ANNVILLE – Expectations are always interesting. No matter how much we know or how much we think we know, things never quite pan out the way we plan or expect.
At the beginning of the season, the postseason was very much on the Annville-Cleona boys’ basketball team’s radar. But the Little Dutchmen didn’t anticipate facing as many as difficulties as they have along the way.
On Saturday afternoon at Annville-Cleona High School, the Little Dutchmen took a crucial and positive step towards those anticipated playoffs, with a 69-56 home triumph over Oley Valley. Annville-Cleona made its hay during the middle stanzas, when it outscored the Lynx by a combined margin of 35-23.
The late-season game pretty much amounted to a playoff contest for Annville-Cleona, With three regular-season games remaining, the Little Dutchmen are now 10-9 on the season.
Annville-Cleona is perilously perched in the eighth spot of the power rankings for a AAA classification that takes eight for its District Three tournament.
With the loss, Oley Valley dropped to 6-14 overall.
“We control our own destiny,” said Annville-Cleona head coach Jason Coletti. “If we win, we take care of ourselves. We’re OK right now. We’ve got three big ones left.
“At the beginning of the season, I thought we’d have a team that wanted to repeat (last year’s trip to districts),” continued Coletti. “I didn’t think we’d have to battle like this. We lost some games early on that put us in this position.”
Following a back-and-forth start to the contest, the Little Dutchmen got a leg up on Oley Valley late in the opening stanza. Annville-Cleona ripped off the final nine points of the period, on seven points from Adam Long and a pair of foul shots by Andrew Long, to open up a 21-12 lead.
“It was tight at the beginning,” said Coletti. “But at the end of the first quarter, we went on a little run. Then in the second quarter, we expanded the lead. But in the third quarter, I thought we relaxed a little bit. I was proud of the effort, coming off a big win Thursday (at home over Lancaster Mennonite).
“I thought we played pretty well,” Coletti added. “This is more about an effort game, a noon start on a Saturday. I thought we needed to be ready. The last four games we’ve had really good effort, and I think that continued today.”
It was more of the same for the Little Dutchmen in the second quarter.
Protecting a seven-point margin, Annville-Cleona tallied the final six points of the first half and took a 38-25 lead to the locker room. Josh Speraw converted a lay-up, Andrew Long drain a couple more free throws and Adam Long took it strong to the hoop.
“I thought our 1-3-1 zone was pretty good,” said Coletti. “I think our length bothered them a little bit, especially their shooters.
“We’re looking for the consistency,” Coletti continued. “We had a big win against Palmyra (Jan. 15), then the execution wasn’t the same after it. It took us a little while to get some chemistry and get into a groove. But I think they’ve (his players) found it.”
With Andrew posting 22 and Adam registering 18, the Long twins combined for 40 of the Little Dutchmen’s total points. Cade Horning supported them with 14 points.
Annville-Cleona outscored the Lynx 18-12 from beyond the arc.
“Our goal is always going to be to get to the playoffs,” said Coletti. “Everyone starts in mid-Novementer, and that’s what they’re shooting for. It’s a reward for a good season, and if you do make it, the community really gets behind you. It’s just a great experience.”
A couple of Andrew Long buckets to start the third quarter moved the A-C advantage to 42-25. Then later in the third, Junior Bours drilled a three-pointer and Andrew Long turned a steal into a lay-in, to move the Little Dutchmen’s lead to 54-33.
“We got a little sloppy at the end,” said Coletti of the fourth quarter. “We had a good-sized lead and we relaxed a little bit. It comes with growth and experience. We need to close out teams better.”
The result was never in doubt, but Oley Valley did cut its defict to 59-47 early in the final period. It was at that time that Horning scored ten straight Little Dutchmen points.
“Absolutely, I do feel like we are worthy of a playoff spot,” said Coletti. “We beat Mennonite. We beat Hanover, who are right on the bubble like we are. We played a lot of the top teams (in Class AAA). We’ve had a tough schedule. Ours is right up there with a lot of the top teams. I definitely feel like we belong.”
