LITITZ – A miraculous finish for Elizabethtown, a bitter pill to swallow for Elco. Regardless of the circumstances, it was everything you wanted in a high school playoff game. Unfortunately, somebody had to win and somebody had to lose.
The Raiders overcame a pair of 12-point deficits, before mounting a furious second half rally, but the Bears pulled through when it mattered most. E-town took the next step by snatching a heart-pounding 50-49 victory on Friday night at Warwick High School, during the play-in round of the Lancaster-Lebanon League boys’ basketball tournament.
“I’m really proud of their effort in the second half,” said Elco head coach, Brad Conners. “It was tough sledding in the first half, the shots weren’t falling, things just really weren’t going our way, but they found a way to get back in the game.”
Elizabethtown’s offense was sparked by senior, Elijah Eberly, who made an astounding 11 field goals for 23 points. Eberly twice made consecutive layups to provide the Bears with their 12-point leads. He also logged Etown’s first six points of the second half.
“He was really impressive, just watching him in the film, he’s a really nice player,” said Conners of Eberly. “I really like him a lot, I like what they do with him, how they play, I like where they put him on the floor. He really did a nice job of carrying them and he was kind of steady throughout the entire game, so hats off to them.”
E-town also received additional support from junior Luke Pierson, who nailed four three-pointers on his way to logging 13 points. The Bears presented a challenge, but Braden Bohannon and the Raiders never backed down.
Bohannon accounted for 13 of Elco’s 21 first half points, including a trio of threes, before tallying a total of eight field goals and 23 points. His three-point play, a lay-up and and one in the third quarter, capped the Raiders’ 6-0 scoring run before cutting the deficit to one.
The junior guard continuously kept Elco in contention, but it was Asher Kemble who put the Raiders on top. Kemble’s fourth-quarter lay-up gave Elco its first lead since the opening period, when the senior center laid it in for the game’s first bucket.
Elizabethtown kept its composure, regaining the lead on an Eberly layup and Pierson trey, but so did the Raiders. Kemble’s two free throws and Bohannon’s jumper gave Elco a two-point advantage, but Eberly came right back and tied it on another basket.
Eberly was also fouled on the play and his free throw gave the Bears the lead. The Raiders had one last chance to steal the win, but Kemble’s attempt at a buzzer-beater came up painfully short and E-town prevailed.
“It’s tough right now, we all feel like we got kicked in the stomach,” said Conners. “We have a locker room full of tears in there, these kids care and they’re warriors, they really are.”
Kemble recorded four makes from the field before posting 10 points to the Elco scorebook. Senior guard, Ben Horst, had four conversions of his own for eight points, including back-to-back buckets in the second quarter.
“You’re just really proud of the effort down the stretch, got us all the way back in it with a chance to win the game,” Conners said. “A credit to E-town, a credit to Coach Parise, they did a great job.”
The Raiders will see their next action on Thursday, February 21st when they host Eastern York in the quarterfinal round of the District Three Class AAAA playoffs. Elco, 18-4, will be the number-three seed and is guaranteed at least two games in that event.
For the Bears, their journey continues this Monday night, when they travel to Lampeter-Strasburg for a quarterfinal match-up against the hometown Pioneers. The opening tip for that contest takes place at 7:00.
| Date | Opponents | Outcomes | |
| 12/06 7:30 pm | Elco Lebanon at Lebanon | 57 53 | Nonleague |
| 12/07 7:30 pm | Elco Cedar Crest at Lebanon | 55 59 | Nonleague |
