BY JEFF FALK
LEBANON – Next man up!
Dante Vargas didn’t do anything special last night. He just took his turn.
It’s what teammates do. It’s what teams do. It’s what champions do.
On Wednesday night at Cedar Crest High School, Vargas and Lebanon showed exactly what kind of a boys’ basketball team they are, as they advanced to the Lancaster-Lebanon League championship game with a quality 59-48 semifinal triumph over Lancaster Mennonite. After Vargas drained five three-point baskets to stake the Cedars to a six-point halftime lead, Lebanon outscored the Blazers 28-23 over the second half of play.
The win pushed the Cedars, the champions of Section One, to 20-4 and into Friday’s 7 p.m. L-L title match with Lancaster Catholic, which took care of Hempfield 35-19 in the other semifinal. The Cedars advanced to their 13th league championship contest overall, where they are 8-4 all-time.
Lebanon’s eight Lancaster-Lebanon League championships are second only to McCaskey, but the Cedars haven’t won one since 2004.
Lancaster Mennonite, the champions of Section Three, slipped to 21-3 overall.
“It can be anybody,” said Lebanon head coach Tim Speraw. “We talk about that. They (his players) know that. We just say, ‘Let’s go win’. We don’t care who scores or who gets the credit. We just want to score one more point than the other team.
“Dante’s always been a shooter,” continued Speraw. “He has that mentality. He’s got to keep shooting. If he’s hitting, he’s pretty much got free reign. But he’s learning to be more selective with his shot.”
“It just takes one person to step up and do his job,” said Vargas. “Our depth is very important. We have a lot of guys who can do a lot of things. If I’m not playing well, (Camryn) Shaaky is playing well. And if Shaaky’s not playing, I’m playing well. But the most important thing for our shooters is Khalique (Washington), because he draws defenders to him.”
Early in the second quarter, with Lebanon protecting a 17-16 edge, the Blazers’ switch to a match-up zone defense seemed to catch the Cedars off guard. But Lebanon adjusted, Vargas found some holes in Lancaster Mennonite’s scheme and notched all 16 of Lebanon’s points in the period. Vargas connected on four straight three-pointers including a wild,off-balanced buzzer-beater from the left corner that gave the Cedars a 31-25 lead in the locker room.
“It means a lot,” said Speraw. “It’s (winning a league championship) always goal at the beginning of the year. We want to win the section, win the league, do well in districts and go to states. To have a chance to win a title at Township on Friday night, it’s special.
“Obviously knocking down a couple of shots early helped,” Speraw continued. “I thought we played well offensively in the first half. We knew they (the Blazers) were going to crash the boards like crazy, but we came up with some big rebounds. You never want to get off to a bad start. That changes the whole complexion of the game.”
“My first shot was off by a lot,” said Vargas. “I thought it was going to be a long night. But they (his teammates) were finding me and I was knocking them down. The one at the end of the half I thought was going off the side of the backboard, but it went in.”
Vargas’ first three-pointer of the evening came 3:54 in and gave the Cedars an 8-5 margin. And thanks to a post move from Washington, a lay-in from Felix Kortright and a foul shot by Luis Aquino-Rios, Lebanon ended the opening quarter up 15-10.
Six different Cedars found their way into the score book in the first stanza.
“I was worried about the pace of the game,” said Speraw. “They (the Blazers) looked really, really fast on film. But I thought our kids did a great job of slowing it down when we needed to, and playing smart.”
Vargas totaled 24 points, on nine field goals, five of which came from beyond the arc. Aquino-Rios complemented him nicely with 13 points.
Lebanon held Lancaster Mennonite to some 18 points below its season scoring average.
“I thought we played well, but we can always play better,” said Speraw. “We have a lot of things to work on. We’ve got to play better on Friday if we want to accomplish our goal.”
“It’s very important,” said Vargas of playing for a league title. “We haven’t won an L-L championship in a while. The goal at the beginning of the season was to win a section championship and a league championship. We got one. Now w’eve got a chance at the second on Friday.”
Vargas also beat the third-period buzzer, only this time with a driving lay-in, to stretch Lebanon’s lead to 45-34. The Cedars had opened the second half with back-to-back buckets from Aquino-Rios, which had given them a 35-25 advantage.
“This group has been together since elementary school,” said Speraw. “That means something. That means a lot, just the familiarity.”
Lebanon spent most of the fourth quarter deliberately working for good shots out of its spread offense. The Cedars notched the first five points of the period – a Washington charity toss, a driving lay-in from Aquino-Rios and a Vargas baseline move – to push their lead to 50-34.
“We’re not necessarily trying to run a delay offense,” said Speraw. “We’re trying to get good, quality possessions. We had good possessions and bad possessions. We’ll clean that up and be ready Friday.”
To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.
