E-town/CV preview
Tomorrow night's game between Elizabethtown and Conestoga Valley is filled with story lines. As the regular season winds down, Section Two's top two teams will go head to head in E-town's Daubert Gymnasium at 8 p.m. Among the many things on the line, one is the section title. If the Bears win, they'll clinch at least a share of the Section Two crown, which they haven't won since the 1976-77 season, long before anyone playing tomorrow night was born. CV, the defending section champs, is playing for redemption after losing earlier to E-town and also to take another step toward locking up a berth in the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs in February.
For both teams, the game kicks off the final stretch of games against Section Two opponents. There are only five games left in the regular season and this is a great way to kick off the homestretch. So let's take a look at this game from all angles – we'll check out what happened the last time they played, look at stats from both teams, results against common opponents and make an argument why each team could be the one to walk out of Daubert Gym with a win tomorrow night.
E-town 45 - Conestoga Valley 44 (December 23)
That was the score the last time these two met, back on Dec. 23 at CV. It was their only meeting so far this season. And now they will meet exactly one month later.
In that game, E-town was held to its lowest scoring output of the season (and it still is their lowest point total, by the way). Kyle McNeil led E-town with 12 points and Brad Garber and Chad Styer each added 7 points. Jeremy Skoloda led CV with 17 points.
The game was tied at 44-44 when E-town guard Andrew Placeres was fouled as time expired. Placeres stepped to the line and hit the first of his two free throw attempts to give the Bears the 45-44 win. (Note: I wasn't at this game, so I can't comment on the foul committed because I didn't see it. I've heard some things about it from both sides – it was a foul that should've been called, and that it shouldn't have been called. Either way, it happened. But like I said, I didn't see it.)
CV head coach Brad Herr on the first game: "A good deal was made about the controversy that surrounded our first meeting, but our team has moved passed that and we're just excited to be involved in another big game that will surely garner some attention around the league."
E-town head coach Kevin Dolan on the first game: "We learned that they play hard. They played extremely hard and they hustled a lot. We're excited about the challenge."
Records vs. common opponents
I don't put much stock into this stat since circumstances around every game are different, but take it for what it's worth.
vs. Susquehannock – CV: 69-39 win; E-town: 66-34 win.
vs. Warwick – CV: 53-41 win; E-town: 63-53 win.
vs. Manheim Township – CV: 51-48 loss; E-town: 59-44 win.
vs. Cedar Crest – CV: 82-55 win; E-town: 79-47 win.
vs. Solanco – CV: 50-45 win; E-town: 76-38 win.
vs. Garden Spot – CV: 81-53 win; E-town: 78-52 win.
vs. Lebanon – CV: 73-32 win; E-town: 78-67 win.
vs. Ephrata – CV: 47-42 win; E-town: 57-44 win.
vs. Penn Manor – CV: 60-49 loss; E-town: 69-65 win.
vs. J.P. McCaskey – CV: 73-67 win; E-town: 81-71 win.
vs. Hempfield – CV: 53-52 loss; E-town: 65-51 loss.
The Teams
Record: 10-6 overall, 7-4 league. 3-5 at home, 7-1 on the road.
Standing: 2nd place, Section Two.
Leading Scorers (top 6):
Jeremy Skoloda, 18.7 ppg (4th in L-L League, 1st in Section Two).
Jae Pugh, 10.1 ppg.
Joel Lapp, 7.9 ppg.
Matt Eby, 6.1 ppg.
Josh Cody, 5.8 ppg.
Leonard Williams, 5.7 ppg.
It should be noted that Jae Pugh, a 6-6 transfer student, did not play the last time E-town and CV met. Pugh is, obviously, a very big kid who could give E-town some trouble inside with scoring and grabbing offensive and defensive rebounds. Dolan said that the Bears will have to adjust their game plan accordingly.
"I think they'll be different (than the last time we played them) and we'll have to play them a little different because last time they were relying more on their outside game. We're going to have to make that adjustment," he said.
It will be interesting to see how the Bears deal with Pugh since they haven't seen him yet. Of course, Skoloda is going to be a handful for any defense.
"He is a real nice player who can shoot it and take it to the basket," said Dolan of CV's leading scorer.
Record: 15-2 overall, 10-1 league; 8-1 home, 7-1 road.
Standing: 1st place, Section Two.
Leading Scorers (top 6):
Kyle McNeil, 11.9 ppg.
Quinn Cozzens, 11.8 ppg.
Chad Styer, 11.2 ppg.
Jeremi Jones, 10.9 ppg.
Andrew Placeres, 9.1 ppg.
Brad Garber, 5.9 ppg.
If you've been to any E-town games this season, you already know how they play – full throttle. The Bears are a very athletic bunch and they love to get up and down the floor quickly with regularity.
