paul Blackburn (currently at Hershey HS), Coach Barnhart (coached the Cedars in the 90’s) and Carlos Sanchez (Girls coach and current assistant to the boys at Lebanon), and Anthony Trautman (All American at LVC).
I have many stories about all these inductees. Anthony T (1000 pt scorer) dunked on my team when I was coaching Donegal in the first period- I tried to tell anyone who would listen that he was special. Coach Brad McAlester at LVC knew too.
Coach Blackburn and I spent a Saturday at his home in Lebanon doing some X and
O. I used some of Paul’s concepts at all levels when I was coaching. We called out “L” for his zone offense- very original. Coming from the Lebo-led Carlisle Thundering Herd, he also provided some great stories about Coach Lebo. Coach is on the twitter scene and is ALWAYS willing to help others in the coaching profession.
Coach John Barnhart’s team were super talented (7 time Section champs and 5 time LL champs- various players in college as ALL levels). I’ve talked to some of his past players, and they swear by the man. Coach was intense on the bench for sure. I coached one year vs. his Cedar led teams – he was always willing to talk to me after the game. I remember one game when we both said “what the heck happened” 🙂 His Cedars scored off a missed foul shot with 5 seconds left down by 2..the guard play of Kelliher and Coletti still sticks/haunts me :). On one of my scouting reports, we were not allowed to dribble the ball at ALL in the backcourt due to the Cedars speed/intensity by their guards.
Coach Carlos has been involved with the LL like – forever:). He coached the girls for the Cedars for 15 years, all-time wins with the lady Cedars 226. I actually followed him as an assistant at Etown College. Carlos is always willing to talk and share his insights on hoops.
I’m amazed at the tradition and connections that occur in Lebanon. I swear I saw the same fans sitting in the same place from when I coached at PM in 1987- really. 🙂 The Lebanon High School Principal, William Giovino, and I had a nice chat. Special thanks to the Lebanon Athletic Department for fixing us up with some wifi so we could tweet away.
Looking ahead…
LLhoops.com will be streaming some games this year. The first planned game is Reading vs McCaskey (pretty good huh?). Hoping no technical difficulties. Bruce Badgley has a 9 game schedule set for Berks Co. LL has a 5 game schedule.
First league games start Friday.
Brackets were released this week for the LL. Here is the link.
~Dell Jackson
Follow LLhoops on Twitter @LLhoops
