Mid-Penn Keystone Boys Recap – Feb 12 edition… By: David Bray Jr
Written by: Dell Jackson on February 12, 2024
Mid-Penn Keystone Boys Recap
By: David Bray Jr
Unfortunately for high school basketball fans, we have concluded the final week of the regular season and entered the playoffs. First of all, I would like to shout out Milton Hershey, Cedar Cliff, and Palmyra who most likely have played their last series of games this week. Let’s take a look at every team’s week and what’s ahead for them.
Hershey – 19-2 Overall, 12-2 Division
There’s one main reason why I have put Hershey first on the recap for this week and it is because they have the first playoff game of the year out of the Keystone schools this coming week. Hershey won out this week taking both of their games on the road with a 7 point win against East Pennsboro, 59-52 and a 10 point win against Governor Mifflin, 74-64. Hershey had a tight game against East Pennsboro, however they were able to take the win on the road against a team that was on the verge of a playoff berth. Isaiah Danner was the leading scorer on the night with 14 points, followed by Logan Richards with 11 points and Alex Murray with 11 points off the bench. Hershey then went on the road again against Governor Mifflin, a game that was rescheduled from the beginning of January. Hershey and Governor Mifflin both had a high scoring game but ultimately, Hershey came out on top. Cameron Sweeney led the Trojans with 17 points with Logan Richards contributing 15 points and Alex Murray having 13 points. Hershey looks to take their winning into the Mid-Penn Conference Championships this week and potentially take home the title. Hershey has also gained the first round bye for the 5A Section 3 Tournament in another week. Hershey will take on Greencastle-Antrim on Tuesday at East Pennsboro for the first round. With a win, they will take on the winner of the Trinity vs Cumberland Valley match-up.
Mechanicsburg – 17-5 Overall, 12-2 Division
Mechanicsburg finished their week even after losing to York Suburban at home by 18 in a 58-40 loss and winning at Northern York by 11 in a 57-46 victory. Mechanicsburg faced York Suburban on Monday in a battle between 2 of the top 5 teams in 5A for Section 3, where we saw the senior night for Mechanicsburg. Chance Yanoski led Mechanicsburg with 16 points off the bench followed by Josh Smith with 15 points. However, there wasn’t enough scoring outside of those two which caused a once 5 point game to become out of hand by the end of the game. For their final game of the regular season, Mechanicsburg went to Northern York, where Josh Smith not only was able to lead scoring for the Wildcats with 27 points, but was able to achieve the accomplishment of his 1000th career point in high school in just his junior year. Chance Yanoski added 17 points to complement Smith and lead them to victory on the road. Mechanicsburg finishes the season out ranked 2nd which means they will receive a first round bye in the 5A Section 3 tournament. No scheduled games for this coming week but a round of playoffs are for sure ahead for them and Coach Mike Gaffey will have them ready for the playoffs. Mechanicsburg will most likely play the winner of the 7-seed vs 10-seed game which will likely be against Lampeter-Strasburg and Red Land. Mechanicsburg has scheduled a postseason scrimmage against Chambersburg for a tuneup game for two powerhouse teams looking for big playoff runs.
Red Land – 16-6 Overall, 10-4 Division
Red Land swept the competition this week with a non-league win by 11 against Northern York in a 65-54 win and a league game by 14 against Palmyra in a 58-44 victory. Against Northern York, Red Land was led by Anderson French off the bench on senior night alongside Elijah Espinosa with 12 points. Tyler Kerlin had 12 points and Colton Rose had 11 points off the bench to give themselves a win on an emotional evening for 4 out of 5 of the current Red Land starters for their final game at home. Red Land took their final game on the road at Palmyra as their makeup for their league game took place on Friday. Tyler Kerlin stepped up for the Patriots with his 17 point performance followed by Elijah Espinosa with a few dunks and a 15 point game of his own. Anderson French contributed 9 points as their strong paint presence proved to be a gamechanger against a smaller Palmyra team. Red Land takes their place as the number 10 team in Section 3 5A rankings and looks to make a playoff run in the next coming weeks and with their size and talented shooters, the Patriots have a shot at making a surprise run. Red Land will most likely play Lampeter-Strasburg for the first round of their playoff campaign.
