ASSUMPTION HILL – Back in the day, it was all about section and division games. But as scholastic basketball has evolved, so has the importance of non-league contests.
It’s really become just a matter of perspective.
On Monday night on Assumption Hill, the Lebanon Catholic boys’ basketball squad scored an important non-league 37-29 victory over York Country Day. After overcoming a somewhat sluggish start, the Beavers pulled away from the Greyhounds during the second half of play.
The result was crucial for Lebanon Catholic’s bid to qualify for the District Three Class A postseason. The Beavers entered the fray position tenth in the Class A power rankings, while York Country Day came in holding down the 11th spot.
The top ten teams qualify for the District Three playoffs.
Lebanon Catholic is now 6-7 overall, and 6-3 in non-league tilts. York Country Day slipped to 4-6 on the year.
The Beavers have not sniffed the District Three postseason since before the Wee Sanchez era began.
“I don’t think any one game is more important than another,” said Sanchez, Lebanon Catholic’s head coach. “We want to compete in Section Five (of the Lancaster-Lebanon League). We want to bring Lebanon Catholic back to prominence. We have to step up if we want to get to districts. Yes, they’re (non-league tilts) very important.
“At this school, the boys’ program has been successful,” continued Sanchez. “But we’e gone down the other way. For me selfishly and for my players, I want them to taste it (the district playoffs). We want to bring Lebanon Catholic back, just to feel it. They (his players) deserve to feel it. Then it snow balls and gets contagious. They want to get it.”
Protecting a three-point halftime margin, the Beavers turned up the intensity in the third quarter.
Lebanon Catholic held the Greyhounds score-less for a key 3:19 stretch to open a 25-15 advantage. Junior Mark Gates netted seven of the Beavers’ resulting nine unanswered points, while teammate Nicolas Cruz-Buck contributed a bucket.
“We’re a man-to-man team and we get after it,” said Sanchez. “I thought the effort wasn’t there in the first and second quarters. But we picked it up in the third quarter. It was in our hands. It’s easy when the baskets are going in. I’ve got a bunch of kids who are sophomores, and we have to work through adversity.
“We’ve got shooters,” Sanchez continued. “I told them at halftime, ‘Our shots just aren’t falling. We need to go figure it out.’ I wanted them to take the lay-up first and then shoot their shots. I’m glad they listened. They worked the ball around a little and got the shots we wanted.”
The Beavers put the Greyhouds away with an 8-0 burst early in the final stanza, as Gates tallied seven more points and Carter Dodson knocked down a free throw. It was 35-21 Catholic with 3:35 remaining.
“The number-one thing for us is effort,” said Sanchez. “We’ve got to bring the effort every day. If we bring that, we’ll be OK. We have basketball IQ. We have players who can play the game. If we do it for 32 minutes, we can compete with the best out there.”
Gates notched a game-high 17 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Lebanon Catholic outscored York Country Day 12-0 from beyond the arc.
“York Country Day is well-known for slowing things down,” said Sanchez. “They did that, and our shots didn’t fall early. In the third quarter, we went to the rim. But I wasn’t happy with the way we started the game.
“They’re (the Greyhounds) number 11 in the power rankings and we’re number ten,” added Sanchez. “For us to make a move, these are the games we need to win. This was a must-win for us. York Country Day is a well-coached team and they run their offense well.”
The Beavers went the first 6:13 of the contest without a point, and the Greyhounds raced out to a 6-0 lead. LCS got off the schneid with a stickback from Dodson and a driving lay-in by Cruz-Buck, then pulled to within 9-7 of the lead on a Cruz-Buck three-pointer a minute into the second stanza.
“We’re very good offensively against man-to-man,” said Sanchez. “But against zones, if our shots aren’t falling, we need to find a basket to build our confidence. We built some confidence and our shots started to fall. In the third quarter, we made the defense work.”
Lebanon Catholic registered the final nine points of the first half to take a 16-13 lead to the break. Dodson accounted for four of those points, while Gates also knocked down a three-pointer.
