BY JEFF FALK

ANNVILLE – 1. Move the basketball.

2. Be patient.

3. Crash the offensive glass.

4. Designate someone to penetrate the middle of it.

5. Have shooters set their feet, take their time and follow through.

The Elco boys’ basketball team didn’t author a chapter in How to Dissect a Zone Defense last night. But the Raiders did steal a page from the manual.

On Wednesday night, Elco’s ability to figure out, understand and solve rival Annville-Cleona’s zone defense proved to be the key element in its 63-31 win, in Lancaster-Lebanon Section Three-Four crossover action. After falling behind 15-7 early, the Raiders outscored the Little Dutchmen 56-16 over the final 25 minutes of play.

The outcome aided the Raiders’ continuing search for rare Lancaster-Lebanon League and District Three Class AAA playoff berths. At the top of the stretch, Elco is 10-6 overall, 6-5 in Section Three and ranked 15th in the district.

The loss was another in a long line of disappointing results for the Little Dutchmen, who slipped to 2-14 on the campaign and 1-9 in Section Four.

“Every game matters,” said Elco head coach Brad Conners. “We don’t want to look too far ahead, but we don’t want our season to end on Feb. 3. Every one is important now. I guess the question is: Can we catch Cocalico?”

“However many games are left, we have to find success wherever we can,” said Annville-Cleona head coach Chris Bradford. “We return some guys (next season), and we’ve got to find success where we can. If it’s not a game, it’s quarter.

“It’s a struggle,” continued Bradford. “I don’t know how I’d deal with it as a player. When it goes bad, it’s hard to find a player to lean on. We talk about leaders and needing someone to emerge. We’ll continue to look at that.”

While junior forward Colton Lawrence may have been the catalyst on this evening, sophomore guard Mason Bossert was the finisher.

With Lawrence breaking down the Little Dutchmen’s zone, Bossert nailed seven three-point field goals – one short of the program record – and finished with a game-high 23 points. Lawrence did most of his work in the paint, tallying 19 points in three periods of action, on just six-for-13 free throwing, and hauling down 11 caroms.

The Raiders also held Annville-Cleona to just 13 field goals, and four-for-ten foul shooting. Junior guard Matt Light registered ten of those Little Dutchmen points.

“One more for the school record,” said Conners of Bossert’s performance. “I thought he had a slow start to the season, but he’s been coming on. I think he worked on his shot over the weekend, shooting at home on his driveway, out in the cold. On Monday night (in 64-52 win over Pequea Valley), he found it. I talked to him about rushing his shot and getting is feet square. Right now, he’s in a good groove. You know how shooters are. He is a good shooter.

“I thought it was Colton who got us going,” continued Conners. “Attacking the basket and finding his teammates. When the zone has to collapse, you can find the shooters. I talked to Colton about that.”

“We talk about taking ownership of the lane,” said Bradford. “Colton is a good basketball player. He got in the lane and did their damage. The Bossert kid made four ‘threes’ in the third quarter. He shot us out of a zone. We’re not finding a way to react. We have to find a way to get ourselves in a better position.

“Teams will hold it on us,” added Bradford. “When we’ve got to go man (-to-man defense), it’s hard to come back. It’s been a struggle, it has.”

It clicked for the Raiders in the second quarter. In the face of a five-point deficit, Lawrence notched Elco’s first nine points in the period, from inside and at the charity stripe.

And when Bossert nailed a trifecta, the Raiders had a 22-17 advantage. Elco carried a 24-21 margin to the break, thanks to a Lawrence-set-up, Dylan Stoops lay-in, ten ticks before.

“Stoops’ basket at the end of the first half was a result of us running our offense,” said Conners. “It felt good in the locker room. And I thought it carried over to the third quarter. We did a good job of moving the ball.

“They’re (the Little Dutchmen) in a lot of games,” Conners added. “At halftime, I knew it was going to be a close game. They play multiple defenses. They have a lot to prepare for. I had to call a timeout the first minute or so.”

“It’s the same thing again and again,” said Bradford. “It’s the fourth game in-a-row that we’ve played a good first half. But that doesn’t mean anything.”