Lower Dauphin – 12-10 Overall, 8-6 Division
Lower Dauphin, despite having a tough week, has a postseason to look towards as their regular season comes to close on a 1-2 record this week. Lower Dauphin took a loss to Central Dauphin East by 13 in a 59-46 loss, lost to Middletown by 15 in a 58-43 loss, and beat Lebanon by 11 in a 65-54 win. Against Central Dauphin East, Lower Dauphin got to celebrate their seniors on senior night with their last home game of the year. Nico DeFrank off the bench led the Falcons with 18 points followed by Brady Hofsass with 13 points. Nick Fry contributed 10 points as well, however that wasn’t enough to contain CD East as the lead only grew in the fourth quarter. Against Middletown, Lower Dauphin was led by Brady Hofsass with 13 points, followed by Landon Miller with 10 points. With their limited lack of scoring that this explosive offense has, they weren’t able to comeback from their deficit. In their final game against Lebanon, the game stayed relatively close in the first half, but when the scoring combination of Brady Hofsass and Nico DeFrank started rolling, it was tough to stop them. Hofsass led scoring for the Falcons with 19 points with Nico DeFrank having 13 points. Nick Fry and Wesley Heagy contributed well with 8 points and 7 points respectively as they took the win on the road. Lower Dauphin heads into the Mid-Penn playoffs with the 13 seed with a high possibility of facing Greencastle-Antrim in the opening round. Lower Dauphin has played very well in high voltage situations in the past and with their postseason scrimmage against the 6A number four seed in Central Dauphin, Coach Attivo and the Falcons look to take the view of them being the underdog and proving everyone wrong.
Cedar Cliff – 8-14 Overall, 6-8 Division
Cedar Cliff this week went 0-3 overall this week with a 23 point loss to Exeter Township in a 71-48 loss, fell to Greencastle-Antrim by 14 in a 52-38 loss, and fell to Milton Hershey by 40 in a 72-32 loss. Against Exeter Township, Cedar Cliff did not have Sam Grube possibly due to his lingering shoulder injury he sustained last week against Red Land. Garret Weaver led Cedar Cliff off the bench with 10 points followed by Alex Kohr with 7 points and Mo Ahmed with 6 points. Without their number 1 scorer, there was more pressure on every other player which made it more difficult to score. Against Greencastle-Antrim, the Colts were once again without Grube. Jayvion Walker and Mo Ahmed both had 8 points as they led Cedar Cliff. Luke Rogers had 6 points off the bench for the Colts, but it wasn’t enough. In their final game of the regular season, Cedar Cliff got to play in a league matchup against Milton Hershey. After keeping within reach in the first quarter, Cedar Cliff didn’t have an answer for Milton Hershey’s fast break offense and the lead only grew. Jayvion Walker led for the Colts with 8 points on the night followed by Luke Rogers with 5 points. With Cedar Cliff finishing the season 18th in the Section 3 6A standings, they have been eliminated from playoff contention, however Coach Rutherford has a young team to build off of including their freshman center in Amarian Autry who established himself into the starting lineup by the end of the season and sophomore Jayvion Walker who was the leading scorer in various games throughout the season. Cedar Cliff has the ability to improve next year, but it all happens in the offseason. Quick shoutout to Coach Rutherford for helping me throughout the year with obtaining the scores and stats for each Colts game.
Mifflin County – 10-12 Overall, 4-10 Division
Mifflin County had two games this week with a 20 point, 69-49 win against Milton Hershey and an instant classic game against Midd-West, claiming victory over the visitors in a 2 point, 53-51 victory at home on senior night. Against Milton Hershey, Aidan Attivo led scoring with 17 points while Jaylen Bowersox had 15 points and Jayden Bilger had 11 points. The Huskies were lethal from the perimeter where most of their points came from that evening and sparked their success over their league opponent. Against Midd-West, Jayden Bilger finished the game being the leading scorer with 15 points for Mifflin County, followed by Aidan Attivo with 13 points. Mifflin County took a confident lead in the beginning of the second half, however Midd-West started crawling back little by little. The Huskies sank a few clutch free throws to halt the run and it should’ve been a 5 point game without the last second bank three pointer by Midd-West. Now, I am not entirely sure how the Section 6 6A playoffs work so if you are reading this and know the answer, feel free to comment on the post that I send the article out with. Mifflin County has played some solid basketball this year and despite losing Tagg Silfies, Jaylen Bowersox, and Jayden Bilger to graduation, Coach Curry has a solid foundation left with Aidan Attivo, Jack Curry, and a healthy Evan Strohecker. With a step forward with the program after a season in 2022-23 that wouldn’t be described as successful, the program looks to be in good hands for the upcoming future.