| 12/10 7:30 pm | Annville-Cleona at Elco | 49 70 | Nonleague |
| 12/13 7:30 pm | Cocalico at Elco | 41 60 | League |
| 12/16 7:30 pm | Elco at Manheim Central | 73 71 | League |
| 12/18 7:30 pm | Solanco at Elco | 47 62 | League |
| 12/20 7:30 pm | Elco at Lampeter-Strasburg | 50 54 | League |
| 12/28 7:30 pm | Elco Spring Grove at Eastern York | 76 52 | Nonleague |
| 12/30 7:30 pm | Elco Eastern York at Eastern York | 75 51 | Nonleague |
| 1/03 7:30 pm | Octorara at Elco | 42 49 | League |
| 1/04 1:30 pm | Oley Valley at Elco | 48 62 | Nonleague |
| 1/08 7:30 pm | Camp Hill at Elco | 60 72 | Nonleague |
| 1/09 7:30 pm | Elco at Donegal | 87 55 | League |
| 1/10 7:30 pm | Northern Lebanon at Elco | 34 81 | League |
| 1/15 7:30 pm | Wyomissing at Elco | 44 49 | Nonleague |
| 1/17 7:30 pm | Lancaster Catholic at Elco | 69 55 | League |
| 1/21 7:30 pm | Elco at Octorara | 59 48 | League |
| 1/24 7:30 pm | Donegal at Elco | 34 58 | League |
| 1/28 7:30 pm | Elco at Northern Lebanon | 73 39 | League |
| 1/29 7:30 pm | Conrad Weiser at Elco | 58 81 | Nonleague |
| 1/31 7:30 pm | Garden Spot at Elco | 44 72 | League |
| 2/04 7:30 pm | Elco at Lancaster Catholic | 50 65 | League |
| 2/07 5:30 pm | Elco Elizabethtown at Warwick | 49 50 | Playoff |
| AAAA | School | W | L | T | Rating | TWP | OWP | TWPW | OWPW | TWPL | OWPL |
| 1 | Lancaster Catholic | 19- | 2- | 0 | 0.762191 | 0.923596 | 0.564920 | 20.6 | 259.8 | 1.7 | 200.1 |
| 2 | Bishop McDevitt | 16- | 2- | 0 | 0.748530 | 0.913265 | 0.547186 | 17.9 | 219.8 | 1.7 | 181.9 |
| 3 | Eastern Lebanon County | 18- | 4- | 0 | 0.711677 | 0.848485 | 0.544467 | 19.6 | 260.5 | 3.5 | 218.0 |
| 4 | Susquehanna Township | 14- | 7- | 0 | 0.661908 | 0.714607 | 0.597498 | 15.9 | 265.1 | 6.4 | 178.6 |
| 5 | Littlestown | 18- | 4- | 0 | 0.643487 | 0.823256 | 0.423771 | 17.7 | 197.4 | 3.8 | 268.4 |
| 6 | Eastern York | 14- | 8- | 0 | 0.628721 | 0.686364 | 0.558268 | 15.1 | 263.0 | 6.9 | 208.1 |
| 7 | Wyomissing | 16- | 6- | 0 | 0.622491 | 0.765766 | 0.447377 | 17.0 | 208.5 | 5.2 | 257.6 |
| 8 | Susquehannock | 12- | 10- | 0 | 0.601396 | 0.595349 | 0.608787 | 12.8 | 288.2 | 8.7 | 185.2 |
| 9 | Octorara Area | 14- | 8- | 0 | 0.601272 | 0.681223 | 0.503555 | 15.6 | 233.8 | 7.3 | 230.5 |
| 10 | Berks Catholic School | 12- | 8- | 0 | 0.585578 | 0.612745 | 0.552374 | 12.5 | 234.4 | 7.9 | 190.0 |
| 11 | James Buchanan | 11- | 11- | 0 | 0.532008 | 0.549065 | 0.511159 | 11.8 | 225.6 | 9.7 | 215.8 |
| 12 | East Pennsboro Area | 9- | 13- | 0 | 0.497461 | 0.432127 | 0.577315 | 9.6 | 263.4 | 12.6 | 192.9 |
| 13 | Schuylkill Valley | 10- | 11- | 0 | 0.493421 | 0.479616 | 0.510294 | 10.0 | 225.6 | 10.9 | 216.5 |
| 14 | Boiling Springs | 8- | 13- | 0 | 0.486717 | 0.428212 | 0.558224 | 8.5 | 246.4 | 11.4 | 195.0 |
| 15 | Middletown Area | 7- | 14- | 0 | 0.481054 | 0.354217 | 0.636078 | 7.4 | 283.5 | 13.4 | 162.2 |
| 16 | Northern Lebanon | 7- | 15- | 0 | 0.440858 | 0.350917 | 0.550786 | 7.7 | 259.2 | 14.2 | 211.4 |
| 17 | Kennard Dale | 6- | 16- | 0 | 0.429419 | 0.301887 | 0.585291 | 6.4 | 275.4 | 14.8 | 195.1 |
| 18 | Fleetwood | 7- | 14- | 0 | 0.392105 | 0.368675 | 0.420742 | 7.7 | 185.4 | 13.1 | 255.3 |
| 19 | Bermudian Springs | 7- | 14- | 0 | 0.387194 | 0.333333 | 0.453023 | 6.9 | 201.6 | 13.7 | 243.4 |
| 20 | Hamburg Area | 6- | 16- | 0 | 0.381179 | 0.283784 | 0.500217 | 6.3 | 230.3 | 15.9 | 230.1 |
| 21 | West Perry | 5- | 16- | 0 | 0.364291 | 0.245823 | 0.509085 | 5.2 | 231.2 | 15.8 | 222.9 |
| League | Overall | |||||||
| W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | PF | PA | |
| Lancaster Catholic | 12 | 1 | 0.923 | 19 | 2 | 0.905 | 1253 | 985 |
| Elco | 10 | 3 | 0.769 | 18 | 5 | 0.783 | 1476 | 1167 |
| Octorara | 7 | 6 | 0.538 | 14 | 8 | 0.636 | 1332 | 1167 |
| Northern Lebanon | 3 | 10 | 0.231 | 7 | 15 | 0.318 | 1006 | 1230 |
| Donegal | 1 | 12 | 0.077 | 3 | 19 | 0.136 | 951 | 1338 |
Loading ...