Cedar Crest 77 Octorara 32: LL First Round- wrap

Written by: Dell Jackson on February 12, 2024

Cedar Crest 77 Octorara 32
LL Tournament – First round
Feb. 12, 2024

Heading back to the locker room, I heard some Crest players talking about guarding Zach Kirk. Basically said they did a good job on keeping in front of him. Kirk was the focus of the Crest defense the entire night – he scored 16 and had to work, like really hard, for everything he got. The Falcons rotated players on him and when he did get into the lane, he was challenged by Crest’s RJ Young, 6’7” jn, and Aiden Schomp, 6’6” sn.

The Falcons are big and strong..and even tougher when popping three-balls (Leo Tirado hit 3 and Jackson Custer had 1 in the first quarter). Owen Chernich got the party started by scoring 2 buckets under the minute mark of the first period. Crest would run out to (like run-outs) a 13-3 lead midway thru the first. To make things worse for the visiting Braves, the Falcons ran off a 15-2 string to end the first at 28-8. Besides Crest’s hot shooting, RJ Young slammed one home to excite the late arriving crowd.

Things slowed down a bit in the second stanza. Coach Tommy Smith, Cedar Crest, called 2 time-outs early in the period 1) to focus his team after some sloppy play and 2) to bail out a ten second call. The message was received loud and clear as Crest went on another run – this time 8-0, featuring Fernando Marquez and Chernich as they each netted 2 buckets a piece. Crest would take a commanding lead into the break at 42-17.

Cedar Crest would up its lead to 30 mid-way thru the third period as the mercy rule took effect. The quarter ended with the Falcons holding a 62-30 lead.

Both teams played several subs in the fourth.

Points:
Cedar Crest: Owen Chernich 14, Fernando Marquez 12, RJ Young 12, Leo Tirado 11
Octorara: Zach Kirk 16

Quotables…Coach Tommy Smith…”Our kids were locked in today…We played a really good basketball game….Kirk is a really good basketball player…we wanted to make him earn everything….He’s a warrior for sure….

RJ Young POG…”We work on defense all week….We have the team to win a title but we need to keep working.”

Up next
Cedar Crest (17-5) will play Manheim Central (19-4) on Wednesday at 5:30 at Conestoga Valley in the LL semis (rematch of last years game).

Octorara (16-7) will wait to see who their opponent will be in the Distrcit 3 tournament, which starts next week.