Playoff Preview: #2 Mechanicsburg (20-3) vs #15 Conestoga Valley (13-11)
Written by: David Bray on February 17, 2025
Editor’s Note: I will be doing playoff previews for all of the games that the Keystone teams play in this year through the state playoffs. Stay tuned for lots of new content!
Time to introduce the game that all of the Wildcat and Buckskin faithful have circled on their calendar. How poetic that the first 6A game that I will cover will be a Mid-Penn Keystone Division team against a Lancaster-Lebanon opponent. It’s win-or-go-home time for these teams and they both have something to prove heading into the matchup on Tuesday. I’ll run down both of these teams in terms of performance, key victories, and top players, however, I will let the consensus decide who they will be rooting for and who deserves a spot in the next round of the 6A playoffs and the state championships.
Starting with the lower seed, #15 Conestoga Valley comes into the tournament after sneaking into the bottom few seeds, battling it out through the final games of the season just like their LL League foe, the Penn Manor Comets. The Buckskins finished their season 12-10, sporting one of the highest opponent winning percentages in the 6A with a 68.2% OWP. After a slow start, being 4-7 after the early division games and non-conference schedule, Conestoga Valley bounced back, winning four of their last five games en route to an LL Tournament appearance, their first since before 2019. (I don’t recall when it was since my data only has them winning in 2009) Conestoga Valley won in the first round of the playoffs, stunning the current #1 seed in the 5A playoffs and Section 3 Divisional Champion, Manheim Central in a one-point victory. Conestoga Valley’s Cinderella run was stopped by the eventual LL League Champions in Cedar Crest in a 12-point loss. The Buckskins have a few key wins throughout the season, including the Manheim Central victory in the postseason, beating Cedar Crest on the road by three, gaining a victory against Ephrata on the road by ten, and beating Cocalico on the road by ten. Each of these teams is in the playoffs for their respective divisions, with the most notable win being against Cedar Crest at home, especially with the playoff environment their fans bring to the gymnasium. Conestoga Valley has losses against both of their matchups in the Keystone Division this season, with a loss against Cedar Cliff by nine and a loss to Hershey by 33, teams that have matched up against Mechanicsburg twice this year and battled with them extremely well. The Buckskins also took a loss against Warwick twice, being the only Section 2 team that swept them in divisional play this season. Conestoga Valley is led by freshman guard Demere Salisberry who has been carving up teams all season with his shifty nature and opening the floor for junior guard Sawyer Ebenshade. This team is extremely young, however, they don’t have much size with their tallest player being 6’2. The height doesn’t matter in this case, with Mechanicsburg being very guard-based and it will become a game of how talented are the backcourts of the teams. Coach Shipper knows what this team is capable of and making a statement in their first 6A playoff in a while, just like what they did in the LL playoffs.
Mechanicsburg has been a very comfortable team to root for this season for the Wildcat faithful, putting together an 18-1 record in PIAA competition and a 20-2 record overall, gaining the #2 seed in the playoffs and punching their ticket in their first season in the 6A after winning the 5A last season against fellow Keystone opponent Hershey. Mechanicsburg has had a lot of key victories this season, beating Hershey in overtime at home by eight, beating Milton Hershey twice, beating Lower Dauphin twice, defeating East York by three, and beating Penn Manor by 12. Their 13-1 record in the Keystone Division secured them a playoff spot in the Mid-Penn playoffs, however, after coming back from being down 17 points, they couldn’t finish off the repeat champions of Cumberland Valley. Mechanicsburg lost two games all season, with their only significant key loss being to Hershey early in the season on the road. The other game they lost in the regular season was to St. Peter’s which is a preparatory school based in Staten Island, New York that finished with a 15-9 record according to MaxPreps. As a former athlete who played in the New York system, they are a 2A school which is extremely small, especially since I also went to a Catholic school that was in the 4A division. Mechanicsburg is gritty and hungry for another championship, especially with 10 seniors graduating come June. Led by the same dangerous core as the past two seasons, Josh Smith and Chance Yanoski, two guards that are averaging better numbers than last season, with Liam Owens and Justin Bardo, playing important roles and being significant pieces when the two guards are being shut down, and Elijah Beya being one of the best defensive players in the Mid-Penn this season, this team has very few weaknesses other than size. However, when Smith can jump out of the gym rivaling only Nico DeFrank from Lower Dauphin for the most dunks from the Keystone, rebounds aren’t too much of a problem, especially if Bardo is in the paint. The 6’0 forward handles some of the tallest players on the court like there are no problems and poses a huge threat on both sides of the court. Owens has played a very prominent role this season, averaging around nine points a game and rebounding extremely well, Owens will be a player to watch out for through this playoff run for the Wildcats. Mechanicsburg can dominate a game if they get the chance, and I know this team is ready to see me at the Giant Center for another run at the district title. It’s all about finishing games strong for this team, and with how well-rounded this team is, we could see them in talks about making a strong case for the championship in this stacked 6A tournament.
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