Keystone Weekly Wrap Up – 11/29 through 12/07

Written by: David Bray on December 10, 2024

Keystone basketball has finally tipped off, which means that the season is upon us again as all 8 teams got the chance to play non-divisional games before division play begins this week. Let’s look back at all the contests and the outlook ahead for each team.

Mechanicsburg (3-0, 0-0)

Mechanicsburg started back up where they left off last season, notching 3 wins to begin their campaign with a 35-point win against Greencastle-Antrim, a close 3-point victory against Eastern York, and a 6-point win against Central Dauphin East. Against Greencastle-Antrim, the Wildcats came out hot, exploding to an early double-digit lead in the first quarter. After the initial lead, the offense never slowed down with Josh Smith scoring 31 points to begin the season on 78.5% shooting and 7 assists. Chance Yanoski was right behind Smith with 16 points and 4 three-pointers of his own with 50% shooting from three. Liam Owens had a good game with 14 points and 5 rebounds on the night. Against Eastern York, Josh Smith led the team with 21 points followed by Chance Yanoski with 18 points to lead the Wildcats to their second victory of the season. Smith capitalized on their third win of the week with another 21-point performance, leading the Keystone Division with 24.33 PPG through the first week of the season. Mechanicsburg is looking as strong as ever and the bench provides a spark whenever Smith and Yanoski are in foul trouble or need a rest. Coach Gaffey is leading the team in the right direction while the team has a target on their back from last season’s success. Mechanicsburg will face Red Land at home on Wednesday and will go on the road to face the Keystone co-champions in Hershey on Friday.

Mifflin County (3-0, 0-0)

Coach Curry wanted to continue the success that the Huskies had last season and a 3-0 start will surely bring the energy to the Mifflin County faithful. The Huskies began their campaign with a 28-point win against Shikellamy, a 17-point victory against Montoursville, and a 1-point win against Mifflinburg. For the first game of the season, Mifflin County pushed the floor with Aidan Attivo and Jack Curry leading the charge with 20 points and 15 points respectively. Attivo shot 7 for 8 from the floor and went 3 for 3 from three-point range, capitalizing his start to the season on a high note. Evan Strohecker, who recently had come back from an injury last season, piled up 12 assists on the night, producing many chances for the Huskies. Against Montoursville, Mifflin County continued to play their pace with Attivo leading the charge with 24 points on the night followed by Curry with 14 points and Strohecker with 12 points. In a tight, back-and-forth battle between Mifflin County and Mifflinburg, the Huskies came back from a 9-point deficit and came back within 2 points with 6 seconds to go. After the ball was inbounded, Evan Strohecker made a three-pointer with 2.2 seconds on the clock to win the game for Mifflin County. Curry was the leading scorer with 18 points followed by Luke Bender off the bench with 9 points. Attivo currently leads the team with 17.3 PPG on 61% shooting followed by Curry with 15.7 PPG of his own. The Huskies will stay at home for their matchup against Milton Hershey on Wednesday. Mifflin County will then take the next two games on the road with a divisional matchup against Red Land and a non-divisional game against Lewisburg.

Hershey (2-0, 0-0)

Hershey begins the season with a victory in their pre-season tournament with a 33-point victory against Shippensburg and a 3-point win against Lampeter-Strasburg. The Trojans hoped to readjust with 4 of 5 starters missing from this year’s lineup, however, the roster has reloaded with players who made an impact in the tournament. Against Shippensburg, James Campbell led the Trojans with 13 points on the night, followed by Drew Grana and Cameron Sweeney with 12 points each. Sweeney was also able to pull down 8 rebounds and push the floor while leading the charge for this offense. Jaiden Waynes played an important role off the bench with 6 points on 3 for 5 shooting from the floor. Against Lampeter-Strasburg, Sweeney continued to showcase his importance with 24 points on the day, followed by Campbell with 10 points. When Campbell and Grana got into foul trouble, Roman Panko came off the bench and provided the spark that the offense needed, putting up 9 points of his own. Hershey continues to roll despite their losses through graduation of last season and Coach Blackburn is setting up this new squad for success. Hershey will play their crosstown rivals Lower Dauphin on the road on Wednesday to begin their Keystone divisional play. Hershey will host their fellow co-champion of the Keystone Division from last season in Mechanicsburg on Friday.

Milton Hershey (1-0, 0-0)

I understand that Milton Hershey just played Bishop McDevitt on Monday, however, there will be another article about that game separately. Milton Hershey looks like a totally different team from last season, and the fourth-place ranking isn’t justifiable until the divisional play comes around. Coach Rooney has put together a solid squad and my word can be backed up on the court by the entire Spartan team. Milton Hershey took a comfortable 35-point victory against Kennard-Dale. Khalif Turner led the Spartans with 25 points through 3 quarters of play, as he sat the final quarter with the sizable lead that had formed. Dylan Crawford put together a great start to his season, posting a 15-point 8-rebound stat line with 7 for 8 shooting from the floor. Abdou Diene finished the game with 10 points and 6 rebounds of his own. Through the season so far (as of Tuesday 12/10), Milton Hershey is shooting 48.6% from the floor with Turner leading the team in points with 19 PPG and Diene leading the team in rebounds with 13.5 RPG. This team has the ceiling to reach the top of the Keystone division barring any difficulties along the way. Milton Hershey this week will face Bishop McDevitt on the road on Monday, Mifflin County on the road on Wednesday, and Palmyra at home on Friday.

