City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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HERSHEY — Good thing Darrien Richards didn’t hesitate.

Had the 6-3 senior taken a mere instant to catch a quick breather or lament his unsuccessful first look at the hoop, Richards and his basketball-playing Milton Hershey teammates might be turning in their uniforms.

Instead of moving out as the victim of a monumental, season-ending reversal, Richards and the rest of the Spartans are moving on in the District 3-AAA playoffs — yet they won’t have to spend much time on the bus come Friday.

After all, it’s just a short trip across town from their vast Derry Township campus.

Richards’ stickback of his own missed effort with 7.2 seconds to play in overtime enabled the top-seeded Spartans to escape Lancaster Catholic 58-57 in a taut 3-AAA round-of-16 matchup Tuesday night at a raucous Spartan Center.

“When it released out of my hand, I noticed it was going to be off,” Richards admitted. “So I jumped back up, grabbed it and put it back up.”

Obviously, look No. 2 fell.

Don’yae Baylor-Carroll dropped in 18 points — 10 from the start of the fourth quarter on — and Richards finished with a double-double (10 points/12 rebounds) as Mark Zerbe’s Spartans (23-1) clawed to their 10th consecutive victory.

The Mid-Penn Conference’s balanced tournament champs also picked up eight points apiece from Tyron Brown and Keonte Lucas, and seven points each from Juwon Owolabi and Jarin Lyons. Lyons also blocked four shots.

Up next for Milton Hershey is a date in Friday night’s quarterfinal-round three-bagger at Hershey’s Giant Center, where Zerbe’s Spartans will take on No. 9 Berks Catholic in the nightcap. Berks Catholic advanced with a 47-46 win at West York.

Danny Bomberger pocketed 18 points for Joe Klazas’ Crusaders (15-10) — all from beyond the 3-point arc — while Mark Cannon chimed in with 13 points and Thomas Gonzales added 12. Gonzales also snared a team-high eight boards.

Jon Ware chipped in nine assists for Klazas’ Crusaders — No. 16 Catholic captured the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s Section 4 crown — who utilized good spacing on offense and knocked down 10 of their 19 looks from deep.

“We were just a little late with the traps and the rotations,” Zerbe admitted. “And we wound up chasing them, which we shouldn’t have been doing. And that’s why the score was what it was. Not up in the 80s where we want to have it.

“We need to get better quick on a lot of things, but we’re fortunate to get out with the win.”

“I wasn’t expecting them to shoot it as well as they did,” Richards said. “But they knocked down shots all night long.”

A looser Lancaster Catholic side also may have benefited from its 52-50 conquest of visiting James Buchanan in Friday night’s prelims.

“I think they were pumped up and excited to play a No. 1 seed and try to get an upset,” Richards added. “They played hard tonight.”

And when Cannon canned the last of his three treys with 39 seconds to play — off a Chad Wenger dish — Klazas’ Crusaders sported a 57-56 lead.

Brown took off for the hoop moments later and missed, but was able to claim the offensive rebound and Milton Hershey retained possession. Zerbe called a timeout to settle his Spartans — a mere 18.4 was showing on the scoreboard clock.

Eventually, once play resumed, the ball cycled into the paint to Richards. Richards quickly elevated for a shot, but realized the ball was off the mark. Immediately, as he watched the ball glance off the rim, his second effort was quick yet true.

And when Baylor-Carroll swiped the inbounds pass, the Spartans were able to choke some clock before Owolabi was fouled. Owolabi could have stretched the lead with 1.1 to go, but his front end was off the mark and Andrew DeBord latched on.

Surprisingly, DeBord was able to set his feet before launching a heave from at least 85 feet just before the horn sounded. And with the buzzer slicing through the crowd noise — and everyone looking on — DeBord’s rip glanced off the front iron.

“I’m thinking, ‘Did we lose a game just now?’” Richards recalled.

“When it missed, I was happy. Relieved.”

Everyone sporting Spartan gold — and there were plenty — exhaled in unison.

Plus, Friday’s appearance at Giant Center was preserved.

And Zerbe, disappointed by his club’s performance, will check into Wednesday’s practice looking to revisit a few things and break out some teaching points.

At least he’ll have the opportunity to convene a workout.

“At a boarding school, we have to stop listening to everyone at the student home telling them how great they are and how easy things are going to be,” Zerbe said. “We had a great week last week and it was last week.

