E-town - Penn Wood Preview

Here's a preview on the E-town - Penn Wood game that appeared in this week's issue of the Chronicle. I'm not going to offer a prediction for this game because of the simple fact that I've never seen Penn Wood play, and the only thing I know about them is what I see through their statistics. Also, I'm going to be blogging live from the game tomorrow for those who can't make the 80-mile trek to Spring-Ford. Of course, all of that hinges on me being able to get wireless Internet access at Spring-Ford, which should be available, but you never know. Anywho, check this space tomorrow afternoon and I should be able to give you as many updates as possible.

Here's the preview:
Game Details: Elizabethtown Bears (17-12 overall) vs. Penn Wood Patriots (21-8 overall). Saturday, March 1, 2:30 p.m. at Spring-Ford High School, Royersford, Pa.

Head Coaches:
E-town: Kevin Dolan, first year, 17-12 career.
Penn Wood: Clyde Jones, second year, 33-21 career.

Starting Lineups:
E-town: G – Jordan Hallman, senior; G – Kyle McNeil, junior; F – Chad Styer, junior; F – Quinn Cozzens, junior; C – Nate Koach, senior.
E-town's five starter players all fit together like pieces of a puzzle. There is no one player that the team relies on for the bulk of the scoring or rebounds. Instead, they all understand their roles and play within themselves, which usually leads to balanced stat lines. On offense, Cozzens, Koach and Styer will take care of the bulk of the scoring, with all three capable of scoring 12 to 16 points. If one of those three has a good night, 20 or more points can be expected.
Hallman has struggled a bit shooting the three-ball in the past two games, but he is a good shooter that is capable of getting hot and hitting shots. He'll also take care of running the point and setting up the Bears for good looks at the basket.
McNeil is a scrappy player who fights for loose balls and will battle for offensive rebounds down low. He can handle the ball if the Bears need to break a Penn Wood press, and is most dangerous within 15-feet of the basket.
Styer has been E-town's best scorer in the postseason, and is coming off of a 16-point outing against Harrisburg. He is a good 3-point shooter, but is also capable of putting the ball on the floor and driving for a shorter jumper.
Cozzens is coming off of a sprained ankle that forced him to miss the Bears' last game. He is E-town's leading scorer, averaging better than 13 points per game and is also one of the best rebounders and passers on the team. Cozzens can beat you outside from behind the arc, and can also get to the basket through traffic and score inside.
Koach is probably E-town's most consistent player and is the team's second leading scorer. Game in and game out, you can pretty much count on him for at least 12 points and nine rebounds. He's aggressive in the paint and will challenge taller players in the post.

Penn Wood: G – Tyree Johnson, sophomore; G – Dequan Pelzer, sophomore; F – Duane Johnson, junior; F – Austin Smith, senior; F – Shawn Oakman, freshman.
The Patriots are a young group with a lot of height along the front line. Smith and Johnson are 6'4" and 6'5", and Oakman is 6'7", making the Patriots a formidable group that will make it tough on the Bears to get second-chance points.
Penn Wood's best all-around player is Duane Johnson. He leads the team in scoring at around 16 points per game and in rebounding at around 12 boards per game. He is also the team's best defender and will be often assigned to the opponent's top offensive threat.
Tyree Johnson will handle the point guard duties for the most part. He's a quick guard who averages about four assists per game.
Oakman and his big 6'7" frame can wreak havoc on opposing shooters. He is the team's leading shot blocker and is nimble for a freshman with his height.
Smith is another big body that will get physical inside. He is the Patriots' only senior and provides the team with some important leadership for the rest of the young roster.
Pelzer played his way into the starting lineup and gives Penn Wood another quick guard to pressure the ball and fuel the Patriots' potent transition game.

Seasons at a glance:
E-town: It’s been a tale of two seasons for the Bears. E-town started the year 2-1 but then lost its next six games in a row – four of those by a combined total of 12 point. In late December, the Bears sat at 2-7 overall and 1-5 in league play. But E-town turned it around in January and the Bears won 12 of their final 14 regular season games to get into the Lancaster-Lebanon League and District Three playoffs.
In the L-L playoffs, E-town surrendered a halftime lead and lost to Columbia in the first round 61-52.
The Bears then earned the No. 13 seed in the district. In the play-in round, E-town blew out Gettysburg 60-45, advancing to face fourth-seeded Cedar Crest in the first round. The Bears pulled off the upset, beating the Falcons 65-57. And in the second round of the tournament, E-town punched its ticket to the state playoffs witha 67-53 win over Mechanicsburg to advance to the district semifinals at the Giant Center. In semis, E-town was beaten by undefeated Reading and was sent to play Harrisburg in the third-place game. The Cougars used a large halftime deficit to beat E-town, and the Bears finished with the fourth seed in the district.
Penn Wood: The Pioneers are a very young team that, like E-town, experienced a terrific turnaround from a year ago. Last season, Penn Wood was just 12-13, but rebounded to go 21-8 this year and earn their first trip to the state playoffs since 1992. The Pioneers play a very tough schedule (they are in the same conference as No. 1 Chester) and have lost to some very good teams – Chester three times, Pennsbury (the No. 6 team in the state) twice, one to Communications Tech (the Philadelphia Public League champion) and once to Glenn Mills (a District One playoff team).
Penn Wood is battle tested with that schedule and is currently No. 9 in the Class AAAA rankings. After four losses in five games early in the season to put their record at 5-4, the Patriots reeled off nine straight wins and won 13 or their final 15 games to reach the playoffs.
In the District One playoffs, they won their first three games. In the first round, the Patriots took care of Central Bucks South, and then beat Cheltenham in the second round. Penn Wood then beat Souderton by 10 to advance to the district semifinals and qualify for states. In the semis, they lost to Chester and lost to Pennsbury in the third place game.

Outlook:
These two teams have a few things in common. Both are young teams that played their best basketball in the second half of the season. Neither of these two teams are experienced in the state playoffs, either, so they won’t have the PIAA-seasoning that some of the other teams in the tournament have.
Also, both teams are very athletic and like to run up and down the court and play transition basketball.
Penn Wood has a ton of athletic ability and will run all game long, but the Patriots aren’t a very disciplined team. They tend to stick to their gameplan for two quarters or so, but often get out of it, which allows opponents to go on runs and either get back in the game or extend a lead.
On defense, Penn Wood likes to double down on the opposing team’s top scorer. But E-town doesn’t really have one stand-out scorer, so expect the Patriots to make a lot of adjustments on defense. They could start out doubling Cozzens, but may have to switch to Styer or Koach if one of them gets hot and starts scoring points in bunches. On offense, Duane Johnson is a lot like Harrisburg’s Quincy Roberts in that he is a big, athletic forward who can hurt you in a variety of ways. The Bears will probably assign one defender – likely Cozzens – to lock him down and will adjust their help defense as they need to. Tyree Johnson is a quick point guard who will be difficult to contain in a full-court press. In the second half against Harrisburg, E-town’s Jordan Hoover and Mike O’Shea did a good job of forcing turnovers with the press against the Cougars’ equally quick guards, and the Bears will need more of the same on Saturday.
For the Bears, the game will hinge on whether or not they will be able to break out of a recent shooting funk that has plagued them in their last two games. To have an off night offensively against a team like Reading on the Giant Center rims was understandable, but the Bears simply couldn’t get going in the first half against Harrisburg, scoring only 11 points, and it eventually cost them the game.
If they are going to hang with the No. 9 team in the state, they’ll need to shoot well from the opening tip.
E-town does have the ability to slow the tempo down and play the half-court game at times, and that could help them if they get into a track meet with the Patriots.
The winner of this game gets the winner of Abington Heights (top seed from District Two) and Pocono Mountain West (second seed from District 11).

Cheers.

Bears' journey to states

I have been working on something today that I hope I can figure out how to do right. Below this text, you should see a slideshow full of action shots throughout the season the E-town boys basketball team. Odds are I'll screw it up, but it's worth a shot...


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Bears win division, first playoff game

(Photo provided by Chuck Fox).
It's been quite a week and a half for the Elizabethtown Ice Hockey team.

It began last Wednesday as the Bears took the ice against Garden Spot in the championship game of the Tier II Lancaster-Lebanon-Berks section. E-town found itself in a 2-1 hole going into the third period before Zach Lokey dug them out. Lokey, the team's leading scorer and one of the top scorers in all of the CPIHL scored three times in the the third, and the Bears pulled away for a 6-2 decision. Brian Milici and Dillon Filepas also scored for E-town. Steven Dombrosky made 20 saves and held Garden Spot scoreless in the third as the Bears made their comeback.


On Friday night, E-town began the Tier II CPIHL playoffs. The Bears entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed (West York is No. 1) and dispensed of the Crusaders 5-0 in the first round. Lokey scored twice, and Filepas, Milici and Josh Carter also added goals. E-town's defense was also stout, and Dombrosky was sensational in goal, saving all 23 shots he faced.

The Bears have now advanced to the Tier II quarterfinals, and will play Annville-Cleona tonight at 8:45 p.m. at the Lancaster Ice Rink. E-town is 2-0 against A-C so far this season, beating them 11-1 and 9-2. There is that old saying that it's tough to beat a team three times in one season, but I don't see the Bears having much trouble tonight.