They also have a bunch of players that you have to worry about on defense. There aren't many teams with five players averaging in double figures at this point in the season, but E-town is one of them. They move the ball around very well and are about as unselfish of a group as you can find.
McNeil is the team's leading scorer and their best inside offensive presence. It will be interesting to see him battle for points in the paint tomorrow night with the 6-6 Pugh lurking.
Cozzens does it all for the Bears. He rebounds, he can run the offense, he plays good defense, he's an excellent passer, he can shoot the 3, he can drive with either hand, he can put the ball on the floor and beat a defender and sink a pullup jumper, etc, etc, etc.
Styer was slowed early on by a knee injury, but he's back now and remains E-town's most dangerous 3-point threat.
Jones is probably the best sixth man in the league. Every time he comes in, he provides a spark at some place on the court. He's another good 3-point shooter.
Placeres is the point guard and it seems like he can fit a pass into just about any window, no matter how small it may appear. He's also a pretty good outside shooter.
Garber teams with McNeil to form the Bears' inside presence. He's not going to lead the team in scoring, but he does little things that make him a very, very valuable player. Watch him for about one quarter and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Herr knows how athletic E-town is up and down its roster and he knows his Buckskins are going to have to be ready to run.
"If we are to challenge E-town, we know that we will need to match our effort with their level of athleticism and skill, and focus on our execution," he said.
The case for CV
Here's why the Bucks can win. (Note: I'm not saying who should win, I'm just saying why each team could win). First off, they are a very good road team. They've gone 7-1 on the road this year and have won their last 7 away games. The Bucks aren't going to be easily intimidated on the road, but they better expect a fired up E-town student section, especially judging from what I saw last Friday against Hempfield.
They also have Pugh back this time. Having him in the lineup pretty much throws out the gameplan the Bears had against CV last time. It's a whole different world when you have to worry about the section's leading scorer AND a 6-6 athletic big man inside.
Also, the Bucks are playing extremely well. They weren't happy after that E-town loss, but haven't hung their heads over it. And they nearly handed Hempfield it's first league loss of the year on Tuesday, falling by just one point behind Skoloda's 30 points. In fact, CV has THREE one-point losses this year. They also have two three-point losses. The only game they were beaten soundly is when Penn Manor beat them by 11. Since that E-town loss, the Bucks are 6-2, with those two losses coming to Hempfield and Penn Manor (the top 2 teams in Section One). A couple bounces here and there for CV this year and we could be talking about a 13-3 team. And Dolan knows how good the Bucks are.
"They're playing as well as anyone in the league right now, adn that's one thing I'm trying to get the players to understand," he said. "They're the defending section champs so I'm sure they're going to be pumped up."
The case for E-town:
Well first and foremost, the Bears get to play this one at home in what is sure to be a packed house that will be loud. Very loud. E-town's very tough to beat at home, with their only loss there coming to Hempfield.
Which brings me to my next point: the Hempfield loss. A loss is never totally a good thing, but in this case, I think it made E-town better. The Bears had been cruising along in league play (save for a Penn Manor overtime game) until they fell to the Black Knights. And, as Chad Styer told me Tuesday, that loss brought them together even more. Call it a wake up call or whatever, but something tells me that the Hempfield loss may have fired them up almost as much as, or maybe more than, a win.
E-town also has so many weapons. They can hurt you outside with Styer, Cozzens, Placeres and Jones. But they can also score inside with McNeil and Garber. And even Styer, Cozzens, Placeres and Jones are capable of getting inside and racking up points.
E-town plays a style that can bury teams quickly. The Bears are going to run and run and run. And then run some more. So if a team gets cold on offense, they have to be able to get back quickly on defense and try and slow E-town down. If the Bears jump out to a lead, they keep running to pad that lead. And often, that forces teams to rush shots and get out of their offensive rhythm.
And finally, E-town has swagger. Remember, this is a team that is 15-2. But they have the mentality as if they are 2-15 and always trying to prove people wrong. They have a chip on their shoulder and that leads to them never taking anyone lightly and never letting up until the final whistle. That's a dangerous team to be facing. The Bears have the edge over CV in that they beat them earlier this year. If things start going wrong for the Bucks, especially with so many close losses, they might start thinking, 'Uh oh, here we go again.' But Herr has his players believing in themselves..
"Our kids are looking forward to the challenge of traveling to E-twon and playing the Bears on their home floor," Herr said. "Our last game was a classic example of what high school basketball should be, and we know that E-town is a solid squad that plays the game the right way."
And playing for your programs first section title in 32 years on a Friday night on your home court is enough motivation for anyone. The Bears currently have a 3 game lead over CV with 5 to play. A win tomorrow gives them a 4 game lead with 4 to play which means, at worst CV could only tie E-town. But if the Bears win, they would be 2-0 against CV, giving them the head to head tiebreaker.
