Bears get back on track against Mifflin

The EAHS boys basketball team hasn't had to bounce back from a loss very often this year. And doing that in the regular season is always tough. Doing it in a must-win situation after losing the league title game in overtime is even tougher. But that's exactly what the Bears did last night, beating Governor Mifflin 67-57 in the first round of the District Three Quad-A playoffs.

In the first quarter, it looked as if last Friday's loss was a distant memory for the Bears. They came out blazing from 3-point range and playing fantastic defense. With 5:09 left in the first quarter, E-town held a 5-4 lead, and then went on a 14-0 run over the next four minutes to lead 19-4. During that run, 12 of E-town's points came on 3-pointers (one each by Chad Styer and Quinn Cozzens and two by Andrew Placeres). And Jeremi Jones capped the quarter with the Bears' sixth trey of the period with six seconds left to put E-town up 22-6 after one.

In the second quarter, though, Mifflin began to close the gap, behind super quick guard Justin Rodriguez. Rodriguez scored his teams final 10 points of the half and the last eight points overall, as the Mustangs trimmed the E-town lead to five (32-27) at halftime.

But E-town just kept coming, and began to pull away in the third. The Bears again picked up the defensive pressure and forced seven Mifflin turnovers in the third en route to outscoring the Mustangs 20-7 in the quarter.

Credit to Mifflin, they never gave up and continued to battle in the fourth, but E-town was just too much. As they have been all season, E-town was led by Cozzens, Styer, Placeres, Jones, Kyle McNeil and Bradley Garber. E-town's top six shared the ball well, and are just so comfortable together that they almost make it look easy at times.

And for the second straight year, they will be playing at the Giant Center with a chance to clinch a state playoff berth. They will take on No. 6 CD East on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. East beat E-town earlier this season. We'll have a full preview of the game in the morning, once I finish digging up some more information on them.

Here are the Bears' stat lines from Wednesday night. Fantastic game by Cozzens, by the way.

Quinn Cozzens – 16 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals.
Chad Styer – 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists.
Kyle McNeil – 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal.
Andrew Placeres – 8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal.
Bradley Garber – 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 block, 2 steals.
Jordan Hoover – 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal.
Jeremi Jones – 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist.

E-town falls to CV in league finals•

Wow...what a basketball game. Tonight's atmosphere was nothing short of electric and the L-L League championship game sure didn't disappoint. Unfortunately for the Bears, they finished with silver medals around their necks instead of golds.

CV became perhaps the most unlikely L-L League champion (although I'm sure they don't think so) in history as they beat the Bears by two in overtime.

I'll have much more on this game, later, but wanted to check in now with a few thoughts.

• E-town didn't play particularly well in the second and third quarters, and some of that may be because of CV's stellar defense, but you have to give the Bears credit. They were down by 11 points in the fourth quarter and fought back to force overtime.

• Jeremi Jones sank a three pointer with 1 second left in regulation to force OT. Jones' shot was absolutely fantastic, but Quinn Cozzens' pure hustle on that play made it happen. There's a reason No. 1 is the captain of this team, and he showed his moxie down the stretch tonight.

• I still don't know how Cozzens' put back at the end of OT didn't drop. Fantastic effort by him, just a little bit of bad luck.

• CV definitely earned this league title, going through Hempfield and E-town to get it. That said, and I know it doesn't feel good for the E-town players and coaches right now, but the Bears have no reason to hang their heads. It takes a lot to come back from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to force OT. But the key is that the Bears must remember that they have a lot of basketball to play. Sure, they missed out on one of their goals, but there is still a state playoff berth out there for them to get.

• By the way, Governor Mifflin beat Cocalico in the play-in round, so E-town will play Mifflin in the first round of districts on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Steel High. A preview of that game will be up early next week.

• Once again, GREAT atmosphere tonight. Both teams made huge plays down the stretch and both student sections were creative and great. Very cool game to see in person.

OK, that's all for tonight, but check back later this weekend for more on this game, and don't forget to check in tomorrow for a live blog from the wrestling sectional tournament.

And then there were two: L-L Final preview

(E-town fans were giving it to CV star Jeremy Skoloda in the last meeting, and he took it with a smile.)

Tonight's the night. E-town. CV. Lancaster-Lebanon League finals. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. at Manheim Township tonight, and it should be a great game. Story lines are plentiful for this game, so let's take a look at them.

THE GAME: Elizabethtown Bears (22-2 overall, Section Two champions) vs. Conestoga Valley Buckskins (16-7 overall, Section Two runner-up). 7 p.m., Manheim Township.

Playoff Journeys:
E-town: The Bears started the league playoffs with a 63-51 win over L-S. In the semifinals, they won their 10th straight game by beating Lancaster Catholic 76-61 behind a 17-for-21 shooting performance in the second half.
CV: The Bucks took it to Cocalico in the first round, winning 63-42. In the semis, they upset Hempfield, which hadn't lost a league game all year, 51-45.

Quotable:
"They know us and we know them. An all Section Two final is kind of nice, but I'm sure it's going to be a dog fight. They're a great team, well coached, and I'm sure it's going to be a fun night." – E-town head coach Kevin Dolan.

"We've got to keep doing what we've done all year. We've got to shut down the players we need to shut down, play team defense, box out and sprint in transition and that will create our offense for itself." – E-town senior forward Chad Styer.

Top Scorers:
E-town:
Kyle McNeil, 13.3 points per game; 18 ppg in playoffs; 9 ppg against CV this year.
Chad Styer, 12.1 ppg; 15.5 ppg in playoffs; 10 ppg against CV this year.
Quinn Cozzens, 11.7 ppg; 8.5 ppg in playoffs; 8.5 ppg against CV this year.
Jeremi Jones, 11.7 ppg; 11.5 ppg in playoffs; 9.5 ppg against CV this year.
Andrew Placeres, 8.9 ppg; 8.5 ppg in playoffs; 7.5 ppg against CV this year.
Bradley Garber, 5.8 ppg; 6.5 ppg in playoffs; 4.5 ppg against CV this year.

CV:
Jeremy Skoloda: 18.9 ppg; 16 ppg in playoffs; 15.5 ppg against E-town this year.
Jae Pugh: 9.7 ppg; 14 ppg in playoffs; 0 ppg against E-town this year.
Joel Lapp: 7.6 ppg; 5 ppg in playoffs; 7 ppg aginst E-town this year.
Josh Cody: 6.4 ppg; 8 ppg in playoffs; 1 ppg against E-town this year.
Leonard Williams: 5.2 ppg; 4.5 ppg in playoffs; 7.5 ppg against E-town this year.

Team Stats:
E-town:
Points per game: 70.3 (69.5 in playoffs, 51 vs. CV).
Points allowed per game: 55.4 (56 in playoffs, 44 vs. CV).

CV:
Points per game: 55.7 (57 in playoffs, 44 vs. E-town).
Points allowed per game: 48.2 (43.5 in playoffs, 51 vs. E-town).

Prior meetings this year:
E-town 45 - CV 44
In their first meeting this season, E-town escaped CV with a one-point win on Dec. 23. With the score tied at 44-44, Placeres was fouled with no time remaining. He sank his first free throw attempt to give the Bears the win. CV played this game without Pugh and were led by 17 points from Skoloda. McNeil led E-town with 12 points.

E-town 57 - CV 44
One month later, on Jan. 23, E-town and CV met again, this time in E-town. The Bears got 14 points from Jones and 13 each from Styer and Cozzens as they cruised past the Bucks, clinching at least a tie of the Section Two title. Skoloda was held scoreless for the first three quarters of this game, but finished with 14 points, all coming in the fourth quarter. Pugh played this time around, but was held scoreless by McNeil.

Matchups to watch:
(Kyle McNeil, left, and Jae Pugh, right, will be battling in the paint tonight.)

Jeremy Skoloda vs. Bradley Garber
Skoloda is arguably the best player in the league. He was fourth in the league in scoring and has hit 61 3-pointers this year. The last time these two teams met, Garber was put on Skoloda, and hounded him all night, holding him scoreless for three quarters. That matchup will likely be the same tonight, but it will be interesting to see what CV learned from the film of that game. E-town likely won't be able to hold Skoloda scoreless for three quarters again, but where ever he goes, Garber will be there with a hand in his face. This is probably the most important defensive matchup for the Bears. They can't let Skoloda get hot and start hitting from the outside. To stop him, Garber (and Jeremi Jones) will have to fight through a ton of screens.

Jae Pugh vs. Kyle McNeil
Pugh, CV's 6-6 x-factor, has been marvelous in the playoffs, scoring 13 in the first round against Cocalico and following that up with a 15 point, 11 rebound night against Hempfield on Wednesday. But he has yet to score a point against E-town this season. As I said earlier, he missed the first matchup, but was a non-factor offensively in the second with McNeil locking him down. Pugh does have a few inches on McNeil, and he'll score more tonight, but if McNeil can take away CV's best inside threat, they'll have to rely much more on the outside game. On the other end of the court, E-town will need McNeil to establish himself against the bigger Pugh, but if he can't get it going offensively, the Bears have more players capable of picking up any slack.

Game thoughts:
This one should be a dandy. CV is riding very high right now after upending Hempfield on Wednesday, but the Bears will be ready. E-town has the confidence of beating CV twice this year already. But it wasn't easy either time. CV plays outstanding defense, and held E-town to nearly 20 points below its season average. And CV held the Bears to their lowest scoring output of the season (45) in their first meeting. That said, CV has only managed 44 points both times out against the Bears this year.

E-town is coming off of, arguably, its most efficient shooting night of the season. Everyone knows E-town's offensive game is to get out and run, and when the Bears do that, they're tough to stop.

What makes E-town so good is the fact that it has so many players with scoring ability. Six of E-town's guys can go for double digits on any night, and five of them got there on Wednesday night. They have so many weapons that it's almost impossible to focus on shutting down one player. If CV focuses its energy on stopping Jones or Cozzens or Styer or Placeres or McNeil or Garber, one (or four) of the others will kill them. Conversely, E-town knows it needs to stop Skoloda first and foremost, and dare the rest of the Buckskins to beat them.

Both teams are playing at an extremely high level right now, and we'll see tonight who comes out and doesn't let the nerves of playing in the league championship game get to them.

They say it's tough to beat a team three times in one season, but I just think E-town has too many weapons for the Bucks to keep up with.

PREDICTION: E-town by 8.

E-town rolls past Catholic and into league finals

Last night in Hempfield, E-town showed its wide arsenal of skills as the Bears combined stellar 3-point shooting in the first half with deadly accuracy in the second half in a 76-61 win over Lancaster Catholic in the Lancaster-Lebanon League semifinals. The win puts E-town (22-2) in the league finals for the first time since 1977 where the Bears will face section rival Conestoga Valley, which upset Hempfield 51-45 in the other semifinal last night.

"It feels awful good. These guys have worked so hard since seventh and eighth grade to get to this point," said E-town head coach Kevin Dolan.

"I can't even put this into words right now," said senior Chad Styer, who had 15 points, including four 3-pointers. "We've been working so hard in practice every day and preparing and it's definitely paying off. Our first goal was a section title this year, but to be able to come out and compete for a league championship is just that much better."

In the quarterfinals against Lampeter-Strasburg, the Pioneers did a good job of slowing E-town's offense down and, as a result, hung around for most of the game. Catholic, on the other hand, decided to try and run with the Bears and dictate the pace of the game. And that strategy may have worked if the Bears decided to miss shots. They didn't. E-town hit five 3-pointers in the first quarter and seven of their first nine treys in the first half, but Catholic hung around and trailed by only five at halftime.