“That’s on me,” Bradford added. “I’m searching for buttons to push. The guys showed they’re going to come out strong.”

Elco opened things up in the third quarter.

The Raiders outscored Annville-Cleona 19-3 over the final seven minutes of the stanza, to stretch their lead to 46-26. Bossert drilled a trio of three-pointers in a 1:42 span during the run, while Lawrence contributed seven points.

After a driving lay-in from Bossert gave Elco a 57-31 lead with three minutes to go, the Raiders scored the final six points of the game.

“You know going in, if they’re (the Little Dutchmen) going to play zone, you’re not going to run away with the game,” said Conners. “I told the kids, ‘It’s not going to happen in the first eight minutes. You’ve got to be patient.’ That’s when you saw Colton get into the lane. It got us energy and it put us in a rhythm.

“We hit shots. Mason hit shots,” Conners continued. “The first two minutes of the game we did not have the right mind set. To the kids’ credit, they started playing in the second quarter. It wasn’t going to be a runaway game.”

“When we push tempo and make good decisions, it gets us going,” said Bradford. “We’ve got guys who are capable. I think we can get things. In the first quarter we were making good decisions and we were switching it up defensively.

“When they (the Raiders) shoot the ball well, they’re a very good basketball team,” continued Bradford. “You can’t look at any team in Section Three and say, ‘That’s not a good basketball team’. They (the Raiders) have a young guy (Bossert) who can stretch you out, and Colton inside is tough.”

With freshman forward Noah Myers working his way inside for a couple of buckets, Lucas Bush going strong to the hole, Trent Wizar nailing a trey and Light converting a steal into a lay-up, Annville-Cleona rushed out to an 11-4 lead. With a minute remaining in the opening quarter, Wizar notched the basket that gave Annville-Cleona a 15-7 margin.

“I thought Colton played an excellent game tonight, setting his teammates up,” said Conners. “I was proud of the way Colton played, not settling for threes.”

“Can we roll some together and make a run at districts? Mathematically, maybe,” said Bradford. “But we’ve got to concern ourselves with the next day, and cherish practice. We need to improve. With the teams we play, get a win or two and the power points work in your favor. We play good teams and that helps, but you’ve got to get some wins too.”

Elco (63)

Annville-Cleona (31)

• Team	1	2	3	4	Final
  Elco	10	14	22	17	63
  Annville-Cleona	15	6	5	5	31

  Lancaster-Lebanon League

  Section Three Standings

 

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
Manheim Central	10-0	15-1
Cocalico	7-3	10-5
Elco	6-4	10-6
Lampeter-Strasburg	4-5	7-7
Donegal	3-6	5-10
Northern Lebanon	3-7	7-9

 Lancaster-Lebanon League

 Section Four Standings

 

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
Lancaster Mennonite	9-1	12-3
Lancaster Catholic	7-3	10-5
Columbia	4-5	7-7
Pequea Valley	4-5	5-9
Annville-Cleona	1-9	2-14
Lebanon Catholic	0-10	3-13

Elco 2014-15 Results

 

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	RESULT
12/05	Muhlenberg	6:00 PM	W 54-43
12/06	@Lebanon	7:30 PM	L 38-48
12/10	@Conestoga Valley	7:30 PM	L 71-74
12/12 *	@Lebanon Catholic	7:30 PM	W 51-35
12/15 *	Columbia	7:30 PM	L 66-74
12/17 *	@Lancaster Catholic	7:30 PM	L 49-74
12/19 *	Cocalico	7:30 PM	W 65-61
12/23 *	@Lampeter-Strasburg	7:30 PM	W 54-44
12/26 #	@Pine Grove	7:30 PM	W 60-48
12/27 #	Mahanoy Area	7:30 PM	W 56-41
01/02 *	@Manheim Central	7:30 PM	L 38-56
01/06 *	Northern Lebanon	7:30 PM	W 55-42
01/09 *	@Donegal	7:30 PM	L 46-53
01/10	@Tulpehocken	2:30 PM	W 46-32
01/12 *	Pequea Valley	7:30 PM	W 64-52
01/14 *	@Annville-Cleona	7:30 PM	W 63-31

