MYERSTOWN – It was Gold Rush night at Elco High School, and the hometown Raiders put together a gold medal-type performance to gain ground in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Four standings. Elco raced out to a 37-point halftime lead and topped the 70-point mark for the seventh time.
The end result was an 81-34 plowing of the Northern Lebanon Vikings.
This victory balooned the Raiders’ winning streak to lucky-number seven. Elco also won its third straight in-league game, while improving its record to 11-2.
For the Vikings, this loss marked their fourth in-a-row as their record dropped to 2-9, including a 1-5 mark against Lancaster-Lebanon opponents.
“We had a nice rhythm and we talked about it, if we are the team we think we are and we’re moving towards our goals, you don’t take a step back in a game like tonight,” said Elco head coach, Brad Conners. “You come out and you’re serious about it and you take care of business and I thought we did.”
Elco’s offense was spearheaded by the high-scoring duo of junior guard, Braden Bohannon, and senior guard, Bryce Coletti. Bohannon, the Raiders’ leading scorer for the season, as they was the leading scorers of the game. Bohannon established an early rhythm by knocking down a pair of first- quarter threes. before completing the first half with four of them.
Bohannon tallied six treys overall before finishing with 26 points. “When Braden shoots the ball, you don’t expect it to hit the rim, it’s just been all cotton,” said Conners.
Coletti, on the other hand, sunk a pair of threes, converted four field goals and recorded 17 points. His first quarter layup also capped the Raiders’ 11-0 scoring run to start the game.
Not only that, but Coletti’s first three launched another string of 10 unanswered Elco points to close out the period. Senior forward, Ben Horst, continued his role-playing status by nailing a pair from beyond the arc on his way to an 11-point outing. It marked the eighth time this season that the Raiders had three different players reach double-digits in scoring.
Senior center, Asher Kemble, contributed a modest six points to his stat line as well. Kemble even had a three before the break and culminated Elco’s first-half onslaught by converting one of his two free throws.
The Raiders’ 13 threes against Northern Lebanon represented a season-high for a single game.
The three-ball worked beautifully and not only did Elco rack up 70 for the seventh game, it also topped 80 points for the second time in two nights. Although the statistical achievements are nice, they are never the main concerns for a Conners-led team. It’s the overall chemistry of the players that counts the most.
“Toughness and togetherness, they’ve been doing that all year,” Conners stated. “The really neat thing about this group, and it’s everybody from top to bottom, is that I don’t think they care who scores. I think the only numbers that they worry about are the wins, the losses and the final numbers up on the scoreboard.”
The Raiders’ offensive presence was so overwhelming that it forced Northern Lebanon head coach Chris George to call his first two time outs. It provided the Vikings with a spark near the end of the opening period and into the second as they answered with a string of six unanswered points.
Four of those points came courtesy of senior forward, Nate Leedy-Reidel, who finished with seven. Leedy-Reidel was also Northern’s most effective free throw shooter, going three for four from the charity stripe.
Meanwhile, sophomore guard, Peyton Wolfe, nailed a pair of treys and led the Vikings with nine points.
“We started to run our stuff, we started to get a couple looks and we started to make shots,” said George. “But again, at that time, if you’re down 20 to a really good team and you’re focusing so much energy on trying to take away Kemble and Coletti and Bohannon, the three studs, they’re gonna give looks to the role guys and when you’re up 20, those role guys feel great.”
With the game well in hand, Conners inserted his reserves during the final period. Freshman forward, Calvin Blatt, emerged with three points, including the layup that got the Raiders to the 80-point mark. Senior forward Jordan Fernandez, and sophomore forward Luke Williams also added seven and four points, respectively.
“This was only our second game in the last week and it’s hard to get into a sync of games, so the good thing for us is enough of the sitting around,” said George. “It’s not like we’re gonna have to sit through practice for another week after a tough loss. We have four games next week we’re gonna go play.”
Two of Northern Lebanon’s four contests will take place against in-league competition. The first will be a home showdown with Octorara, which unfolds next Tuesday night, while the second goes down on Friday night at Donegal. George’s team looks to re-capture their edge as they prepare for that stretch of games.
Meanwhile, Elco doesn’t take the court again until Wednesday night, when it hosts Wyomissing. After that, the Raiders ready themselves for a crucial Section Four road encounter on Friday night against the Crusaders of Lancaster Catholic, who are 10-1 on the season and undefeated within the conference.
