BY JEFF FALK

 LEBANON – Every year –  year-in, year-out – the Lebanon boys’ basketball progam’s goals are to win a section championship, win a league championship, qualify for districts and possibly make it to states.

 Please consider the possibility that these Cedars are doing the best they can.

 On Monday night, Lebanon High was dealt a crushing blow in its quest for the postseason, as LHS dropped a critical 61-56 non-league decision to Garden Spot. Behind 34 points from slick guard Keontae Nunn, the Spartans established a working margin late in the opening quarter and then held off a furious Cedar rally over the game’s final minutes.

 The outcome put Lebanon in a tough spot going forward. With four regular-season games remaining, the Cedars are 7-10 overall, and 3-6 in Section Two of the Lancaster-Lebanon League. Lebanon was seated 20th in the latest District Three Class AAAAAA power rankings.

 The victory lifted Garden Spot to 9-7 on the year.

  “I don’t know that, at Lebanon, you can say you didn’t make the playoffs and you had a good season,” said Lebanon head coach Tim Speraw. “That’s not how it is in my mind. We feel like we should be in the postseason every year. If you don’t meet your goals, you can’t say you had success.

 “The effort is there. That’s the one thing I’m proud of with this group,” cotninued Speraw. “We play hard every night. It’s more the mental aspect of it. We’re trying to raise the level of their (his players’) mental focus. Not having Scottie (leading scorer, Porter) hurts us. We can’t replace him.”

 After trailing most of the evening – and its season perhaps on the line –  Lebanon mounted a furious comeback with less than four minutes to go. Facing a 60-46 deficit, the Cedars ripped off ten unanawered points and pulled to within 60-56, on a three-pointer from Jean-Carlos Gonzalez-Belen, with 35 seconds remaining.

 Also included in the run were five other points by Gonzalez-Belen, a Raylin Pena driving lay-in and five missed free throws.

  “If we knock down a couple of those foul shots – some of them – we’re in the game,” said Speraw. “The score’s closer or we have the lead. It changes the whole complexion of the game. Playing with the lead and playing down eight are two different games.”

 There was alos the matter of Nunn. At one point, from late in the third period into the early moments of the fourth, he tallied 11 straight Spartan points, and Garden Spot enjoyed leads of eight to 14 points.

 “We had bad turnovers at times,” said Speraw. “We weren’t taking care of the ball and we just missed too many assignments on 20 (Nunn). And he made us pay. He shot well. We couldn’t find an answer for him.

 “He gets a lot of the credit for it,” added Speraw. “He made plays. He was very efficient. It’s not like he took 30 shots to get 34 points.”

 Nunn got his on 11 two-pointers and four three-pointers. For Lebanon, Gonzalez-Belen poured in a team-high 23 points, Pena pumped in 12 and Jahlil Young dropped in ten.

 The Cedars, who were without Porter because of an injury, made just seven of their 20 free throw attempts.

 “Give them a lot of credit, especially Nunn,” said Spearaw of the Spartans. “He balled tonight. He put on a show. That was worth the price of admission for the fans.”

 Lebanon turnovers helped swing the momentum in Garden Spot’s favor late in the opening period. But an inside move from Isaiah Rodriguez and a three-pointer by Luke Collins drew Lebanon to within 20-14 of the lead.

 Later in the second stanza, the Cedars pulled to within 26-20 of the Spartans, on a Young drive, and then 28-23, on a charity toss from Gonzalez-Belen. Garden Spot enjoyed a 34-27 margin at the break.

 “We know we have to come close to being perfect to have any shot at districts,” said Speraw. “We just wanted to stay on the winning track. We needed a win for a ton of different reasons. We didn’t get it done. They were things that can’t happen if you want to win close games.

 “Districts is probably a very long shot,” concluded Speraw. “Leagues is more realistic. But if we play like we did tonight, I don’t think we’ll be playing in any postseason tournaments.”

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2018-19 Lebanon Boys’ Basketball Results

	League			Overall
	W	L	PCT	W	L	PCT	PS	PA
Warwick	9	0	100.00	11	5	68.75	879	826
Elizabethtown	5	3	62.50	10	7	58.82	1066	994
Lebanon	3	6	33.33	7	10	41.18	913	875
Conestoga Valley	1	8	11.11	3	13	18.75	762	950
Ephrata	0	8	0.00	1	14	6.67	655	830