If they win, a matchup with Cedar Cliff could be looming in the semifinals. The Colts, the third seed, plays Kennard-Dale tonight. They won the Mid Penn division with a 15-3 record and beat Kennard-Dale 3-1 earlier in the year. The Colts also handed E-town one of its two losses on the season (a 4-1 win over the Bears back on Jan. 18), so I'm sure the Bears are itching to get a little revenge on them. But they can't look past Annville-Cleona tonight, or they won't get that chance.

Rosenberry heading to states

(photo by Chris Bradley)
Shane Rosenberry's phenomenal season will continue. Rosenberry had a great weekend at the District Three tourney at Hersheypark Arena, losing only to eventual district champ Antonio Giorgio, and taking third place at 189 pounds to qualify for the upcoming PIAA State Tournament.

States will begin on Thursday, March 6 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Here's a look at Shane's road to the Giant Center.

1st Round: Shane pretty much dominated every match he wrestled in with the exception of the Giorgio bout in the semis. He got things started in the first round with a 12-0 major over Manheim Central's Josh Pavlik.

Quarterfinals: Ephrata's Jordan Becker hung around, but Rosenberry was ultimately too much, hanging a 10-5 decision on Becker to advance to the semis.

Semifinals: It seems like Rosenberry has had real trouble with two wrestlers this season – Keith Dickey of Cedar Cliff and Giorgio, who is still has yet to taste defeat this season. Giorgio didn't pin Rosenberry, but he earned a 16-8 major decision to send him to the consolation bracket. This Giorgio kid is only a sophomore and I think may win one or two state championships before he graduates. he's the real deal.

Consolation semis: Rosenberry earned another major, this one on Hempfield's Evan Marin, 16-7.

Consolation finals: In the second period, Rosenberry flipped Reading's Gary Estella on his back and pinned him in 2:07 to clinch his spot in states.

Here's how the other eight E-town district qualifiers fared:
103: Matt Hoover lost in the first round to eventual district champ Cameron Throckmorton, sending him to the consolation bracket. In consys, Hoover earned a 14-2 major in the first round before losing his next bout to Jacob Verheyen 6-1.

112: Calvin Anderton lost a heartbreaker to the No. 2 seed in the bracket 2-1 in the first round. And in his first consolation match, Anderton was pinned by Zach Terefenko to end his season.

130: Just Lewis lost to 2 seed Nathan Warner in the first round and lost by tech fall to Conestoga Valley's Justin Lapp in the first round of consolations.

135: Oliver Thayer was pinned by top seeded Zach Grove in the first round. He won his first consolation match by a 4-3 decision over Ephrata's Jared Becker, but was on the short end of a 4-3 decision in his next bout, falling to Andrew Eshleman.

140: This one was a bit surprising to me. This was a good bracket, but I thought Blake Rosenberger had a good shot of getting through and making it to states. Things started well for Blake as he earned a 7-3 decision in the first round over Mechanicsburg's Evan Baer. He then beat Muhlenberg's Bo Cadelaria (who entered the match with just one loss this year) in the quarterfinals, 8-5, to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, Rosenberger lost a close 6-4 decision to eventual champ Bryce Busler (who beat Marshall Peppelman in the finals). And then, in the consolation semis, Eddie Stephenson ended Rosenberger's season with a 6-5 decision.

160: Adam Zellman was pinned by Dallastown's Clay Gable in the first round and pinned again in the first round of consolations, losing to Governor Mifflin's Dave Gurtowski.

171: Travis Leber made some noise before being eliminated. He won his first round bout over Bryce Shaffer, 8-6, before losing a 5-4 decision to Jarvis Cummings in the quarterfinals. In the consolation round, he majored Alex Swartz 11-2 but lost to Cory Baker 5-3 in the consolation quarterfinals.

285: Alex Kirchner lost his opener to Danny Estricher by fall. In the consolations, he won his first match 5-3, and won his second 7-4 before losing to Brandon Kline in the third round of consolations.

Some other notes:
• Of the 42 state berths awarded for Class AAA, 18 of those came from Section Two (which E-town is in), for an astonshing 42 percent of the berths. Wow. Now you see why people say that E-town's sectional tournament is among the best in the state.

• Jordan Enck lost in the 215 finals. Didn't see that one coming.

Bears will play Penn Wood

E-town will face off with Penn Wood (21-8 overall) in the first round of the PIAA Class AAAA playoffs on Saturday, March 1. The game will be at 2:30 p.m. at Spring-Ford High School in Royersford. Mapquest tells me that Royersford is about 78 miles from here ad about 90 minutes driving time.

Don't know much about Penn Wood yet, other than the fact that they are the fourth seed from District One. But have no fear, I'm working on a full preview of the game as I type this and will have it for you hopefully by tomorrow. If not then, I'll post it on Wednesday.

Tickets will be on sale at the EAHS main office 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday. They are $3 for students and $6 for adults.

Bracketology: District Three wrestling

Here's a quick glimpse at what the nine E-town wrestlers are facing at the District Three wrestling tournament later today.


103: Matt Hoover (28-11)
Hoover, one of five E-town wrestlers with four seeds, gets a tough match-up in the first round, where he runs into Cameron Throckmorton, who is 32-1 and the top seed out of Section Five. Should he pull the upset there, he'll get the winner of Jacob Smith (16-6) out of Waynesboro and Eddie Lockowitz (28-10) from Daniel Boone. But to beat Throckmorton would be a huge upset.


112: Calvin Anderton (32-10)
Anderton, another fourth seed, gets Chambersburg's Jimmy Hughes in the first round. Hughes in the top seed out of Section 1, and is sporting a 32-1 record. Tough go for Calvin, but he does have 32 wins and is certainly capable of winning. If he does win, he'll get the winner between Dover's Abe Evans (28-5) and Wilson's Zach Terfenko (22-18).


130: Justin Lewis (21-17)
Lewis is another four seed for the Bears. He draws the top seed from Section 5 (and second seed in the bracket), Spring Grove's Nathan Warner, who is 31-7. It certainly won't an easy matchup for Lewis, but if he wins, he'll get the winner between CV's Justin Lapp (21-13) and Shippensburg's Russell Davidson (33-3).


135: Oliver Thayer (30-10)
I think that of all the four seeds the Bears have, Thayer has the best shot of making some noise. Problem is, he got another tough draw (like he did in sectionals). He do battle in the first round with the top seed in the bracket, and No. 1 seed from Section Five, Central York's Zach Grove, who is a perfect 31-0 this season. That's a tough break for O, but if he can squeak though, he'll have a good shot in the second round, where he'll get the winner or Ephrata's Jared Becker (29-7) and Cumberland Valley's Tom Wiechelt (33-3).


140: Blake Rosenberger (37-3)
I think Rosenberger, represents E-town's best chance at a state berth. He shouldn't have much trouble in the first round, where he'll meet the third seed from Section One, Mecanicsburg's Evan Baer, who is 26-11. In the second round, Rosenberger will get the winner between Muhlenberg's Bo Cadelario (30-1) and Central York's Corey Green (27-11), which will probably be Cadelario. Rosenberger will have his hands full there, but if he gets through that, he could very well make it to the finals ... where Marshall Peppelman will be waiting.


160: Adam Zellman (29-10)
Zellman is one of E-town's three No. 2 seeds from Section Two and he'll match up with Dallastown's Clay Gable (33-6) in the first round. Gable is another two seed from Section Five. That'll be a tough one for Zellman, but he's proven time and time again this season that he is a very good tournament wrestler. If he win's he'll likely get top seed Mike Evans (19-1) of Cumberland Valley, who should cruise through his first round match. Tough draw for Zellman, but he's a very strong wrestler who has a nice shot of getting through to states.


171: Travis Leber (37-5)
Leber, E-town's leader in wins, is a three seed out of Section Two and will face off with Gettysburg's Bryce Shaffer (27-10), a No. 1 seed from Section One. I like Leber's chances there, and he'll likely draw Hempfield's Jarvis Cummings (27-9) in the quarterfinals. Don't be surprised to see Leber in the semifinals with a good chance of advancing to the Giant Center.


189: Shane Rosenberry (36-4)
I think there are two wrestlers in this bracket that will give Rosenberry trouble – Warwick's Antonio Giorgio and Cedar Cliff's Keith Dickey, both of whom have beaten Rosie this year. But I think that, along with Rosenberger, Shane will be at the Giant Center for states. In the first round, he gets Manheim Central's Josh Pavlik (11-9) and then the winner between Gettysburg's DJ Cool (awesome name by the way) (24-6) and Ephrata's Jordan Becker (31-10). I expect Rosenberry to match up with Giorgio (who is 39-0) in the semifinals and to grab that third spot in the bracket and advance to states.


285: Alex Kirchner (27-16)
Kirchner is the last of E-town's four seeds, and draws the top seed from Section 1, Mechanicsburg's Danny Estricher (28-3) in the first round. That will be a tough bout for Kirchner, but he's quick and is able to grind out those 3-2 types of matches. If he can get it to OT, he's got an edge. If he wins, he'll face the winner of Hempfield's Sean Sheehe (36-10) and Dallastown's Clifton Ward (29-11).