So there you have it. I'm not going to bother predicting a winner, especially since I haven't seen CV play. I only know one thing, it's sure going to be a great atmosphere and a great game.
For both teams, the game kicks off the final stretch of games against Section Two opponents. There are only five games left in the regular season and this is a great way to kick off the homestretch. So let's take a look at this game from all angles – we'll check out what happened the last time they played, look at stats from both teams, results against common opponents and make an argument why each team could be the one to walk out of Daubert Gym with a win tomorrow night.
E-town 45 - Conestoga Valley 44 (December 23)
That was the score the last time these two met, back on Dec. 23 at CV. It was their only meeting so far this season. And now they will meet exactly one month later.
In that game, E-town was held to its lowest scoring output of the season (and it still is their lowest point total, by the way). Kyle McNeil led E-town with 12 points and Brad Garber and Chad Styer each added 7 points. Jeremy Skoloda led CV with 17 points.
The game was tied at 44-44 when E-town guard Andrew Placeres was fouled as time expired. Placeres stepped to the line and hit the first of his two free throw attempts to give the Bears the 45-44 win. (Note: I wasn't at this game, so I can't comment on the foul committed because I didn't see it. I've heard some things about it from both sides – it was a foul that should've been called, and that it shouldn't have been called. Either way, it happened. But like I said, I didn't see it.)
CV head coach Brad Herr on the first game: "A good deal was made about the controversy that surrounded our first meeting, but our team has moved passed that and we're just excited to be involved in another big game that will surely garner some attention around the league."
E-town head coach Kevin Dolan on the first game: "We learned that they play hard. They played extremely hard and they hustled a lot. We're excited about the challenge."
Records vs. common opponents
I don't put much stock into this stat since circumstances around every game are different, but take it for what it's worth.
vs. Susquehannock – CV: 69-39 win; E-town: 66-34 win.
vs. Warwick – CV: 53-41 win; E-town: 63-53 win.
vs. Manheim Township – CV: 51-48 loss; E-town: 59-44 win.
vs. Cedar Crest – CV: 82-55 win; E-town: 79-47 win.
vs. Solanco – CV: 50-45 win; E-town: 76-38 win.
vs. Garden Spot – CV: 81-53 win; E-town: 78-52 win.
vs. Lebanon – CV: 73-32 win; E-town: 78-67 win.
vs. Ephrata – CV: 47-42 win; E-town: 57-44 win.
vs. Penn Manor – CV: 60-49 loss; E-town: 69-65 win.
vs. J.P. McCaskey – CV: 73-67 win; E-town: 81-71 win.
vs. Hempfield – CV: 53-52 loss; E-town: 65-51 loss.
The Teams
Record: 10-6 overall, 7-4 league. 3-5 at home, 7-1 on the road.
Standing: 2nd place, Section Two.
Leading Scorers (top 6):
Jeremy Skoloda, 18.7 ppg (4th in L-L League, 1st in Section Two).
Jae Pugh, 10.1 ppg.
Joel Lapp, 7.9 ppg.
Matt Eby, 6.1 ppg.
Josh Cody, 5.8 ppg.
Leonard Williams, 5.7 ppg.
It should be noted that Jae Pugh, a 6-6 transfer student, did not play the last time E-town and CV met. Pugh is, obviously, a very big kid who could give E-town some trouble inside with scoring and grabbing offensive and defensive rebounds. Dolan said that the Bears will have to adjust their game plan accordingly.
"I think they'll be different (than the last time we played them) and we'll have to play them a little different because last time they were relying more on their outside game. We're going to have to make that adjustment," he said.
It will be interesting to see how the Bears deal with Pugh since they haven't seen him yet. Of course, Skoloda is going to be a handful for any defense.
"He is a real nice player who can shoot it and take it to the basket," said Dolan of CV's leading scorer.
Record: 15-2 overall, 10-1 league; 8-1 home, 7-1 road.
Standing: 1st place, Section Two.
Leading Scorers (top 6):
Kyle McNeil, 11.9 ppg.
Quinn Cozzens, 11.8 ppg.
Chad Styer, 11.2 ppg.
Jeremi Jones, 10.9 ppg.
Andrew Placeres, 9.1 ppg.
Brad Garber, 5.9 ppg.
If you've been to any E-town games this season, you already know how they play – full throttle. The Bears are a very athletic bunch and they love to get up and down the floor quickly with regularity.
They also have a bunch of players that you have to worry about on defense. There aren't many teams with five players averaging in double figures at this point in the season, but E-town is one of them. They move the ball around very well and are about as unselfish of a group as you can find.
