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Old Forge 69 Lancaster Mennonite 64 – 2OT: Boys 2A Wrap
 

Old Forge 69 Lancaster Mennonite 64 – 2OT: Boys 2A Wrap

Written by: Dell Jackson on March 20, 2021

 

Old Forge 69 Lancaster Mennonite 64  (2OT)
PIAA Boys 2A
March 20, 2021

One team had to lose…isn’t that always the case during the PIAA tournament? …This game featured wild swings, clutch 3-point shooting, clutch foul shooting and not so clutch foul shooting too, scrambles for EVERY lose ball, multiple players in foul trouble, dominant offensive performances from both team’s top players, and multiple chances for both teams to win in regulation, OT1 and finally the capper in OT#2 – clinched, by the way, on the second of 2 foul shots by Old Forge’s Sean Donovan. Old Forge brought a nice fan base with them as they visited what the northern folks call ‘the flatlands’. LMHS also had their group, with the tix split 50/50 the gym had a back and forth feel all night long especially the way the game progressed.

 

I should probably start in the second OT and go backwards, but that’s not how its done 🙂

Lancaster Mennonite got off to a quick start taking 9-5 lead early in the first. Old Forge would battle back – literally on the back of Dante Lucarelli (listed at 6’2” —probably pushing 220 on the scale) Lucarelli seemed to grab every rebound in the quarter and muscled for 5 points. He had his double double by half-time. His efforts would cause several LMHS fouls, which would play a key role later in the game. Old Forge (the Blue Devils BTW) took an 11-10 lead on Mario Samony’s bucket late in the quarter.

The dynamic duo of Cole Fisher and Cam Hurst would get things going for the Blazers in the second period. They would tally LMHS’ next 10 points. A layup by Lucarelli brought the Devils to a tie at 20 around the 2 minute mark of the quarter… Enter David Shell- he would pop 2 three balls late in the quarter for LMHS. Halftime score 26-23 LMHS,

Old Forge turned to sharp shooting Ayden Davitt in the second half. Ayden hit back-to-back triples to give Old Forge a brief lead at 29-28. The lead would “grow” to 3 at 33-30 (I use lead as the Devils would not take another lead until late in the forth). The Blazers would go a defensive run-producing run outs- a 12-0 run keyed by 2 three balls by Fisher- would push the Blazers lead to 42-33. The Devils would battle back as they turned over the Blazers on back-to-back trips down the floor- the last a driving layup off a steal by Michael DiGergorio. 48-42 LMHS after 3.

Old Forge put together a 14-2 run to seemingly take control late in the game at 56-50. LMHS would not let things end, at least in regulation. Shell hit one out of 2 foul shots, Hurst scores on a drive and 1, and Hurst again on a drive. We are tied at 56 with 1 minute remaining. Both teams had chances to end it in regulation but..onward we go. 56 all after 4.

OT #1…Remember Davitt? The three point sharp shooter? Well, he pops 2 three balls and gives the Devils a 4 point lead at 62-58. LMHS dead in the water? Nah…Hurst gets an old fashion 3 point play, and Shell hits one of 2 foul shots after an Old forge miss. ..BTW, we go another minute with no scoring….62 all after the first OT.

With both teams ‘bigs’ on the bench with 5 fouls, the game turned to all guard play in the final 
OT. Davitt? Him? A jumper gets the Devils going…64-62. Micheal DiGregorio makes 2 key fouls shots- 66-64 at the 2 minute mark. A Hurst drive brings the Blazers within 2, but the Blazers could not score on the offensive end. With the Devils in their delay game, LMHS fouled Donovan- He made the key second shot to put Old forge up by 3. LMHS looked to get a game tying three ball off with a couple of off-balanced attempts. Davitt would cap the night off with 2 fouls shots late…Final 69-64.

Points:
LMHS
Cam Hurst 32pts, Cole Fisher 17pts, David Shell 10pts

Old Forge
Ayden Davitt 27, Dante Lucarelli 17, Michael DiGregorio 15

Stats- very unofficial
Rebounds: Old Forge – 28, LMHS 28
Turnovers: Old Forge – 10 , LMHS 14
Fouls shooting: Old forge 9/21. LMHS 14/25

Quotables…
Jared Yanniello-Old Forge..”We tried to tell our guys to step in and take charges..Tyler (Pepsin) made big plays all night… (on hearing Ayden Davitt had 27 its) Wow! He gave us a spark off the bench.”

Seth Buckwalter – LMHS…”It was crazy times..I felt god gifted us on this special run…very thankful for this season”

Sidelines…It’s always fun to sit with the visiting team’s fans to get a feel for the school…chatted with the AD, principal and a few parents…Overall I was super impressed with the positive support from their fans….Fox43- Lyndsay Barna- (they are EVERYWHERE) and LNP’s John Walk was on deadline…not us :)…Max Molina will provide some game picts later- watch for his gallery in the next few days…With the LMHS loss, the LL is out of the PIAA tournament…Super impressed with both coaches and how they dealt with stressful situations. …Old Forge ran a bunch offensive sets and did a decent job on trying to make Hurst and Fisher work hard for their points….watch for the LLhoops all LL teams being released in a few weeks..much thanks to all the LL AD’s and coaches for their support this season (#21 for llhoops.com).

~Dell Jackson

Ya got to love the LLhoops mask! Hoping not to give out ANY next season- back to normal and tshirts!

 

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