There you have it. Also, here's a tentative schedule for the tournament. It could change with the weather, but here is what is slated for now:
Friday:
1st round: 4 p.m.
Consolation 1st round: 6:30 p.m.
Championship Quarterfinals: 6:30 p.m.
Consolation 2nd round: 9:15 p.m.

Saturday:
Championship semifinals: 1 p.m.
Consolation third round: 1 p.m.
Consolation fourth round: 3 p.m.
Third and Fourth place matches: 5 p.m.
Parade of Champions: 6:15 p.m.
Finals: 6:30 p.m.

Weather update

Well, for now it looks like this afternoon's District Three wrestling tournament is still on as scheduled. I know the AA tourney started this morning at 8:30 and is going on as I type this. However, AAA isn't slated to kick off until 4 p.m., at which point the weather is supposed to turn icy – so I'll keep an eye on it and post any updates here as soon as I get them.

As for the CPIHL playoffs, those are also still on as scheduled. E-town is slated to play tonight at 8:45 p.m. at Lancaster Ice Rink. I have a feeling that'll be pushed back though. But again, it's still on as of now.

For those wondering how they can hold these events with school cancelled, I'll tell you. For wrestling, when it comes to district playoffs or tournaments, the decision on whether or not to hold them falls directly on the District Three committee, the schools really have no say.

In hockey, the CPIHL is not a school-sanctioned sport, so if school is cancelled, they really can't tell the CPIHL what to do.

I'll keep you updated on the weather and will be back later with a recap of last night's boys basketball game and also a recap of Wednesday's ice hockey matchup.

Looking ahead: E-town vs. Harrisburg

The Bears will do battle tonight with Harrisburg in the third-place game in District 3. Here's a look at how each team got to this point.

Harrisburg:
The Cougars struggled at times this regular season, limping into the playoffs with a 12-10 overall record. But Harrisburg also played a lot of tough teams in the regular season – including Central Daupin East twice and Reading once. Eventhough the Cougars are an 18-seed in these playoffs, they are still a very talented and capable team.

Right now they sit at 15-11 after a nice run in the postseason. For the year, they average about 62 points per game and allow 59.5. But in the playoffs, defense has been a major storyline for them. They've allowed just 46 points per game in four district playoff games, allowing 50 points just once – in a win over Chambersburg in the play-in round.

In the playoffs, they beat Chambersburg 58-52 in the play-in round, topped McCaskey 50-41 in the first round and beat Red Land in the second round 56-46 before losing to CD East for the third time this year in the district semifinals, 45-39. They had a lead over CD East with 2 minutes left in the game, but allowed the Panthers to come back and take the game.

Harrisburg has plenty of height, with 10 players listed at 6'2" or taller and three players at at least 6'4". Their best player is probably 6'5" senior Quincy Roberts. He had a tough go against East on Tuesday, shooting just 3-for-13, but he's certainly a better player than that. Guards Eric Henry (team high 10 points against CD East) and Alphonso Washington are both lightning-quick and can penetrate very well. To an extent, that's all I really know about Harrisburg and I can't seem to get any statistics on them (sorry). But I did get to see the fourth quarter of their semifinal game against East, and I can tell you that they play relentless defense. They're quick to the ball and will use turnovers to fuel a solid transition game. They are similar in terms of defensive quickness to Reading, and the Bears had a tough time with that on Tuesday.

But if E-town has one advantage, I think it is mental strength. If things start going wrong for the Cougars, you'll see a bit of bickering amongst teammates and they'll tend to get out of the gameplan and force things. So the key for the Bears will be to hound Roberts and get into Harrisburg's heads.

E-town:
It's been quite a postseason for the Bears. They came in as the 13th seed in districts and cruised past Gettysburg in the play-in round. They then promptly dismissed 4-seed Cedar Crest, and pulled away from 12-seed Mechanicsburg in the quarterfinals before running into Reading.

The two teams have three common opponents this season:
• Reading: Harrisburg lost 66-54, E-town lost 61-38.
• Cumberland Valley: Harrisburg won 59-55, E-town won 59-54.
• J.P. McCaskey: Harrisburg won 50-41, E-town lost 68-62.

If E-town is going to win, they have to shoot the ball better than they did against Reading. Period. All of you there know that the E-town you saw shooting is not the same E-town that won 17 games to that point. I think nerves were a big part of it, as were the unforgiving rims of the Giant Center. But this game is in a much more familiar setting – a high school gym. I think if E-town shoots well, it wins. If they struggle to get open beyond the arc and are constantly shooting with a hand in their face, they'll have trouble. They also have to knock down free throws. If they had shot better from the line in the first half against Reading, they would have been trailing by single digits at the half, not 12. And that could've made a difference in the second half. I'm not saying they would have won, but it certainly would have been closer.

They also can't get caught up in the mystique of Harrisburg. Yes, the Cougars have a ton of history when it comes to District Three basketball and yes, they're one of the traditional district powerhouses. But that doesn't matter now. E-town needs to look at them as just another team standing in their way, and attack them with the style of play that they've used all season. They have the athleticism to hang with Harrisburg, they just have to believe that they can do it.

I think they can.

My prediction: E-town 58 - Harrisburg 52.

What's on the line:
OK, both teams have already made states, that much we know. But how will this game affect the seeding?
IF E-TOWN WINS:
A win would give the Bears the third seed in District Three. Looking at the PIAA brackets, that would match them up against the third seed from District 12. D12's brackets are a little tough to follow, but it looks like the third seed would be the winner between Simon Gratz (18-8) and John Bartram (20-6).
IF E-TOWN LOSES:
A loss to Harrisburg makes the Bears the 4th seed in the district, and that means they'll meet the fourth seed in District 1.
Pennsbury (26-2) and Penn Wood (21-7) will be playing for thrid place in District 1. So if E-town loses tonight, they'll get the loser of that game in the first round of states.

The state tournament begins March 1. When the brackets are set, I'll be posting an in-depth preview of the game.

Reading too much for Bears

I think the title of this post pretty much says it all about last night's boys basketball game. Reading was simply too much for the Bears to handle. That's it. That happens to plenty of teams, you simply run into someone better than you are. And it will happen to every single team in Class AAAA at some point this season – except for one, whoever wins states. Remember, of all of the teams left, only one will end their season with gold medals around their necks. I'm not sure if that will be Reading or not, but I know that they will be in the mix. I just don't know if they can hang with Chester.

Reading pretty much smothered everything E-town wanted to do last night. They have exceptional quickness, and good height pretty much everywhere. The Bears really had a tough time getting anything going and it seemed like when they did get an open shot they rushed it. I'm not sure if it was nerves, playing in front of 4,000 people, or the Reading defense (likely a combination of all three), but E-town defintely didn't shoot as well as I've seen them before. And I think they know that. But realistically, the Bears needed everything to go right and have everything go wrong for Reading to have a chance. And that didn't happen.

E-town has nothing to hang its heads over though. They made it to the district semifinals, where they simply ran into one of the best teams in the entire state. And they've made it to the state playoffs. But once they get there, they can't be happy just to be in it. I have a feeling they won't be one and done in states. Time will tell.

Next up is Harrisburg, tomorrow night at 7:30 at Cedar Crest. Harrisburg's storied past in District Three basketball is well-chronicled. The Cougars have been a powerhouse for years, but this is a beatable team. Sure, they're as good of an 18-seed as you will ever see, but there's a reason they were an 18 seed in the first place. I think patience and tough defense are keys to beating Harrisburg. If they start turning the ball over, they'll likely get frustrated and that's when basketball teams are primed for the picking.

I'll try and get some more info. on them and post it tomorrow.

E-town - Reading preview

The Final Four of the District Three Quad A playoffs gets underway tonight at the Giant Center. Harrisburg and CD East will get things started at 6:30 with E-town battling top-seed Reading after that.

What's on the line here, exactly? Well, for one, the winner advances to the district championship game on Saturday. The loser is already in the PIAA tournament, but the longer you go in the district tournament, the higher seed you get in the state tournament, which means you will likely get an easier draw. That's essentially it. The loser of this game will play for third place in the district on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Giant Center.

But back to tonight's matchup. Here's what the Bears are up against:

Reading is 28-0 and the No. 1 seed in the district, as well as the No. 3-ranked team in the state. The Red Knights average right around 76 points per game and allow just 50 – so they are winning by an AVERAGE of 26 points per game. Wow. They have played two teams that the Bears faced this season – Conestoga Valley and J.P. McCaskey. Reading beat CV by 50 (yes, 50) earlier this year and dispensed of McCaskey by 23. They have won both of their district games (against Carlisle and York) by double digits.

So, yes, Reading is good. Very good. And here are some major reasons why they are good:
• Senior guard Jordan Burdine. Team's leading scorer, averages 17.8 points per game. Coming off 25-point outing against York on Saturday.
• Sophomore forward Trenity Burdine. Second leading scorer, averages 13.6 per game. Can shoot the 3 ball (hit 42 3's this year).
• Senior center Jermain Jackson. Big lefty is 6'7" and talented. Averages 13.5 per game, but has been a terror in the playoffs. Got into foul trouble against York, but in the first round had 21 points and 15 rebounds against Carlisle.
• Junior guard Justin Rodriguez. The teams' point guard, also averages 12.9 points per game. He had 13 in the win over York.
(If you're keeping track, that's four players on this reading team that average at least 12 points per game. Needless to say, they can hurt you in a lot of different ways.
• Senior forward Nelson Leon. Leon is the last of the starters on this team, and averages 7.5 points per game, but can certainly go for double digits.
• Another player to keep an eye on is sixth man Demrick Cook, who is an excellent rebounder. With Jackson in foul trouble against York, the 6'2" Cook came in and grabbed 17 rebounds to help Reading pull away. Freshman forward Marcus Dawkins will also see some minutes and can score as well.