McNeil is the team's leading scorer and their best inside offensive presence. It will be interesting to see him battle for points in the paint tomorrow night with the 6-6 Pugh lurking.
Cozzens does it all for the Bears. He rebounds, he can run the offense, he plays good defense, he's an excellent passer, he can shoot the 3, he can drive with either hand, he can put the ball on the floor and beat a defender and sink a pullup jumper, etc, etc, etc.
Styer was slowed early on by a knee injury, but he's back now and remains E-town's most dangerous 3-point threat.
Jones is probably the best sixth man in the league. Every time he comes in, he provides a spark at some place on the court. He's another good 3-point shooter.
Placeres is the point guard and it seems like he can fit a pass into just about any window, no matter how small it may appear. He's also a pretty good outside shooter.
Garber teams with McNeil to form the Bears' inside presence. He's not going to lead the team in scoring, but he does little things that make him a very, very valuable player. Watch him for about one quarter and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Herr knows how athletic E-town is up and down its roster and he knows his Buckskins are going to have to be ready to run.
"If we are to challenge E-town, we know that we will need to match our effort with their level of athleticism and skill, and focus on our execution," he said.
The case for CV
Here's why the Bucks can win. (Note: I'm not saying who should win, I'm just saying why each team could win). First off, they are a very good road team. They've gone 7-1 on the road this year and have won their last 7 away games. The Bucks aren't going to be easily intimidated on the road, but they better expect a fired up E-town student section, especially judging from what I saw last Friday against Hempfield.
They also have Pugh back this time. Having him in the lineup pretty much throws out the gameplan the Bears had against CV last time. It's a whole different world when you have to worry about the section's leading scorer AND a 6-6 athletic big man inside.
Also, the Bucks are playing extremely well. They weren't happy after that E-town loss, but haven't hung their heads over it. And they nearly handed Hempfield it's first league loss of the year on Tuesday, falling by just one point behind Skoloda's 30 points. In fact, CV has THREE one-point losses this year. They also have two three-point losses. The only game they were beaten soundly is when Penn Manor beat them by 11. Since that E-town loss, the Bucks are 6-2, with those two losses coming to Hempfield and Penn Manor (the top 2 teams in Section One). A couple bounces here and there for CV this year and we could be talking about a 13-3 team. And Dolan knows how good the Bucks are.
"They're playing as well as anyone in the league right now, adn that's one thing I'm trying to get the players to understand," he said. "They're the defending section champs so I'm sure they're going to be pumped up."
The case for E-town:
Well first and foremost, the Bears get to play this one at home in what is sure to be a packed house that will be loud. Very loud. E-town's very tough to beat at home, with their only loss there coming to Hempfield.
Which brings me to my next point: the Hempfield loss. A loss is never totally a good thing, but in this case, I think it made E-town better. The Bears had been cruising along in league play (save for a Penn Manor overtime game) until they fell to the Black Knights. And, as Chad Styer told me Tuesday, that loss brought them together even more. Call it a wake up call or whatever, but something tells me that the Hempfield loss may have fired them up almost as much as, or maybe more than, a win.
E-town also has so many weapons. They can hurt you outside with Styer, Cozzens, Placeres and Jones. But they can also score inside with McNeil and Garber. And even Styer, Cozzens, Placeres and Jones are capable of getting inside and racking up points.
E-town plays a style that can bury teams quickly. The Bears are going to run and run and run. And then run some more. So if a team gets cold on offense, they have to be able to get back quickly on defense and try and slow E-town down. If the Bears jump out to a lead, they keep running to pad that lead. And often, that forces teams to rush shots and get out of their offensive rhythm.
And finally, E-town has swagger. Remember, this is a team that is 15-2. But they have the mentality as if they are 2-15 and always trying to prove people wrong. They have a chip on their shoulder and that leads to them never taking anyone lightly and never letting up until the final whistle. That's a dangerous team to be facing. The Bears have the edge over CV in that they beat them earlier this year. If things start going wrong for the Bucks, especially with so many close losses, they might start thinking, 'Uh oh, here we go again.' But Herr has his players believing in themselves..
"Our kids are looking forward to the challenge of traveling to E-twon and playing the Bears on their home floor," Herr said. "Our last game was a classic example of what high school basketball should be, and we know that E-town is a solid squad that plays the game the right way."
And playing for your programs first section title in 32 years on a Friday night on your home court is enough motivation for anyone. The Bears currently have a 3 game lead over CV with 5 to play. A win tomorrow gives them a 4 game lead with 4 to play which means, at worst CV could only tie E-town. But if the Bears win, they would be 2-0 against CV, giving them the head to head tiebreaker.
So there you have it. I'm not going to bother predicting a winner, especially since I haven't seen CV play. I only know one thing, it's sure going to be a great atmosphere and a great game.
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posted by Chris McCarthy at
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