NEFFSVILLE – For the Cedar Crest boys’ basketball team, it’s all led up to this.
At the beginning of the season, the Falcons wished, hoped, thought they could win the Lancaster-Lebanon League championship. Everything along the way has been validation and affirmation.
On Friday night at Manheim Township High School, Cedar Crest turned that dream into reality by downing Warwick 45-41, in the L-L League title match. After they led the entire way, the Falcons fended off a strong Warrior push in the closing moments.
For the Falcons, it was their fourth Lancaster-Lebanon League championship overall and first in five years. Now 22-3 on the year, Cedar Crest will be the fourth seed and host the winner between Central Dauphin and Manheim Township, on Friday, February 21st, in the quarterfinal round of the District Three Class AAAAAA postseason tournament.
Back on December 20th at ‘The Cage’, Cedar Crest had bested Warwick 55-50 on its way to the L-L Section One crown.
Warwick, the champions of Section Two, slipped to 19-5 on the year.
“We made that run at the beginning of the season, with 11 wins,” said Cedar Crest head coach Tom Smith. “We got off to a good start like that and we thought we might have a chance to win the league championship. I don’t like to think too far ahead. I don’t think we thought about winning a league championship until we qualified for the playoffs.
“I think mentally, we’ve improved,” continued Smith. “That’s the biggest thing. We’ve won nine or ten games by six points or less. That’s the sign of a tough team. They’re (his players) winning games mentally, more than just on athleticism or the game plan.”
“We all just believe in each other,” said Cedar Crest senior Cole Miller. “It’s a team thing. We just stuck together.
“I’m just so happy,” added Miller. “It’s great for the team to get a big win like this. There’s nothing better.”
It certainly wasn’t easy. But then again, it never is for the Falcons.
Cedar Crest led 39-29 on an inside hoop from Jasosn Eberhart and 40-32 on a free throw by Grant Allwein, early in the fourth quarter. But the Warriors employed a little three-quarter court, trapping pressure and it was effective enough to limit Cedar Crest to two points over a key 3:47 stretch.
Warwick’s resulting 6-2 spurt pulled it to within 42-38 of the lead, before Amani Jones stemmed the tide for the Falcons with a couple of free throws. The Warriors did get a contested look at a potential tying three-pointer with seven seconds left, before Falcon Ilerri Ayo-Faleye iced the outcome with a foul shot.
“We knew they weren’t going to go away,” said Smith. “They certainly didn’t. At the end of the day, we did enough down the stretch, we made enough free throws to pull it out. When you stretch it to a two-possession game, then you can really defend the three-point line. It was a gutsy win.
“These guys want to be good,” Smith continued. “They want to win. They’re into it. It’s the difference between seniors and sophomores. They listen and then they go play.”
“We knew before the game that they (the Warriors) were never going to go away,” said Miller. “I think it was good that we stayed ahead. We just had to come together, slow down and take it all in. We had to get our minds right.”
On a number of occasions in the third quarter, Cedar Crest threatened to pull away from the Warriors.
Four unanswered points from Allwein made it a 33-23 Cedar Crest lead late in the period. And when Ayo-Faleye drilled three foul shots at the end of the third quarter, the Falcons had themselves a 36-27 margin.
“It’s just lots of practice,” said Smith of his side’s man-to-man defense. “It’s one thing we do every single day from the start of practice. We engrain it in these guys.
“We play man-to-man in the first and second grades,” Smith added. “We don’t allow our travel teams or middle school teams to play zone. We want to get into gaps. We want to step in and take charges. We hold kids accountable. If you don’t play defense, you don’t play.”
Ayo-Faleye tallied 13 points to lead the Falcon attack. Cedar Crest outscored Warwick 22-12 on two-point field goals.
Cedar Crest made just 13 of its 30 free throw attempts. But Warwick was a miserable five-for-17 at charity stripe.
“When their number’s called, they’re not selfish,” said Smith of his bench. “They do all the right things, and when they come in, they make plays. That’s what being a team is all about.
“You’re not going to beat teams in the district playoffs if you don’t make your free throws,” added Smith. “I have no idea when that started.”
“Everybody picked me up,” said Miller of some early foul difficulties. “Max Scipioni did a good job when he came in for me. It was nice to see other guys step up and make plays.”
Cedar Crest played well defensively, especially early. The Falcons held Warwick to a single point over the contest’s first 5:51, while building a six-point cushion on a three-pointer from Amani Jones, two foul shots by Ayo-Faleye and an Allwein lay-in.
“It was a lot of the same,” said Smith of the earlier match-up with the Warriors. “They didn’t change their stuff. They do what they do. What we needed to do was expose their size.
“Statistically, I don’t think it is (their best season defensively),” continued Smith. “We do a lot of good things, but the two guys (Eberhart and Ayo-Faleye) who protect the rim are pretty good. We like to get out and be aggresssive. You’ve got to have an extra sense of urgency, because they (the Warriors) have five guys who can shoot it.”
On buckets from Ayo-Faleye, Scipioni and Eberhart, Cedar Crest registered the initial six points of the second stanza to extend its lead to 13-4. A late three-pointer from Carson Perlaki gave the Falcons a 24-15 advantage at the intermission.
“I don’t want to lose in anything,” said Smith. “I don’t like losing to my wife playing cards at home. But that (a 61-42 setback to Manheim Township in the regular-season finale) was a good loss for us. It knocked us down a little bit. The line between great, good and bad is thin.”