Despite his team's success from behind the arc in the first half, Dolan decided to change strategy in the second half and start running more and working the ball inside. The Bears, as they have all season, responded to their coach's strategy by playing a near flawless second half offensively. E-town used fantastic ball movement and decision making and show 17-for-21 from the field in the second half and just outgunning Catholic.

"We hit seven threes in the first half and we just didn't think we could continue to shoot at that pace," Dolan said. "In the second half, we had a lot better shot selections and we worked the ball a lot better."

E-town leading scorer Kyle McNeil was held scoreless in the first half as the Bears put on their shooting display, but E-town's big man was a force in the second half, scoring all 14 of his points. For the first four minutes of the third quarter, Catholic kept the deficit at five or six for the most part, but eventually E-town's transition game took over. The Bears ended the quarter on an 8-2 run and led 55-44 heading into the fourth quarter.

It was more of the same in the fourth, as E-town scored 21 in the quarter, mixed in an 8-0 run and pulled away. Six E-town players had at least two assists, highlighted by point guard Andrew Placeres' 10 dimes (just two turnovers). When E-town was out on transition, Placeres and company always found the open man in the second half, and it resulted in another double digit win.

"That's us. We share the basketball and we're very unselfish," Dolan said. "Toward the end, we had people cutting to the basket and everyone was throwing the ball to everyone. And that's our hallmark. We get running like that and when we're efficient like that, we're tough to stop."

"Being able to get out in transition, we create a lot of shots for ourselves," said Styer.

Catholic had a tough time stopping everyone in blue and white last night. E-town had five players in double figures and one more with eight points. Jeremi Jones led the way with 16 points, Styer added 15, McNeil 14, Bradley Garber 11, Placeres 10 and Quinn Cozzens 8. E-town attacked the Catholic defense from all angles, and the Crusaders simply couldn't keep up.

Dolan said he felt like his team did a better job on rebounding last night than they did against L-S on Monday, but added that there is still some work to do.

"I'm still not totally happy with our defensive performance, but we did a nice job for the most part," he said. "I think we crashed the boards better than we were before, but we're not boxing out well."

The loss snapped Catholic's 13-game winning streak and marked the second time this season E-town has beaten the Crusaders handily. E-town won by 20 earlier in the year, but weren't looking past Catholic because of that.

"Last game, we had the matchups and everything, but this game was more about us," Styer said. "We knew what we had to do in leagues. We knew we had to come out and play defense and run transition and I thought we did that well."

The Bears weren't fazed by Catholic's recent winning streak, especially since they have a pretty good one going themselves.

"Everyone talks about how hot they are, and they are, and they're a great team, and that they've won 13 in a row, but we've won nine in a row and 13 of 14," he said.

For much of the regular season, the prevailing thought around the league was the Hempfield, Penn Manor and E-town were the best three teams in the league and that two of them would meet in the league finals. But Penn Manor lost in the quarterfinals and Hempfield was beaten last night, leaving E-town as the last of the big three standing. Styer said that the Bears haven't burdened themselves with the expectations of being one of the best team. Instead, they've focused on what they need to do each game, and it's resulted in a trip to the league finals.

"We knew what we had to do," he said. "We felt all year that we weren't getting respect and coming into leagues we knew that we had to play every team to the best of our ability to be able to show people who we are and that we deserve respect."

The final roadblock standing in E-town's way of a league title is a familiar one – Conestoga Valley. The Section Two runner-up Buckskins earned their spot in the title game by handing Hempfield its first league loss of the season. The Bucks and Bears will tip off at 7 p.m. in Manheim Township tomorrow night.

Check back tomorrow morning for a preview of that matchup.

E-town/Catholic preview

(Chad Styer scored a team-high 24 points in E-town's last meeting with Lancaster Catholic).

Tomorrow night, E-town will take on Section Four champion Lancaster Catholic in the Lancaster Lebanon League semifinals. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. at Hempfield, so don't be late. Let's take a look at tomorrow's matchup, shall we?

We'll start with the Crusaders.

Record: 16-7 overall, 14-2 league.

Points per game average: 56.6.

Points allowed per game: 51.8.

3-Pointers per game: 2.78.

Free Throws: 73 percent.

Top Five scorers:

1. Tyler Purvis, 12.6 ppg, 20 3-Pointers.

2. Chris Markel, 11.1 ppg, 17 3-Pointers.

3. Ross Hall, 9.8 ppg.

4. Paul Senkowski, 8.1 ppg, 29 3-Pointers.

5. Phil Wenger, 6.2 ppg.

Regular Season at a glance:

Catholic started the season 3-7 but then caught absolute fire. The Crusaders have won 13 straight games now including wins over Lancaster Mennonite and Penn Manor in Monday's semifinals. During this winning streak, Catholic hasn't scored a ton more points (they're averaging 56.9, just .3 above their season average), but they are defending very well. LC is allowed four fewer points per game during this streak. Explaining why they started 3-7 is tough. They didn't have any major injuries, but just went through a rough patch, which was five straight losses. 

But Catholic regrouped and stormed back to take yet another Section Four title. They then upset Penn Manor on Monday behind a career high 25 points from Purvis. Penn Manor has three starters who are 6-5 and, while Catholic lacks that kind of size, they showed on Monday that they can make up for it. 

We all know what E-town did in the regular season and on Monday. If you don't, kindly scroll down to my last two posts please.

And now, let's look at tonight's game, with help from quotes from Will Ferrell movies, because they're hilarious.

"We've been coming to the same party for 15 years and in no way is that pathetic." Ron Burgundy.

To Lancaster Catholic, who is 15-7 all-time in the league playoffs. The Crusaders know how to win in the postseason and have made the finals five times, winning in 2003.

On the other side of the coin is E-town, who was 0-6 in leagues all-time until Monday's win.

"Panda Watch: the mood here is tense. I have been on some serious, serious reports but nothing quite like this. I tried to get an interview with him, but they said no, you can't do that he's a live bear and he will literally rip your face off." Brian Fantana

To the E-town Bears, who are out for blood. E-town is on a mission to make program history and they've done so by going 21-2 overall and have won nine straight. 

"We meet again Monsieur Bobby." Jean Girard

E-town and Catholic met earlier this season, with E-town beating Catholic by 20. But that was during the Crusaders' 5 game skid. Since then, they are 13-2. E-town head coach Kevin Dolan has been steadily preaching to his players that this isn't the same Catholic team E-town blew out of the gym early in the season. It will be interesting to see how focused both teams are and who gets out to a quick start tonight. Chad Styer led E-town with 24 points in their last meeting.

"Well let me just quote the late, great Colonel Sanders who said, 'I'm too drunk to taste this chicken." Ricky Bobby

This quote really doesn't have anything to do with the preview, I just think it's funny. Anyway, Catholic doesn't have a ton of size, so look for the Bears to go to Kyle McNeil, who has at least 22 points in three straight games, early and often. Also, E-town must tighten up its 3-point defense. L-S was able to get a lot of good looks from outside on Monday night. With Purvis as hot as he is, E-town doesn't want to leave him open too much outside. 

"If you're not first, you're last." Ricky Bobby

Prediction time: E-town knows this isn't the same Catholic team they beat earlier, and Catholic is as hot and confident as any of the teams left. That said, E-town didn't play its best offensive game on Monday, and Catholic did. Both teams won, but I think there's a better chance of E-town bouncing back offensively than Catholic continuing the torrid shooting it had against Penn Manor. It's the law of averages.

Bears by 11. 

And I think they'll face Hempfield on Friday night at Township in the final. Enjoy the game everyone. 

Bears beat L-S

I just got back from Conestoga Valley, where E-town beat Lampeter-Strasburg 63-51 in the quarterfinals of the L-L League playoffs.

This game was much closer than the final score indicates. E-town led by one after the first quarter and by three at the half. They then led by two after three quarters before pulling away in the final 4 minutes of the game. E-town led 47-45 with 4:25 to play, but then ended the game on a 16-6 run. I'll have much more on this game tomorrow and in this week's print edition of the Chronicle.

Here are the other scores from the boys games tonight. Yes, there was an upset.
Hempfield 59 - Lancaster Mennonite 39
Conestoga Valley 63 - Cocalico 42
Lancaster Catholic 58 - Penn Manor 52.

So, on Wednesday, Hempfield will play CV and E-town will take on Catholic at 7 p.m. at Hempfield. The Catholic win over PM could be considered an upset, but remember that LC has now won 13 straight games.

Kyle McNeil led E-town tonight with 22 points. Chad Styer added 16, Quinn Cozzens had eight, Jeremi Jones had 7 and Andrew Placeres had 7.

On either Tuesday or Wednesday (depending on when I have time to write it), we'll preview the E-town/Catholic semifinal matchup. That's all for tonight. Until tomorrow, cheers.

E-town vs. L-S preview

Tonight, the Lancaster-Lebanon League boys basketball playoffs begin, and E-town will be facing Section Three runner-up Lampeter-Strasburg at 7 p.m. at Conestoga Valley High School.

There is a lot to talk about with this game, so let's get right into it. We'll start with a look at each team's record, team statistics and leading scorers for both.

Lampeter-Strasburg (11-11 overall, 9-7 league, Section Three runner-up).
Average Points Per Game: 51.2.
Average Points Allowed Per Game: 47.5.
3-Pointers per game: 3.3.
Free throws: 194-310, 62 percent.
Top Scorers:
Andrew Snyder, sr., G/F, 11.2 ppg.
Tyrone McFadden, soph., 10.5 ppg.
Taylor Groff, jr., F, 10.4 ppg.
Nate Shank, fr., G, 9 ppg.
Taylor Rutt, jr., G, 7.5 ppg (includes team-high 32 3-pointers).
Dan Weigel, jr., C, 5.1 ppg.
Season at a glance: The Pioneers are the Cinderella team of these league playoffs. They began their season 0-7, but hung tough and rebounded to finish 11-11 overall. They have won their last six straight games and edged Donegal and Elco for the final playoff spots from Section Three. L-S has three players (Snyder, McFadden and Groff) all averaging more than 10 points per game. Rutt is the team's best outside threat, and Weigel could be a factor, since he is 6-6.

The Pioneers aren't a lethal offensive team, but they do play solid defense, allowing an average of less than 48 ppg. They may have started 0-7, but they did play both Penn Manor and Lancaster Catholic close and beat Cocalico handily down the stretch. In fact, L-S faced four playoff teams this season: Lancaster Mennonite, Penn Manor, Cocalico (twice), and Lancaster Catholic. They lost to Mennonite by 2, PM by 7 and LC by 4. They also lost to Cocalico by 10 before beating them by 23.

In other words, don't be fooled by L-S' record. These Pioneers can play. A few bounces here and there, and they could have won 3 or 4 more games.

Elizabethtown (20-2 overall, 15-1 league, Section Two champions).
Average Points Per Game: 67.2.
Average Points Allowed per game: 52.8.
3-Pointers per game: 3.9.
Free throws: 267-374, 71 percent.
Top Scorers:
Kyle McNeil, sr., F, 12.3
Chad Styer, sr., G/F, 11.8
Quinn Cozzens, sr., G/F, 11.5
Jeremi Jones, sr., G, 11.2
Andrew Placeres, sr., G, 8.5
Bradley Garber, jr., F, 5.4.
Season at a glance: It's been a season to remember for the Bears. Coming off of a year in which they made the district semifinals and the state tournament, E-town had arguably the best regular season in school history.

