LEBANON – We had a thriller on our hands when the ELCO Raiders squared off against the Lebanon Cedars on Friday night, during the season-opening, 21st edtion of the Lebanon Athletic Booster Club’s boys’ basketball tournament. Lebanon had the home-court advantage, but ELCO got the win on Braden Bohannon’s buzzer-beating three.
Bohannon’s heroics lifted the Raiders over the Cedars, 56-53.
Electricity filled the entire gym, and the student sections were geared up and ready to go with a tournament championship berth on the line. Right when the ball was tipped, nobody knew what kind of treat they would be in for.
“He put in the work, so he has the confidence,” said Elco head coach Brad Conners of Bohannon. “You can feel it, our kids didn’t want to give up. I’m really proud of them. But we just want to keep getting better and better, and let’s see where we go.
“I worked with him all season long,” continued Conners. “That’s the shot. Make it or miss it, it’s the work you put in. It was on time tonight.”
This contest resembled a track meet more than it did a basketball game. It was up and down all the way and neither side surrendered an inch. Every time one team had the momentum, the other took it away and that was the case for the full 32 minutes.
However, it was the final minutes where things really got interesting. The Raiders appeared to have victory locked up, but the Cedars mounted a rally and tied the score at 53. Despite the effort, ELCO had the ball with a chance to win it.
Bohannon’s first attempt at the winning three missed its mark, but the Raiders retained possession and head coach, Brad Conners, called a time out with 2.4 seconds remaining. The tension was building and it looked like overtime was a definite possibility.
As soon as both teams broke their huddles and took the court, Bohannon received a clean pass and clean path at the three. He released the shot at the top of the key and it fell through the net as time expired.
Just like that, we saw a pouring volcano of blue jerseys storming the court and mobbing Bohannon. The junior guard lifted his game to another level with a 25-point performance, an effort that included five threes.
“In the timeout, we talked about no wanting him to catch it,” said Lebanon head coach Tim Speraw of Bohannon. “We didn’t do our job. We were going to switch everything. But give him credit, he’s got to catch and turn and shoot. He knocked it down.
“I’m not a coach who believes in moral victories,” Speraw added. “We played hard. We played well at times. We either win or we lose, and tonight we lost. But I’ll take that effort every night.”
Of course, both teams were effective at shooting the three-ball all night long. ELCO and Lebanon combined for 19 conversions from beyond the arc and Cedars’ sophomore guard, Luke Collins, had four of his own while topping the Lebanon scoring chart with 14 points.
“A five-point lead felt like a ten-point lead tonight,” said Conners. “Both teams know each other. It was neat that it went down to the wire. Tim really gets everything out of those kids. They battled all night.”
The Cedars’ other top performers included Marquis Ferreira, who finished with 13 points, and Isaiah Rodriguez, who scored 10 of his own. When everything was said and done, it was that one chance, that one shot, that made the difference.
“We were good defensively, in spurts,” said Speraw. “There were little things we didn’t do well. We didn’t close out well on Bohannon at the three-point line. We didn’t get back a couple of times. The little things can add, and that’s what you get.”
| Date | Teams | Score | |
| 12/06 7:30 pm | Elco Lebanon at Lebanon | 56 53 | Nonleague |
| 12/07 TBD | Elco TBA at Lebanon | Nonleague | |
| 12/10 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona at Elco | Nonleague | |
| 12/13 7:30 pm | Cocalico at Elco | League | |
| 12/16 7:30 pm | Elco at Manheim Central | League | |
| 12/18 7:30 pm | Solanco at Elco | League | |
| 12/20 7:30 pm | Elco at Lampeter-Strasburg | League | |
| 12/28 TBD | Elco TBA at Eastern York | Nonleague | |
| 12/30 TBD | Elco TBA at Elco | 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 |
| Date | Teams | Score | |
| 12/06 7:30 pm | Elco Lebanon at Lebanon | 56 53 | Nonleague |
| 12/07 TBD | TBA at Lebanon | Nonleague | |
| 12/10 7:30 pm | Lebanon at Governor Mifflin | Nonleague | |
| 12/13 12:00 pm | McCaskey at Lebanon | League | |
| 12/16 7:30 pm | Lebanon at Cedar Crest | League | |
| 12/18 7:30 pm | Hempfield at Lebanon | League | |
| 12/20 7:30 pm | Lebanon at Penn Manor | League | |
| 12/27 6:00 pm | Emmaus Lebanon at Cedar Crest | Nonleague | |
| 12/28 TBD | TBA Lebanon at Cedar Crest | Nonleague | |
| 1/03 7:30 pm | Lebanon at Ephrata | League | |
| 1/04 6:00 pm | Palmyra Lebanon at Lebanon Valley College | Nonleague | |
| 1/06 7:30 pm | Lebanon at Manheim Township | League | |
| 1/10 7:30 pm | Elizabethtown at Lebanon | League | |
| 1/11 3:00 pm | Conrad Weiser Lebanon at Garden Spot | Nonleague | |
| 1/14 7:30 pm | Warwick at Lebanon | League | |
| 1/16 7:30 pm | Lebanon at Conestoga Valley | League | |
| 1/20 7:30 pm | Lebanon at Garden Spot | Nonleague | |
| 1/21 7:30 pm | Ephrata at Lebanon | League | |
| 1/25 2:30 pm | Hershey at Lebanon | Nonleague | |
| 1/28 7:30 pm | Lebanon at Elizabethtown | League | |
| 1/31 7:30 pm | Lebanon at Warwick | League | |
| 2/04 7:30 pm | Conestoga Valley at Lebanon | League |
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