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IMG_3360BY JEFF FALK

NEFFSVILLE – Would you rather play well and lose, or play poorly and win? Now what if a championship is on the line?

It really all depends if you derive enjoyment from within, or if you’re stimulated by outside sources.

On Thursday night at Manheim Township High School, the Cedar Crest boys’ basketball team played well in the Lancaster-Lebanon League championship game, but lost to McCaskey 54-47. Following a nip-and-tuck first half, McCaskey gained control of the outcome early in the final quarter, as the Falcons just couldn’t keep the Red Tornado off the glass.

IMG_3346Not only did the Falcons perform better than they did in some wins this season, their performance was in stark contrast to their two regular-season meetings, both McCaskey wins – 84-55 in Lancaster on December 18th and 63-42 in South Lebanon on January 19th. The Red Tornado may have been motivated by losses to Cedar Crest in the last two Lancaster-Lebanon League championship games.

The league title was McCaskey’s 14th overall.

For Cedar Crest, now 19-6 overall, it was its fourth straight appearance in the L-L championship game. The Falcons will now turn their attentions to the District Three Class AAAA tournament, which they will open at home on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as the sixth seed, against Hempfield.

IMG_3383“I don’t think it was our best game, but we played well,” said Cedar Crest head coach Tom Smith. “It was the best game we played against McCaskey.

“It’s something to build on,” Smith continued. “We never like to lose. But at the end of the day, we grew up today We got better.”

The Falcons moved to within one possession of the Red Tornado on a number of occasions in the fourth quarter. Ramie Ferreira followed a Dylan Miller hoop with a pair of free throws to get Cedar Crest to within 44-41 with 2:28 to go.

With 1:07 remaining, senior Evan Horn pulled the Falcons to within 47-43 with a hard drive to the basket. And Cedar Crest closed to within 52-47 with 22 ticks left when Horn converted a conventional three-point play.

But that would prove to be Cedar Crest’s last gasp. McCaskey closed out the contest by going four-of-six at the charity stripe.

IMG_3257‘They’re getting there,” said Smith of his charges. “They responded. They handled adversity. There was a time when it looked like we might not get here, but they’ve gotten better the last few weeks. This is something they wanted. They wanted to get here. They wanted to cut nets.

“Our defensive rebounding the last four minutes was not good,” Smith added. “We just couldn’t get over the hump in the second half.”

The score was tied at halftime, and at 28 in the middle of the third period, thanks to a Horn three-pointer, before McCaskey pieced together a modest 6-1 to establish a 34-29 advantage. But a Horn three-pointer with two seconds left in the third, drew Cedar Crest to within 36-34 of the lead.

IMG_3277“I think we were pretty confident,” said Smith. “They whooped us the first two times we played them. I told our guys, ‘Let’s give them our best and see what they do’. I think what happened in the last two years in this game mattered to them (the Red Tornado). They’ve had a chip on their shoulder for us.

“We’re a young team, and we’re still growing up, day by day,” Smith continued. “The kids are getting more comfortable in what we do. But the best thing  is we’re not done. They want to get better. The future is bright, but we’re focused on the present.”

Horn shot well and led all scorers with 24 points, and corralled 15 rebounds. And although the score book might not reveal it, the Falcons young guns played well and confident in support of him.

McCaskey made just ten of its 23 free throw attempts, but scored ten points – eight of which came in the second half – directly off of offensive rebounds. The Red Tornado was guilty of seven turnovers, compared to the Falcons’ 12.

IMG_3308“They have good athletes, but I thought we defended them well,” said Smith. “We really didn’t change much defensively against them. It was just knowing our match-ups a little better. (Ricky) Cruz killed us today. He’s a good player, but we make him look like the player of the year. He’s had three good games against us.

“It’s been fun watching the match-up with Evan and Kobe (Gantz) over the years,” added Smith. “I’d like to think that Evan has had the upper hand. But they’re two good players going at it.”

The Falcons found themselves in a 13-8 hole late in the opening period. But when Iziah Trimble nailed a trey late in the quarter, and Horn drained a pair of foul shots, Tate Seyfert laid in a deuce and Blake Thomson scored on a ‘take to the hole’ in the second, Cedar Crest found itself in the midst of a 9-4 run and a 17-all deadlock.

IMG_3251“We pulled the ball out in the first half,” said Smith. “I thought that we had a little success against them when we pulled the ball out in the past. We wanted them to come out and play us. We wanted to dictate a little bit.”

The Falcons’ only leads of the evening came in the second quarter, both on drives by Horn. His bucket 3:09 before the break gave Cedar Crest a 19-18 edge, and his hoop with 58 seconds left in the half made it a 21-19 Falcon margin.

“Last night he had foul trouble,” said Smith of Ferriera’s performance against Lancaster Mennonite on Wednesday. “Tonight we were riding him. He’s a big kid inside. I think his season’s been a little up and down. But he shows up everyday. He’s ready to go.”

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to see more go to www.http://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/gallery-ten/.