The Bears won their first seven games before dropping one to CD East (ranked No. 6 in the district). They then reeled off five more wins before falling to Hempfield (ranked No. 2 in the district) on Jan. 13. But E-town hasn't lost since then, ending the regular season with eight straight wins to reach 20 regular season wins for (I believe) the first time ever. They went a perfect 10-0 against Section Two opponents, and are, arguably, the most potent offensive team in the league.

E-town's offense is driven by its balanced scoring, athleticism and guard play. Jones, Styer and Cozzens are all good scorers who can shoot from the perimeter and take the ball to the basket. Placeres handles point guard duties and is a gifted passer, but he can also hit the 3-ball. And all four are excellent rebounders for their size, which helps E-town get a lot of second chance points.

One of the knocks on the Bears is their lack of an inside presence, but I think Kyle McNeil has been outstanding in the paint so far. He could very well be the team MVP. Now, he's going to have trouble against someone 6-7 or so, but at 6-4, he's very strong and rebounds well. Garber's only listed at 6-2, but I'm guessing he's a good inch taller than that. I feel like I've written this a gazillion times, but Garber doesn't fill up conventional stat sheets, but he does the little things that helps the team win. Trust me, he's a very valuable commodity to these Bears. If E-town has a weakness, it's fair to say it is their lack of size inside, but if it is a weakness, I don't think it is a glaring one.

Defensively, E-town is underrated I think. They've really turned up the defensive tenacity during their eight game winning streak, allowing only 46 points per game during that stretch. Garber and McNeil are both outstanding defenders who will limit opposing teams' big men, and Jones, McNeil, Cozzens and Placeres are very good defenders as well.

We're going streaking, through the quad and down to the gymnasium:
Both of these teams are playing their best basketball of the season right now. L-S has won six games in a row, averageing 56.2 ppg and allowing just 39 during that stretch. E-town's win streak is at 8, and the Bears are scoring 67 ppg and allowing just 46.3 in that span. Something's got to give tonight.

On the road again:
Of their 22 games, E-town has only played 9 road games. And they've won them all. They've been tested twice on the road, squeaking by Penn Manor in overtime and beating CV by 1, but a win is a win. They also beat Wilson by 17 and Warwick by 10 in road games.

Conversely, L-S has played 11 road games and went 6-5 in those. The Pioneers started 0-3 in away games, but ended 6-2 and have won their last 3 road contests. Quality away wins include a 23-point dismantling of Cocalico and a two-point win over Kennard-Dale.

Ready to run:
If there's one thing you can expect tonight, it will be for both teams to be running the court a lot, especially E-town. The Bears love to run whenever they get the chance and they'll do it often. If they get a rebound or a turnover, look for the Bears to turn it up court very quickly. That's a luxury you have when four of your players (Styer, Cozzens, Jones and Placeres) can all run the transition effectively.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...:
E-town knows all about what a team can do in the postseason when it gets hot at the end of the year. That's what they did last season during their run to states, and that's what the Pioneers are doing right now. Because of that, don't be surprised if the Bears see a lot of themselves in the Pioneers. Both are athletic up and down, both like to run and shoot the three. E-town knows how dangerous hot teams with nothing to lose can be, because that was them a year ago, so don't expect the Bears to be looking past L-S to a possible rematch with Penn Manor.

Sheesh, get to the point:
OK, the Bears are the favorite in this game, and deservedly so. They've passed just about every test they have faced this year, and, let's not forget, they are 20-2. When it comes down to it, I just think E-town is too focused and too talented for L-S to handle. The Bears are out to prove a point. They feel like they don't get enough respect, and they know the best way to do that is to win in the postseason.

L-S won't lay down easily, so E-town's going to have to work for this one. Anything can happen in the playoffs, but I predict the Bears win tonight.

Other predictions bound to make me look like a homer or an idiot. Or both.:
First Round:
Hempfield over Mennonite
CV over Cocalico
Penn Manor over Catholic

Semifinals:
Hempfield over CV
E-town over Penn Manor

Finals:
E-town over Hempfield.

We'll see how right or wrong I am starting tonight. Enjoy the games everyone and, until next time, cheers.

District Three Class AAAA boys basketball brackets

District Three has released the brackets for playoffs this year. You can find them in .pdf format by clicking here.

Here are the dates for the playoffs:

Friday, Feb. 13: play in round (games at higher seed).

Wednesday, Feb. 18: first round games (@ neutral sites).

Saturday, Feb. 21: quarterfinals (@ Giant Center and Milton Hershey).

Tuesday, Feb. 24, semifinals (@ Giant Center).

Thursday, Feb. 26, consolations.

Saturday, Feb. 28: District Finals @ Giant Center, 1 p.m.

OK, E-town earned the No. 3 seed in the district, and won't play in the play-in round. But here are the matchups for the pigtail round.

(17) Dallastown at (16) Central York

(25) L-S at (8) Reading

(24) Twin Valley at (9) CV

(20) Chambersburg at (13) McCaskey

(21) Carlisle at (12) Gettysburg

(18) Red Land at (15) Solanco

(23) Waynesboro at (10) Cedar Cliff

(19) Cocalico at (14) Gov. Mifflin (Game is Feb. 12).

(22) Mechanicsburg at (11) Daniel Boone.

And here are your first round matchups, times and locations, all coming on Feb. 18. 

(1) William Penn vs. Central York/Dallastown winner, at Dallastown, 7:30 p.m.

Reading/L-S winner vs. CV/Twin Valley winner, @ Gov. Mifflin, 6 p.m.

(4) Penn Manor vs. McCaskey/Chambersburg winner, @ Hempfield, 7:30 p.m.

(5) Harrisburg vs. Gettysburg/Carlisle winner, @ Cumberland Valley, 6 p.m.

(2) Hempfield vs. Solanco/Red Land winner, @ Manheim Township, 7:30 p.m.

(7) Wilson vs Cedar Cliff/Waynesboro winner, @ Gov. Mifflin, 7:30 p.m.

(3) Elizabethtown vs. Gov. Mifflin/Cocalico winner, @ Steel High, 7:30 p.m.

(6) CD East vs. Daniel Boone/Mechanicsburg winner, @ Carlisle, 7:30 p.m.

OK, there you have it. I'll of course give you the score of the Gov. Mifflin/Cocalico game so that you know who the Bears are playing, and  a preview  of that game as well. And we'll take a peek at the E-town/L-S league playoff game tomorrow morning. 

Until then, cheers.

More stats than you can shake a stick at

Not that you'd ever want to shake a stick at stats. Well, you could if you really wanted to I suppose. Let's just move on.

Here are the final points per game average for the E-town boys and girls basketball teams and the current records of the E-town wrestlers as they head into sectionals next Saturday. Note, doing the boys and girls points per game was tough because there was no way for me to tell how many games some of the reserve players appeared in. So, in the interest of accuracy, I'm just going to give you the players I know played every game. Forgive me, please.

Boys Basketball:
Kyle McNeil, 12.3 ppg.
Chad Styer, 11.8.
Quinn Cozzens, 11.5.
Jeremi Jones, 11.2.
Andrew Placeres, 8.5.
Bradley Garber, 5.4.

Girls Basketball:
Sarah Fairbanks, 13.5 ppg.
Becca Bigler, 9.5.
Brianna Kuhn, 7.9.
Jamie Ahern, 4.2.
Emily Carter, 1.6.
Jenna Rosenberry, 1.5.

Wrestling:
Adam Zellman, 31-6, 16 pins.
Matt Hoover, 30-3, 19 pins.
Shane Rosenberry, 29-5, 22 pins.
Jeremy Rivera, 28-5, 10 pins.
Alex Kirchner, 24-7, 11 pins.
Owen Bradley, 22-13, 3 pins.
Calvin Anderton, 21-10, 5 pins.
Jared Danneker, 21-14, 4 pins.
Justin Lewis, 17-12, 14 pins.
Antonio Rodriguez, 14-17, 3 pins.
David Kennedy, 13-13, 6 pins.
Troy Ernest, 11-5, 2 pins.
Tyler Lakota, 10-12, 5 pins.
Sean Heming, 6-20, 3 pins.
Zach Myers, 4-9, 2 pins.
Tyler Geyer, 2-0, 1 pin.
Andrew Smith, 1-0.
Kyle Morrow, 1-11.
Joey Alleman, 0-4.
James Sliker, 0-1.
Zach Brandt, 0-1.

Updated District Three Power Rankings

Here are the most current District Three Class AAAA power rankings for boys basketball, courtesy of the Patriot-News. E-town is still in third and that won't change before the brackets are released. The district is releasing its brackets on Sunday at 2 p.m., and you can find them right here as soon as I have them.

1. York, 22-0 overall, 8.64 power points.
2. Hempfield, 20-1, 8.57.
3. Elizabethtown, 20-2, 8.36.
4. Penn Manor, 18-3, 8.29.
5. Harrisburg, 17-3, 8.11.
6. CD East, 18-3, 8.10.
7. Wilson, 17-4, 7.86.
8. Reading, 17-4, 7.81.
9. Conestoga Valley, 14-7, 7.14.
10. Cedar Cliff, 14-7, 6.95.
11. Daniel Boone, 14-7, 6.62.
12. McCaskey, 12-10, 6.62.
13. Governor Mifflin, 13-9, 6.59.
14. Gettysburg, 14-7, 6.57.
15. Red Land, 12-9, 6.50.
16. Solanco, 11-11, 6.45.
17. Central York 12-10 12-10 6.45
18. Chambersburg, 11-9, 6.35.
19. Dallastown, 12-10, 6.32.
20. Cocalico, 14-8, 6.27.
21. Mechanicsburg, 11-10, 5.86.
22. Waynesboro, 11-11, 5.73.
23. Twin Valley, 11-11, 5.68.
24. Lampeter-Strasburg, 11-11, 5.41.

Back later with a preview of Monday's E-town vs. L-S league quarterfinal game. (UPDATE: actually, it may be Monday morning until I can get the preview done. But it will be posted here by Monday afternoon, guaranteed).

L-L League Boys Playoff Brackets

Here are the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoff brackets for boys basketball:

Quarterfinals:
All games are Monday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.

Hempfield (20-1) vs. Lancaster Mennonite (16-6), @ Penn Manor.

Cocalico (14-8) vs. Conestoga Valley (14-7), @ Warwick.

E-town (20-2) vs. Lampeter-Strasburg (11-11), @ Conestoga Valley.

Lancaster Catholic (15-7) vs. Penn Manor (17-4), @ Lampeter-Strasburg.

Semifinals:
All games will be Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.

Hempfield/Mennonite winner vs. Cocalico/CV winner.

E-town/L-S winner vs. Catholic/Penn Manor winner.

Finals:
Friday, Feb. 13, @ Manheim Township, 7 p.m.

Check back here later today or tomorrow for a preview of the E-town/L-S quarterfinal matchup.

District Three Power Rankings

Here are the latest District Three power rankings for both girls and boys basketball.

The E-town boys have already locked up a spot in districts, and are playing now for seeding.

The girls are still alive. The Lady Bears have reeled off three straight wins and need to win their final two games to clinch a district spot. That starts tonight with a tough, tough game against Solanco at home. I'll be over at Daubert Gym tonight to cover that one. Fantastic late season run by the Bears. We'll see if they can continue it tonight.

