BY JEFF FALK

LANCASTER- The Cedar Crest boys’ basketball team will be involved in a lot of important games with implications from here on out – the Falcons have worked hard to put themselves in that position.

But Cedar Crest can not be expected to win them all. And if you must lose some, it is better to lose them early.

On Tuesday night at McCaskey High School, the Falcons were not up to the challenge presented by the home-standing Red Tornado, and they dropped a somewhat disappointing 62-48 road decision. While the contest was much closer than the final score might indicate, it did reflect the difference in the two clubs on this particular evening.

The result was far from devastating for the Falcons. It was just their second of the season and Cedar Crest’s first in Lancaster-Lebanon Section One play, and it created a virtual tied atop the circuit’s standing.

Cedar Crest is now 14-2 overall and 7-1 in Section One. The Falcons held down the number-three line in the latest District Three Class AAAAAA power rankings.

With the triumph, McCaskey moved to 10-4 on the year and 6-1 in the section.

“It makes it a little tougher for us to reach our first goal,” said Cedar Crest head coach Tom Smith. “The two of us are the only ones in the section who still control their own destinies. They still have to come to us (for the rematch in South Lebanon on Jan. 31). They’re a good basketball team.

“It is disappointing,” Smith continued. “We felt good about ourselves coming down here. We were very confident coming into the game. We want to win them all.”

Down six at the break, Cedar Crest netted the first bucket of the second half on an inside move by Jason Eberhart. But later in the third period, the Falcons went scoreless for a critical 5:36 stretch, as Lancaster pushed its lead to 37-23.

“We got off to a slow start,” said Smith. “We got into foul trouble early. We just didn’t get into it. Credit to them. I thought they defended us well.

“I don’t think nerves was it,” Smith added. “We definitely never felt comfortable. Maybe it was nerves.”

McCaskey’s advantage reached 46-29 two minutes into the fourth quarter, but the Falcons refused to go quietly. Eberhart’s inside bucket capped a 16-4 Falcon burst that pulled them to within 50-45, with 1:44 to go.

Forty-four seconds later, Cedar Crest’s Trey Shutter drained a three-pointer to get his side to within 54-48 of the Red Tornado. But McCaskey tallied the final eight points of the contest.

“I expect nothing less,” said Smith. “I have a club full of warriors. They didn’t quit. They never will. In games like this, you learn a lot about yourself. I think we do need to play smarter at times.

“They’re (losses) eye-openers,” continued Smith. “When you have lots of success and have success early, your faults aren’t exposed. We’ve just got to get back to the fundamentals we do. I think we’ll regroup. They’re (his players) committed to each other.”

With 17 points, Shutter showed the way for Cedar Crest scorers, while Eberhart pumped in a dozen. Elijah Terry struck for 20 Red Tornado points.

McCaskey outscored Cedar Crest 38-26 on field goals from inside the arc. The Red Tornado also made good on 17 of its 22 free throw attempts.

“He’s been a spark,” said Smith of Shutter. “He’s been playing well lately. He was hurt at the beginning of the season, but he’s starting to get his legs. We knew he had it in him. It just took some time to come out.

“He’s (Terry) tough, man,” added Smith. “I hadn’t seen him play. I obviously had heard of him. He’s a tough check. One thing we said was we had to make him earn everything. Our size has given people problems, but it didn’t seem to bother him.”

The Red Tornado registered seven of the game’s first ten points. But behind four points from Eberhart, an old-fashioned three-point play from Ileri Ayo-Faleye and a Grant Allwein drive, the Falcons pieced together a 9-4 stretch to take a 12-11 edge.

“I think we have a good idea of what’s going on,” said Smith. “I’ve got a big bench and kids competing. We’re seeing some things we like.”

An inside hoop by Ayo-Faleye and a three-pointer from Amani Jones gave the Falcons a 17-15 margin midway through the second quarter. But McCaskey ended the half on a 9-1 run, and with a 24-18 lead.

“It’s definitely something we’re working on, finding one guy to take control,” said Smith of his club’s lack of a true point guard. “We don’t necessarily have that floor general. Are we talking about that? Yes.”

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com.