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 | 60 40 | 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 | 48 62 | League |
1/17 7:30 pm | Manheim Township at Cedar Crest | 49 58 | League |
1/22 7:30 pm | Carlisle at Cedar Crest | 43 56 | Nonleague |
1/24 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest at Hempfield | 56 51 | League |
1/28 7:30 pm | Penn Manor at Cedar Crest | 52 65 | League |
1/31 7:30 pm | McCaskey at Cedar Crest | 52 53 | League |
2/04 7:30 pm | Cedar Crest at Manheim Township | 42 61 | League |
2/10 7:00 pm | Cocalico at Cedar Crest | 36 59 | Playoff |
2/12 5:30 pm | Lampeter-Strasburg Cedar Crest at Hempfield | 43 48 | Playoff |
2/14 7:00 pm | Warwick at Cedar Crest | 41 45 | Playoff |
2/21 7:00 pm | TBA at Cedar Crest | Playoff |
AAAAAA | School | W | L | T | Rating | TWP | OWP | TWPW | OWPW | TWPL | OWPL |
1*** | Wilson | 21- | 1- | 0 | 0.845478 | 0.970930 | 0.692147 | 25.1 | 332.3 | 0.8 | 147.8 |
2*** | Central York | 18- | 3- | 0 | 0.777853 | 0.897704 | 0.631368 | 21.5 | 291.9 | 2.5 | 170.4 |
3*** | Reading | 15- | 5- | 0 | 0.763886 | 0.825581 | 0.688480 | 17.8 | 300.9 | 3.8 | 136.2 |
4*** | Cedar Crest | 19- | 3- | 0 | 0.757581 | 0.906375 | 0.575722 | 22.8 | 269.2 | 2.4 | 198.4 |
5*** | Central Dauphin | 17- | 5- | 0 | 0.748749 | 0.846311 | 0.629506 | 20.7 | 301.3 | 3.8 | 177.3 |
6*** | Cumberland Valley | 18- | 4- | 0 | 0.748520 | 0.880478 | 0.587238 | 22.1 | 277.0 | 3.0 | 194.7 |
7*** | Warwick | 17- | 4- | 0 | 0.736006 | 0.861635 | 0.582460 | 20.6 | 264.0 | 3.3 | 189.3 |
8*** | J P McCaskey | 15- | 7- | 0 | 0.720284 | 0.773859 | 0.654805 | 18.7 | 310.1 | 5.5 | 163.5 |
9*** | Chambersburg Area | 16- | 6- | 0 | 0.703824 | 0.807377 | 0.577259 | 19.7 | 270.9 | 4.7 | 198.4 |
10*** | Governor Mifflin | 13- | 9- | 0 | 0.692080 | 0.692478 | 0.691594 | 15.7 | 339.4 | 7.0 | 151.4 |
11*** | Harrisburg | 13- | 8- | 0 | 0.683714 | 0.725400 | 0.632765 | 15.9 | 283.7 | 6.0 | 164.7 |
12*** | Manheim Township | 13- | 8- | 0 | 0.681031 | 0.720824 | 0.632394 | 15.8 | 291.9 | 6.1 | 169.7 |
13 | Central Dauphin East | 14- | 8- | 0 | 0.678221 | 0.717842 | 0.629794 | 17.3 | 298.1 | 6.8 | 175.2 |
14 | Exeter Township | 13- | 9- | 0 | 0.658504 | 0.681193 | 0.630774 | 14.9 | 301.1 | 7.0 | 176.3 |
15 | Dallastown | 13- | 9- | 0 | 0.652726 | 0.680617 | 0.618637 | 15.5 | 294.1 | 7.3 | 181.3 |
16 | Lebanon | 12- | 10- | 0 | 0.609194 | 0.642857 | 0.568050 | 14.4 | 270.3 | 8.0 | 205.5 |
17 | Waynesboro Area | 12- | 10- | 0 | 0.585746 | 0.611872 | 0.553815 | 13.4 | 259.9 | 8.5 | 209.4 |
18 | Red Lion | 10- | 12- | 0 | 0.566068 | 0.533019 | 0.606460 | 11.3 | 287.3 | 9.9 | 186.4 |
19 | Carlisle | 8- | 14- | 0 | 0.562892 | 0.485294 | 0.657734 | 9.9 | 317.9 | 10.5 | 165.4 |
20 | Penn Manor | 8- | 14- | 0 | 0.530882 | 0.463054 | 0.613782 | 9.4 | 296.2 | 10.9 | 186.4 |
21 | HEMPFIELD | 6- | 16- | 0 | 0.505033 | 0.365979 | 0.674987 | 7.1 | 334.0 | 12.3 | 160.8 |
22 | Conestoga Valley | 7- | 15- | 0 | 0.482745 | 0.401515 | 0.582027 | 8.0 | 276.6 | 11.9 | 198.6 |
23 | York County School Of Technology | 4- | 15- | 0 | 0.306571 | 0.197403 | 0.440000 | 3.8 | 178.8 | 15.5 | 227.5 |
1973: McCaskey
1974: Cocalico
1975: Ephrata
1976: Cedar Crest
1977: Cocalico
1978: Lebanon
1979: Lebanon
1980: McCaskey
1981: Warwick
1982: McCaskey
1983: McCaskey
1984: Hempfield
1985: Lebanon
1986: Lebanon
1987: Warwick
1988: Warwick
1989: Columbia
1990: Columbia
1991: Conestoga Valley
1992: Hempfield
1993: McCaskey
1994: Solanco
1995: Hempfield
1996: Lebanon
1997: Lebanon
1998: Lebanon
1999: Hempfield
2000: Hempfield
2001: McCaskey
2002: McCaskey
2003: Lancaster Catholic
2004: Lebanon
2005: McCaskey
2006: McCaskey
2007: McCaskey
2008: McCaskey
2009: Conestoga Valley
2010: Hempfield
2011: Hempfield
2012: McCaskey
2013: McCaskey
2014: Cedar Crest
2015: Cedar Crest
2016: McCaskey
2017: Lancaster Catholic
2018: Lampeter-Strasburg