This game will be a tough one for E-town to win. There's no other way to put it. They will have to get every bounce and have everything go their way for a full 32 minutes to pull this upset off. And that's not a knock on the Bears, that's just how good the Red Knights are. If there's one thing I can be sure of, though, it's that E-town won't play scared and they won't back down. They'll get physical with Reading and continue pestering them. If the Bears want a puncher's chance here, they've got to keep playing hard and not get out of their gameplan no matter how large of a deficit they are facing. If they get down by 10 or so early, they've just got to keep plugging away. They can't let the bright lights of the Giant Center or the aura of playing Reading get to them. They must remember that they deserve to be there too. They've earned that much.

But in the end, I simply thing Reading is too strong, and will pull away in the second half. I see the Bears keeping it closer than most people think they can, but the Red Knights just having too much firepower in the end and winning the ball game. There's no shame in losing to a team as good as Reading, because there is such a thing as a good loss (just ask the NY Giants – remember that regular season finale loss to the Pats). If the Bears play them close and hang around for the entire game, that will take their confidence to another level.

My prediction: Reading 65 - E-town 53.

Unofficial District Three pairings

I got my hands on the unofficial D3 wrestling pairings for the first round. When they are confirmed, I'll give you more info on them, but for now, here's what I have:

103: Matt Hoover, Et, freshman, 29-11 vs. Cameron Throckmorton, South Western, freshman, 32-1.
112: Calvin Anderton, Et, sophomore, 32-10 vs. Jimmy Hughes, Chambersburg, sophomore, 32-1.
130: Justin Lewis, Et, sophomore, 21-17, vs. Nate Warner, Spring Grove, senior, 31-7.
135: Oliver Thayer, Et, senior, 30-10, vs. Zach Grove, Central York, senior, 31-0.
140: Blake Rosenberger, Et, senior, 35-3, vs. Evan Baer, Mechanicsburg, junior, 26-11.
160: Adam Zellman, Et, junior, 27-10, vs. Clay Gable, Dallastown, junior, 33-6.
171: Travis Leber, Et, senior, 37-5 vs. Bryce Shaffer, Gettysburg, junior, 27-10.
189: Shane Rosenberry, Et, junior, 34-4, vs. Josh Pavlik, Manheim Central, senior, 11-9.
285: Alex Kirchner, Et, junior, 27-16, vs. Dan Estricher, Mechanicsburg, senior, 29-3.

Bears are state-tourney bound

Well, well, well, look who's going to states. E-town continued it magical season by beating Mechanicsburg on Saturday afternoon on the strength of a 25-point fourth quarter.

I wasn't able to make the game because I had to be in a wedding in Allentown, but I was able to talk to several people who were there and said that the Bears were awesome in the fourth quarter.

I believe this is E-town's first trip to states since current head coach Kevin Dolan was playing guard for the Bears.

What a fantastic job this team has done in the second half of the season. It's been a blast to be able to cover them, and the fun will continue tomorrow night at the Giant Center.

Of course, E-town gets the unenviable task of playing Reading tomorrow night. Reading is 28-0 and the third ranked team in the entire state (and the top ranked team in the district). Needless to say, it ain't gonna be easy tomorrow, but the Bears have already earned their state berth. The PIAA play-in round is Feb. 26 and the first round of the tourney is Feb. 29. District tournaments need to run their course before seeding is announced, but I'll have it for you when I know it.

I'll also be posting a preview on tomorrow night's game either tonight or tomorrow morning.

Congrats again to the Bears. Job well done.

Bears send 9 to districts

It would be difficult not to classify E-town's secitonal tournament on Saturday as a success. Despite the stiff competition, E-town sent nine wrestlers through to this weekend's District Three tournament at Hersheypark Arena.

Three Bears advanced all the way to the finals: Blake Rosenberger at 140, Adam Zellman (pictured above, photo by Chris Bradley) at 160 and Shane Rosenberry at 189. All three lost in the finals.

Travis Leber was ablel to come back and finish in third place despite losing his first match. And five Bears: Matt Hoover, Calvin Anderton, Justin Lewis, Oliver Thayer and Alex Kirchner all finished fourth and earned the right to continue their season this weekend.

The absence of 215-pounder Sean McMullen was a mystery. I have not confirmed why McMullen (who was the 2 seed in the bracket and had a great shot of getting through to districts) was not at the sectional tournament, but his season (and his high school wrestling career) is now officially over. When I figure out what happened with Sean and why, I'll let you know.

But other than that, job well done by the Bears. I think we all though E-town would send a few through to districts, but nine is a fantastic number.

As always, when brackets are announced, I'll post them.

Looking at the weekend

As I head out of the office for the day and with a very full E-town sports weekend on tap, I wanted to leave you with this:

Please keep in your thoughts and prayers Tim Bartholomew and his family and friends. As you may or may not know, Tim was a well-respected L-L League basketball official who passed away yesterday after officiating the Hershey - Boiling Springs District 3 playoff game. It's a sad day for everyone in the local sports community, many of whom knew and respected Tim. I only ask that, as you attend wrestling or basketball or whatever this weekend that you think twice before yelling to the referee that he is terrible. Remember, they are just people. Like you and me. They have families, they have lives outside of refereeing.

Rest In Peace, Tim. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

E-town - Mechanicsburg preview

I did a little digging today and found out what I could on Mechanicsburg. Without further ado, here's my preview on tomorrow afternoon's big game. For those of you curious, if the Bears win tomorrow, they will qualify for the state tournament. If they lose, they can still get into states, but they'll have to win a couple more games. Either way, tomorrow is definitely not the last game of the season for either team.

Before we get into each team and what they run, here's a look at the common opponents both have played this year. Don't read too much into these numbers, but take it for what it's worth:

Mechanicsburg played Gettysburg and Middletown twice. The Wildcats went 2-0 against Middletown, beating them 62-45 and 71-61. They went 1-1 against Gettysburg, beating them 54-34 and losing 47-34.

E-town only played Gettysburg and Middletown once each, but the Bears went 2-0 in those games. As you might remember, they destroyed Middletown, 79-34 in their most lopsided win of the year. They also beat Gettysburg in the district play-in round, 60-45.

SEASONS AT A GLANCE

Mechanicsburg:
Mechanicsburg went 16-7 in the regular season, finishing second in their Mid Penn conference to Boiling Springs (who just lost to Hershey last night). They made the Mid Penn playoffs, but lost to Steel High by a point in the semifinals. They then beat Waynesboro by two points in the district play-in round before beating Red Lion by six last night in the first round.

Their losses this season are to Steelton, CD East, Gettysburg, Susquehanna Twp., Red Land, Trinity, Carlisle and Cedar Cliff.


E-town:
We all know the story of the Bears' season by now. Started 2-7 before coming alive to finish the regular season at 14-9. They went 12-2 in their last 14 regular season games, ending on an 8-game winning streak. They lost in the first round of the L-L playoffs to Columbia, but rebounded to beat Gettysburg by 15 in the district play-in round. They then beat Cedar Crest by eight last night. So all together, E-town is 13-3 since that slow start. Not too shabby.

HOW THEY PLAY:
Mechanicsburg:
The Wildcats play hard, but they are a very guard-heavy team. Only two players on the team are taller than 6-foot (all five of E-town's starters are at least 6-foot, with three of them 6'2" and one 6'4"). But they make up for their lack of size with physical play. Mechanicsburg will run a ton of four guard sets and will look to spread the floor on E-town.

Their top scorer is guard Jake Zeigler, who averages around 15 points per game. He is the only one averaging in double digits. The rest of their top scorers are: Greg Bretz (8.5), Chris White (8.3), Steve Edgar (6.8), Dylan Edgar (5.4), and Will Laubach (5.2). The Edgar boys are the ones that are taller than 6-foot, and Steve Edgar is the team's center. So expect a lot of four guards and Edgar on the court for Mechanicsburg.

E-town:
The Bears have a definite size advantage on the Wildcats. E-town is already a very good rebounding team, so the Bears will have plenty of chances to get offensive rebounds and have second opportunities on offense. If Mechanicsburg spreads the floor, E-town has the quickness to adjust and they also play good help defense, which will help them contain Zeigler.

The bottom line here is that E-town just has more weapons offensively. Their repertoire was on full display last night, as E-town had four players score in double digits and two more with seven points. If one of the Bears are having an off night offensively, E-town has more than enough talent to pick that particular player up. I'm not sure you can say the same about Mechanicsburg if Zeigler is struggling offensively.

E-town's starters will be Jordan Hallman, Kyle McNeil, Chad Styer, Quinn Cozzens and Nate Koach and when they are all on the court, they have shown that they can hang with almost any style of team. They can run, they can play half-court sets, they can shoot outside and bang bodies inside, they can press and they can rebound. It's a scary combination when they put it all together.

