E-town - Gettysburg preview

On Saturday night at Daubert Gymnasium, the second season of boys basketball begins. The Bears will host Gettysburg at 7 p.m. in the play-in round of the District Three Class AAAA playoffs.

The Bears are the 13th seed in the district and currently have a 14-10 record. Gettysburg is the 20th seed and also has a 14-10 record.

OK, here's a capsule preview of the two teams. From what I can tell, there are a lot of similarities between these two.

SEASONS AT A GLANCE:

Gettysburg:
It was an up and down season for the Warriors. But since the new year, it's been mostly up. Gettysburg won only two games a year ago and have bounced back to go 14-10 so far, including an 8-1 stretch from Jan. 13 to Feb. 1. (Stop me if this starts to sound a little like a certain team that wears blue and white...). In that stretch, they beat rival Trinity, but fell to Susquehanna Township (the top ranked team in Class AAA). In fact, Gettysburg has lost only twice in 2008, to Susquehanna and to Red Lion (the No. 5 seed in AAAA). Needless to say, they're playing their best basketball right now. Last time out, they played well and beat Littlestown, but didn't come out focused, which will hurt them if they do that against the Bears.

The Warriors average just over 53 points per game, and give up only 49 so you can expect some stingy defense. Free throw shooting can be an achilles heel for this team and, if the game's close down the stretch, could be a real factor in the outcome – Gettysburg only shoots 59% from the line. Ouch. However, they are a good 3-Point shooting team. In fact they've made 112 threes in 24 games, which is about....let's see...carry the 1.....more than four per game. I knew I should have been a math major.

Gettysburg has also been hindered a bit by some sloppiness on fast breaks and has a tendency to turn the ball over while on the run, which, obviously, would help the Bears. Expect mainly half court sets from the Warriors.


Elizabethtown:
By now, we all know the story of the Bears this season. Started 2-7, but has gone 12-3 since. The Bears recently had their 8-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday night with that loss to Columbia in the L-L Playoffs.

The Bears average just under 59 points per game and allow 52.75. If there is one big difference between the two teams, it's that E-town is a pretty good free throw shooting team. I don't have their exact percentage, but I'm guessing it is some where in the 70s or so. The Bears can also shoot the three ball well, especially if Chad Styer, Quinn Cozzens or Jordan Hallman are open behind the arc.

E-town is also a good fast break team. The Bears can run with anyone (as Columbia witnessed first hand on Tuesday), and usually make good decisions on breaks. It seems to me that when they make mistakes while on fast breaks, they tend to happen in bunches. But E-town is also a good screen team and certainly capable of running half court plays.

THE PLAYERS:
Gettysburg starters and key players:
The Warriors' three best players are easily Dontez Reid, Ron johnson and Sean Bair.

Reid is Gettysburg's best shooter, but usually needs to be stationary to get off a good outside shot. He's not going to be coming off of screens and putting up quick shots like Reggie Miller, or like Adam Pittman from Columbia. So he could find it challenging to find the time to get off those open looks against this quick E-town defensive unit. He made 67 3's this year (which is pretty darn good) and averaged about 13 points per game.

Bair is a scrappy kid that annoys and frustrates defenses. But he only averages 9 per game. However, he's the kind of player that could parlay his intensity into a double-digit scoring night.

Johnson is Gettysburg's big man and might even be taller than E-town's center, Nate Koach, who is 6'4". His scoring average isn't great (about 9 per game), but it should be fun to watch him and Koach battle in the paint for rebounds. He's not afraid to go up strong and try to dunk either. And trust me, sometimes a dunk can be a big momentum boost for a high school team.

Other than those three, Gettysburg is likey to start Zach Michael and Brad Harner. Neither is a big-time scorer, but both work hard all game and will spend most of the game setting screens for the big three and working the glass hard for rebounds.

Off the bench, expect to see Quimique Townsend, Cody Richardson and Dontale King.

E-town's Starters and Key Players:
The Bears' starting five will consist of Jordan Hallman, Chad Styer, Quinn Cozzens, Nate Koach and Kyle McNeil.