All rankings are courtesy of The Patriot-News

Class AAAA District Three rankings – boys
(E-town's two losses this year are to No. 2 Hempfield and No. 5 CD East)
1. York, 21-0 overall, 8.62.
2. Hempfield, 18-1, 8.53.
3. Elizabethtown, 18-2, 8.30.
4. Harrisburg, 16-2, 8.11.
5. CD East, 17-3, 8.05.
6. Reading, 17-3, 8.00.
7. Penn Manor, 15-4, 7.95.
8. Wilson, 16-4, 7.80.
9. Red Lion, 17-4, 7.71.
10. Conestoga Valley, 12-7, 6.95.
11. Cedar Cliff, 13-7, 6.90.
12. Daniel Boone, 14-6, 6.80.
13. Governor Mifflin, 13-8, 6.71.
14. Solanco, 11-9, 6.70.
15. Red Land, 12-7, 6.68.
16. Gettysburg, 13-6, 6.68.
17. J.P. McCaskey, 10-9, 6.63.
18. Cocalico, 14-6, 6.55.
19. Manheim Township, 10-9, 6.47.
20. Chambersburg, 10-8, 6.33.
21. Central York, 11-10, 6.33.
22. Waynesboro, 11-9, 5.95.
23. Mechanicsburg, 11-10, 5.86.
24. Dallastown, 10-11, 5.95.
25. Warwick, 8-12, 5.90.

Class AAAA District Three power rankings – Girls
1. Central Dauphin, 18-1, 8.83.
2. Lower Dauphin, 19-1, 8.45.
3. Manheim Township, 15-2, 8.35.
4. Reading, 17-1, 8.33.
5. Cedar Crest, 15-5, 7.70.
6. Red Lion, 15-4, 7.68.
7. Wilson, 15-4, 7.68.
8. Mechanicsburg, 17-4, 7.52.
9. Cumberland Valley, 15-5, 7.50.
10. CD East, 14-6, 7.21.
11. Hershey, 14-6, 7.05.
12. Spring Grove, 15-6, 7.00.
13. Hempfield, 12-8, 6.74.
14. New Oxford, 13-7, 6.70.
15. Carlisle, 12-8, 6.68.
16. Harrisburg, 10-9, 6.61.
17. Ephrata, 11-9, 6.50.
18. Solanco, 11-9, 6.45.
19. Penn Manor, 10-10, 6.20.
20. Waynesboro, 10-10, 5.75.
21. Dallastown, 10-11, 6.00.
22. Warwick, 9-11, 5.95.
23. Governor Mifflin, 9-11, 5.90.
24. Elizabethtown, 9-11, 5.85.
25. Central York, 8-12, 5.70.

Boys Basketball playoff scenarios (UPDATED)

OK, in case you weren't completely sure, Den Dwellers, I'm an idiot. Please, ignore my last post about boys basketball playoff scenarios. Let's just pretend it didn't happen. And we'll all feel better. Or at least I will.

First, I just got back from Daubert Gymnasium, where the Bears disposed of Ephrata 63-56. Don't let that score fool you, though, this game wasn't nearly as close at the final score indicates. E-town's starters played most of the first three quarters, and the Bears led 50-25 after the third.

OK, so here are the real playoff scenarios. I got it right this time. Promise.

Section One:
Hempfield and Penn Manor will still be the two teams to go to leagues from this section. Hempfield beat Penn Manor tonight to clinch Section One. Penn Manor will finish in second in the section. So those are your two representatives from Section One.

Now, here's where I got it wrong. Section One plays Section Four in the first round. Apparently, the L-L League flip flops first round matchups every year (last year One played Three and Two played Four). So the winner of Section One (Hempfield) will play the runner up of Four (Lancaster Mennonite or Lancaster Catholic), and the runner-up of Section One ( Penn Manor) will play the champ of Four (again Mennonite or Catholic). Are you still with me? I hope so.

Section Two:
OK, E-town has already clinched Section Two. By the way, the Bears had a really, really cool ceremony tonight to celebrate their section title by cutting down the nets in Daubert Gym. Very cool thing to see. Yes, I'm a big dork.

Anyway, the Bears will play the runner up in Section Three (more on that race in a second).

The second place team in Section Two ( Conestoga Valley) gets the champion of Section Three (Cocalico).

Section Three:
Cocalico wins this section by way of their win over Central tonight.

The race for second is very interesting. Here are the standings after tonight's game for second place:
Elco: 7-7
Donegal: 7-7
Lampeter-Strasburg: 7-7
Donegal beat Elco tonight and L-S clobbered Northern Lebanon to force a three-way tie for second place (Donegal and L-S were both a game back of Elco entering play tonight. So they are all tied with two to go. Here are all of their remaining two games.
Elco: vs. Manheim Central and at Northern Lebanon
Donegal: at Northern Lebanon and vs. Cocalico.
L-S: at Cocalico and at Manheim Central.
Elco probably has the easiest road since they don't have to face Cocalico.

But whoever comes out of this three team race will face E-town on Monday, Feb. 9 in the first round of leagues. Of course, I'll have a full preview of the game when it is determined.

Section Four:

Refer to my last post for the skinny on this section. Mennonite and Catholic are tied for the section lead, and they both have already clinched spots. All's that left to decide is who gets Hempfield and who gets Penn Manor.

So, yeah, it's a little tricky right now. But it'll pan out over the next five days, and our brackets will be set soon. Here's a summary:
Hempfield plays Mennonite or Catholic
Penn Manor plays Mennonite or Catholic
E-town plays Donegal, L-S or Elco
Conestoga Valley plays Cocalico

Whew, my head hurts. I'm going to bed.

Until next time, you stay classy Elizabethtown.

Bears Clinch Section Two

E-town clinched the Section Two title outright for the first time in 32 years last night with a 12-point win over Garden Spot. After beating CV on Friday night to clinch at least a share of the title, the section title was almost a formality for the Bears. They only had to win one of their final four games to take it outright, and they took care of business last night.

"I think the guys were really excited for the CV game and came out and played hard," said head coach Kevin Dolan. "I think they knew we only had to win one out of four, so they just had to come out and take care of business."

And that's what they did. Since their last loss (a 65-51 setback to Hempfield on Jan. 13), the Bears are 5-0 and have an average margin of victory of 20 points, including two straight 32-point wins. Think that loss didn't fire the Bears up?

Also, this warrants mentioning. E-town beat Garden Spot last night without two starters – Chad Styer and Bradley Garber. According to Dolan, Styer tweaked his injured knee in practice on Monday and was forced to miss the game. Dolan said that Styer could see some minutes tonight, but don't expect him to play much. Garber suffered a leg injury on Tuesday that forced him out too. Dolan didn't sound optimistic that Garber would play tonight against Ephrata, but he didn't rule it out completely either. Either way, those two should be fine for the playoffs.

Speaking of playoffs, here's an updated look at where teams stand in terms of the upcoming Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs.

Section One:
Hempfield has a two game lead here with three to play. They've already clinched a league playoff berth, and should finish as Section One champs.

Penn Manor trails Hempfield by two games and plays them tonight. I wouldn't put it past the Comets to win tonight, but even if they do, they need help to win the section. I see them getting in as the runner up.

It's really down to those two teams in Section One, as Penn Manor has a three game lead over McCaskey and Township.

Section Two:
The Bears are the only team to clinch their section outright so far, so they'll play the runner up of Section Four, once that race is decided.

The second spot from this section will likely go to 8-5 Conestoga Valley, which has a three game lead over the two teams in third place with three to play.

Section Three:
At 10-3 Cocalico has clinched a playoff berth and can lock up the section with one more win. They'll probably get Penn Manor in the first round of leagues.

The race for second is a bit more tight. Right now, Elco has second place locked up at 7-6, but lurking behind them at 6-7 are L-S and Donegal. Elco and Donegal play tonight in a huge game for playoff position.

Section Four:
Well, it's either going to be Lancaster Catholic or Lancaster Mennonite. Those two teams are both guaranteed playoff spots, but neither has clinched the section yet. Both are 11-2 in league play. Here is each team's remaining schedule:

Catholic: @ Pequea Valley, @ Columbia, @ Lebanon Catholic.
Mennonite: @ Lebanon Catholic, vs. Pequea Valley, @ Annville-Cleona.

Mennonite gets the advantage for now because they will have at least one home game down the stretch. But whoever comes out on top of this section will probably get CV in the first round. Whoever finishes second gets E-town.

The Bears haven't played Mennonite this year, but they did play Catholic back on Dec. 27 and beat them 72-52.

Definitely some interesting races going down to the wire here. When standings are final, I'll post the first round games for you and also a preview of whoever E-town ends up playing, Catholic or Mennonite.

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.

E-town/Hempfield preview

(photo: E-town point guard Andrew Placeres could be an x-factor in tonight's game).

It's rare to find a regular season crossover game as highly anticipated as tonight's matchup between E-town and Hempfield. Both teams are 12-1 overall and a perfect 8-0 in league play. They have the best records in the league, sit atop their respective sections and likely the top two teams in the league (but don't count out Penn Manor just yet to make a lot of noise in the league playoffs). And they'll square off tonight. After tonight, one team will still be unbeaten in league play, one won't, and whoever wins will likely be the favorite to win the L-L League come early February, for now at least.

So let's take a quick look at each team before tonight's game (which is at 8 p.m. in Daubert Gymnasium in case you weren't sure. Get there early.)

HEMPFIELD:
The Black Knights have reeled off 12 wins in a row since dropping their season opener to York (correction: that's Eastern York. Oops). They've had a tough week, though, with three tight games. On Monday, Hempfield squeaked by Penn Manor by two. On Wednesday, they beat Manheim Township by five and ended the week on Friday with a 10 point win over McCaskey.

They play a very similar team-style game as the Bears. You won't see anyone from Hempfield leading the league in scoring, but they have a few guys who will get you for double digits on any given night. They're a methodical bunch of chameleons that can adjust to just about any style of play they need to. But at the heart of their offense is patience, where they will wait for just the right shot before they take it if they need to. I guess I should include a disclaimer that I haven't seen Hempfield, but I'm going off some good scouting reports and other things I've read and heard.

As a team, they average just under 60 points per game. They've hit 50 3-pointers and are shooting around 68 percent from the free throw line as a team.

Individually, they have three players averaging 10 points or more. That group is led by Christian Walck, the 6-1 guard who is scoring 14.8 points per game. He's arguably Hempfield's best all around player and there isn't much he can't do.

Chris Yoder, who is 6-3, is averaging 12.6 per game and Matt Donato, a 6-2 forward, is scoring 10.2 per night. This is a group that won't get flustered easily and has passed every league test it has faced so far. If any team can handle playing on a road in a fierce atmosphere, it's Hempfield.

E-TOWN:
If you blink, you might miss three E-town possessions. The Bears like to get up and down the court quickly on offense and use fantastic ball movement to get open shots quickly. They also have stepped up their defense and can apply some great pressure. Like Hempfield, they're very athletic all over and won't have one guy lead the league in scoring – but plenty that can hurt you on any given night.

As a team, E-town averages 68.4 points per game. They've hit 54 3-pointers and shoot 71 percent from the line as a team.

Let's go over the first six players in the Bears' rotation:
Quinn Cozzens – E-town's leading scorer at 12.5 points per game. Cozzens is like Walck in that he can do anything for E-town – handle the ball, shoot from the perimeter or take the ball inside.

Kyle McNeil – averaging 12.3 per game, 2nd on the team. He's been the Bears' best inside scoring presence and is very strong and athletic. If there's any sort of sliver in the paint, McNeil will go off and score in the 20s. He can jump and is strong enough to get rebounds with just about anyone. Hempfield's not overly big, so McNeil could be a focal point tonight.

