MYERSTOWN – Two minutes and 34 seconds into the third quarter, Braden Bohannon dribbled up the court, surveyed the defense, pulled up at the three-point line and stroked the basketball. Splash. It was Bohannon’s and his team’s first three-point field goal of the game.
By that time, Manheim Central had already drilled 11 three-pointers, while sitting on a 42-17 lead.
It was one of those nights for the Elco boys’ basketball team.
On Tuesday night at Elco High School, the Raiders were bombed out of their own gymnasium by the red-hot shooting Barons. Manheim Central drained an eye-popping total of 14 three-point field goals and outscored Elco 42-3 during the visitors’ overwhelming 61-32 mercy-rule triumph.
It was an outcome that the playoff-seeking Raiders simply had to have. Now 9-8 overall, Elco was positioned tenth in the latest power rankings for an AAAA classification that qualifies ten squads for its District Three postseason.
The Raiders probably need triumphs in their final two regular season outings to have a shot at the playoffs.
With the non-league victory, Manheim Central upped its overall mark to 10-5.
“It would’ve been a big one,” said Elco head coach Brad Conners. “We definitely feel if we would’ve won, it would’ve locked us into the top ten for districts. We’ve got two games left and we feel like we have to win out. If we win out, I think we’ve got a chance. You’d like to see that for your seniors. Our kids are competitors. You know you’re going to get their best effort.
“That’s (the goal of reaching districts) something we stated at the start of the year,” added Connors. “As coaches, we knew what we were in for. Now here we are with two games left, and we’ve got a chance to go 11-8 and make a district playoff game. But the goal from the very start was to get better every day, every practice. We’ve shown signs. But the last couple of weeks it feels like we took a step backwards.”
Early on, the Raiders matched Manheim Central’s outside game with an inside one that produced buckets from big men Corey Attivo and Luke Williams, and a six-all tie. But the Barons were just getting heated up.
Senior Camryn Eberly’s three-point buzzer-beater gave the Barons a 15-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, and proved to be a sign of things to come.
“Early, we were going inside and the game plan was OK,” said Connors. “The first few minutes, we were executing the game plan. I thought the first three or four possessions we had really good opportunities.
“When you get down like that, you’ve got to come up with the 50-50 balls and you’ve got to rebound,” Connors added. “Near the end of the first quarter, there was a 60-40 ball, but they got it, kicked it out and the kid hit a ‘three’. Instead of 12-7 at the end of the first quarter, it’s 15-7. Their ‘threes’ don’t feel like ‘threes’. They feel like ‘fours’ and ‘fives’.”
Manheim Central’s lead reached 20-7 in the first minute of the second period, before Dallas George stemmed the momentum for Elco by scoring a driving lay-in. But the Barons nailed three more treys before the end of the first half to take a 33-14 bulge to the locker room.
“For them early on, they knocked down shots,” said Connors of the Barons. “After that, there was no game pressure on them. He’s (head coach Charlie Fisher) got the shooters to do it.
“Some of those were contested, and some of those early ones we could’ve contested better,” continued Connors. “We knew who the shooter were. We knew what they were about. We mixed in some zone (defense) with man, and they did a nice job of finding their shooters. Then they started to carve us up with their drives.”
Bohannon tallied 12 points to lead the Raider effort. Manheim Central converted just eight two-point field goals the entire way.
“When things are going well for us, our offense is clicking and we’re getting scoring from all five spots,” said Connors. “When they don’t, we aren’t. I think that’s why going in (to the season), we knew we had to play good defense. At times, it’s left us down.”
At the start of the second half, Manheim Central nailed three more three-pointers to extend its lead to 25 points. The Barons also tallied the first seven points of the final stanza, to push their advantage to 51-24.
A running clock caused by the mercy rule soon followed.
“At halftime, the goal was to get it down to ten (points) by the end of the third quarter,” said Connors. “It had to start with getting ‘stops’, and again, getting 50-50s and rebounds.
“I think they’re (the Barons) first or second in the league in three-point makes,” added Connors. “We knew what they could do, but not to that extent. This one kind of got away from us. They shot it very well. They were deadly.”