2019-20 Cedar Crest Boys’ Basketball Results

Date	Opponents	Outcomes
12/06 6:00 pm	Red Land Cedar Crest at Lebanon	29 70	Nonleague
12/07 7:30 pm	Elco Cedar Crest at Lebanon	55 59	Nonleague
12/09 7:30 pm	Wyomissing at Cedar Crest	47 59	Nonleague
12/13 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Elizabethtown	45 41	League
12/16 7:30 pm	Lebanon at Cedar Crest	55 57	League
12/18 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Ephrata	57 26	League
12/20 7:30 pm	Warwick at Cedar Crest	50 55	League
12/21 7:00 pm	Cedar Crest at Palmyra		Nonleague
12/27 7:30 pm	Oxford at Cedar Crest	38 51	Nonleague
12/28 7:30 pm	Lebanon at Cedar Crest	49 59	Nonleague
1/02 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Conestoga Valley	52 46	League
1/04 4:30 pm	Cedar Crest Lower Dauphin at Lebanon Valley College	46 58	Nonleague
1/08 7:30 pm	Hempfield at Cedar Crest	47 61	League
1/10 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Penn Manor	70 40	League
1/11 3:00 pm	Cedar Crest Bishop McDevitt at Manheim Central	58 55	Nonleague
1/14 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at McCaskey		League
1/17 7:30 pm	Manheim Township at Cedar Crest		League
1/22 7:30 pm	Carlisle at Cedar Crest		Nonleague
1/24 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Hempfield		League
1/28 7:30 pm	Penn Manor at Cedar Crest		League
1/31 7:30 pm	McCaskey at Cedar Crest		League
2/04 7:30 pm	Cedar Crest at Manheim Township		League

PIAA District Three

Class AAAAAA Power Rankings

AAAAAA	School	W	L	T	Rating	TWP	OWP	TWPW	OWPW	TWPL	OWPL
1	Wilson	13-	1-	0	0.843832	0.953704	0.709545	15.5	207.4	0.8	84.9
2	Cumberland Valley	10-	1-	0	0.783359	0.942529	0.588817	12.3	145.9	0.8	101.9
3	Cedar Crest	13-	1-	0	0.780907	0.947853	0.576862	15.5	163.8	0.9	120.2
4	Central York	12-	2-	0	0.778687	0.900621	0.629657	14.5	171.6	1.6	100.9
5	Reading	10-	3-	0	0.768765	0.838710	0.683277	11.7	181.0	2.3	83.9
6	Central Dauphin	9-	3-	0	0.740823	0.826923	0.635590	10.8	160.6	2.3	92.1
7	Governor Mifflin	9-	4-	0	0.736997	0.777778	0.687153	10.9	204.1	3.1	92.9
8	J P McCaskey	9-	4-	0	0.716036	0.778547	0.639633	11.3	181.4	3.2	102.2
9	Warwick	10-	4-	0	0.695840	0.785714	0.585993	12.1	165.3	3.3	116.8
10	Chambersburg Area	9-	4-	0	0.692704	0.773852	0.593524	11.0	143.9	3.2	98.6
11	Harrisburg	7-	4-	0	0.689272	0.735683	0.632549	8.4	154.5	3.0	89.8
12	Exeter Township	9-	5-	0	0.686663	0.726950	0.637424	10.3	188.6	3.9	107.3
13	Dallastown	8-	5-	0	0.672508	0.701107	0.637553	9.5	180.3	4.1	102.5
14	Central Dauphin East	5-	4-	0	0.646897	0.647668	0.645953	6.3	168.4	3.4	92.3
15	Waynesboro Area	7-	4-	0	0.639731	0.704036	0.561136	7.9	145.3	3.3	113.6
16	Manheim Township	7-	7-	0	0.634284	0.606618	0.668099	8.3	194.4	5.4	96.6
17	Lebanon	8-	6-	0	0.627862	0.666667	0.580434	9.6	172.7	4.8	124.8
18	Penn Manor	7-	7-	0	0.606259	0.603704	0.609383	8.2	181.2	5.4	116.2
19	HEMPFIELD	5-	9-	0	0.558914	0.461240	0.678293	6.0	191.6	7.0	90.9
20	Red Lion	5-	8-	0	0.536096	0.456790	0.633024	5.6	181.0	6.6	104.9
21	Carlisle	3-	8-	0	0.518423	0.378238	0.689760	3.7	182.2	6.0	82.0
22	Conestoga Valley	3-	11-	0	0.430273	0.270833	0.625144	3.3	190.2	8.8	114.1
23	York County School Of Technology	4-	6-	0	0.394415	0.395833	0.392682	3.8	92.3	5.8	142.8

Lancaster-Lebanon League

Section One Standings

	League	Overall
	W	L	PCT	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
Cedar Crest	7	1	0.875	14	2	0.875	907	738
McCaskey	6	1	0.857	10	4	0.714	959	831
Hempfield	4	3	0.571	5	9	0.357	622	682
Manheim Township	3	5	0.375	8	7	0.533	849	770
Penn Manor	2	6	0.250	7	8	0.467	749	816

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