WRIGHTSVILLE – The best kinds of journeys are the ones which continuously move forward – no regressions, no regrets.
For the Elco boys’ basketball team, there is no looking back. It’s full steam ahead.
On Monday night, during the championship game of the three-team Eastern York Holiday tournament, the Raiders continued to move forward, with a 75-51 triumph over the host Golden Knights. After spinning its wheels a little early, the Raiders found some traction in the second quarter then pulled away from Eastern York in the second half.
It was another solid, well-rounded performance for Elco, which improved to 7-2 overall. Raider senior guard Bryce Coletti was selected as the most valuable player of the event, and teammates Braden Bohannon and Asher Kemble joined him on the all-tournament team.
“Oh, yeah, I’m pleased,” said Elco head coach Brad Conners. “I love these kids. I love being in the gym with them. I don’t think we’ve taken a step back yet. I’m really happy with our progress. I think we were better tonight than we were on Saturday night (in a 76-52 victory over Spring Grove). We don’t know how good we can be. We don’t know our ceiling.
“In the rebound department, we want to be ten better than our opponent or get to 35 every game,” continued Conners. “That’s going to be one of the things we’re going to continue to stress. I think we can be better with our transition offense. I think we can be better at guarding the ball.”
Eastern York netted the first five points of the game, while opening a 10-5 lead four minutes in. After that, it was all Raiders.
It was a 12-2 burst which gave Elco some footing. Coletti canned ten points and Bohannon scored on a strong drive to the hole, as the Raiders opened a 17-12 lead.
The remainder of the game consisted of Elco expanding its advantage.
“They’ve got some nice players,” said Conners of the Golden Knights. “We talked before the game, that they were going to make shots. We told them ‘stay together and stay calm.’ We have kids who don’t get too excited. I wasn’t really concerned. I liked how we were getting to the basket.
“Everybody contributed. Everybody had good energy,” added Conners. “Everybody played to a standard. Obviously, we shot the ball very well. It was just a nice team effort.”
“It was tough for me because it’s my senior year,” said Coletti, who missed the Raiders’ first two contests to an injury. “I’m fine. I could play another game right now. My job is to facilitate the offense, just lead the team and control the tempo of the game.”
Early in the second stanza, back-to-back treys from Justin Huey and Bohannon gave the Raiders a 23-15 lead. Later in the quarter, an Elco 7-0 run that consisted of a Ben Horst three-pointer, a Coletti drive and a Bohannon pull-up made it a 32-23 game.
“I think it was important,” said Conners. “It’s important for this group to get hardware, that they win some stuff. We get to go home as champs.
“I think these guys have a lot of potential,” Conners continued. “Our resolution is to just keep getting better. We continue to play a brand of team basketball. It’s fun to watch them play that brand of basketball.”
“This game was important for us,” said Coletti. “We had it circled on our calendar because they got us last year. It’ll end up being an important game in the district rankings.”
Coletti poured in a game-high 23 points. Bohannon drilled five three-pointers and finished with 22 points, while Horst popped for ten.
Elco outscored Eastern York 42-27 inside the arc. The Raiders enjoyed a 25-18 advantage in rebounds.
“He’s a star,” said Conners of Coletti. “When he’s on the court, you don’t have to worry about the ball, you don’t have to worry about turnovers. Whatever college gets him will be getting a star. He’ll be the steal of his class.”
“We shared the ball well,” said Coletti. “One of our main talking points is defense. And the key to playing well defensively is communication.”
The Raiders overwhelmed Eastern York in the third quarter.
Elco held the Golden Knights without a point for a 4:31 stretch, and opened a commanding 53-32 bulge. The Raiders’ 14 consecutive points consisted of seven from Bohannon, three from Coletti, two from Kemble and two from Horst.
Elco carried a 61-37 lead into the final quarter.
“We always talk about keeping people at ten points in each quarter,” said Conners of the Raiders’ defensive goals. “I thought our defense was pretty good. We’ve been stressing transition defense and identifying shooters. We talk about forcing teams to make at least that second pass (of each possession).”
“I don’t think we’ve reached our full potential,” said Coletti. “We’ve gotten to tighten things up on the defensive end. It all starts with defense.”
| Date | Teams | Score | |
| 12/06 7:30 pm | Elco Lebanon at Lebanon | 57 53 | Nonleague |
| 12/07 7:30 pm | Elco Cedar Crest at Lebanon | 55 59 | Nonleague |
| 12/10 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona at Elco | 49 70 | Nonleague |
| 12/13 7:30 pm | Cocalico at Elco | 41 60 | League |
| 12/16 7:30 pm | Elco at Manheim Central | 73 71 | League |
| 12/18 7:30 pm | Solanco at Elco | 47 62 | League |
| 12/20 7:30 pm | Elco at Lampeter-Strasburg | 50 54 | League |
| 12/28 7:30 pm | Elco Spring Grove at Eastern York | 76 52 | Nonleague |
| 12/30 7:30 pm | Elco Eastern York at Eastern York | Nonleague | |
| 1/03 12:00 pm | Octorara at Elco | League | |
| 1/04 1:30 pm | Oley Valley at Elco | Nonleague | |
| 1/07 7:30 pm | Elco at Donegal | League | |
| 1/08 7:30 pm | Camp Hill at Elco | Nonleague | |
| 1/10 7:30 pm | Northern Lebanon at Elco | League | |
| 1/15 7:30 pm | Wyomissing at Elco | Nonleague | |
| 1/17 7:30 pm | Lancaster Catholic at Elco | League | |
| 1/21 7:30 pm | Elco at Octorara | League | |
| 1/24 7:30 pm | Donegal at Elco | League | |
| 1/28 7:30 pm | Elco at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 1/29 7:30 pm | Conrad Weiser at Elco | Nonleague | |
| 1/31 7:30 pm | Garden Spot at Elco | League | |
| 2/04 7:30 pm | Elco at Lancaster Catholic | League |
| League | Overall | |||||||
| W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | PF | PA | |
| Lancaster Catholic | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 7 | 1 | 0.875 | 437 | 349 |
| Elco | 3 | 1 | 0.750 | 7 | 2 | 0.750 | 503 | 426 |
| Octorara | 2 | 2 | 0.500 | 5 | 4 | 0.556 | 521 | 482 |
| Northern Lebanon | 1 | 3 | 0.250 | 2 | 7 | 0.222 | 376 | 484 |
| Donegal | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 1 | 8 | 0.111 | 387 | 528 |
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