BY JEFF FALK

ASSUMPTION HILL – It was everything you would expect from Annville-Cleona/Lebanon Catholic. It just wasn’t who you would expect from the Little Dutchmen and Beavers.

On Friday night, unsung heroes Julian DyReyes-Kapp and Cameron Hoch led the Annville-Cleona boys’ basketball team to a hard-fought 49-44 victory over the rival Beavers. Hoch and DyReyes-Kapp made all the right moves with the game on the line down the stretch, and tallied the Little Dutchmen’s last dozen points of the contest.

The outcome pushed Annville-Cleona to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in Section Four of the Lancaster-Lebanon League. Technically, the win moved the Little Dutchmen into first place in the section, and while it’s way too early to make any wild assumptions, remember this is pretty much the same A-C club which went 2-20 a year ago.

With its fifth straight setback, Lebanon Catholic slipped to 1-5 on the year and 0-4 in Section Four.

“Cameron Hoch won us a basketball game at Donegal the last time out, just with his hustle play,” said Annville-Cleoana head coach Chris Bradford. “They (the Beavers) put Julian on the line and he just smiled. Those two guys, they start on the defensive end. I don’t ask them to take jumpers, but they get into the lane. I love those two guys’ games tonight. And our big guys (Isaac Burris, Noah Myers) are tough to get around.

“Cameron Hoch off the bench for us has been like gasoline on our fire,” continued Bradford. “The energy, the effort. We think energy is a skill and we coach that up. An energized basketball play can become better. We’re bringing it.”

Following a back-and-forth affair for two quarters-plus, the Little Dutchmen created a little working room for itself near the end of the third period. It was at that point that DyReyes-Kapp and Hoch took over.

With Annville-Cleona protecting an early fourth-period, 37-31 margin, DyReyes-Kapp notched ten points on drives to the basket and at the foul stripe and Hoch tallied four, on a pair of critical steals and ensuing lay-ins. Hoch’s theft-and-dash with 1:48 remaining put the Little Dutchmen ahead 47-39, and DyReyes-Kapp’s foul shots with 19 seconds remaining made it a two-possession game again, and iced it.

“We haven’t won two in-a-row since I’ve been here,” said Bradford, who’s in his third season on the Little Dutchmen bench. “Now we have put that streak together. We matched our win total from last year, in December, and next week we have a chance to get to .500. The truck is moving in the right direction. We’re coaching them up. We’re going to continue to hammer the paint. When we get the ball inside, we’ve got to finish those plays.

“Defense is what I keep harping on with our guys,” added Bradford. “If we can keep teams around 50 points, we’ll be OK. We know what we have to clean up. But if we can defend like that and rebound like that, it shows me the guys are putting forth the effort. And that makes me feel proud of our guys.”

The Little Dutchmen built on their two-point halftime lead in the third quarter. With Myers contributing a couple of buckets, Burris nailing a short jumper and Don Friday working the backdoor, Annville-Cleona opened the second half on an 8-2 spurt to open a 28-20 advantage.

“Now’s the time for this program’s other shoe to drop,” said Bradford. “We’ve been through some bad, but now’s when good things are going to start happening. The last guy on the bench is not concerned about himself, he’s concerned about the team.

“We kept consistently making the right plays,” Bradford added. “I told our guys, ‘That was a smart game’.”

None of the six players who saw action for Annville-Cleona scored less than six points, and no other Little Dutchmen scored more than DyReyes-Kapp’s 12. The Little Dutchmen shot 50 percent from the charity stripe – 11-for-22 – as did Lebanon Catholic, six-for-12.

Davian Perez paced the Beavers with a dozen points of his own.

“We had two nice games leading into an opponent who wanted to spread us out,” said Bradford. “The schedule couldn’t have fallen better for this team. The paint is key for us. If we can keep teams out and get our’s there, we’re going to do well.

“His (Lebanon Catholic head coach Scott Clentimack’s) kids are coming along too,” continued Bradford. “They’re going to battle. We just made five more points than them tonight.”

After both sides struggled to a five-all, opening-quarter stalemate, Lebanon Catholic assumed a 17-12 lead on a lay-up from Luke Frattaroli, 2:09 before the break. But thanks in part to a Beaver technical foul, the Little Dutchmen ended the half on an 8-1 run – four points by Matt Light, a runner by Burris and charity tosses from Myers and Hoch – and led 20-18 in the locker room.

“I don’t think either team played great early,” said Bradford. “Friday night. These two teams. In this gym. Everyone’s pumped up. I think that’s just a nerve thing. I’m knew to this rivalry, but these two programs like to play each other. I know these two communities like to battle each other. I’m definitely proud of our guys.”

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to see more go to www. http://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/gallery-ten/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lancaster-Lebanon League

 Section Four Standings 

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
Lancaster Catholic	2-2	3-3
Annville-Cleona	2-2	3-4
Lancaster Mennonite	2-2	3-4
Columbia	0-3	2-4
Lebanon Catholic	0-4	1-5
Pequea Valley	0-3	0-5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015-16 Annville-Cleona Boys’ Basketball Schedule

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	RESULT
12/04 #	Fleetwood	7:00 PM	L 42-49
12/05	Northern Lebanon	12:30 PM	L 39-44
12/09	Oley Valley	7:30 PM	W 41-28
12/11 *	@Cocalico	7:30 PM	L 31-57
12/14 *	Lampeter-Strasburg	7:30 PM	L 29-45
12/16 *	@Donegal	7:30 PM	W 58-53
12/18 *	@Lebanon Catholic	7:30 PM	W 49-44