| Date | Opponents | Outcomes | |
| 1/08 7:30 pm | Elco at Lancaster Catholic | 39 46 | League |
| 1/09 1:30 pm | Antietam at Elco | 37 65 | Nonleague |
| 1/13 7:30 pm | Elco at Octorara | 62 48 | League |
| 1/15 7:30 pm | Donegal at Elco | 38 55 | League |
| 1/19 7:30 pm | Northern Lebanon at Elco | 55 61 | League |
| 1/21 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona at Elco | 21 66 | Nonleague |
| 1/25 7:30 pm | Octorara at Elco | 50 45 | League |
| 1/28 7:30 pm | Columbia at Elco | 46 45 | Nonleague |
| 1/30 7:30 pm | Hamburg at Elco | 47 59 | Nonleague |
| 2/03 7:30 pm | Elco at Northern Lebanon | 45 51 | League |
| 2/04 7:30 pm | Conrad Weiser at Elco | 70 45 | Nonleague |
| 2/06 1:00 pm | Elco at Donegal | 74 60 | League |
| 2/08 7:30 pm | Lancaster Catholic at Elco | 74 68 | League |
| 2/10 7:30 pm | Elco at Garden Spot | 67 56 | Nonleague |
| 2/12 7:30 pm | Elco at Cocalico | 39 48 | Nonleague |
| 2/13 1:30 pm | Elco at Annville-Cleona | 41 32 | Nonleague |
| 2/16 7:30 pm | Manheim Central at Elco | Nonleague |
| AAAA | School | W | L | T | Rating | TWP | OWP | TWPW | OWPW | TWPL | OWPL |
| 1 | Wyomissing | 6- | 1- | 0 | 0.739213 | 0.892086 | 0.552368 | 6.20 | 102.05 | 0.75 | 82.70 |
| 2 | Littlestown | 10- | 2- | 0 | 0.661299 | 0.834711 | 0.449352 | 10.10 | 102.25 | 2.00 | 125.30 |
| 3 | Middletown | 9- | 3- | 0 | 0.656013 | 0.747934 | 0.543664 | 9.05 | 95.25 | 3.05 | 79.95 |
| 4 | Trinity (3) | 8- | 3- | 0 | 0.631446 | 0.717703 | 0.526020 | 7.50 | 88.95 | 2.95 | 80.15 |
| 5 | Susquehanna Township | 5- | 3- | 0 | 0.617748 | 0.651316 | 0.576721 | 4.95 | 104.30 | 2.65 | 76.55 |
| 6 | Oley Valley | 9- | 2- | 0 | 0.610713 | 0.813333 | 0.363067 | 9.15 | 75.30 | 2.10 | 132.10 |
| 7 | Kennard Dale | 10- | 4- | 0 | 0.610294 | 0.748299 | 0.441621 | 11.00 | 96.45 | 3.70 | 121.95 |
| 8 | Bermudian Springs | 9- | 4- | 0 | 0.586796 | 0.690566 | 0.459966 | 9.15 | 95.65 | 4.10 | 112.30 |
| 9 | Schuylkill Valley | 10- | 5- | 0 | 0.584606 | 0.686469 | 0.460107 | 10.40 | 107.55 | 4.75 | 126.20 |
| 10 | Eastern Lebanon County | 9- | 7- | 0 | 0.548521 | 0.586957 | 0.501543 | 9.45 | 130.00 | 6.65 | 129.20 |
| 11 | Berks Catholic | 5- | 9- | 0 | 0.541180 | 0.420455 | 0.688734 | 5.55 | 167.50 | 7.65 | 75.70 |
| 12 | Boiling Springs | 4- | 7- | 0 | 0.532602 | 0.429268 | 0.658899 | 4.40 | 144.20 | 5.85 | 74.65 |
| 13 | Hanover (3) | 7- | 6- | 0 | 0.526992 | 0.543726 | 0.506539 | 7.15 | 116.20 | 6.00 | 113.20 |
| 14 | Northern Lebanon | 8- | 9- | 0 | 0.506193 | 0.504615 | 0.508121 | 8.20 | 148.60 | 8.05 | 143.85 |
| 15 | James Buchanan | 3- | 5- | 0 | 0.489141 | 0.404412 | 0.592699 | 2.75 | 103.10 | 4.05 | 70.85 |
| 16 | Bishop McDevitt (3) | 4- | 7- | 0 | 0.484267 | 0.381395 | 0.610000 | 4.10 | 112.85 | 6.65 | 72.15 |
| 17 | East Pennsboro | 3- | 6- | 0 | 0.446854 | 0.355932 | 0.557981 | 3.15 | 98.40 | 5.70 | 77.95 |
| 18 | West Perry | 2- | 10- | 0 | 0.390307 | 0.180952 | 0.646186 | 1.90 | 124.10 | 8.60 | 67.95 |
| 19 | Hamburg | 4- | 11- | 0 | 0.388550 | 0.274247 | 0.528253 | 4.10 | 152.85 | 10.85 | 136.50 |
| 20 | Eastern York | 1- | 11- | 0 | 0.327406 | 0.106481 | 0.597426 | 1.15 | 134.60 | 9.65 | 90.70 |
| League | Overall | |||||||
| W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | PF | PA | |
| Lancaster Catholic | 8 | 0 | 1.000 | 13 | 2 | 0.867 | 901 | 690 |
| Octorara | 4 | 3 | 0.571 | 6 | 8 | 0.429 | 769 | 841 |
| Elco | 4 | 4 | 0.500 | 9 | 8 | 0.529 | 909 | 840 |
| Northern Lebanon | 3 | 5 | 0.375 | 8 | 10 | 0.444 | 937 | 942 |
| Donegal | 0 | 7 | 0.000 | 0 | 10 | 0.000 | 475 | 588 |
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