Chad Styer – After a preseason knee injury, Styer's outside stroke has come on and he is averaging 12.2 points per game. He went off in E-town's last game for 31 points – the most by an E-town player in a game this season. If he is hot from behind the arc, he can make up a deficit or pad a lead in a hurry.

Andrew Placeres – Placeres is the wild card in my opinion for tonight. E-town's point guard averages 9 per game and makes the offense go. If he can handle Hempfield's press and make smart decisions with the basketball, the Bears will be fine.

Jeremi Jones – Jones comes off the bench most of the time for the Bears and is averaging just under 10 per game. He's another do-it-all guy, someone that can shoot, play good defense and take the ball to the basket with regularity. He is pure hustle out there and will create a lot of chances for the Bears with his tenacity.

Brad Garber – Garber teams with McNeil to make up E-town's inside presence. I'm not sure if there is a scrappier player on the team than Garber. He is everywhere and he's always drawing contact or diving on the floor for a loose ball. He'll bring a ton of energy and, while he's averaging just over 6 per game, can certainly put up 10 or more points.

All in all, expect a very back and forth game that comes down to the fourth quarter. These are the best teams in the league right now, and that's exactly how the game will play out.

Should be interesting....

Boys Basketball update

Hype? Check. Expectations? Check. Living up to all of the preseason ink used on them so far? Emphatic check.

Yup, every local sports schlub with a keyboard was expecting big things from the Bears this year before the first game even tipped off (including your friendly neighborhood blogger). That kind of hype can be a tough thing to live up to, especially when you are talking about 17-18 year old kids. I mean, look at the Dallas Cowboys. Nearly everyone picked them to win the Super Bowl and they're not even in the playoffs. (Sorry, couldn't get through an entry without one last jab at Dallas.) But these Bears are playing like they were supposed to, and, maybe even a little better.

Right now, they are 7-0 overall and 5-0 in league play. They are 3-0 against Section One, with quality wins over J.P. McCaskey, Penn Manor and Warwick. Local hoops followers will be hard-pressed to tell you the last time a Section Two team started 3-0 against Section One. It's pretty much unchartered waters.

E-town has had two real scares so far this year. Against Penn Manor back on Dec. 11, the Bears staged a furious fourth quarter rally on the road to force overtime and eventually beat the Comets. And on Dec. 23, E-town narrowly escaped Section Two foe Conestoga Valley by a point. But what shows you something is that they won both of those games. They aren't going to play their absolute best every single game (that's nearly impossible), but they've proven that even when they aren't at their best, they're still good enough to win a ton of games.

Here is how E-town's scoring production has gone so far this year. As you'll see, they're a balanced group that can hurt you in a variety of ways.

Points per game:
Quinn Cozzens – 13.4.
Kyle McNeil – 12.7
Chad Styer – 10.5 (missed the team's first game with an injury)
Jeremi Jones – 10.4.
Andrew Placeres – 8.5.
Brad Garber – 6.5
Jordan Hoover – 4.5

Those are the Bears' regular players, and each of them can score double digits on any given night. Cozzens is E-town's best all around player and their leader, he's scored in double digits in every game and is everywhere on the court. McNeil has been E-town's inside presence. Before the season, people thought the Bears lacked inside skills, but McNeil and Garber have rejected that thought with good play.

Styer missed some time in the preseason with a knee injury, but is as good of a shooter as you'll see on the team when he is on, and he is slowly getting back into form. Jones is the team's sixth man, but would be a starter just about everywhere else. He is probably the best sixth man in the league and is a very athletic player. Hoover is a tough player with a nice stroke from the outside. The Bears can always rely on him to bring intensity.

Placeres pulls it all together. E-town's quick southpaw point guard runs the offense beautifully, threading passes to open teammates with regularity. The Bears like to roll, and Placeres always has his foot on the gas. He also brings a good outside shot and the ability to drive to the basket. He also has an uncanny ability to get rebounds for a player of his size.

From a purely objective standpoint, I can tell you one thing – this team is fun to watch. They run up and down, play good defense and pass the ball very, very well. Keep your calendars circled for Tuesday, Jan. 13. That's when E-town will host Hempfield in a matchup of the two teams considered to be the L-L League's best. It will be a dandy.

E-town boys run past McCaskey

I just got home from Daubert Gymnasium, where I watched E-town hand J.P. McCaskey an 81-71 defeat, the Tornado's first L-L League loss since the 2006-2007 season.

E-town, fresh off its heart-stopping overtime win against Penn Manor on Thursday, frustrated the Tornado several times with good defense and hung with a very quick, athletic McCaskey team from the onset. The game was tied 17-17 after the first quarter, and McCaskey led 41-40 at the half. The score was back and forth for the entire first half, with E-town's Jeremi Jones hitting a 3 with seven seconds left to trim the Bears' deficit to one.

In the second half, E-town pulled away slowly. The Bears led 63-58 after three quarters and led by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter before winning by 10.

I'll have much more on this game tomorrow, including an interview with EAHS head coach Kevin Dolan and captain Quinn Cozzens. But until then, here are some individual stats from tonight. I'm not even sure when the last time E-town beat McCaskey in basketball, or if it's ever happened. If anyone knows, please let me know in the comments or shoot me an email at sports.etown@gmail.com. This was a huge, huge win for this team. Again, much more on this game tomorrow.

E-town:
Chad Styer – 17 points, 2 rebounds.
Quinn Cozzens – 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals.
Jeremi Jones – 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals.
Kyle McNeil – 11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal.
Andrew Placeres – 11 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals.
Brad Garber – 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 3 steals.
Jordan Hoover – 5 points, 1 rebound, 3 steals.

J.P. McCaskey:
Leontae Turner – 29 points
Randall Garrison – 15 points
Kenny Randall – 10 points
Brandon Brison – 5 points
Taj Hammond – 3 points
Maurice Smith, Laronn Lee – 2 points each...
NOTE: two other players had two points each, but they aren't on the roster I have...sorry, I suck.

That's all for tonight. Back tomorrow with more hoops and some wrestling notes from the Bears' win over Central tonight.

Until then, you stay classy Elizabethtown.

EAHS boys basketball preview

Head Coach: Kevin Dolan, second season.

2007-2008 Record: 17-13 overall, 9-7 Section Two. Lost to Columbia 61-52 in Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs. Beat Gettysburg 60-45 in District Three tournament play-in round. Beat Cedar Crest 65-57 in first round of District Three playoffs. Beat Mechanicsburg 67-53 in District Three quarterfinals. Lost to Reading 61-38 in District Three semifinals. Lost to Harrisburg 52-41 in District Three consolations. Lost to Penn Wood 62-46 in first round of PIAA state playoffs (first state playoff appearance in program history).

Key Returners: Quinn Cozzens, senior, captain, G; Chad Styer, senior, F; Kyle McNeil, senior, F; Jordan Hoover, senior, G; James Bard, senior, F; Bradley Garber, junior, F.
The Bears return three starters from last year’s state playoff qualifying team – Cozzens, Styer and McNeil – to lead this year’s group. All of these players saw time last year at the varsity level, especially Cozzens, Styer, McNeil and Garber, and all made some sort of significant contribution at some point in the regular season and playoffs. They’ve also developed a cohesiveness that is evident on the court, and will go a long way in helping them get where they want to go.

“They’re a group that has played together for a lot of years and they have a lot of varsity experience,” said Dolan. “So they should know how to handle game situations and the experience should help them.”

The leader of the bunch is Cozzens, who is one of the best all-around players on the team. There isn’t much he can’t do on the court – score, rebound, pass, defend, etc. – and he has the ability to put the team on his back and carry them for stretches.

“We look to all of the seniors for leadership, but especially from Quinn as the captain,” Dolan said. “Quinn’s a real heady player. He does a lot of things well and really understands the game of basketball and understands situational basketball. He gives us a lot of leadership on and off the court.”

Styer led the team in 3-pointers made last year and is one of E-town’s best shooters. But Styer spent the summer refining the rest of this game so that he can help the Bears everywhere. But don’t fret E-town fans, he still has that smooth outside stroke.

“Chad’s one of our better shooters and someone who has worked hard on other parts of his game to make sure that, if he’s having a tough night shooting, he can contribute something else,” said Dolan. “I’m really pleased with the progress that he’s made in that area.”

McNeil is the third of the Bears’ returning starters, and he’ll be heading back to his familiar place down low on the blocks. McNeil is a relentless rebounder, which will help E-town keep offensive possessions alive. But what will separate him from most forwards is his strength. He’s gotten bigger and stronger since last year, and that should translate into more rebounds and blocks and more points for him. Watch for McNeil to take the ball to the basket aggressively and power his way to double digit points very often. Last season, he was a bit passive on offense, something that Dolan said he has worked on.

“He’s gotten stronger and tougher. We just need to get a little bit more offensive production from him and I expect that. He’s been taking the ball to the basket much better and he’s been establishing himself much better on the post, and that will do nothing but help our offense,” said Dolan.

Garber didn’t start last year, but did play a lot of minutes off of the bench and really gave the Bears another quality presence in the paint. He will be E-town’s main inside guy this year as a junior. He won’t be as big as every other team’s big man, but he will be quicker and more athletic than just about all of them. He is also a scrappy player who will battle for rebounds and make the aggressive kinds of plays that don’t show up in the box score but help teams win.

“He got some good varsity minutes at the end of the year (last season) and he took advantage of that and showed what he can do,” said Dolan. “We’re looking for some good things from him. He’s a little undersized, but he’ll be one of the quicker big guys in the league.”

Hoover didn’t see much court time, but he showed what he was capable of in the postseason with a great game against Harrisburg in the District Three consolation round. His role will be increased this year, and the Bears will be getting a player with nonstop energy and a good outside shooting touch on both ends of the floor.

“We hope to build on the experience Jordan got last year,” Dolan said. ‘He brings a lot of energy and he’s one of the hardest workers on the team. He plays extremely good defense for us and can shoot it on the offensive end.”

Bard was also mainly a reserve last year, but he brings more depth into the frontcourt and an excellent work ethic and attitude to the Bears’ team.

“James is a little bit of an undersized inside player, but he has real good footwork. He thinks well and does a lot of good things. He also worked hard in the offseason on certain parts of his game,” Dolan said.

Key Newcomers: Andrew Placeres, senior, G; Jeremi Jones, senior, G; Jared Risser, senior, G; Adam Muniz, senior, G.
The Bears’ backcourt gets even deeper with the addition of these four players, all of whom are expected to see time this year and should make significant contributions to the team.

Placeres is a transfer student from Middletown. The Blue Raiders played against the Bears last year, which helped the E-town players and coaches get acquainted with his playing style. He will likely handle the bulk of the point guard duties for the Bears this season, but he’s also very fast and can shoot from just about anywhere on the court. Placeres has been with E-town since the summer, working out with the team. That should help alleviate the adjustment period of playing together.

“Andrew has a real long shooting range, and we’ll look to him and distribute the ball and get us up and down the court as fast as we can get there,” said Dolan.

Jones is another transfer student, coming over to E-town after three years of playing at Mount Calvary Christian School, where he scored more than 1,200 points at the varsity level. Jones is a very good athlete who can do just about anything on the court and gives E-town another explosive backcourt player. In the fall, Jones played football for E-town, which took away from his time with the basketball team, but Dolan said that both Jones and the rest of the players are getting adjusted to having him very quickly.