Lower Dauphin (1-1, 0-0)

Lower Dauphin has finished the week even at 1-1 through non-divisional play, with a win over Shippensburg by 20 and a loss to East Pennsboro by 2. Lower Dauphin finished the game against Shippensburg with even scoring across the floor, with Nico DeFrank leading the team with 10 points, followed by Brady Hofsass with 9 points and Evan Deibler with 7 points. DeFrank finished the game with 45.5% shooting from the floor, including a one-handed jam that excited me along with the Falcon faithful in the stands. Lower Dauphin took their first loss of the season in a tight matchup against East Pennsboro. Lower Dauphin had been down significantly before they staged a huge comeback in the second half, however, there wasn’t enough time to pull forward in the late stages of the game. DeFrank put together a solid performance with 19 points while Hofsass and Landon Miller followed behind with 11 points each. Lower Dauphin can put together another solid season and another playoff berth as long as the shooting remains consistent and their defense holds strong as it has through their first 2 games of the season. Lower Dauphin faces their crosstown rival at home with Hershey to begin the Keystone campaign on Wednesday, followed by a road game against Cedar Cliff on Friday.

Palmyra (1-1, 0-0)

Despite the graduating class, players moving away, and season-ending injuries to senior forward Seth Loser, Palmyra has put together two strong performances to begin the season for the Cougars, finishing even heading into divisional play. Palmyra took the win against Brandywine Heights by 27, however, lost against LL League Ephrata by 6. Against Brandywine Heights, Palmyra took care of business with Alex Dorta, who last season had taken a hiatus to focus on baseball, leading the team with 20 points in his return to Cougar basketball. Braydon Bown off the bench posted 14 points for Palmyra followed by Micah Warner with 7 points. In the Ephrata Tip-Off Tournament Championship, Palmyra put together a good battle, however, came up short with Ephrata taking the victory. Bown led the team off the bench with 13 points, followed by Dorta with 8 points, and Aidan Willard and Warner both had 6 points each. According to guard Cameron Scott, Bennett Weaber had suffered an injury in practice and didn’t appear in either contest for the Cougars, however, is expected to play in the upcoming Keystone contests. With Coach Bean moving into his second season at the helm, Palmyra hopes to improve from last season and put themselves in a strong position moving into January. Palmyra will take on Cedar Cliff at home on Wednesday, followed by a game on the road against Milton Hershey on Friday.

Red Land (1-3, 0-0)

Red Land had an eventful week and a few with 4 games on their calendar. Red Land opened the season up with a 26-point victory against Bermudian Springs, however, a few close games created 3 losses for the Patriots. Red Land lost by 15 to Red Lion, by 10 to Spring Grove, and by 6 to West York. Against Bermudian Springs, Colton Rose had himself a career game, with 22 points on 6 for 7 shooting from three. Sterling Brown put together a good performance with 11 points off the bench while Bodie Zeiders had a 6-point 9-rebound game. On the road against Red Lion, Rose put together 21 points, despite being double-teamed and pressured for most of the game. Noah May had a good day from the floor, shooting 4 for 5 from the field and finishing with 14 points. Cole Collier had 8 points and 6 rebounds for himself and Quinlin Shearer finished with 6 points all from the charity stripe. Rose put together another 21-point performance against Spring Grove, however, it wasn’t enough to beat the Rockets. Red Land played well against West York leading at points throughout the first half and through the 3rd, but, it wasn’t enough to finish out even through a very difficult 4 game stretch for the Patriots. Red Land had a difficult schedule to begin their season and although they had losses through their starting lineup from last season, they have good chances moving forward to make an impact on the Keystone Division. Red Land will face Mechanicsburg on the road on Wednesday and will host Mifflin County on Friday to begin their divisional schedule.

Cedar Cliff (0-3, 0-0)

Coach Rutherford and Cedar Cliff have battled through their first few games of the season, with the final score being decided by only a possession or two as Cedar Cliff lost to East Pennsboro by 4, William Penn by 19, and Red Lion by 12. Against East Pennsboro, it was neck-and-neck throughout the entire game, with Jayvion Walker pushing the Colts to a lead with 3 straight 3-pointers. Walker finished as the leading scorer for Cedar Cliff with 14 points. Troy Joray put together a solid performance in his first start with 6 points, 5 assists, and 8 rebounds. On the road against William Penn, the entire team was held to under 10 points each individually. The bench for Cedar Cliff showed their worth with 31 bench points for the Colts. Walker led the starters with 6 points followed by Mo Ahmed with 5 points. Against Red Lion, Cedar Cliff began pulling back from a large deficit, however was cut short on time. Walker and Ahmed put together their best performances on the season with 23 and 19 points respectively. Cedar Cliff will be a solid team within the Keystone this season once all of the pieces of the puzzle fall into place with time. Coach Rutherford was working hard with this team over the offseason with workouts and there might be a different story within Keystone play. Cedar Cliff will take on Palmyra on the road on Wednesday followed by their first home game against Lower Dauphin on Friday.

Follow along this week on my X page @KeystoneBBall for all the updates within the Keystone Conference and the LL League.

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