Mechanicsburg play excellent defense, so expect E-town to counter that by having Hallman, Styer, Cozzens and McNeil all bring the ball up to throw different looks at the Wildcats. And all four are good ball handlers.

If I were to pick out a player to have a stand-out game, I'd pick Koach. He's one of the hardest working centers you'll see, and if he has a size advantage, he's going to exploit it all night. He's not afraid of physical play, either, and if you foul him, he'll knock down free throws.

The Bears were certainly impressive last night. They didn't play their best game of the season, and still were able to beat a 4-seed. But both teams have a lot of momentum right now. Mechanicsburg is coming off of two HUGE wins itself, so they won't back down from the Bears, no matter what.

It's going to be a fast, physical game, but then again, they all will be from this point on. Both teams have a lot to play for, but I think that E-town just has too many weapons for Mechanicsburg, and I think they will be playing at the Giant Center on Tuesday night.

PREDICTION:
E-town 60 - Mechanicsburg 51.

Also, the winner of this game will take on the winner of Reading/York, which, barring an upset of Chaminade-Virginia proportions, will be Reading. (OK, maybe it wouldn't be THAT big of an upset if York wins, but you get the picture). If they Bears win, they will play at the Giant Center on Tuesday at 8 p.m. If E-town loses, they will play at Penn Manor at 7:30 on Tuesday night against the Reading/York loser.

Wrestling: 1st round sectional matchups

Here are the first round matchups for the Bears in Saturday's District 3, Section 2 Class AAA tournament. Special thanks to Tom Knorr for sharing these. You can view the full brackets at Knorr's Web site, www.tknorr.com.

103: Matt Hoover, E-town, freshman, 27-9 record, vs. Shawn Hall, CD East, freshman, 11-15.
Bracket top seed: Clayton Youtz, CD, senior, 37-5.

112: Calvin Anderton, E-town, sophomore, 30-8, vs. Tyrus Nickoli, CD East, junior, 21-8.
Bracket top seed: Somon Rice, CD, junior, 38-4.

119: Antonio Rodriguez, E-town, freshman, 11-21, vs. Andrew DiMatteo, Red Land, sophomore, 5-15.
NOTE: This is a preliminary round matchup. The winner will face Chris Kochinsky, Middletown, senior, 28-2, in the first round.
Bracket top seed: Kochinsky.

125: Kyle Morrow, E-town, sophomore, 7-26, vs. Mike Layton, Harrisburg, junior, 6-16.
NOTE: This is also a preliminary round matchup. The winner will face Tyler Buckman, CD, sophomore, 33-10, in the first round.
Bracket top seed: Buckman.

130: Justin Lewis, E-town, sophomore, 19-15, vs. Kalann Washington, Harrisburg, freshman, 3-8.
Bracket top seed: Nick Kristich, Lower Dauphin, senior, 26-1.

135: Oliver Thayer, E-town, senior, 28-8, vs. Robert Tupper, Susquehanna Twp., sophomore, 20-7.
Bracket top seed: Jay Haas, Red Land, senior, 22-4.

140: Blake Rosenberger, E-town, senior, 33-2, vs. Aaron Wolaver, Red Land, junior, 13-14.
Bracket top seed: Marshall Peppelman, CD, sophomore, 31-1. Rosenberger is the second seed. He should have a pretty clear path to the final, where Peppelman will be waiting in what should be a very good match.

145: Jared Danneker, E-town, sophomore, 10-12, vs. Grant Dickey, Cedar Cliff, freshman, 20-12.
Bracket top seed: Walter Peppelman, CD, senior, 38-2.

152: Zach Myers, E-town, sophomore, 4-8, vs. Jacob Loffreda, Hershey, junior, 19-12.
Bracket top seed: Tony Dallago, CD, junior, 36-5.

160: Adam Zellman, E-town, junior, 25-9, vs. Ryan Rexrode, CD East, senior, 11-15.
Bracket top seed: Justin Aube, CD, senior, 20-6. Zellman is the 2 seed in this bracket. He has an excellent shot at getting to the finals here.

171: Travis Leber, E-town, senior, 34-4, vs. Harry Arndt, Hershey, junior, 25-4.
Bracket top seed: Edward Ruth, Susquehanna Twp., junior, 17-0.

189: Shane Rosenberry, E-town, junior, 32-3, vs. Luke Drayer, Hershey, sophomore, 9-6.
Bracket top seed: Keith Dickey, Cedar Cliff, senior, 32-6. Rosenberry is the second seed. His main roadblock to the finals will likely be CD's Kyle Wolfe, who he could meet in the quarterfinals.

215: Sean McMullen, E-town, senior, 22-9, vs. Troy Shott, CD, senior, 4-11.
Bracket top seed: Jaime Reitzi, Middletown, junior, 26-5. McMullen is another second seed for the Bears. He'll likely run into Red Land's Dustin Hicks (22-5) in the quarterfinals.

285: Alex Kirchner, E-town, junior, 25-14, vs. Kevin Washington, Harrisburg, junior, 10-16.
Bracket top seed: Daniel Nickoli, CD East, senior, 28-0.

Some analysis: First a disclaimer, I admit that I don't know a whole lot about the majority of the wrestlers that E-town will be facing. Hey, they're all from the Mid Penn, and I really only cover E-town (who is in the L-L). So I'm really basing this mostly off of records and things I have heard about some of these wrestlers.

Looking at the brackets, I'd say E-town has a pretty good chance of sending more than a couple of wrestlers through to districts. In the 103, 140, 145, 152, 160, 171, 189, 215 and 285 brackets, E-town wrestlers won't have to worry about meeting up with the top seed until the finals, at which point they will have already clinched a district berth. That's a pretty refreshing thought for the Bears.

Going weight by weight, here's my take on each (for what it's worth). Remember that the top 4 wrestlers in each weight class will advance to districts from this section. And that's how it should be. The competition in this tournament is steep, so the top 4 deserve to move on.
103: I think Hoover has a decent shot at moving on. In his half of the bracket, he'll have to watch out for second seeded Zack Witman from Middletown. Most of the wrestlers only need 2 wins on Saturday to advance.
112: Tough draw for Calvin Anderton. Nickoli will give him fits in the first round, and the winner gets to take on top-seeded Rice in the quarters. The good news is that if Anderton loses his first match, he has a chance to get to the third place match in wrestle-backs.
119: If Rodriguez wins his prelim match, he gets Kochinsky, who is very good.
125: Same thing for Morrow, as he'll also get a top seed if he wins his prelim match. It'll be tough for either to get through this tournament. Not putting them down, just being honest.
130: Lewis should be able to win his first round match, but would then have to do battle with top-seeded Kristich, who I remember from the past couple of years. He is an excellent wrestler. There are three really good wrestlers in this class, counting Middletown's Kyler Killian and CD's Kenny Stank, so Lewis will have to be at the top of his game to get fourth.
135: Like Anderton, Thayer gets a tough draw here. His first round match is no cupcake, and if he gets through that he'll have to face Haas in the semis. Ouch. But Thayer is resilient, so even if he loses and is forced into the consolations, he'll wrestle with all he has to get into that third place match.
140: I really don't see anything preventing Rosenberger from advancing to face Peppelman in the finals. I'm not sure if he can beat Peppelman, but I'm not saying he can't beat him either. Either way, Blake should be wrestling in Hersheypark Arena next weekend.
145: Danneker has his hands full in the first round with Dickey, who I hear is an outstanding wrestler – especially for a freshman. Walt Peppelman will win this bracket, so the other six wrestlers are vying for the remaining three spots.
152: Myers had a pretty good showing at leagues, but he might be a little too inexperienced to get through this tournament. He's got two good wrestlers in his half of the bracket (Loffreda and LD's Chad Savage), so he'll have to wrestle at his absolute best.
160: Zellman got a very good draw, with a lot of good wrestlers in the other half of the bracket. I think he'll get to the finals and will likely qualify for districts.
171: It's doubtful anyone here can beat Ruth, but Leber hasn't won a team-high 34 matches by accident. He can hang with just about anyone. He's got a tough draw in the first round, though and another tough matchup waiting for him in the semis. He is in a loaded half of the bracket and will need to wrestle strong to get through. I think he's got a good shot, though.
189: Rosenberry should cruise to the finals, where he'll likely get top seeded Keith Dickey, of Cedar Cliff. Dickey will give Rosie all he can handle, but it is possible for him to win there. You'll see him in Hershey next weekend too.
215; It appears that a matchup between Red Land's Dan Hicks and McMullen will happen in the quarterfinals. Sean has a great shot to get through, but I don't think he will be able to overcome Reitzi and win the bracket.
285: Kirchner is giving up a ton of weight here, but he has all season and still found a way to win 25 times. If he wins his first round match, he'll likely have to get through consolations to make it to Hershey.

There's my take. Best of luck to all wrestlers tomorrow.

Bears win, Bears win

What a basketball game last night in Central Dauphin. It was really everything I expected, two L-L teams giving it their all and never giving up. Unfortunately, one team had to lose, and that team was Cedar Crest. The Bears did everything they had to do last night and walked out of CD with a 65-57 win.

You often hear the same old cliche from coaches that a win was a "total team effort." But in E-town's case, it's really true. Everyone contributed last night, and here's how they did it.