“This is a four-game district tournament and we didn’t do a lot right tonight. Offensively. Defensively. In transition,” Zerbe continued, referencing last week’s wins over Bishop McDevitt and Harrisburg in the Mid-Penn tourney.

“It’s just something that we were fortunate to win the game. Lancaster Catholic is well-coached and we didn’t execute and we’re fortunate to be moving on.”

At least one Spartan learned something during the 36-minute exercise.

“We can’t take it easy on anybody on any given night,” Richards said.

Down by 10 early (15-5) — Cannon, Bomberger and Wenger each bagged threes — Zerbe signaled for a timeout that may have saved his club. At the very least, Milton Hershey responded by scoring the final eight points of the opening quarter.

Baylor-Carroll’s trey and a conventional three-point play by the remarkably athletic Lyons had the Spartans within four before Richards’ stickback tightened things even more against a Lancaster Catholic club that refused to be turned over.

Not by the traps Milton Hershey attempted in an effort to box in the Crusaders. Not even when several Spartans started to pick up ball in the Catholic end.

Lancaster Catholic kept the Spartans — and their many partisans — on edge after the break by opening up a 36-29 lead with just under three minutes to play on a trey from Bomberger. Lucas and Brown split six points, slicing the lead to one.

Klazas’ Crusaders even led by five points twice in the fourth quarter — Gonzales found Sean Landis for an easy finish with five to go that had Catholic up 48-43 — but an 8-0 salvo highlighted by a pair of Richards scores had the Spartans ahead 51-48.

“Just a better blend of dribble drives and we started to make a couple layups,” Zerbe said. “It was one of those where I hope our kids learn from it and are humbled from it and can grow from it.”

While yet another Bomberger bomb tied it with 2:01 remaining, no one could cash in as regulation played out. Richards missed and Brown failed to convert the front end of a 1-and-1, while Gonzales could not find the range on a pair of freebies.

Once Wenger’s prayer went unanswered at the end of regulation, OT awaited.

Bomberger’s sixth and final 3-pointer had Catholic up 54-52 with 2:30 to go, but a Lucas finish in transition following a Crusaders turnover tied it yet again.

Baylor-Carroll’s jump shot even had the Spartans up with 1:19 remaining, but Cannon’s 3-pointer returned the lead to Lancaster Catholic and ultimately set the stage for Richards’ game-winning stickback and several other gasps.

Made the spilled blood — Owolabi finished the game with a patch over his right eye, while Baylor-Carroll had cotton stuffed into one of his nostrils; both had to change jerseys — worth it.

“Tonight we had an off night,” Richards said. “This is not going to happen [the rest of the] district playoffs. We’ll just try to get past this.”

~~~

TUESDAY’S DISTRICT 3 SCOREBOARD

CLASS AAA
No. 1 Milton Hershey def. No. 16 Lancaster Catholic 58-57 (OT)
No. 9 Berks Catholic def. No. 8 West York 47-46
No. 4 Eastern York def. No. 13 Middletown 45-44
No. 5 Eastern Lebanon County def. No. 12 Steel-High 80-58
No. 2 Lampeter-Strasburg def. No. 15 Dover 67-58
No. 10 Gettysburg def. No. 7 Palmyra 45-44
No. 3 Bishop McDevitt def. No. 14 Manheim Central 75-54
No. 6 Cocalico def. No. 11 Wyomissing 66-41

CLASS A
No. 8 Veritas Academy def. No. 9 New Covenant 55-42
No. 5 Mount Calvary def. No. 12 Harrisburg Christian 60-54
No. 10 Greenwood def. No. 7 High Point 59-47
No. 11 Lancaster Country Day def. No. 6 Halifax 60-54

~~~

FRIDAY’S QUARTERFINAL-ROUND SCHEDULE

CLASS AAA
No. 1 Milton Hershey vs. No. 9 Berks Catholic at Giant Center, 8
No. 4 Eastern York vs. No. 5 Eastern Lebanon County at Hershey HS, 6
No. 2 Lampeter-Strasburg vs. No. 10 Gettysburg at Giant Center, 6:30
No. 3 Bishop McDevitt vs. No. 6 Cocalico at Giant Center, 5

CLASS A
No. 8 Veritas Academy at No. 1 York Country Day, 7
No. 5 Mount Calvary at No. 4 Lancaster County Christian, 7
No. 10 Greenwood at No. 2 Millersburg, 7
No. 11 Lancaster Country Day at No. 3 West Shore Christian, 7