Linville 61 Greenwood 46: Boys 1A District 3- wrap

Written by: Dell Jackson on February 29, 2024

Linville 61 Greenwood 46
Boys 1A District 3 Finals
February 29, 2024

Leap Day happens every 4 years. Linville stamped its 3rd consecutive 1A championship today, and, with the youth in the line-up, might be heading for a few more in the future. Coach Mike Shatzman stated that he was very proud of his players after losing a lot of seniors from the 2023 version. Fear not as the young Warriors took care of business by running the floor, playing good defense and handling anything Greenwood threw at them.

As is normally the case early in a game, both teams were probing on the offensive end. Linville relied on its flex offense throughout the game, whereas, Greenwood started out using a dribble drive weave. The Greenwood Wildcats got up 6-5 at the 5:08 mark of the first (buckets by John Taylor ,6’1” senior, and Braden Carver, 6’4” senior). Linville went on a 9-2 run to take a 14-8 lead with 3:11 on the clock. Giovanni Sejuste capped off the scoring on an old fashioned 3 point play. Sejuste got to the rim and a was a major force on the boards throughout the game. Greenwood took its last lead on a drive by Kyle Corker with 1:10 to go in the period. The Warriors ended the stanza on a 6-0 mini-run to basically take control of the game. 22-17 at the end of one- Linville.

After an up tempo first period, the pace slowed down in the second. Linville would only tally 9 points in the period, the last on a layup by Jerome Stoltzfus with 1:55 left in the half. Greenwood could not make up much distance as the Wildcats scored 10 points in the second. Linville hit the boards hard in the first half (18-11) – a trend that would continue in the second half. Halftime : Linville 31 Greenwood 27

Third quarter…enter Mr. Smucker. Stephen Smucker, 6’1” junior, scored at the rim, repeatedly. He finished with his left and right hand. One reporter (Jason Guarante, LNP) had him 10/12 from the field. Unofficially he had 27 points for the contest. Props needs to be given to Linville’s point guard, Drew Tibbins, 5”10” sophomore. Tibbins ran the show, penetrated and dished, and was literally the coach on the floor. Checking this writer’s notes- layup, layup, layup, —-7 of the point blank variety for the Warriors, mostly on dishes from Tibbins to Smucker. Both teams took timeouts during the stanza, trying to stop the bleeding on Greenwood’s end and Coach Shatzman setting his defense for Linville. 47-38 after three.

The Warriors ran off a 12-3 run to start the 4th to put the game away. Sejuste was called for his 4th foul early in the 4th. Coach Shatzman adjusted as he put the Warriors into a 2-3 zone for the rest of the game. Sejuste would enter at about the 4 minute mark, but fouled out with 2:13 on the clock. At that point the game was well in hand for Linville. Both teams put their subs in- Linville ran out the clock and claimed their third in a row title.

Unofficial stats
Rebounds: Linville 29 Greenwood 17
Turnovers: Linville 17 Greenwood 20
Blocks: 2 each