2016-17 Lebanon Boys’ Basketball Results
| DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME |
RESULT |
|
|
| 12/09 # |
Red Lion
|
7:30 PM |
W 52-39 |
|
|
| 12/10 # |
Cedar Crest
|
7:30 PM |
L 42-58 |
|
|
| 12/14 |
Governor Mifflin
|
7:30 PM |
L 50-54 |
|
|
| 12/16 * |
Manheim Twp.
|
7:30 PM |
W 64-52 |
|
|
| 12/19 * |
@McCaskey
|
7:30 PM |
W 68-58 |
|
|
| 12/21 * |
Warwick
|
7:30 PM |
W 79-56 |
|
|
| 12/29 |
Cedar Cliff
|
6:00 PM |
W 67-50 |
|
|
| 12/30 |
Camp Hill
|
6:00 PM |
W 68-44 |
|
|
| 01/03 * |
@Penn Manor
|
7:30 PM |
— |
|
|
| 01/06 * |
@Conestoga Valley
|
7:30 PM |
— |
|
|
| 01/07 |
@Palmyra
|
5:30 PM |
L 73-75 |
|
|
| 01/10 * |
Hempfield
|
7:30 PM |
— |
|
|
| 01/13 * |
@Cedar Crest
|
7:30 PM |
W 60-41 |
|
|
| 01/17 * |
@Manheim Twp.
|
7:30 PM |
— |
|
|
| 01/20 * |
McCaskey
|
7:30 PM |
— |
|
|
| 01/23 |
@Ephrata
|
7:30 PM |
— |
|
|
| 01/24 * |
@Warwick
|
7:30 PM |
W 69-44 |
|
|
| 01/27 * |
Penn Manor
|
7:30 PM |
— |
|
|
| 01/31 * |
Conestoga Valley
|
7:30 PM |
— |
|
|
| 02/03 * |
@Hempfield
|
7:30 PM |
L 47-50 |
|
|
| 02/04 |
Hershey
|
2:30 PM |
W 55-54 |
|
|
| 02/07 * |
Cedar Crest
|
7:30 PM |
W 53-48 |
|
|
| 02/13 # |
@Ephrata
|
7:00 PM |
W 52-50 |
|
|
PIAA District Three
Class AAAAAA Power Rankings
| AAAAAA |
School |
W |
L |
T |
Rating |
TWP |
OWP |
| 1 |
Reading |
18- |
2- |
0 |
0.790497 |
0.921053 |
0.630930 |
| 2 |
Governor Mifflin |
18- |
4- |
0 |
0.767302 |
0.877551 |
0.632554 |
| 3 |
Lebanon |
18- |
4- |
0 |
0.746144 |
0.876494 |
0.586828 |
| 4 |
Harrisburg |
16- |
5- |
0 |
0.733279 |
0.836518 |
0.607098 |
| 5 |
Carlisle |
14- |
7- |
0 |
0.719543 |
0.766147 |
0.662582 |
| 6 |
Central Dauphin East |
14- |
8- |
0 |
0.692541 |
0.736842 |
0.638395 |
| 7 |
HEMPFIELD |
15- |
7- |
0 |
0.689586 |
0.776151 |
0.583784 |
| 8 |
Cedar Crest |
15- |
7- |
0 |
0.686966 |
0.771368 |
0.583810 |
| 9 |
Central York |
15- |
7- |
0 |
0.682047 |
0.752119 |
0.596405 |
| 10 |
Manheim Township |
14- |
8- |
0 |
0.677018 |
0.737069 |
0.603623 |
| 11 |
Chambersburg Area |
13- |
8- |
0 |
0.668032 |
0.722864 |
0.601015 |
| 12 |
Dallastown Area |
14- |
8- |
0 |
0.655782 |
0.714894 |
0.583534 |
| 13 |
Wilson (3) |
12- |
9- |
0 |
0.645385 |
0.665083 |
0.621309 |
| 14 |
Central Dauphin |
8- |
13- |
0 |
0.566369 |
0.491228 |
0.658207 |
| 15 |
Warwick |
8- |
14- |
0 |
0.540091 |
0.466019 |
0.630623 |
| 16 |
J P McCaskey |
6- |
14- |
0 |
0.539183 |
0.414365 |
0.691739 |
| 17 |
Cumberland Valley |
7- |
14- |
0 |
0.539133 |
0.443570 |
0.655933 |
| 18 |
Conestoga Valley |
5- |
17- |
0 |
0.452162 |
0.297927 |
0.640672 |
| 19 |
Cedar Cliff |
5- |
17- |
0 |
0.451948 |
0.283163 |
0.658241 |
| 20 |
Penn Manor |
5- |
17- |
0 |
0.446531 |
0.300532 |
0.624974 |
| 21 |
Red Lion Area |
4- |
18- |
0 |
0.417238 |
0.238342 |
0.635890 |
| 22 |
York County School Of Technology |
4- |
17- |
0 |
0.335463 |
0.185464 |
0.518795 |
Lancaster-Lebanon League
Past Boys’ Basketball Champions
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
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