City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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CARLISLE — Take a high-scoring wing out of Harrisburg’s basketball-playing Cougars and one would expect Kirk Smallwood’s remarkably confident bunch to be severely challenged at the offensive end of the floor.

Yet that did not happen Tuesday night at extremely noisy Gene Evans Gymnasium, where the visiting Cougars simply laced up their sneakers tighter, found production from some other players and did something they’re accustomed to doing.

Win.

On the road, too.

Picking up 28 points from Anthony “Big Ten” Johnson — including 22 after the halftime break — Smallwood’s undefeated Cougars remained perfect with a 66-59 triumph over Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division playmate Carlisle.

Christian Ray added 15 points — including a trey that ignited a late, pivotal surge — and Elijah Barrett worked inside for 10 more as the Cougars (6-0, 5-0) grabbed sole possession of the Mid-Penn Commonwealth lead with their latest success.

Harrisburg also is Class AAAA’s No. 9 squad in the latest set of City of Basketball Love's statewide rankings. Carlisle is listed among the Others to Watch.

Barrett and Johnson also snared eight rebounds apiece — the 6-7 Johnson also swatted away seven shots — while lead guard Naasir Johnson chipped in eight assists for a Harrisburg side playing without junior Chris Whitaker.

Averaging 25 points per game through the first five outings — Whitaker went for 20 or more four times and 30-plus twice — the 6-3 Whitaker was assessed two technical fouls Friday night in Harrisburg’s win over Central Dauphin East and was ejected. So, Whitaker served his one-game suspension Tuesday night.

And Harrisburg still managed to prevail.

“We got some production from some guys that usually don’t give us as much,” Smallwood said. “Elijah Barrett did well. Tony James (6 points, 5 boards, 2 assists) stepped in and did well. And, of course, Big Ten had to carry more of the load than usual and he was willing to do that for his friend.”

“At Carlisle and in an environment like that, tip of the hat for sure,” Thundering Herd head coach Andre Anderson said. “Credit where credit’s due. That’s almost like a gift to not have [Whitaker] playing and we’ve got to take full advantage. We just struggled in that first half. We didn’t come out the way we wanted and play Carlisle basketball and it caught up to us at the end.”

Jordan Purcell pocketed 17 points and DeShawn “Dey Dey” Millington finished with 13 for Carlisle (7-2, 4-1), which had won six straight. Anderson’s Thundering Herd was down 29-19 at the break, but trailed by just two (44-42) after three.

“We fell in love with the jump shot and we allowed them to get second-chance points,” said Anderson, whose Herd shot just 21.4 percent (6-for-28) before the break while getting outrebounded 24-14. “That killed us in the first half.”

Purcell, pestered by foul difficulties that cost him a sizable chunk of the first half, topped the Herd with eight rebounds. His 10-point burst in the third quarter, along with needed energy, helped Carlisle erase its 10-point halftime deficit.

“I don’t want to say we backed down, but we didn’t bring the same intensity in the first half,” Anderson lamented. “When you have a guy like Jordan Purcell go out of the game for that long stretch — he got two fouls right away — that kills us and that kills our chemistry. We need other guys to go in and step up.

“I’m not saying they didn’t, but that just really hurt what we try to do on both ends.”

Carlisle also received five assists off the bench from slippery guard Gavyn Barnes — Barnes was sporting the same highlighted cut preferred by the New York Giants’ Odell Beckham Jr. — who was able to zig-zag into the paint.

And since smaller Carlisle attacked the basket in the second half with much more frequency and much more resolve instead of settling for perimeter looks as it did in the first half, the Herd was able to push in front (39-37) with 2:35 to play in the third when Zion Patterson canned the second of his two 3-pointers.

The excitable Patterson, who posted all eight of his points during Carlisle’s third-quarter response, was carried off the floor with 6:22 left and the Herd up 47-46. He was taken to a nearby hospital with an apparent knee injury.

By then, however, Harrisburg had switched out of its traditional man-to-man defensive sets and moved to a 2-3 matchup zone. While that effective look hoped to cut down on Carlisle’s ability to penetrate, it also settled the Cougars.

And it cost the Herd some momentum.

“That’s one of the things we’ve been working on,” Smallwood said. “Our matchup zone’s been good to us and while we’re developing our man-to-man principles and our man-to-man defense, both half-court and full-court, the matchup zone’s kind of been like a good segue for us.”

“That changed the momentum, but our guys still continued to attack,” Anderson said. “They weren’t content with shooting 3s in the second half and taking shots that they shouldn’t have. They attacked, which is big, but like I said got gassed and some of our guys played major minutes in that second half.

“Against a team like that, that’s tough.”

Yet while the Herd was leading by four (56-52) with 3:03 to go following Nate Barnes’ conventional three-point play — Gavyn Barnes’ slick dish set up the and one — Ray’s 3-pointer from the left wing lit the fuse on an 11-point salvo capped by Anthony Johnson’s emphatic flush that had Harrisburg up 63-56 with 31.3 left.

Nate Barnes had all seven of his points in the final quarter.

“Our guys are fighters, man,” Anderson said. “They fight and it could have ended up either way. There were some big shots made down the stretch, both by our guys and that guy hit a bomb. Christian Ray hit a bomb on us. Crucial.”

Turnovers on consecutive possessions also hurt the Herd, especially when Naasir Johnson canned the front end of a one-and-one and James knocked down the back end of a two-shot look to make it 61-56.

Anthony Johnson’s layup and Shaquon Anderson-Butts’ stickback of his own miss came right after Ray’s deep look from the arc.

“They’ve got a terrific team, man,” said Smallwood, whose club targeted nearly 52 percent of its second-half field-goal efforts (14-for-27). “Very well coached. Millington’s terrific. Ben Milligan’s terrific. Purcell, oh my gosh. … They did a really good job. I’m just glad that we made a run after they made a run.

“We got some key stops and some key rebounds. Like I said, I like my team. We got some stuff from some people that we weren’t expecting to get [as much] from.”

Another Johnson jam in transition with several ticks remaining — off a Naasir Johnson dish — punctuated the Cougars’ impressive road triumph.

“Any time we come down here, man, it’s a dogfight,” Smallwood added. “Andre prepares well for us — him and his staff. Our kids like coming here.

“It’s just a real festive atmosphere. They do a real good job here.”