Lancaster Mennonite/LCDay wrap: Jan 8

Written by: Dell Jackson on January 9, 2020

ed note: Ke’Shauna Damore is a student at Lancaster Country Day. She approached llhoops about doing some writing/production for us. …and here it is. Enjoy!

The Lancaster Mennonite Blazers reign victorious for the third time this season
against the Lancaster Country Day Cougars

The Lancaster Country Day Cougars gave Lancaster Mennonite a run for their money, managing to only be down by 6 at halftime. However, the Blazers took charge of the game with a 16 point push in the third quarter from which the Cougars could not recover.

The Blazers’ victory makes Lancaster Mennonite 4-1 in the section with their only defeat within the section coming against Columbia last Friday. “It means a lot,” 6’2” guard Cole Fisher said. “This was a big win against a good team.” Mennonite’s lineup of Fisher, Camden Hurst, along with Trenton Dorsing and Jaeden McFadden, put up six two-point shots and four foul shots which helped turn the Blazers’ six-point lead into a 16-point lead at the end of the third quarter.

On the night, junior Cole Fisher recorded his seventh-straight game with 20 points or more. On the fact of improving from 4.4 points a game to an average of 21.33 points per game, Fisher stated that he, “Just worked a lot on my skills.” He also stated that he owes some of his success to the teams’ success because of their development of team chemistry and new talent. The Blazers’ new talent takes form in 6’ freshman Camden Hurst, who puts up double-digits in the scoring column every game. Hurst describes playing varsity basketball for the first time as, “A different experience,” and a “physical challenge,” yet his stats show that he isn’t fazed by his first high school season.

“This team is definitely a third quarter team,” stated Lancaster Mennonite second-year coach Seth Buckwalter. Buckwalter puts emphasis on the fact that his team needs to come out stronger in the first half, which ultimately led the Blazers to their downfall in the showdown with Columbia. Going into the second half of the season, LMH faces a tough schedule facing Columbia, Trinity and Lampeter-Strasburg.

Meanwhile, second-year coach Jonathan Shultz describes this season as a, “Fun challenge,” after losing eight seniors last season, including 1,000-point scorer Andrew Williams. “The wins aren’t showing up for us right now, but we are getting better and better and that’s what’s important,” Shultz remarked.

This game could not go without recognition to the supporting cast in co-captains Lance Lennon and Greg Mizii, along with 5”11 guard Grant Landis. Lancaster Country Day’s freshman starter, Christian Hoin, and first-year varsity player, sophomore Chris Hedbavny, don’t show remarkable stats for the Cougars, however they managed to be in the right place at the right time, providing the Cougars with a combined 16 points and multiple rebounds. This is Hedbavny’s first true dent in the sand in a varsity game this season with the absence of sophomore starter John Stewart.

Triples cashed in by Lance Lennon and sophomore Grant Landis in the third quarter cut the Cougars’ deficit to 55-53, but two fouls on Camden Hurst and two steals resulting in layups by Cole Fisher helped the Blazers edge out the last few seconds with a 63-53 triumph.

Lancaster Country Day 6’3 guard Lance Lennon said, “Basketball is a game of runs and we knew they were bound to have their run. We just had to run through the storm. We tried to weather it, but it was too little too late.” Although this was another tough loss for the Cougars, Lennon still maintains a positive outlook on the rest of the year, expecting a winning record by the end of his junior season.

The Blazers and Cougars faced off three different times this season. The first, coming at the beginning of the season that resulted in a 75-57 LMH win, the second time at a holiday tournament in Wyomissing which ended in 54-44 Lancaster Mennonite victory, and one last showdown concluding in a hard-fought Blazer win, 63-53, on Wednesday night. On losing to Lancaster Mennonite, Coach Shultz of Lancaster Country Day said, “It’s not a matter of, ‘We’ve got to beat them,’ it’s just a matter of are we improving every time?”

~-Ke’Shauna Damore

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