| Date | Opponents | Outcomes | |
| 12/06 6:30 pm | Northern Lebanon Dover at Bermudian Springs | 55 51 | Nonleague |
| 12/07 TBD | Northern Lebanon Camp Hill at Bermudian Springs | 40 89 | Nonleague |
| 12/10 7:30 pm | Northern Lebanon at Williams Valley | 48 50 | Nonleague |
| 12/13 7:30 pm | Lampeter-Strasburg at Northern Lebanon | 67 34 | League |
| 12/16 7:30 pm | Northern Lebanon at Cocalico | 38 55 | League |
| 12/18 7:30 pm | Garden Spot at Northern Lebanon | 52 46 | League |
| 12/20 7:30 pm | Northern Lebanon at Solanco | 29 27 | League |
| 12/27 TBD | Annville-Cleona Northern Lebanon at Northern Lebanon | 42 36 | Nonleague |
| 12/28 6:00 pm | Tulpehocken at Northern Lebanon | 51 50 | Nonleague |
| 1/03 7:30 pm | Northern Lebanon at Lancaster Catholic | 48 71 | League |
| 1/07 7:30 pm | Northern Lebanon at Pine Grove | Postponed Nonleague | |
| 1/10 7:30 pm | Northern Lebanon at Elco | League | |
| 1/14 7:30 pm | Octorara at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 1/17 7:30 pm | Northern Lebanon at Donegal | League | |
| 1/18 5:00 pm | Conrad Weiser at Northern Lebanon | Nonleague | |
| 1/21 7:30 pm | Lancaster Catholic at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 1/23 7:30 pm | Manheim Central at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 1/25 6:00 pm | Northern Lebanon at Annville-Cleona | Nonleague | |
| 1/28 7:30 pm | Elco at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 1/31 7:30 pm | Northern Lebanon at Octorara | League | |
| 2/01 7:00 pm | Palmyra at Northern Lebanon | Nonleague | |
| 2/04 7:30 pm | Donegal at Northern Lebanon | League |
| 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 | League | |
| 1/15 7:30 pm | Wyomissing at Elco | Nonleague | |
| 1/17 7:30 pm | Lancaster Catholic at Elco | League | |
| 1/21 7:30 pm | Elco at Octorara | League | |
| 1/24 7:30 pm | Donegal at Elco | League | |
| 1/28 7:30 pm | Elco at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 1/29 7:30 pm | Conrad Weiser at Elco | Nonleague | |
| 1/31 7:30 pm | Garden Spot at Elco | League | |
| 2/04 7:30 pm | Elco at Lancaster Catholic | League |
| AAAA | School | W | L | T | Rating | TWP | OWP | TWPW | OWPW | TWPL | OWPL |
| 1 | Bishop McDevitt | 9- | 0- | 0 | 0.789099 | 1.000000 | 0.531331 | 10.0 | 112.4 | 0.0 | 99.1 |
| 2 | Lancaster Catholic | 10- | 1- | 0 | 0.760566 | 0.935065 | 0.547289 | 10.8 | 134.3 | 0.8 | 111.1 |
| 3 | Eastern Lebanon County | 12- | 2- | 0 | 0.725888 | 0.890411 | 0.524804 | 13.0 | 130.7 | 1.6 | 118.3 |
| 4 | Littlestown | 10- | 2- | 0 | 0.642069 | 0.844828 | 0.394252 | 9.8 | 87.8 | 1.8 | 134.9 |
| 5 | Susquehanna Township | 6- | 4- | 0 | 0.621828 | 0.641509 | 0.597773 | 6.8 | 139.6 | 3.8 | 93.9 |
| 6 | Wyomissing | 7- | 4- | 0 | 0.602599 | 0.693023 | 0.492079 | 7.5 | 122.7 | 3.3 | 126.7 |
| 7 | Susquehannock | 5- | 5- | 0 | 0.587436 | 0.546875 | 0.637011 | 5.3 | 143.2 | 4.4 | 81.6 |
| 8 | Berks Catholic School | 6- | 4- | 0 | 0.562845 | 0.595960 | 0.522372 | 5.9 | 120.3 | 4.0 | 110.0 |
| 9 | Eastern York | 6- | 6- | 0 | 0.559634 | 0.547826 | 0.574066 | 6.3 | 138.4 | 5.2 | 102.7 |
| 10 | East Pennsboro Area | 5- | 5- | 0 | 0.552433 | 0.526042 | 0.584690 | 5.1 | 132.9 | 4.6 | 94.4 |
| 11 | Schuylkill Valley | 6- | 5- | 0 | 0.550562 | 0.567442 | 0.529931 | 6.1 | 123.1 | 4.7 | 109.2 |
| 12 | Octorara Area | 5- | 5- | 0 | 0.539117 | 0.559406 | 0.514320 | 5.7 | 128.4 | 4.5 | 121.3 |
| 13 | James Buchanan | 4- | 5- | 0 | 0.526003 | 0.519774 | 0.533616 | 4.6 | 113.1 | 4.3 | 98.9 |
| 14 | Middletown Area | 4- | 6- | 0 | 0.516998 | 0.431373 | 0.621650 | 4.4 | 146.2 | 5.8 | 89.0 |
| 15 | Boiling Springs | 4- | 6- | 0 | 0.502155 | 0.440860 | 0.577071 | 4.1 | 135.2 | 5.2 | 99.1 |
| 16 | Kennard Dale | 4- | 6- | 0 | 0.479570 | 0.430000 | 0.540156 | 4.3 | 121.4 | 5.7 | 103.4 |
| 17 | West Perry | 4- | 9- | 0 | 0.411889 | 0.305882 | 0.541453 | 3.9 | 116.3 | 8.9 | 98.5 |
| 18 | Fleetwood | 4- | 7- | 0 | 0.400042 | 0.389140 | 0.413365 | 4.3 | 95.0 | 6.8 | 134.8 |
| 19 | Hamburg Area | 3- | 9- | 0 | 0.376118 | 0.252066 | 0.527737 | 3.1 | 127.0 | 9.1 | 113.7 |
| 20 | Northern Lebanon | 2- | 9- | 0 | 0.370860 | 0.208145 | 0.569735 | 2.3 | 141.8 | 8.8 | 107.1 |
| 21 | Bermudian Springs | 1- | 10- | 0 | 0.261388 | 0.107981 | 0.448885 | 1.2 | 96.6 | 9.5 | 118.6 |
| League | Overall | |||||||
| W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | PF | PA | |
| Lancaster Catholic | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 10 | 1 | 0.909 | 635 | 474 |
| Elco | 5 | 1 | 0.833 | 11 | 2 | 0.846 | 848 | 682 |
| Octorara | 3 | 3 | 0.500 | 6 | 5 | 0.545 | 632 | 576 |
| Northern Lebanon | 1 | 4 | 0.200 | 2 | 8 | 0.200 | 424 | 555 |
| Donegal | 0 | 7 | 0.000 | 2 | 11 | 0.154 | 568 | 767 |
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