“Jeremi can score from anywhere. He can shoot it or he can take the ball to the basket. He’s only been with us for about two weeks and we’ve really been impressed with what he’s done both offensively and defensively. He knows the game,” Dolan said.

Risser played JV last year and has worked his way up to the varsity team by putting in a lot of work over the summer. His familiarity with E-town’s coaching philosophies and strategies will help him tremendously this year. He is also a good shooter.

Muniz will be a bit of an x-factor this year for E-town. He missed last season with a bad knee, but could possibly be the best athlete on the team. He brings a tremendous amount of quickness to an already athletic roster.

“He may be the quickest guy on the team and may be the guy with the best leaping ability that we have,” Dolan said.

Key Losses: Scott Bilheimer, G; Tilghman Grandstaff, F; Jordan Hallman, G; Nate Koach, C; Nate McCurdy, G; Mike O’Shea, G; Weston Parrett, G.
The Bears lost a lot of talent and leadership to graduation. Both Hallman and Koach were starters last year for E-town. Hallman gave the Bears a solid point guard and a lot of team speed. And Koach was arguably one of the best centers in the league. He was one of the team’s leading scorers last year and was a great rebounder and shot blocker. But one of the ways Koach’s impact will be felt this year is the way he tutored Garber.

“I think Nate helped Bradley in a lot of ways. First of all, they play the same type of game. They’re very athletic and they run very well. The best way he helped Bradley is that he showed him how an athletic big man can play,” said Dolan.

Bilheimer, Grandstaff, McCurdy, O’Shea and Parrett all made plays on the court coming mainly off the bench, but their departure will be felt largely in the places fans don’t see – in the locker room and at practice. They were all team-first guys and worked very hard to help the team however they could. Their attitudes went a long way in helping the Bears become such a close team, and that cohesiveness translated to on-court success.

But the biggest thing that this group did, and something that Dolan hopes they passed along to the returning players, is that they learned how to win. Last year’s team got off to a slow start, but they clicked midseason and closed the regular season by winning 12 of their last 14, including eight in a row heading into the league playoffs. Coming together and pulling off that many wins in the second half of the season is something coaches can’t teach, but it could be something these players taught this year’s group.

“I think they taught them how to win. We had to learn how to win and I think they did it. Our coaching staff didn’t teach them how to win, they learned,” said Dolan. “And I think the guys this year saw that last year and now they know how to win.”

Strengths: Experience, backcourt depth.
Many of these Bears are playoff tested. They’ve been to the league playoffs. They were among the last four teams standing in District Three. And they made it through to the state playoffs. Along the way, they played in just about every kind of game imaginable – blowouts, tight games decided in the fourth quarter, physical games, shootouts, you name it. And those experiences are another thing that can’t be taught. There won’t be many situations this year that Cozzens, Styer, McNeil and company haven’t seen before.

But what might make them even tougher to handle this season is the depth of the backcourt. The Bears have at least six guards that can play well at any point in the game. You can’t always rely on the same player or two to have big games every night, so having talent that can step up in the case of foul trouble, subpar shooting nights or injury is a luxury E-town has. And their guards are versatile. They can shoot from the outside, take the ball to the basket, handle a press and play good defense. The Bears’ backcourt strength will be something that carries them all season long.

Weaknesses: Inside depth, rebounding.
E-town doesn’t have a lot of height (although most of their roster is six-foot or taller) and, outside of Garber and McNeil, don’t have a lot of crunch-time inside players. It’s not necessarily a huge concern for E-town or something that will hold them back in a lot of games, it just means that the Bears will have to work a little harder at doing the little things inside, like blocking shots, taking charges and rebounding.

Last year, E-town had Koach to put in the paint and battle with teams that had centers taller than 6-4.

This year, however, the Bears will have to make up for that lack of size with hustle, determination and proper fundamentals when it comes to playing post-up defense and boxing out. In most instances, their ability to spread the floor and get up and down on defense will make up for this, but keeping McNeil and Garber healthy and out of foul trouble will be important for when the Bears need to bang bodies under the basket.

Outlook: E-town isn’t going to sneak up on anyone this season. The Bears have a bullseye on their backs after going to states last year, and they know it.

“They know what the league’s like. I think (last year) puts a bullseye on our backs, and it’ll be interesting to see how we react to that,” said Dolan.

Bullseye or no bullseye, the Bears have a ton of talent. They return three bonafide starters (Cozzens, Styer and McNeil) and three more players that will fill the stat sheets (Garber, Placeres and Jones). Not only does this group have the ability to pick up where last year’s team left off, but it has bought into Dolan and his staff and you’ll see the Bears play hard for four straight quarters every single game. This is an unselfish group that cares more about wins than it does stats, and one that is getting more and more comfortable with the two newest faces (Jones and Placeres) with each practice.

“I think our chemistry is OK with Andrew because he was with us all summer. it might take an adjustment with Jeremi, but I don’t think it will be much of one because of the type of player Jeremi is,” said Dolan. “The tougher thing is to find good, quality minutes for all of these guys because we’ve got more than five guys that we could consider starters.”

E-town’s 2-7 start last year may actually be a blessing in disguise for this year’s team. They now know how tough it is to get to the postseason if you can’t come out of the gates running and that there isn’t much time in the world of high school basketball to get back on track.

“I think they understand more the urgency and the idea that basketball season is really compressed. They understand that they’ve got to come out and be ready to go right away,” said Dolan.

Of course, these Bears don’t want to live off of last year’s legacy.

They want to make their own mark on the program and all of the piece are in place for another strong campaign – leadership, talent on both ends of the floor and, perhaps most importantly, a group of players that puts the team before themselves.

“This team has the talent and experience to play some good basketball,” Dolan said. “I expect us to go out there and compete every game. I think these guys understand what it takes to do that and if they do, we’ll be fine.”

All that is left is to, once again, prove it on the court.

Boys basketball schedule change...

I've just learned of a schedule change for the EAHS boys basketball team. Apparently, Donegal scheduled too many games and had to drop one, and chose to drop the Dec. 22 scheduled game with Elizabetown.

So the Bears won't be playing the Indians this year. Instead, E-town will host West York on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. So now you know. And knowing is half the battle, right G.I. Joe?

E-town/Penn Wood notes

This week's Chronicle has plenty of coverage on the Bears' loss to Penn Wood Saturday, but I wanted to pass along a few of my thoughts that either weren't right for the paper or couldn't fit. That's the beauty of the blog, people. Without further ado, the ramblings of a schlub:

• The site of the game was awesome. Spring-Ford has some incredible sports venues. Walking in, I noticed their baseball STADIUM...not a field, a stadium. Probably the nicest high school baseball complex I've seen yet. Made me wish I went to Spring-Ford. The gym was also nice. It was the new style of gym with the two tiers and the scoreboard hanging from the ceiling above midcourt. The progress of high school facilities baffles me. I remember playing in a gym/auditorium with wooden bleachers that you had to manually pull out and one little scoreboard on the wall. But boy did that place get loud.

• It was also the first high school gym I'd been to that played music between quarters and during timeouts. Pretty cool. Gave the game a college-level feel.

• Paid attendance for the day was over 600, which was surprising to me. I think they may have added the two games together (there was a girls game before the Bears played), but nevertheless I saw a lot of E-town fans that made the 80-mile trek to root on the Bears.

• As for the game itself, I've gotta say that I wasn't very impressed with Penn Wood. Are they good? You bet. But are they a top-10 team in the state? I find that hard to believe. I think if they didn't play in the same division as teams like Chester and Pennsbury, they wouldn't have gotten that ranking. I thought they were a sloppy, undisciplined team that wins on athleticism alone. That said, they have a ton of height, which is one of the biggest advantages you can have at the high school level. They earned a ton of second-chance points by hitting the offensive glass very, very hard.

• One player that did impress me with Penn Wood's Duane Johnson. He's been their leading scorer all year, but I think he almost single-handedly won that game for them in the second half. He was a monster on the offensive glass and is a very athletic, skilled player. In my opinion, he was the best player on the court. Penn Wood's 6'7" freshman, Shawn Oakman, might not have scored a lot (4 points), but he's going to be very good. He's not as clumsy as I thought he would be. He has a very solid frame and once he gets it into his head that he can dominate, he'll be tough to stop. Look out for him the next 3 years. And look out for Penn Wood as a whole. The reason they were sloppy is because they are so darn young. Once they get a little seasoning, they're going to be dangerous. I mean challenging Chester dangerous.

• As for the Bears, I think the best word to describe them is resilient. They struggled shooting and rebounding in the first half, but made up for that with some suffocating defense, and that is what kept them in the game. The problem was that they shot around 27 percent in the first half and couldn't get a rebound, so they were essentially running one-shot possessions, and weren't making many of those shots. But despite that, they had to feel good only trailing by 2 at the half. In the second half, they played better and had a good third quarter, again relying on that defense to get them back in the game. In the third, they had Penn Wood completely off balance and built up a five point lead. And I think they could have won the game. But Johnson took over and just wouldn't let his team lose.

• Next year, I think the Bears have an excellent nucleus coming back with Chad Styer, Quinn Cozzens, Kyle McNeil and Brad Garber. Garber really showed me something Saturday. He doesn't have any fear and took on Penn Wood's taller players with a lot of aggression. Styer and Cozzens will be a force next year as well. I think they'll be a lot like the duo Columbia had this year in Pittman and Seibert. McNeil is a beast rebounding, but he's got to be more aggressive on offense and not be afraid to take a big shot. Styer didn't have his best shooting game against Penn Wood, but as a shooter should do, he kept shooting. He's not afraid to miss, which is what makes him such a dangerous player.

• The seniors also gave this team a lot of energy. Nate Koach had a phenomenal year, and I think he sometimes gets overlooked in the broad spectrum of L-L players. Jordan Hallman, Nate McCurdy and Mike O'Shea also were big time contributors who played very well at times.

• There's definitely a bright future for E-town basketball, and I think a large part of that is due to the coaching staff. They're a bright bunch that legitimately cares about their players. And that cannot be overstated when you talk about a team's psyche.

E-town/Penn Wood breakdown

The fine folks at Spring-Ford High School provided us media schlubs with instant stats at Saturday's game, giving us complete printouts at halftime and at the end of the game. You can imagine my delight when I realized that I don't have to keep stats as well for the game (after all, I was already doing photos and trying to write a story at the same time). Good times.

Anyway, their gift to me is now mine to you. Here is a statistical breakdown, by half, of the game.

First Half:
E-town: 19 points
FGs: 6-22 (27.3 percent)
3-pt FG: 2-7 (28.6 percent)
FT: 5-7 (71.4 percent)
Turnovers: 10
Rebounds: 8 (2 offensive, 6 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 1
Point off turnovers: 4
Points in paint: 4
Fast break points: 0

Penn Wood: 21 points
FGs: 8-17 (47.1 percent)
3-pt FG: 1-3 (33.3 percent)
FT: 4-7 (57.1 percent)
Turnovers: 14
Rebounds: 17 (4 offensive, 13 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 5
Points off turnovers: 5
Points in paint: 10.
Fast break points: 2.