| Date | Opponents | Outcomes | |
| 12/07 7:30 pm | Veritas at Lebanon Catholic | 27 55 | Nonleague |
| 12/11 7:30 pm | Lititz Christian at Lebanon Catholic | 65 26 | Nonleague |
| 12/13 7:30 pm | Pequea Valley at Lebanon Catholic | 66 49 | League |
| 12/14 7:30 pm | Lebanon Catholic at Christian School of York | 62 45 | Nonleague |
| 12/16 7:30 pm | Lancaster Mennonite at Lebanon Catholic | 59 35 | League |
| 12/18 7:30 pm | Columbia at Lebanon Catholic | 85 36 | League |
| 12/20 7:30 pm | Dayspring Christian Academy at Lebanon Catholic | 44 47 | Nonleague |
| 12/27 TBD | Lebanon Catholic West Shore Christian at West Shore Christian Academy | 54 49 | Nonleague |
| 12/28 6:00 pm | Lebanon Catholic Lititz Christian at West Shore Christian Academy | 31 36 | Nonleague |
| 1/02 7:30 pm | Lebanon Catholic at Annville-Cleona | 37 58 | League |
| 1/07 7:30 pm | Lebanon Catholic at Pequea Valley | Postponed League | |
| 1/09 7:30 pm | Susquenita at Lebanon Catholic | 36 62 | Nonleague |
| 1/11 6:00 pm | Lebanon Catholic at Conestoga Christian | 46 58 | Nonleague |
| 1/13 7:00 pm | York Country Day at Lebanon Catholic | Nonleague | |
| 1/14 7:30 pm | Lebanon Catholic at Lancaster Country Day | League | |
| 1/17 7:30 pm | Lebanon Catholic at Lancaster Mennonite | League | |
| 1/21 7:30 pm | Lebanon Catholic at Columbia | League | |
| 1/23 7:30 pm | Lebanon Catholic at York Country Day | Nonleague | |
| 1/27 7:30 pm | Mount Calvary at Lebanon Catholic | Nonleague | |
| 1/31 7:30 pm | Lancaster Country Day at Lebanon Catholic | League | |
| 2/04 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona at Lebanon Catholic | League | |
| 2/06 7:30 pm | Lebanon Catholic at Antietam | Nonleague |
| A | School | W | L | T | Rating | TWP | OWP | TWPW | OWPW | TWPL | OWPL |
| 1 | Lititz Christian School | 9- | 1- | 0 | 0.622906 | 0.843750 | 0.352985 | 6.8 | 71.0 | 1.3 | 130.1 |
| 2 | Mount Calvary Christian School | 9- | 2- | 0 | 0.554914 | 0.751351 | 0.314823 | 7.0 | 72.9 | 2.3 | 158.6 |
| 3 | Halifax Area | 8- | 3- | 0 | 0.542296 | 0.670051 | 0.386150 | 6.6 | 96.8 | 3.3 | 153.8 |
| 4 | LINVILLE HILL CHRISTIAN | 5- | 2- | 0 | 0.519420 | 0.612403 | 0.405773 | 4.0 | 74.5 | 2.5 | 109.1 |
| 5 | Greenwood | 8- | 4- | 0 | 0.510728 | 0.640351 | 0.352300 | 7.3 | 88.9 | 4.1 | 163.4 |
| 6 | Lancaster County Christian | 8- | 3- | 0 | 0.505515 | 0.655738 | 0.321910 | 6.0 | 57.3 | 3.2 | 120.7 |
| 7 | Conestoga Christian School | 8- | 3- | 0 | 0.503093 | 0.623116 | 0.356399 | 6.2 | 71.9 | 3.8 | 129.8 |
| 8 | Harrisburg Academy | 6- | 4- | 0 | 0.407895 | 0.478723 | 0.321328 | 4.5 | 68.3 | 4.9 | 144.2 |
| 9 | High Point Baptist Academy | 3- | 3- | 0 | 0.403243 | 0.381356 | 0.429994 | 2.3 | 67.0 | 3.7 | 88.8 |
| 10 | Lebanon Catholic School | 5- | 6- | 0 | 0.388341 | 0.370892 | 0.409668 | 4.0 | 100.0 | 6.7 | 144.1 |
| 11 | York Country Day School | 4- | 4- | 0 | 0.356879 | 0.375000 | 0.334730 | 3.0 | 63.9 | 5.0 | 127.0 |
| 12 | Lancaster Country Day School | 4- | 9- | 0 | 0.347134 | 0.242915 | 0.474512 | 3.0 | 113.1 | 9.4 | 125.3 |
| 13 | West Shore Christian Academy | 5- | 6- | 0 | 0.336068 | 0.333333 | 0.339409 | 3.8 | 73.6 | 7.5 | 143.2 |
| 14 | Covenant Christian Academy | 4- | 5- | 0 | 0.319443 | 0.324324 | 0.313477 | 3.0 | 58.2 | 6.3 | 127.4 |
| 15 | Dayspring Christian Academy | 4- | 8- | 0 | 0.283709 | 0.232558 | 0.346226 | 3.0 | 73.4 | 9.9 | 138.6 |
| 16 | Berks Christian School | 2- | 10- | 0 | 0.262901 | 0.111111 | 0.448423 | 1.5 | 89.6 | 12.0 | 110.2 |
| 17 | Christian School Of York | 3- | 8- | 0 | 0.244251 | 0.186722 | 0.314564 | 2.3 | 69.6 | 9.8 | 151.6 |
| 18 | Harrisburg Christian School | 1- | 6- | 0 | 0.190580 | 0.092025 | 0.311036 | 0.8 | 45.8 | 7.4 | 101.5 |
| 19 | Veritas Academy | 0- | 8- | 0 | 0.187891 | 0.000000 | 0.417537 | 0.0 | 70.0 | 10.0 | 97.7 |
| 20 | New Covenant Christian School | 0- | 7- | 0 | 0.147189 | 0.000000 | 0.327087 | 0.0 | 57.6 | 8.8 | 118.5 |
| League | Overall | |||||||
| W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | PF | PA | |
| Columbia | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | 9 | 5 | 0.643 | 872 | 786 |
| Lancaster Mennonite | 5 | 1 | 0.833 | 8 | 6 | 0.571 | 817 | 776 |
| Annville-Cleona | 3 | 3 | 0.500 | 6 | 7 | 0.462 | 664 | 713 |
| Pequea Valley | 2 | 3 | 0.400 | 5 | 8 | 0.385 | 605 | 700 |
| Lebanon Catholic | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 5 | 7 | 0.417 | 540 | 628 |
| Lancaster Country Day | 0 | 5 | 0.000 | 4 | 9 | 0.308 | 701 | 666 |
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