 

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IMG_33712015-16 Cedar Crest Boys’ Basketball Results

DATE OPPONENT TIME RESULT
12/05
@CD East
4:30 PM W 74-68
12/11 *
Solanco
7:30 PM W 58-38
12/14 *
@Ephrata
7:30 PM W 55-49
12/16 *
Conestoga Valley
7:30 PM W 52-46
12/18 *
@McCaskey
7:30 PM L 55-84
12/19
Central York
7:30 PM L 69-75
12/21 *
Hempfield
7:30 PM W 58-53
12/23 *
Manheim Twp.
7:30 PM W 59-49
12/28 #
Conrad Weiser
7:30 PM W 70-44
12/29 #
Camp Hill
7:30 PM W 58-46
01/02
Central Dauphin
7:30 PM W 55-49
01/05 *
@Warwick
7:30 PM W 72-43
01/08 *
Penn Manor
7:30 PM W 66-53
01/11 *
@Garden Spot
7:30 PM W 50-34
01/13 *
Elizabethtown
7:30 PM W 66-46
01/15 *
@Lebanon
7:30 PM W 44-32
01/19 *
McCaskey
7:30 PM L 42-63
01/21 *
@Hempfield
7:30 PM L 59-63
01/27 *
@Manheim Twp.
7:30 PM L 53-68
01/28 *
Warwick
7:30 PM W 74-46
01/30
@Lower Dauphin
7:30 PM W 69-54
02/02 *
@Penn Manor
7:30 PM W 63-51
02/06 #
@Lampeter-Strasburg
7:00 PM W 59-52
02/10 #
Lancaster Mennonite
8:00 PM W 58-56
02/11 #
McCaskey
7:00 PM L 47-54
DATE OPPONENT TIME LOCATION
02/17 #
Hempfield
7:00 PM Cedar Crest High School

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Past Lancaster-Lebanon League

Boys’ Basketball Champions

1973: McCaskey

1974: Cocalico

1975: Ephrata

1976: Cedar Crest

1977: Cocalico

1978: Lebanon

1979: Lebanon

1980: McCaskey

IMG_32781981: Warwick

1982: McCaskey

1983: McCaskey

1984: Hempfield

1985: Lebanon

1986: Lebanon

1987: Warwick

1988: Warwick

1989: Columbia

1990: Columbia

IMG_32911991: Conestoga Valley

1992: Hempfield

1993: McCaskey

1994: Solanco

1995: Hempfield

1996: Lebanon

1997: Lebanon

1998: Lebanon

1999: Hempfield

2000: Hempfield

IMG_33242001: McCaskey

2002: McCaskey

2003: Lancaster Catholic

2004: Lebanon

2005: McCaskey

2006: McCaskey

2007: McCaskey

2008: McCaskey

2009: Conestoga Valley

2010: Hempfield

IMG_33542011: Hempfield

2012: McCaskey

2013: McCaskey

2014: Cedar Crest

2015: Cedar Crest

2016: McCaskey

 

 

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IMG_3407PIAA District Three

 Class AAA Power Rankings

AAAA School  W  L  T  Rating    
1 Central York 18- 2- 0  0.832288
2 Reading 18- 3- 0  0.792459
3 Northeastern 20- 1- 0  0.789782
4 Spring Grove 19- 2- 0  0.785597
5 J P McCaskey 16- 5- 0  0.773232
6 Harrisburg 14- 4- 0  0.765177
7 Carlisle 16- 5- 0  0.755213
8 Cedar Crest 17- 5- 0  0.754707
9 Hempfield 14- 7- 0  0.740977
10 William Penn 12- 9- 0  0.740854
11 Lebanon 15- 7- 0  0.708077
12 Conestoga Valley 15- 7- 0  0.701247
13 Central Dauphin East 13- 9- 0  0.695578
14 Wilson 14- 7- 0  0.691876
15 Manheim Township 13- 9- 0  0.686831
16 Shippensburg 16- 6- 0  0.674072
17 Red Lion 11- 11- 0  0.667541
18 Greencastle Antrim 14- 7- 0  0.664732
19 Governor Mifflin 12- 10- 0  0.660355
20 Chambersburg 11- 10- 0  0.656434
21 Cumberland Valley 10- 12- 0  0.656003
22 Cedar Cliff 13- 9- 0  0.651788
23 Dallastown 11- 11- 0  0.637441
24 Hershey 12- 10- 0  0.632497
25 Solanco 11- 11- 0  0.614740
26 Mechanicsburg 11- 11- 0  0.601690
27 New Oxford 9- 13- 0  0.582787
28 Garden Spot 9- 12- 0  0.582505
29 Exeter Township 10- 12- 0  0.581859
30 Red Land 9- 13- 0  0.564826
31 Elizabethtown 8- 14- 0  0.560987
32 Penn Manor 7- 15- 0  0.538163
33 Central Dauphin 6- 15- 0  0.532922
34 Northern York 8- 14- 0  0.532092
35 Warwick 4- 18- 0  0.477232
36 Waynesboro 6- 15- 0  0.473868
37 South Western 4- 17- 0  0.464377
38 Lower Dauphin 4- 18- 0  0.444686
39 Ephrata 3- 19- 0  0.422147
40 Muhlenberg 3- 19- 0  0.400392
41 York County School Of Technology 5- 17- 0  0.356455
42 Daniel Boone 2- 20- 0  0.353653

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