SECOND HALF:
E-town: 27 points
FGs: 9-22 (40.9 percent)
3-pt FG: 3-10 (30 percent)
FT: 6-8 (75 percent)
Turnovers: 10
Rebounds: 15 (5 offensive, 10 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 4
Point off turnovers: 7
Points in paint: 10
Fast break points: 2

Penn Wood: 34 points
FGs: 12-30 (40 percent)
3-pt FG: 1-3 (33.3 percent)
FT: 9-15 (60 percent)
Turnovers: 7
Rebounds: 18 (12 offensive, 6 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 11
Point off turnovers: 15
Points in paint: 20
Fast break points: 4

FINALS:
E-town: 46 points
FGs: 15-44 (34 percent)
3-pt FG: 5-17 (29.4 percent)
FT: 11-15 (73.3 percent)
Turnovers: 20
Rebounds: 23 (7 offensive, 16 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 5
Point off turnovers: 11
Points in paint: 14
Fast break points: 2

Penn Wood
FGs: 20-47 (42.6 percent)
3-pt FG: 2-6 (33.3 percent)
FT: 13-22 (59.1 percent)
Turnovers: 21
Rebounds: 35 (16 offensive, 19 defensive)
Points off rebounds: 16
Point off turnovers: 20
Points in paint: 30
Fast break points: 6


There you have it....back later today with some thoughts from the game.

Penn Wood beats E-town

Just got back from Spring Ford High, where the Penn Wood Patriots beat E-town 62-56 in the first round of the PIAA tournament.

Sorry for the lack of live updates I promised, Spring Ford was having wireless Internet issues, and I couldn't get a connection.

Anyway, E-town played a nice game and actually held a six-point lead at one point in the second half, but couldn't hold off Penn Wood. Plenty more on this game later, but I wanted to at least post the score.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Boys Basketball L-L Tournament bracket, dates, times and places

Now that the drama over whether or not the Bears will be in the L-L Playoffs is over, we can move forward and look at who they will be playing and when.

Here's the way the bracket shapes up:

McCaskey (19-4 overall, 16-0 league) vs. Manheim Central (15-8, 11-5)
Columbia (21-2, 15-1)/Lancaster Catholic (17-6, 15-1) vs. E-town (14-9, 9-7)
(the winner of this game gets the winner of McCaskey/Central)

Conestoga Valley (14-8, 10-6) vs. Columbia/Lancaster Catholic
Lebanon (15-7, 12-4) vs. Hempfield (17-6, 13-3)
(The winner of this game gets the winner of CV and Columbia/Catholic.

• Columbia and Lancaster Catholic will play a one-game playoff to determine the Section 4 champion on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Penn Manor.
Here are the different scenarios for who, when and where E-town will play its first round game.
1. The Bears will play on Tuesday night at Conestoga Valley, regardless of who wins the Columbia/Catholic game.
2. If Columbia wins, E-town will play Columbia at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Conestoga Valley.
3. If Catholic wins, E-town will play Catholic at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Conestoga Valley.
4. E-town will be the away team either way on Tuesday night.

• Now for the L-L semifinals. If E-town wins on Tuesday, here's what would happen.
1. They would play on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Lampeter-Strasburg against the winner of the McCaskey/Central game.

• The League finals will be held on Saturday, Feb. 9 at Manheim Township High School at 2 p.m.
(note: if it snows on Friday and the league is forced to cancel the girls championship, the girls game would be moved to Saturday at 11 a.m. and the boys game would start at 3 p.m., still at Manheim Township).

• Tickets will be sold at the door ONLY. Prices are $5 for adults and $3 for students. No L-L passes will be accepted, so get there early.

There you have it. If you need clarification, feel free to comment or email me at sports.etown@gmail.com and I will do my best to clear up any confusion.

Bears Hoops: They're In

Just got word from far off Ephrata ... The Bears beat the Mounts tonight and are in the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs.

E-town was down six at the half and came out in the second half and had an 18-point lead with a few minutes left, before winning by double digits.

You just can't say enough about what this team has been able to do to put itself in this position. These players were all new to the varsity level last year and suffered through a tough season last year. But they came back this year confident and more seasoned. And they learned a new system brought on by a coaching change, and they absolutely pulled it off. It's been awesome seeing this group grow over the past two years and now they're winners of eight in a row and they're in the league playoffs. And I'm guessing there isn't one team that would be thrilled to see them on their schedule.

As much as the players deserve the credit for this, a lot of it has to go to the coaching staff. Kevin Dolan and company did a phenomenal job putting these kids in a system set up for them to succeed and they did just a great job with them throughout. And the players bought in to what they were teaching and put it together with a phenomenal run to close the season.

Congrats to the Bears on a job well done. I'll know more about the brackets tomorrow and will post it in the morning.

Good night E-town. Cheers.

One last update

OK, for those of you about to head to Ephrata for the Bears' big game tonight, here's what can happen.

1. E-town wins and they are in, no matter what.

2. If CV and E-town both win, CV is the section champ and E-town is the runner up and will play the Section 4 champ.

3. If E-town loses and Cocalico wins, E-town is out.

4. If E-town and Cocalico both lose, the Bears would still be in based on E-town's better overall record.

5. If CV loses and E-town wins, CV and E-town would have a one game playoff for the Section Title.

6. If CV loses and E-town and Cocalico win, CV would play Cocalico in a one-game playoff. The winner of that would play E-town for the Section title. (Keep in mind that CV is playing Garden Spot, who has just one win so far this season. Needless to say, it would be a major upset for them to lose.)

As for who they would play, it comes down to Columbia and Lancaster Catholic. Right now, Columbia and Catholic are tied atop Section 4 with one game to play.

1. If both win tonight, they would have a one game playoff to determine the Section 4 champ.
2. If one wins and the other loses, the winner would be Section 4 champ.
3. IF both lose, there would be a one game playoff.

Once again: Section 2 champ plays Section 4 runner up and Section 2 runner up plays Section 4 champ in the first round.

UPDATE: Boys Hoops playoff scenarios

Big win last night for the Bears, pulling together late and defeating Solanco 64-59. In the other game of importance in Section Two, CV beat Cocalico rather handily, 56-43.

So here are the updated standings in Section Two:

CV...................9-6
E-town............8-7
Cocalico..........8-7
Ephrata...........6-9
Solanco...........5-10
Garden Spot....1-14

The season wraps up on Wednesday with CV playing Garden Spot, E-town playing Ephrata and Cocalico facing off with Solanco.

Barring a miracle upset, CV will win the Section Two title and will probably play Lancaster Catholic (section 4 runner up) in the first round of the playoffs. Now, if Garden Spot does find a way to beat CV, there's a bunch of different things that could happen. More on that in a minute.

Listen closely: if E-town wins on Wednesday, they are in the playoffs. Doesn't matter what Cocalico does. If the Bears win, THEY ARE IN. They might not win the section (again, Garden Spot would have to beat CV), but they will be in the playoffs if they win. And if they earn the No. 2 seed from Section Two, they will likely match up with Columbia, who is having an outstanding season. If the Bears lose and Cocalico wins, the Eagles are in and E-town is out.

Now, if CV loses and E-town and Cocalico both win, it gets confusing and, to be honest, I'm not sure if I have it all figured out. That would put all three teams at 9-7. The first tiebreaker would be head to head results and all three teams went 1-1 against each other. Then you would have to go to section record, and E-town would have the edge there at 8-2 with Cocalico and CV being 7-3. My guess is that CV and Cocalico would have to play each other, with the winner earning the right to play E-town for the section title. But we'll cross that bridge if we get there.

My guess is that CV wins the section, and E-town beats Ephrata to get in to the league playoffs. I honestly think that Solanco will beat Cocalico Wednesday to knock the Eagles out.

Just my take, but we'll know for sure on Wednesday.

Hoops showdowns tonight

There are two big games in Section Two tonight that will go a long way in deciding which two teams from the section get into the L-L Playoffs.

Here are the standings as of today:

Conestoga Valley......8-6
Cocalico....................8-6
E-town......................7-7
Solanco.....................5-9
Ephrata.....................5-9
Garden Spot..............1-13

Tonight, Cocalico hosts CV in a game that will, essentially, decide the Section Two title. But the Bears host Solanco tonight and, if they win, would be tied with the loser of the CV/Cocalico game for the final Section Two berth. Now here's where it gets interesting. The Bears would be tied with the CV/Cocalico loser (if they beat Solanco of course) for that second spot, but the tiebreaker would go to section record, in which case E-town would be 7-2 and the CV/Cocalico loser would be 6-3, thus giving the Bears the inside track.

After tonight, E-town wraps up the regular season by travelling to Ephrata on Wednesdsay.
CV hosts Garden Spot and Cocalico hosts Solanco.

So to get right to the point, here's what I'm saying. The way I have it figured out is simple: if E-town wins its final two games, it will make the league playoffs. Period. If the Bears drop one of those two, they will need a lot of help to get in. But they control their own destiny. Win and they're in.

Should be a good one tonight in Daubert Gym, I'll be there.

Here they come...

Wanted to post something quickly for you tonight. Just got back from a very loud Daubert Gymnasium, where the E-town boys basketball team pulled out a HUGE win tonight over Conestoga Valley. CV had a two game lead over the Bears in Section Two going into tonight, and that win puts E-town in a tie for second place and just a game out of first with just a couple of section games left.

Chad Styer was huge tonight for the Bears, making big shot after big shot to bring E-town back for the win. Tonight reminded me what is fun and great about high school hoops. Two good teams in a dogfight, matching each other every time down the court. Mix in a few big 3's, a clutch steal by Jordan Hallman, and a great student section and this one was an instant classic.

E-town didn't have its best stuff tonight offensively, and they know it, but they proved that they can win (and beat a good team) when they don't necessarily have their A game. And that, lads and lasses, is what separates playoff-caliber teams from mediocre ones.

That much I know – and knowing is half the battle. GI Joe will never steer you wrong.

Movin' on up

With all of the wrestling stuff happening over the weekend, I may have overlooked the huge win the EAHS boys basketball team earned on Friday night, beating Cocalico 62-48.

The loss knocked the Eagles (6-6 league) out of first place and pulled the Bears (5-7 league) into a tie for third place and just a game out of second. A matchup with first place Conestoga Valley (7-5) looms tomorrow night for the Bears. A win there would put them in second place in the section, which would be huge for their playoff hopes.

I'll be there tomorrow night in Daubert Gym for the big game.

Bears roll

I was in Daubert Gymnasium to watch E-town take on Penn Manor last night and, once again, walked out of the gym wondering how in the heck E-town isn't leading Section Two. Granted, I haven't seen every team in Section Two play yet, but I've seen E-town enough times to know that they can play with anybody in the section, and certainly can beat all five other teams.

They really are a fun team to watch run and up down the court, mainly because of the athleticism that oozes from them. Just one schlub's opinion, but if I were the rest of Section Two, I'd be wary of these Bears.

Here are the standings as of today:
Cocalico....................6-5
Conestoga Valley.......6-5
Ephrata.....................4-6
E-town......................4-7
Solanco.....................4-7
Garden Spot..............1-10

As insane as it may seem, this thing is still very, very much up in the air....sort of reminds me of the last three NFC playoff berths in November and December. Anything can happen, mainly because there are still five more section games to play. Remember, the top two teams in the section make the playoffs, so the Bears will likely need some help from other teams, even if they go 5-0 against the section this time around. But trust me, I've seen crazier things happen.

For E-town, though, they have to be looking at Friday as a must win. They travel to Cocalico to face the Eagles and have to still be bitter about that 39-38 loss they suffered to Cocalico earlier in the year. The bottom line is that everything is still up in the air right now, which means the Bears aren't out of it yet. Should be a fun finishing stretch here.

