LS 65 Hempfield 53: wrap

Written by: Dell Jackson on December 6, 2023

Lampeter-Strasburg 65 Hempfield 53
Dec. 6, 2023

Experience…as in players coming back…as in a few games under the belt. LS displayed a lot of grit especially in the second half, unleashed their 3 point game, and dug in on the defensive end to claim a very good win vs. a Section 1 team. The Pioneers play hard. They move the ball. They set screens. They battle on the boards even though they might not be the biggest team on the floor. BTW, did we mention that Chase Smucker, 5’11” jn. is a special talent?

Hempfield controlled the game early. The Knights opened up a 10-4 lead at the 2:00 mark of the first causing the Pio’s to call a timeout. Caden Axe, 6’1” sn., led the Knights with 6 points in the paint, as he netted his last bucket late in the period to give the Knights a 17-10 lead.

LS would battle back as they did all night. Two layups by Matthew Fink, 6’3” sn. and a drive by Smucker, cut the lead to 3 at 19-16. Hempfield string together a 12-4 run (buckets by Spencer Troyer, brother Ben Troyer, a three-ball by Axe, and 2 foul shots by B. Troyer) to end the second stanza. Hempfield was controlling to boards for most of the half, finishing with 14-5 advantage at the break. Things would change in the second half. 35-23 at the break – Hempfield.

Chase Smucker said that LS Head Coach Ed Berryman gave a really good half time speech to the Pioneers. It must have been really good! It surely fired up Smucker. LS put together a 12-2 run to climb back into the game- Smucker popped a three-ball at the 2:18 mark of the third to cut the lead to 37-34. Ben Troyer took over the scoring for the Knights as he tallied Hempfield’s last 5 points – the last bucket on a set at the end of the quarter. 42-37 Hempfield.

LS ripped off a 15-0 run during the beginning of the 4th into the 3 minute mark. The three-ball shooting of Smucker and Dean Herr, 5’11” sn, fueled the Pios. LS took their first lead at the 6:15 mark on a rare 4 point play by Smucker (three-ball plus a fouls shot). Hempfield tried a trapping defense, but LS was more than up to dealing with the full and half court traps. Remember when experience was mentioned? It was very obvious that the experience of Smucker and Herr was paying off. The guard duo took care of the ball and delivered it to open guys (we had the Pios as having only 2 turnovers in the half). Hempfield never cut the lead under 8 the rest of the way.

Unofficial stats
Rebounds: LS 16, Hempfield 22
Turnovers: LS 10, Hempfield 13
Blocks: Hempfield 1

Points:
LS: Chase Smucker 33, Dean Herr 10
Hempfield: Ben Troyer 26, Caiden Axe 15

Sidelines….Special thanks to AD Ryan Landis for setting us up with a table and getting us wifi connection- always an issue at Hempfield…LLhoops live-stream announcers, John Graham and Warren Goodling, were checking out the game…1300 point scorer alum, Bobby Young, was also on hand..Mechanicsburg Head coach, Mike Gaffey, was out checking the teams (rare that head coaches are out scouting anymore)…Apologies to Chase Smucker on some video issues for an interview, but we did get a POG image :). ..It was good spending some time with LNP’s Jason G. (@JasonGuarente) Check out his work in the LNP editions…..Hempfield plays at the Carlisle tournament this weekend…LS travels to Etown Dec. 12th.