Jordan Hallman: Jordan was on fire early on, burying two big 3-Pointers in the first half, including scoring five of the Bears' first seven points. He finished with 11 points. He also handled Crest's pressure pretty well and did an excellent job on defense, as usual.

Nate McCurdy: Nate got a lot of minutes in this game, and played well. He was very aggressive on offense, taking the ball to the basket and making some things happen, as evidenced by his three assists. He only had one basket in the game, but it was a three midway through the second quarter that extended the E-town lead to six at that time. Big shot.

Kyle McNeil: Another tough, hard-fought game for Kyle. This kid battles inside all night long, and took some shots last night, but continued to crash the boards hard and keep offensive opportunities alive for the team. He had seven points.

Chad Styer: When Styer is shooting well, you almost are more surprised when he misses than when he makes it. That was Chad last night. He was patient and didn't force much, but took advantage of open shots and knocked most of them down en route to a team high 14 points.

Quinn Cozzens: When Cedar Crest came back from a 10 point deficit in the second half to tie the game, I think Cozzens had a calming effect on them on the floor. He just seems to pick the right times to put the team on his back. And when Cedar Crest battled back to tie it, it was Cozzens who immediately answered with a tough jumper to give E-town the lead again. He finished with 12 points and five boards.

Brad Garber: This game is one that Bradley Garber will probably remember for the rest of his life. With center Nate Koach in some foul trouble in the second half, the Bears needed Garber to step up and do battle with Cedar Crest's Kevin Manno (who is about as physical of a player as you'll find), and he did exactly that. He was whacked in the face at one point and drew a foul. It was obvious that Garber could barely see at that point, but the sophomore stepped up and drained both free throws. His steal and fastbreak layup with 29 seconds left was a fantastic play that pretty much iced the game. Garber anticipated a pass from Kyle McConnell, and he was right, jumping in front of it and taking it the rest of the way to stretch the lead to six with 29 seconds left.

Nate Koach: As I was walking to the locker room after the game to do interviews, all I heard from a lot of people was how impressed they were with how Nate played. And I agree, he did a fantastic job matching Cedar Crest's physical play. Every time he got the ball in the post, he took it up hard, and that's what you need out of your center. He played with an extreme amount of heart last night, and showed some definite senior leadership.

The Bench: Sure they didn't get in the game, but they were great at keeping the spirit up. At one point in the second half when the game was close, I looked over at them and they were all there, arms interlocking, leaning forward in their seats, rooting for their teammates. It won't show up in the stat book, but the bench players were a major factor last night.

That pretty much sums it up. Kevin Dolan said afterward that, if this game had happened earlier in the season, E-town may have lost. The Bears had a 10 point lead heading into the fourth quarter before McConnell and company battled back to tie it with 3:45 to play. But E-town didn't fold under the pressure, it rose to the occasion. And for that, you have to give them credit.

E-town moves on to play 12-seeded Mechanicsburg, which beat fifth-seeded Red Lion last night. That game will be on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Central Dauphin. In other action, Harrisburg (the 18 seed) beat 2-seed McCaskey. Also, 6th-seeded Hempfield lost to 11-seed Cedar Cliff.

I'll get a preview of tomorrow night's game together and post it before the end of the day today.

Ice Hockey update

* Sorry for the delay on this post, I actually wrote it yesterday, but have been having difficulty getting things to post for some reason.

With all of the wrestling and boys basketball news happening lately, I've neglected the E-town ice hockey team, which is in the midst of a fantastic season.

The Bears have locked up first place for the Tier 2 Lancaster-Lebanon-Berks division of the CPIHL, with a 14-2-1 record with one regular season game remaining. E-town is two games ahead of Garden Spot, who is 12-4-1. The Bears will play Ephrata (2-14-1) tonight at Lancaster Ice Rink, while the Spartans wrap up with Cocalico (2-13-2) tonight at Body Zone.

The CPIHL is doing something a little different this year, so the first and second-place teams in the LLB division will have a one-game division championship game after the season is over. While it's not set in stone just yet, all signs point to the Bears playing Garden Spot in that game. E-town has clinched a spot in the game, and Garden Spot will clinch with a win tonight. But Annville Cleona (11-4-2) could theoretically sneak in ahead of the Spartans if GS loses or ties. But I don't see that happening.

The Bears are in the midst of a five-game winning streak. They beat Garden Spot both times they played them this year, winning 7-1 back on Dec. 14 and 4-3 on Jan. 14. E-town also swept A-C, beating them 11-1 and 9-2. So far this season, E-town has scored 118 goals in just 17 games and has allowed a paltry 49.

E-town has seven player in double digit in points so far this season, led by Zach Lokey's 36 goals and 28 assists. Brian Milici is also having a fantastic season with 22 goals and 26 assists. Here are the rest of E-town's top point-scorers:
Dillon Filepas, 14 G, 12 A
Thomas Dombrosky, 10, 13
Josh Carter 12, 9
Michael VanHorn, 6, 13
Derek hallett 5, 8.

In goal, Steven Dombrosky and Harry Rhodes have split time and both have done well.

Dombrosky is 7-2 with a save percentage of 89 and a goals allowed average of 2.67.

Rhodes is 7-0-1 with a save percentage of 82 and a goals allowed average of 3.13.

It looks like the LLB championship game will be Wednesday night, also at Lancaster Ice Rink. It will, unfortunately, end too late to make next week's print edition of the Chronicle, but I'll cover the game and put it on the blog and on our Web site.

Playoff brackets have not been set yet, but once they are, I'll post them here.

Boys Basketball postponed

Just got word from District Three, tonight's boys basketball games have officially been postponed until tomorrow.

Still the same place and same time. Here it is in case you don't remember:

E-town vs. Cedar Crest, 7:30 p.m. at Central Dauphin.

Looking ahead: E-town vs. Cedar Crest

Tomorrow night at Central Dauphin, the Bears will look to keep their season going as they take on 18-5 Cedar Crest in the first round of the District Three Class AAAA playoffs. E-town, the 13th seed in the district, is definitely the underdog tomorrow night, as many people are picking the Falcons (the 4th seed) to advance pretty deep into these playoffs.

Here's a little bit about how Cedar Crest got to this point and what to expect from them tomorrow night.

The Falcons got off to an unbelievable start, winning their first 11 games before losing back-to-back games to McCaskey (understandably) and Warwick (surprisingly). They got back on track, though, with a 64-58 win over E-town on Jan. 9 and won their next five games in a row. But two losses in their final three games forced Cedar Crest to miss the L-L Playoffs, as they finished third in Section One, behind McCaskey and Hempfield. And then, last Thursday, they got THUMPED by Red Land (the 7 seed in these district playoffs), losing by 24. So After starting 11-0, Crest is just 7-4 in its last 11 games, including losing three of its last four.

By my calculations, Cedar Crest averages 61.8 points per game and allows just 52.3.

Their top three scorers are Kyle McConnell, Chris Keith and Mark Manno. McConnell is the team's best player. He's a 1,000 point scorer and averaged 15.8 points per game this year, second best in Section One. Keith and Manno are also among the top 10 scorers in Section One.

Keith averages better than 14 per game and was second in Section One in free throw percentage (88) and 3-pointers made (27). He's a sharp shooter, and the Bears must keep a hand in his face at all times.

Manno averages 10.8 per game.

All in all, E-town matches up with Cedar Crest size-wise, and there aren't many (if any) teams faster than the Bears out there, so it's going to come down to execution and who wants it more. By no means is E-town overmatched here, despite the rankings and what most newspaper people have been writing. The Bears have to play defense the way they did against Gettysburg. Hound McConnell and company all night, get them frustrated and force them to get out of their offensive game plan.

Cedar Crest also plays pretty physical, so expect some contact inside, but that's nothing the Bears can't handle. E-town's starters have to try and stay out of foul trouble for the Bears to be in it in the fourth quarter.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Cedar Crest is looking past E-town a little bit here, and head to a potential matchup with Red Lion on Saturday. If that's the case, watch for E-town to jump out to an early lead. The key will be if they can sustain it.

Expect an intense, physical basketball game between two L-L rivals.

Should be fun to watch.

Inclement weather

I just heard from the high school that the Elizabethtown Area School District will be dismissing early today, with the high school getting out at 12:30 p.m. All after school activities have been canceled. For more information, visit www.etownschools.org.

In case anyone was curious, tonight's E-town school board meeting has been postponed to next Tuesday night, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Also, tomorrow is supposed to be nasty and icy, so I'm not sure what District 3 will decide to do with the scheduled boys basketball game playoffs. I have several e-mails out and calls in to people at the district and the moment I know anything at all, you can find it here at the Bears's Den.

Gettysburg recap

Very nice win for E-town on Saturday night against Gettysburg. The Bears had a game plan, stuck to it and Gettysburg looked completely over-matched throughout. The Warriors couldn't get anything going at all and that should be attributed to E-town's stifling defense. In fact, whenever the Warriors had a rare open shot, it was almost like they didn't know what to do, and usually ended up missing it.

Every time Gettysburg looked like it might get something going (the dunk the King kid – who was listed at 5'9" –  comes to mind) E-town had an answer, and then some. Speaking of King, I couldn't believe it when he got up and dunked. I mean, he's 5'9"!! That's how tall I am and I think one time in high school I touched the bottom of the net. After I had my Shaq Pumps all the way pumped up, of course. And from where I was sitting, King didn't take the time to pump up on that fast break. Pretty impressive.