Palmyra – 5-16 Overall, 3-11 Division
Palmyra finished their season going 1-1 in 2 league matches, beating Milton Hershey at home by 5 in a 53-48 victory and falling short to Red Land in a 14 point, 58-44 loss. Against Milton Hershey, defense proved strong for both teams as for their two games this year, the point totals have been very low. Hank Roesch led scoring for the Cougars with 15 points and Tyler Burgess had 14 points. Seth Loser worked in the paint with 12 points and Hunter Mayer played well on the perimeter with 11 points. Outside of a Braydon Bown free throw, there were no other points scored as it was a scoring night for only the starters. Palmyra was able to play to their strengths and find ways to stop Milton Hershey’s young big-man core of Dylan Crawford and Abdou Diene from too much mayhem inside the paint. Against Red Land, Hank Roesch was once again the leading scorer with 11 points on the night with Hunter Mayer having 9 points right behind him. Braydon Bown and Seth Loser both had 8 points a piece, however, with both Red Land’s guards and forwards having solid games, it was too tough to contain. Palmyra finishes their season off 23rd in the Section 3 5A standings and is eliminated from playoff contention, but there are a lot of positives to look forward to for next season. Although Hunter Mayer will be graduating this year, Seth Loser who averaged 11 points a game for the last 4 games of the season will be returning for his senior year. Tyler Burgess who played an important role will also be returning next season alongside their number 1 scorer in Hank Roesch who played some valuable games despite being out for 4 straight games with an ankle injury. Coach Bean will look towards development for the next year after experiencing his first full year as Palmyra’s head coach.
Milton Hershey – 3-18 Overall, 1-13 Division
What a way to end the season for Milton Hershey and on a statement 40 point, 72-32 league victory against Cedar Cliff. Milton Hershey did lose their other two games, being a 20 point, 69-49 loss to Mifflin County and a 5 point, 53-48 loss to Palmyra. Against Mifflin County, Milton Hershey was led by Abdou Diene who battled with 6 ‘7 Jayden Bilger, and finished the game with 18 points. Dylan Crawford and Josh Sessoms both had 6 points off the bench for the Spartans, however without any other player providing a big spark, they fell short to Mifflin County. Against Palmyra, Aryan Sandhu led scoring with 13 points and provided a crucial spark that helped a once 22 point differential turn within 3 points in the fourth quarter. Jason Burney finished with 11 points and Abdou Diene had 9 points, but their efforts came up just short. Against Cedar Cliff, Milton Hershey found an explosive second quarter and never took their foot off the gas after a 4 point first quarter lead quickly turned into 20 points. Khalif Turner finished the game with 19 points followed by Aryan Sandhu and Dylan Crawford who both had 13 points. As a spectator who saw Milton Hershey’s first league game when they took on Mechanicsburg until now, their development was what impressed me the most especially out of Abdou Diene and Dylan Crawford who commonly found themselves in foul trouble early, which wasn’t the case in the final few games for the Spartans. Milton Hershey finishes their year 27th in the Section 3 5A rankings and is eliminated from playoff contention, but there is a lot of upside for this young team. Milton Hershey will miss Jason Burney, Jaden Stemn, and Mohamed Koroma from their starting rotation, but they get to have 3 more years with their freshman leading scorer, Abdou Diene who is going to become a problem in the league with the right development. Freshman Dylan Crawford, sophomore Khalif Turner, and junior Aryan Sandhu will play major roles in the coming year and it will be exciting to see how Coach Rooney will utilize these players in the near future.
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