Annville-Cleona 2014-15 Results

 

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	RESULT
12/05	Fleetwood	7:00 PM	L 41-51
12/06	Northern Lebanon	12:30 PM	L 41-50
12/10	@Oley Valley	7:30 PM	W 55-49
12/12 *	Cocalico	7:30 PM	T 37-67
12/15 *	@Lampeter-Strasburg	7:30 PM	L 31-67
12/17 *	Donegal	7:30 PM	L 43-63
12/19 *	@Lebanon Catholic	7:30 PM	W 40-37
12/23 *	Pequea Valley	1:00 PM	L 43-58
12/29 #	@Middletown	7:30 PM	L 34-51
12/30	Northern York	6:00 PM	L 43-60
01/02 *	@Columbia	7:30 PM	L 53-69
01/03	Palmyra	8:30 PM	L 28-71
01/06 *	@Lancaster Mennonite	7:30 PM	L 43-64
01/09 *	Lancaster Catholic	7:30 PM	L 40-53
01/12 *	@Northern Lebanon	7:30 PM	L 46-64
01/14 *	Elco	7:30 PM	L 31-63

 District Three

 Class AAA Power Rankings

AAA School W L T Rating
1 Bishop McDevitt 9 2 0 .800276
2 Susquehanna Township 11 3 0 .794123
3 Steelton Highspire 11 1 0 .775785
4 Boiling Springs 11 1 0 .744574
5 Manheim Central 13 1 0 .742374
6 West York Area 10 2 0 .735037
7 Cocalico 9 4 0 .668576
8 East Pennsboro 8 4 0 .651216
9 Lancaster Catholic 9 4 0 .631076
10 Conrad Weiser 8 4 0 .618819
11 Palmyra Area 7 7 0 .617562
12 Eastern York 7 5 0 .617001
13 Milton Hershey 6 6 0 .605847
14 Dover Area 8 6 0 .596692
15 Eastern Lebanon County 9 6 0 .595614
16 Lampeter Strasburg 7 6 0 .594522
17 Gettysburg Area 7 5 0 .585454
18 Wyomissing Area 7 5 0 .567274
19 Twin Valley 8 5 0 .565682
20 James Buchanan 5 7 0 .531225
21 West Perry 6 8 0 .503231
22 Fleetwood Area 6 6 0 .482397
23 Berks Catholic 4 7 0 .476074
24 York Suburban 4 10 0 .469837
25 Northern Lebanon 6 8 0 .460070
26 Kennard Dale 4 8 0 .457924
27 Pequea Valley 5 8 0 .455256
28 Bermudian Springs 5 6 0 .452238
29 Middletown Area 4 10 0 .443872
30 Donegal 4 10 0 .439022
31 Schuylkill Valley 4 8 0 .390929
32 Big Spring 3 9 0 .381250
33 Susquehannock 1 10 0 .344598
34 Oley Valley 2 11 0 .285196
35 Littlestown 0 14 0 .237604
36 Hamburg Area 0 14 0 .229855

District Three

 Class AA Power Rankings

AA School W L T Rating
1 Camp Hill 8 3 0 .707420
2 Lancaster Mennonite 10 3 0 .680997
3 Hanover 11 1 0 .668858
4 Antietam 11 2 0 .641566
5 Trinity 7 5 0 .605547
6 Upper Dauphin Area 9 3 0 .555372
7 Columbia 7 6 0 .520124
8 York Catholic 6 6 0 .514280
9 Delone Catholic 6 7 0 .475859
10 Tulpehocken 5 7 0 .421364
11 Fairfield 5 7 0 .403767
12 Newport 6 6 0 .381325
13 Brandywine Heights Area 4 9 0 .367216
14 Biglerville 5 9 0 .336583
15 Annville Cleona 2 12 0 .313558
16 Susquenita 3 10 0 .304883
17 Kutztown Area 2 9 0 .243885