Hallman will run the point the majority of the time. But if Gettysburg presses, look for Styer, Cozzens and/or McNeil to bring the ball up. But once it crosses half court, it's usually Hallman that sets up the plays and executes the offense. Jordan's been shooting the ball pretty well lately and likes to use his speed to take the ball to the hole, where he draws contact and gets to the line a lot. On defense, he'll likely be hounding Reid a lot, making sure he doesn't get a set shot from outside.

Styer has really had quite a stretch lately. He's definitely the hot hand for E-town right now, coming off of a 22-point effort Tuesday. If Gettysburg isn't careful, Styer will absolutely torch them. His versatility is also a key for the Bears. He has a good inside-outside game, can handle the ball and is a good rebounder.

Cozzens is still, in my opinion, the best pure scorer on the team. He's a great all-around player that, like Styer, can play inside and out and pretty much four positions. His effort in rebounding against Gettysburg's big, physical players could be huge for the Bears. McNeil and Koach will have their hands full in the paint, so having a player like Cozzens who can rebound and post up is definitely an advantage for E-town. I think Cozzens is also an underrated shot blocker.

McNeil is another hard-nosed player who is an excellent rebounder. Offensively, he's most effective from about 15-feet and in. He's a big, strong kid and a football player, so he'll be able to bang bodies with anybody and snag offensive rebounds, which he does very well. He also is a solid ball handler.

That's really one of the stories of these Bears. The versatility of Cozzens, Styer and McNeil is something that a lot of teams don't have. To have three players that can handle the ball, rebound well, shoot inside and out, as well as have the height to play defense against forwards and the speed to stick with guards is a luxury, and E-town uses them all very well.

Koach is E-town's big man. He is an excellent player with his back to the basket, and does a very good job of catching the ball in the post, backing his man down and getting up a good shot with either hand. For a center, he's one of the best you'll see at the free throw line, knocking them down at an 80% clip. You can pretty much bank on double-digit points for Nate. He's going up against another big man in Johnson but, as anyone who saw an E-town football game this year can tell you, he can jump. High. So I don't foresee Johnson's slight height edge being that much of an advantage for Gettysburg.

Off the bench, you'll mainly see Mike O'Shea, Nate McCurdy and Brad Garber. All of them bring something else to the table. O'Shea is a good point guard, with excellent quickness and good court vision. McCurdy and Garber are both scrappers, and will not hesitate to dive for loose balls or get physical, which is essential for a good basketball team. You need guys like that.

THE MATCHUP:
These two teams do a lot of the same things, both on offense and on defense. They seem to be nearly mirror images of each other, which makes me think that the game will come down to who is able to create more turnovers. Whichever team can step up the defensive pressure for a full 32 minutes and never take their foot off of the gas, will be the team moving on.

The key for E-town will be never letting up defensively and, more importantly, taking advantage of any Gettysburg turnovers. They've got to exploit their advantage in running the court. Every player on the team, starters and reserves, are athletic and will get up and down. If the tempo of the game is fast, the Bears have a definite edge. That's where we come to the Warrior defense. If they can slow E-town down and keep them to half court sets, it will be a close game. If this becomes a track meet, Gettysburg could be in for a long night.

That said, one thing that E-town MUST do is keep its intensity for four quarters. Tuesday against Columbia, the Tide came out fired up in the second half and E-town didn't match their intensity. And they paid for it with a loss. But, then again, this is the big show. Districts. A place no E-town boys team has been in quite a few years. And it's a home game. So there's really no excuse not to go all out for 32 minutes, and I think the Bears know that. Think of Columbia as sort of an eye-opener. They now are playoff tested to a degree and know what they need to do to win in the postseason.

WHAT'S ON THE LINE:
The winner of this game moves on to play No. 4 Cedar Crest on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Central Dauphin in the first round of districts.

The top six teams in District Three will earn PIAA Tournament bids. So by my calculations, the Bears need to win at least three games to get a state berth. If they win three, that will put them in the fifth place game. Of course, we'll burn that bridge when we get there.

PREDICTION:
The Bears come out and play well, but so will Gettysburg, fresh off a big win over Littlestown. I think this is going to be a close game that will be decided in the fourth quarter at the free throw line, where the Bears are better. That gives them the edge.

E-TOWN 60 - GETTYSBURG 54