| Date | Opponents | Outcomes | |
| 12/06 7:00 pm | Annville-Cleona Brandywine Heights at Hamburg | 34 52 | Nonleague |
| 12/07 TBD | Annville-Cleona Northern Lehigh at Hamburg | 53 50 | Nonleague |
| 12/10 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona at Elco | 49 70 | Nonleague |
| 12/13 7:30 pm | Columbia at Annville-Cleona | 59 50 | League |
| 12/17 6:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at Pequea Valley | 45 42 | League |
| 12/18 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona at Lancaster Country Day | 59 52 | League |
| 12/20 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona at Lancaster Mennonite | 51 54 | League |
| 12/21 3:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at Hanover | 67 56 | Nonleague |
| 12/27 TBD | Annville-Cleona Northern Lebanon at Northern Lebanon | 42 36 | Nonleague |
| 12/28 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona Littlestown at Northern Lebanon | 44 58 | Nonleague |
| 1/02 7:30 pm | Lebanon Catholic at Annville-Cleona | 37 58 | League |
| 1/09 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona at Columbia | 66 80 | League |
| 1/11 1:30 pm | Northern York Annville-Cleona at Manheim Central | 67 46 | Nonleague |
| 1/15 7:30 pm | Palmyra at Annville-Cleona | 46 55 | Nonleague |
| 1/17 7:30 pm | Pequea Valley at Annville-Cleona | 35 58 | League |
| 1/21 7:30 pm | Lancaster Country Day at Annville-Cleona | 54 51 | League |
| 1/25 6:00 pm | Northern Lebanon at Annville-Cleona | 46 30 | Nonleague |
| 1/30 7:30 pm | Lancaster Mennonite at Annville-Cleona | 48 60 | League |
| 2/01 12:00 pm | Oley Valley at Annville-Cleona | Nonleague | |
| 2/03 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona at Kennard-Dale | Nonleague | |
| 2/04 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona at Lebanon Catholic | League | |
| 2/06 7:30 pm | Middletown at Annville-Cleona | Nonleague |
| AAA | School | W | L | T | Rating | TWP | OWP | TWPW | OWPW | TWPL | OWPL |
| 1 | Trinity (3) | 16- | 2- | 0 | 0.717931 | 0.882022 | 0.517375 | 15.7 | 194.3 | 2.1 | 181.3 |
| 2 | Camp Hill | 12- | 6- | 0 | 0.608114 | 0.662857 | 0.541206 | 11.6 | 215.4 | 5.9 | 182.6 |
| 3 | Columbia | 14- | 6- | 0 | 0.606288 | 0.689840 | 0.504170 | 12.9 | 208.6 | 5.8 | 205.1 |
| 4 | Upper Dauphin Area | 13- | 4- | 0 | 0.579582 | 0.703470 | 0.428163 | 11.2 | 164.7 | 4.7 | 219.9 |
| 5 | Lancaster Mennonite | 11- | 9- | 0 | 0.539099 | 0.536111 | 0.542750 | 9.7 | 231.7 | 8.4 | 195.2 |
| 6 | Brandywine Heights Area | 13- | 7- | 0 | 0.536371 | 0.647208 | 0.400904 | 12.8 | 164.1 | 7.0 | 245.2 |
| 7 | Tulpehocken | 11- | 9- | 0 | 0.487531 | 0.540609 | 0.422658 | 10.7 | 172.6 | 9.1 | 235.7 |
| 8 | Annville Cleona | 9- | 9- | 0 | 0.471047 | 0.483051 | 0.456377 | 8.6 | 194.9 | 9.2 | 232.1 |
| 9 | Hanover | 11- | 9- | 0 | 0.469834 | 0.525641 | 0.401626 | 10.3 | 175.4 | 9.3 | 261.3 |
| 10 | Oley Valley | 6- | 13- | 0 | 0.389982 | 0.308483 | 0.489591 | 6.0 | 202.3 | 13.5 | 210.9 |
| 11 | Pequea Valley | 7- | 14- | 0 | 0.360572 | 0.284635 | 0.453384 | 5.7 | 186.3 | 14.2 | 224.6 |
| 12 | Kutztown Area | 5- | 14- | 0 | 0.330090 | 0.247911 | 0.430530 | 4.5 | 179.0 | 13.5 | 236.7 |
| 13 | Biglerville | 3- | 17- | 0 | 0.303605 | 0.154412 | 0.485952 | 3.2 | 210.2 | 17.3 | 222.3 |
| 14 | Susquenita | 0- | 18- | 0 | 0.191616 | 0.000000 | 0.425814 | 0.0 | 168.8 | 21.0 | 227.6 |
| League | Overall | |||||||
| W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | PF | PA | |
| Columbia | 9 | 0 | 1.000 | 14 | 6 | 0.700 | 1238 | 1065 |
| Lancaster Mennonite | 7 | 2 | 0.778 | 11 | 9 | 0.550 | 1151 | 1119 |
| Annville-Cleona | 5 | 4 | 0.556 | 9 | 9 | 0.500 | 918 | 941 |
| Lancaster Country Day | 3 | 6 | 0.333 | 7 | 13 | 0.350 | 1055 | 1034 |
| Pequea Valley | 3 | 6 | 0.333 | 7 | 14 | 0.333 | 972 | 1175 |
| Lebanon Catholic | 0 | 9 | 0.000 | 6 | 13 | 0.316 | 805 | 995 |
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