ELCO 66 Spring Grove 49/N. Schuylkill 68 Lebanon 50: mini wraps

Written by: Dell Jackson on December 8, 2023

Lebanon tournament
Dec. 8, 2023

ELCO 66 Spring Grove 49
North Schuylkill 68 Lebanon 50

Two Lebanon County teams were involved in this 2nd weekend tournament – ELCO cashed in with a W to entertain N. Schuylkill in the finals Dec. 9 at Lebanon. Both games were similar in that all the teams played at a fast pace and featured guard play. The ELCO Raiders were blending in seniors and sophomores and did a good job rotating players in and out, while depending on veteran guards Dallas George and Cam Marquette to keep things on even keel. The Cedars seemed to find their perimeter game in the third period, but didn’t have enough on the offensive end to put a lot of pressure on N Schuylkill. The Cedars are improved from last year’s version and will continue to get better as they get more consistent on the offensive end.

ELCO/Spring Grove

The ELCO Raiders jumped out quickly as they ran out to an 11-3 advantage at the 4:33 mark. The last points of the run were captured on a three-point play by Kaden Shulta Tillison, 6’2” sophomore. Spring Grove scored the last 5 points of the quarter (the last off a flair cut resulting in a three-ball by Cooper Smith, 6’ soph) to close the gap to 1 point at 17-16.

Neither team would string together big runs in the second period. Micah Gray hit a triple and a jumper late in the second to give the Raiders a 32-31 lead after 2.

ELCO outscored Spring Grove 19-8 in the third to take control of the game. The Raiders popped 3 triples (Gray, Tillison, and Cam Marquette) and dominated the boards (9-5 although many offensive during the period. 51-39n heading into the fourth.

The Raiders started the 4th with a 7-0 run (three-ball by Kody boyer, and 2 lay-ups by Josiah Hayes) Spring Grove would cut the deficit to 11 but the Raiders settled down and hit their foul shots to gather their first W of the 2023-24 season.

Points:
ELCO – Micah Gray 19, Kody Boyer 11
Avin Myers 19, Cooper Smith 13

Unofficial Stats
Rebounds: ELCO 26 , Spring Grove 22
Turnovers: ELCO 13, Spring Grove 13

POG Micah Gray

Micah Gray interview

ELCO Book

Spring Grove book

Lebanon/North Schuylkill

The Cedars hung with N Schuylkill for a period. The Spartans finished the quarter on an 8-3 run (Three-balls by Jude Mazurkas, 6’2” sophomore, a Mazurkas lay-up and another triple by Jack Keiter, 6’1” sn.) 17-12 after one.

Lebanon went cold in the second. The Spartans outscored the Cedars 22-8 to take control of the game. A 10-2 run to start the second stanza propelled N. Schuylkill to a dominant period. 39-20 at the break.

Lebanon started to hit some shots and battled on the boards (13-11 N Schuylkill) in the third. Lebanon hit triples by Jayden Wolfe(3), Ihab Abdallaoui). 52-41 at the end of the third.

Things got a bit testy in the fourth. There were a total of 4 “T’s” called in the period. The Cedars could not get any closer than 11. The Spartans took care of the ball and made their foul shots to earn the “W”.

Points:
Lebanon: Jaydyn Wolfe 13, Juan Torres 9
N Schuylkill: Jack Keiter 20, Zane Zulkowski 19

Unofficial Stats
Rebounds: Lebanon 27 N Schuylkill 35
Turnovers: Lebanon 10 N Schuylkill 12

N Schuylkill Book

Lebanon Book

Sidelines….Coach Chris George, Northern Lebanon, helped us with some stats…well kind of. Coach was a fan, a father, and a coach..So his stats weren’t quite up to par, but we took care of them…Dell almost got wiped out by a diving player in the first game at courtside – the repaired hip survived!….Gotta to love the Cedars old time fans. ..They helped the refs with some calls as all do, but they knew their hoops as they encouraged their team to box out and run..Great seeing long time score keeper Jerry C. …Also made some new friends court-side..One gentleman has been following the Cedars and keeping score sheets for over 50 yrs. Lutz? Never did get his name. …Rooster was there as well…Like I said, a good time meeting new folks at Lebanon. ..Special thanks to AD Sanchez for setting me up court-side tonight.

~Dell Jackson

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