Crossover games

The Section Two teams matched up with Section One last night (the first of three straight crossover games for the Bears). Here's what went down:
• McCaskey beat up on Cocalico, 73-61. Cocalico is in first place in Section Two and McCaskey is leading Section One. Want proof that the Bears can beat anyone in the section? They hung right with the Tornado, whereas Cocalico was lucky to get within 12. Granted, it's much later in the season and McCaskey is in a groove right now, but still.
• Hempfield blew Conestoga Valley out of the gym, beating them by 25. CV is ahead of the Bears by a game in the section standings (more on those in a minute), and the Bears get Hempfield tomorrow. Should be a good measuring stick to see where they are.
• The team that is tied with Hempfield for second in Section One right now, Cedar Crest, snuck by E-town 64-58 thanks to some good free throw shooting down the stretch by Chris Keith. The Bears played pretty well in this one from what I can gather, but just came up short. But again, they hung right with one of the best teams in Section One, as they've done all season. Something tells me that if they were to play Warwick and Manheim Township again, the outcome might be different.
• Ephrata snuck by Warwick and Solanco beat Manheim Township by 23 (the Streaks only scored 13 points in the first half). Remember, E-town is fresh off blowout wins over Ephrata and Solanco. So you could look at that as the Bears are much better than their record, or that forecasting L-L basketball is crapshoot and anybody can beat anybody on any given night.

Here are the updated Section Two standings after last night's games. Needless to say, the next two games for E-town (@ Hempfield tomorrow, home vs. 4-5 Penn Manor Tuesday) are pretty huge in the grand scheme of things, especially considering they have a showdown with Cocalico next Friday night.

Cocalico............6-3 league 10-6 overall
CV.....................4-5 league 8-7 overall
Ephrata..............4-5 league 5-10 overall
Solanco.............3-6 league 7-8 overall
E-TOWN............3-6 league 6-9 overall
Garden Spot.......1-8 league 1-14 overall

It's pretty safe to say that the Section Two title, with the exception of Garden Spot, is still very much up for grabs. But it's crunch time right now, and it's time to see which of these teams will come through down the stretch. Anything could happen.

Playing catch up

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you all had a safe, enjoyable New Year's Eve and that you are still sticking by your New Year's resolutions (my resolution of eating healthier begins AFTER the NFL playoffs. Sorry, but I just can't enjoy watching my Redskins while munching on carrot sticks. I need some hot wings or chili or something like that. And lots of it).

Now that the holidays are beyond us and everything is running on a much more regulated schedule, especially here in Newspaper Land, let me catch up with how the E-town teams in action over the holiday break fared at their respective holiday tournaments.

WRESTLING

The Bears were in the Donegal Holiday Tournament on Friday and Saturday and looked good, sending eight kids to the finals, winning three individual titles, and winning the team standings.

Shane Rosenberry, above (awesome photo by Chris Bradley), was an absolute monster in this thing. He had five matches total and earned five pins in a TOTAL time of 2:59. I still think he was robbed of OW in the tourney (although Middletown's Chris Kochinsky is a beast), but great effort by Shane at 189 pounds, especially in the finals, where he picked up a pin in less than 30 seconds. Blake Rosenberger wrestled a great match against Aaron Yohn (who is pretty darn good) in the finals and picked up a decision to win the 145 title. And Travis Leber, who is brutally strong and rocks a devastating arm bar, continued his great season by winning the 171 class. Combined, Leber, Roseberry and Rosenberger have a 39-4 combined record. Wow.

Definite props should go to Sean McMullen and Alex Kirchner as well. McMullen was second at 215 and Kirchner was second at 285 despite both obviously giving up tons of weight. I don't know their exact weights, but if either of these kids weigh more than 200 pounds, I'd be amazed. What they are doing this year while wrestling kids much, much heavier than they are is astounding.

While I'm in the mood to give out props, great tournaments by Oliver Thayer, Matty Hoover, Zac Distasio and Kyle Morrow as well. Morrow came out of nowhere to make it to the finals at 125 as a six seed. Great job by him, good for you Kyle.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Break 'em up! Chad Styer, above (photo by Randy Dininni), and the Bears are riding a two game winning streak after beating Garden Spot last night. E-town lost its first game in the West Shore tournament over the break, but rebounded to beat Penn Manor in the consolation game on Friday night and beat Garden Spot by 13 last night, thanks to 12 points from Quinn Cozzens and 11 each from Styer and Jordan Hallman.
E-town is now 4-7 overall and 1-5 in league play, but I'm not giving up on them yet. I really think this is one of the better teams in Section Two and that they can make a late season run at a playoff spot. It's too soon to say if the hole they are in is too big to dig out of, but I know they'll give it one heck of a shot.
We'll know much more about their position this time next week. E-town's next two games (tomorrow and Monday) are against Ephrata and Solanco, both Section Two teams. Two wins there are the Bears are back in this thing.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Becca Bigler, above (photo by Randy DininnI), went beserk on Friday night in the Hershey Holiday Classic and led E-town to its first win of the season. Bigs had 19 points and 20 boards and the Bears whooped Greencastle-Antrim 59-31 in the consolation game of the tournament.
E-town was held to just a point in the second half last night, though, against Garden Spot and lost to the Spartans 28-16. Puzzling.
The Baby Bears are extremely young, so it'll be another year or so before they are in the mix, but the experience they are getting this season is going to be very, very, very valuable.

That's all for now, E-town. I'll be at the wrestling match tonight, the girls basketball game tomorrow night, and the boys basketball game on Monday, so feel free to come over and say hi.

Stay classy Elizabethtown.

Cheers.

The heartbreak kids

Boy, oh boy, the E-town boys basketball team has certainly been on the short of the stick a bunch in the past week or so. (by the way, sorry for the lack of a photo to accompany this lovely entry, my system seems to be in a funk. Either that, or I'm an idiot. Probably the latter).

But back to the Bears, let's look at their past three games:
61-59 loss to Warwick last Friday (I was at this game and I can tell you first-hand, it was a tough, tough loss).
61-58 loss to Manheim Township Monday (seriously, you couldn't make this up...another tough one).
39-38 loss to Cocalico last night. Wow.

That's three losses in less than a week by a COMBINED total of six points. Ouch. But there are two ways to look at a week like that.

1. There's the glass half empty perspective. You know, the "they're 0-4 in the league and 2-5 overall and can't seem to win the close games" viewpoint. But that's not what I choose to think. I'm a glass half full kind of fella. Well, except when the glass is filled with ice cold milk and there's a sleeve of Oreos in front of me, then that glass is going to be empty. In a hurry. In a related note, I had to punch a new hole in my belt with a pair of scissors yesterday.

2. My take is the glass half full take. Yes, the Bears are 0-4 in league play, but guess what? Four other teams in the section are just 1-3, meaning the Bears are still just a game out of second place. And Cocalico (the team that beat E-town by just one point) is in first at 3-1, so at least the Bears know they can hang with the section's first place team.

For some reason or another, the bounces at the end of the games just aren't going E-town's way right now, but that doesn't mean it won't change at any minute. The Bears could be 3-1 in league play as easily as they are 0-4 and that's something that should keep them motivated. If any team in Section Two can make a mid or late season charge at the section crown and the league playoffs, it's this E-town team. But they've got to start soon.

Actually, they've got to start by beating CV tomorrow night and head into the winter break with some momentum.

EAHS boys basketball preview

Note: all of these previews can be found in this week's issue of the Chronicle.

Head Coach: Kevin Dolan, first season.

2006-2007 Record: 4-19 overall, 2-14 Lancaster-Lebanon League.

Key Returners: Tilghman Grandstaff, senior, F; Jordan Hallman, senior, G; Nate Koach, senior, F; Nate McCurdy, senior, G; Mike O’Shea, senior, G; Quinn Cozzens, junior, G; Kyle McNeil, junior, F; Chad Styer, junior, F; Jordan Hoover, junior, G.
This group got its feet wet last season as all of these players saw their first varsity action a year ago. All of these players are athletic and can run the court. They also have some decent height up and down (only McCurdy and O’Shea are under six foot, and they are both 5’10”) and that should give them an advantage, especially in rebounding.
Having a year of playing together under their belts should help this group jell and improve on-court chemistry for the Bears. This is a bunch that should get even better as the season goes along as they learn each others’ tendencies and adjust to the playing style implemented by Dolan.
O’Shea will likely handle most of the point guard duties for the Bears this year, and he’ll look to get the ball to Koach and McNeil in the post, where they will form a potent scoring threat. Cozzens and Styer are both excellent all-around ball players and can score from pretty much anywhere on the court. McCurdy and Hoover are quick and excellent from the outside. Hallman’s athleticism is unmatched and gives the Bears a ton of speed, not to mention leaping ability. Grandstaff will be an excellent complement to Koach and McNeil down low and will be able to provide some points and tough rebounds.

Key Newcomers: Scott Billheimer, senior, G; Weston Parrett, senior, G; James Bard, junior, F; Bradley Garber, sophomore, F.
This is a good group that will likely be relied to contribute from the bench, with the starting five likely consisting of the returning players. Getting quality minutes from its reserves will be very important to E-town’s success this season. Keep an eye on Garber, a young, talented player who plays with a lot of hustle and has the
ability to score in bunches.

Key Losses: Brett DeGroat; Cameron Sweigart; Sean Freeman.
E-town lost only three players to graduation from last year’s team, unlike two years ago when the entire team graduated. DeGroat, Sweigart and Freeman were all important players a year ago and contributed but were not among the team’s leading scorers. The Bears will miss their leadership, but have enough talent on the roster to make up for the loss.

How they’ve fared so far this year: 2-1
So far so good for the Bears, as they are off to a 2-1 start. They beat Lancaster Mennonite in their season-opener and crushed Donegal on Tuesday night. E-town didn’t win its second game until the 10th game of the year last season. Against Donegal, Hoover, Cozzens and Styer led the Bears to the win, showing that E-town has a lot of players that can hurt you in a lot of different ways.

What they do well: Play hard, work together.
The Bears are loaded with speed and athleticism and have a roster filled with players with great attitudes. E-town will play their hearts out for their new coach and won’t quit until the final whistle. The players also know that they are in this thing together. They came onto the varsity level for the first time together and they are returning with a year of experience under their belts together. This is a close-knit group and that usually translates into on-court success for basketball teams. And that’s what could be the Bears’ No. 1 strength – their hustle and determination.
Because they are so athletic and they give 100 percent at all times, the Bears should find themselves in just about every game. There won’t be many deficits they won’t be able to at least cut into.

What they need to work on: Learning how to win.
The Bears took their lumps last year, with every player on the roster taking the court at the varsity level for the first time. So this year, when they find themselves in the middle of a close game against a section opponent, E-town must find a way to get more victories this season. Playing in the L-L League isn’t easy, so E-town will be in plenty of close games. The key will be for the returning players to step up and make big plays in the second halves of games.

Outlook:
The Bears should definitely show vast improvement from last year. They’ve got a brand new coaching staff and last year’s tough season should be a distant memory. This team is talented enough that, if it plays with confidence and believes in Dolan’s coaching, can make a lot of noise in the section.
They won’t be the biggest team in the league, but they will be scrappy and they won’t stop coming at you. They aren’t exactly tiny either. Koach is 6’4” and Grandstaff, McNeil, Styer, Cozzens and Garber are each 6’2” or taller, which will give opposing coaches plenty to worry about. What should be the Bears’ biggest strengths are their team cohesion and their balance. They can beat you with Koach and McNeil inside, or with O’Shea and McCurdy outside. And then, Styer and Cozzens can shoot from outside or drive to the basket.
This is a deep team and that will be important, especially in league games. Watch for E-town to be the surprise team in Section Two this year, win at least 12 games and be in the league playoff hunt in late January.