If I were going to give a game ball out to one of the E-town players, it would probably be Kyle McNeil. Dude was a force out there, coming up with offensive board after offensive board and scoring 19 points along the way. He plays as hard as anyone you'll see and you never hear a peep out of him. Heck of a night.

It would be hard not to mention Quinn Cozzens as well. Super all around game by an outstanding player. I'm telling you this right now, if Quinn plays Wednesday night like he did against Gettysburg, the Bears have a real shot at pulling the upset. There are times when Cozzens gets in a "I'm going to take this ball to the basket and score no matter what" mode and when he does, he's unstoppable. He might not make the shot, but he'll get to the free throw line, or dish to a wide open teammate under the glass. Either way, he'll hurt you.

Nate Koach did a great job getting physical with Gettysburg big man Ron Johnson, who looked like he wanted no part of any physical play. Instead of taking advantage of his size when he caught the ball about 8 feet out, he usually dished it off or tried and awkard fadeaway.

Defense, defense, defense. That's the main reason the Bears won Saturday night. Man, that was as tenacious as I've seen that defense play for a full four quarters all season. That, lads and lasses, is what they call stepping up your game in the playoffs. By reading some papers in the area, it seems like no one (other than this lowly schlub) is giving E-town much of a chance, and that's probably because most of them MAY have seen the Bears play once. Horse hockey. These Bears are good, there's no denying that, but do you know what makes them dangerous? They ain't scared of nobody. (How's that for good grammar? Thanks freshman English!). Seriously, they are not afraid of anything. You could put them against Reading or E-town College and it wouldn't matter. They'd play hard and would seriously think they can win. And that's how teams like E-town get to the state playoffs.

As for what happened at the end of the game, I won't really get into it, other than to say it was an unfortunate thing and was a moment of bad judgement. I don't think high school athletes should be criticized for poor decisions on the court by the press (they are just kids, after all), but what happened at the final whistle was something you never want to see. I'm just glad nothing escalated and no one was hurt. And I hope nothing like it ever happens again. Not just at E-town, but in any high school sport.

That's all for now, I'll post a Cedar Crest-E-town preview at some point tomorrow.

Cheers.

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

Hallman heading to East Stroudsburg

EAHS standout tailback/punter/kick returner/wide receiver/defensive back/etc, etc, etc. Jordan Hallman (above) has accepted a scholarship offer to play football next season at East Stroudsburg University. Hallman will likely be used like he was at E-town – lined up wide and wind up in the backfield, with coaches trying to get him the ball any way possible.

Congrats to Jordan, a great kid who deserves this opportunity.

This and That

Hello everyone. Just wanted to post a couple of things for today.

I'm working on a preview of the Gettysburg-E-town district playoff game on Saturday night. Still trying to dig up info. on Gettysburg, but I have a few leads, so once I get it all together, I'll get it up, definitely by tomorrow. By the way, the game is Saturday night. I know a few newspapers (not mine, of course) had it as a Friday night game, but I can assure you that it is Saturday night at E-town.

Staying with the Bears, I thought they played an excellent first half Tuesday night against Columbia. Problem is, that didn't happen in the second half. In the game preview, I wrote that E-town couldn't afford to have the one bad quarter that has seemed to plague them much of the season, or they would lose. Well, they had that quarter in the third, and they lost. Columbia was a completely different team in the second half. I'm not sure if they woke up and played that much better after halftime or if the Bears just had a bad half, but Columbia definitely earned that win with an excellent second half. I remember saying to someone at halftime that I couldn't believe this Columbia team had won 20 in a row because I wasn't thoroughly impressed with them. And to an extent, I'm still not. If I was a betting man, which I'm not, I'd bet that McCaskey beats them tonight.

In case anyone was wondering about the EAHS wrestling team's upcoming sectional tournament, I've got you covered. The tournament is on Saturday, Feb. 16 at Central Dauphin East High School. The Bears are in Section Two and are the only L-L team in the section, and it's a LOADED section. The other teams are
Cedar Cliff (15-3 and district quarterfinalist),
Central Dauphin (17-1 and district champion, with one of the best teams in the state),
CD East (one of the weaker teams in the racket),
Harrisburg (again, not an overly strong team),
Hershey (not bad, but shouldn't post too much of a threat)
Lower Dauphin (oustanding team, 14-3, district quarterfinalist)
Middletown (I think we all know by now, from the Donegal Tournament, how good Middletown is. They have a few good kids in the lighter weights)
Red Land (don't know much about them, shouldn't be too much of a threat)
Susquehanna Township (average team, from what I hear).

Cedar Cliff, LD, CV AND Middletown. Ouch, it's gonna be tough for the Bears.

This tournament, of course, decides who goes to districts. I'll post the first round matchups when I know them.

District playoffs

Just wanted to post something quickly while I'm busy sending this week's paper off to press. The first EAHS boys basketball District Three playoff game will be Saturday night at 7 p.m. at EAHS' Daubert Gymnasium. E-town will host Gettysburg. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students. I'll have more on this game and last night's Columbia game later, but I'm on deadline right now. Wanted to give you the day and time though.

Just in case

In case anyone doesn't know how to get to Conestoga Valley and is going to the boys basketball game tonight, here are directions:
1. Take 283 E to Rt. 30 E
2. Exit Rt. 340 E
3. Left off of ramp onto 340.
5. Left at traffic light 1/2 mile up onto Horseshoe Rd.
6. CV is 2 miles on the right.

I'm sure you all already know how to get there, but there you have it just in case.

By the way, not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I picked the Giants to beat the Pats not only on this blog, but in this week's print edition. (OK, maybe I did want to pat myself on the back, but I nailed it).

Best of luck tonight to the Bears. Tell me in the comments who you think will win tonight and why.

Columbia - E-town preview

On Tuesday night, Section Two runner-up Elizabethtown will take on Section Four champion Columbia in the first round of the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs at 7 p.m. at Conestoga Valley.

Thanks to Barry Ford, editor of the Columbia Ledger, for contributing his take on Columbia. Descriptions of Columbia starters and reserves and Columbia's road to the playoffs are written by Barry.

Here’s a look at how the Bears got there and what to expect from their starters and top reserves.

The Road to the Playoffs:
E-town:
Playoffs weren’t a certainty for the Bears for the majority of the season, thanks to a slow start. E-town started 2-1 before getting to Section One crossover games. In its fourth game of the year, the Bears dropped a close game to J.P. McCaskey, which began a six-game losing streak for E-town. During that streak, the Bears lost games by 6, 2, 3, and 1. Certainly all games they could have won. After the losing skid, they dropped to 2-7 overall and just 1-5 in league play.

But then E-town figured out how to win the close games.

E-town won 12 of its next 14 games, including ending the season with eight straight wins and along the way went from a team that couldn’t play from behind in the fourth quarter, to a squad that believed it had the ability to come back from any deficit at any time. Of those 12 wins to end the season, E-town needed every single one of them in order to make it to the postseason.

And now they enter the L-L playoffs with 14 wins – 10 more than they had last season with this same roster – and arguably one of the hottest teams in the league.

Columbia:
For the first time since 1991, the Columbia boys’ basketball team enters the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs as a section champion.

As a result of their 78-60 thrashing of Lancaster Catholic on Saturday afternoon at Penn Manor High School, the Tide won Section Four and will play the Bears.

The Tide was last in the L-L League playoffs in 2005, when they were eliminated in the first round by Manheim Township. They started the year off losing to Academy Park, a Class AAAA school from District One in the Oxford Tournament by two points. The Tide, coached by Mark Wisler, then won its next 20 games before losing last Monday night to rival Lancaster Catholic, 73-65.
The loss forced the Tide and Crusaders into a one-game playoff for the Section 4 title.

Columbia won nine of its 22 games this season by the mercy rule. They swept Section 3 competition in crossover games, beating both L-L League playoff qualifiers, Lebanon 72-58, and Manheim Central, 63-51, on the road, during its 20 game winning streak.

Columbia’s game plan is pretty simple. On defense, they like to pressure teams all over the court. On offense, they like to get the ball up the court as quickly as possible, relying on an athletic transition game.

E-town’s Starters

PG – Jordan Hallman, senior, 6’0”
Hallman has gotten better with every game E-town has played this season and has worked his way into the starting five. He sees the floor well and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, which is exactly what you want from your point guard. Hallman has the quickness to beat a defender off the dribble and take the ball hard to the basket, getting to the free throw line. He also does a good job of finding open teammates when he drives. He’s an above average deep shooting threat and will sink treys if you leave him open.

On defense, Hallman’s quick feet and even quicker hands make him a menace to opponents. If the ball hits the ground, not many players will get to it before Hallman. His ability to create turnovers and efficient run that fast breaks off of them are a major reason for E-town’s current success.

LIKELY MATCHUP: G Colby Tuell. Lighting quick guard, who dishes the ball off well and has handled most of the presses thrown at the Tide this year. He penetrates well and can give the team a basket or two when needed.


SG – Chad Styer, junior, 6’2”

Styer might be the best shooter on this Elizabethtown team. He hits his free throws at about 80 percent from the line and can be deadly from behind the arc when he is on (his 17 three’s this year are among the best in the section). He also has a knack for coming up big when E-town needs him the most. If the Bears need a big basket, or a big 3-Pointer, don’t be surprised to see them go to Styer. He can score from anywhere on the floor and has the size to get some points in the paint as well. If the Bears are going to score with Columbia, Styer will need to have a good night.

LIKELY MATCHUP: G Mike Seibert. He will be a factor on both ends of the floor. He’s been a consistent offensive threat all season and scored his 1,000th career point earlier in the season. Defensively, he might be the Tide’s top defender.


SF – Quinn Cozzens, junior, 6’2”
Cozzens and Styer play a lot like each other. Both can hit the three (Cozzens has 15 this year) and both are smart scorers. Cozzens can do it all – grab rebounds, dish out assists, come up with steals, and score. He is probably the best all around player on the team and they usually go as he goes. If he goes off and plays well in all facets, E-town will be right in the game. If his scoring is off, Cozzens will find other ways to contribute, whether it be crashing the boards hard or setting up his teammates for open looks.

LIKELY MATCHUP: G Adam Pittman. He’s one of the top three-point shooters in the L-L League and like Seibert also scored his 1,000th career point earlier in the season, in the same game as Seibert, against Northern Lebanon.


PF – Kyle McNeil, junior, 6’2”
The first thing I noticed about McNeil is that he plays much bigger than 6’2”. He can jump with anyone and has the strength to bang bodies with bigger players in the paint. McNeil is a solid scorer, very capable of putting up double-digit points but he brings a scrappiness to the low post that makes E-town a very good rebounding team, especially when it comes to hitting the offensive glass.

LIKELY MATCHUP: F Ryan Hess. He’ll jump center and can leap and rebound with the best of them. Has a nice high arching jumper and scores a majority of his points off feeds from the guards.


C – Nate Koach, senior, 6’4”
Koach is, along with Cozzens, the top scorer on the team. He’s averaging around 13 points per game and gives the Bears a formidable low post presence. Koach is an excellent free throw shooter, which has been a key for E-town because he gets to the line a lot. And late in the fourth quarter, teams won’t just hack the Center and put him on the line. But if they do, Koach will make them pay by sinking free throws. He can score with either hand and takes the ball up hard everytime he gets it.

On defense, he is one of E-town’s best shot blockers and will clean up a lot of missed shots. But what Koach and McNeil’s biggest strength might be is their ability to set screens inside for the outside shooters. These two do an excellent job of running the offense and giving Styer, Cozzens and Hallman open looks from behind the arc. And when those three are open, they are going to make shots.

Combine that outside threat with the inside scoring ability of Koach and McNeil and you see why the Bears have won eight in a row.

LIKELY MATCHUP: F Yahya McIntyre. Probably the Tide’s most improved player over the season. Has a nice short range jumper and does well on the boards. He plays the other team’s big man and makes that player work.

Key Reserves:
E-town:
G – Mike O’Shea, senior, 5’11”; G – Nate McCurdy, senior, 5’10”’; F – Brad Garber, sophomore, 6’1”.
These are E-town’s top three players off of the bench. O’Shea will give Hallman a break at the point when needed and does a great job running the offense. Having two skilled point guards that know the offense inside and out is a luxury for E-town.

McCurdy is a solid player who gives the Bears another scorer. He’s capable of giving the Bears good minutes from the bench.

Garber is a quick, scrappy inside post player who won’t be intimitdated by the playoff atmosphere.

Columbia:
Senior Ben Guiles and junior Derrick Smith.
Guiles, a former starter, has grown comfortable in his role off the bench this season. Likes to drive to the basket and is close to averaging in double figures.

Smith is a smart defensive player with a good shot. Had a big basket in Saturday’s win over Lancaster Catholic.

Seniors Donny Thompson, a strong inside rebounder and defender and guard Corey Halterman might be called on for some minutes.

What E-town needs to do to win:
First things first, the Bears need to find a way to lock down Columbia’s dynamic duo of guards Adam Pittman and Mike Seibert, who are the Tide’s top scorers. That task will fall to Hallman, Styer and Cozzens. Inside, E-town needs to capitalize on its height advantage. McNeil and Koach have the advantage inside on Ryan Hess (6’2”) and Yahya McIntyre (6’1”), but they’ve got to keep attacking them.

But probably the most important part of the game falls squarely on the shoulders of the guards. One of Columbia’s biggest strengths is its defense. It’s the defense that sets up the transition game and that’s why Columbia averages more than 70 points per game. Hallman, Styer and Cozzens and O’Shea and McCurdy when they are in the game, will need to take care of the basketball, and be smart. The Bears can run with the Tide, though, which is more than you can say for most teams in the L-L League.

If you ask each and every E-town player what they need to do to win, they will all say the same thing. “Run the offense.” That’s it. Run the plays, stay focused and don’t try and do to much. Let the offense run itself. It won’t be easy by any stretch. Columbia is definitely one of the better teams the Bears have played alll season and they’ll give E-town all it can handle. The Bears can’t afford to have one single bad quarter, or they will lose. They need to play basketball at a playoff level beginning right now if they want to move on in the league playoffs.

District 3 brackets released

Before the big game tonight, I wanted to post the District Three Class AAAA (yes, the Bears are Quad A) bracket for you to check out. Here goes:

E-town drew the No. 13 seed in the district and will play Gettysburg in the Preliminaries. The Bears will host that game on Feb. 8 or 9 at 7 p.m. The winner of that game gets No. 4 Cedar Crest on Feb. 13 at Central Dauphin at 7:30. In the prelims, the higher seed hosts the game. In the remaining rounds, games will be played at neutral sites.

Here's the rest of the bracket:

Preliminary Round (Feb. 8 or 9)
17. Exeter @ 16. Carlisle
20. Gettysburg @ 13. E-town
21. Waynesboro @ 12. Mechanicsburg
18. Harrisburg @ 15. Chambersburg
19. Wilson @ 14. Cocalico.

First Round Matchups: (Feb. 13).
1. Reading vs. Exeter/Carlisle winner.
8. York vs. 9. Conestoga Valley
4. Cedar Crest vs. E-town/Gettysburg winner
5. Red Lion vs. Mechanicsburg/Waynesboro winner
7. Red Land vs. 10. Dallastown
3. CD East vs. Wilson/Cocalico winner
6. Hempfield vs. 11. Cedar Cliff.

You can view the brackets at:
http://district3.piaa.org/

Plenty more on the district games in the coming days. But for now, the Bears are focused solely on Columbia, which is a daunting task in itself. Preview coming Monday.

Enjoy the Super Bowl.

Columbia it is

Just heard that Columbia beat Lancaster Catholic today to win the Section 4 championship.

That means E-town will play the Tide in the first round of the L-L Playoffs on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Conestoga Valley.

Barry Ford (our Columbia editor) and I will be putting together a preview on the game, and it will be available Monday morning, maybe earlier. Although I doubt I'll work tomorrow with the Super Bowl and all. Sorry.

Lady Bears end with a win

Before I head out for the weekend, I wanted to post a few things for you to chew on as you begin your two days of freedom.

• Congratulations to the E-town girls basketball team for ending their season with a win last night. The Bears set a season-high by scoring 60 points and beat Steelton-Highspire 60-55. Their previous high point total was 59, which came in their only other win of the season back in late December. E-town was led by its team captains – Becca Bigler and senior Jen Dunkelberger (both pictured above). Bigler had a great night, scoring 12 points in the third quarter en route to a team-high 19. Dunkelberger went out with a bang in the last game of her high school career. She poured in 15 points, including a 3-pointer in the second quarter.
This is a great boost for the Bears, who will lose only Dunkelberger off of this year's team. It gives them a nice memory of the season and should add to their confidence heading into next year.

• So I read that Arlen Specter wants to investigate the NFL and the New England Patriots for destroying the infamous "SpyGate" tapes from earlier in the season when the Pats were fined and had a first round pick taken away for videotaping the NY Jets defensive signals during the game. While I want to see the Pats punished as much as the next guy, taking it to Washington is RIDICULOUS and an absolute waste of taxpayer dollars. I don't know much about politics and I don't claim to, but isn't there more important things that Specter could focus on? He needs to leave this issue alone, because nobody cares. NOBODY. What a joke.

• How do you Phillie fans feel about the Mets potentially landing Johan Santana? Better hope Charlie Manuel decides to give Ryan Howard the day off when the Fightin's are facing Johan, or he could be staring at the Golden Sombrero (that's 0-for-5 with five strikeouts for you non-seamheads).

• My pick for the big game this Sunday? NY 31 - NE 28. Probably wrong, but just a hunch.

• Also, check back either Sunday or Monday for a preview of the EAHS boys basketball first round L-L game. If the Bears are playing Columbia (The Tide are playing Catholic tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Penn Manor for the right to see who plays E-town), Barry Ford (who edits our sister paper in Columbia) and I will be joining forces to give you a preview du juor (I probably spelled that wrong. It's Friday, cut me some slack.) for you. If E-town gets Catholic, you still get a preview. See that? Either way you're a winner.

Until then, stay classy Elizabethtown. And enjoy the weekend.

Cheers.