City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)

HERSHEY — Knowing he was about to step on the spacious basketball court at Hershey’s Giant Center for the first time, the excitement meter tucked inside Lonnie Walker’s 6-5 frame began to crescendo upward.

In a flash, too.

“I was excited,” said Walker in a Giant Center hallway Saturday afternoon. “The whole bus ride, I don’t even think I went to sleep. I was like a little kid. ‘Can’t wait to go on the court. Can’t wait to go play on the court.’

“It was unbelievable.”

Those who witnessed Walker’s latest performance in the middle game of Saturday’s District 3-AAAA quarterfinal-round tripleheader — even if it was his first outing in Hershey’s unforgiving spotlight — might say Reading’s talented junior was nothing short of unbelievable … or spectacular … or even scintillating.

Heck, Walker needed to be outstanding.

Everyone in a Red Knights’ home uniform needed to be outstanding after Carlisle pushed and pushed the No. 2 seed before tumbling 78-73 in overtime to Rick Perez’s club in an entertaining affair that kept the entire building plugged in.

Walker finished with 37 points, snared six rebounds, dished out three assists and blocked two shots as Perez’s Red Knights (23-3) won their 18th game in succession. His second blocked shot — a rejection of a DeShawn “Dey Dey” Millington try from the left edge of the paint in the closing second — preserved Reading’s tenuous lead.

Moments later, Walker canned two freebies to seal everything up.

“He’s a player,” said Carlisle coach Andre Anderson of Walker. “He stepped up at all times of the game. He made some pressure shots. He can do it all.”

Khary Mauras pocketed 20 more points for Perez’s Knights — 12 in the second quarter — who found themselves trailing 24-12 early in the second quarter before locating another needed gear and zipping to a 37-35 edge at the break.

“Oh, man,” Walker said. “Khary’s one of my favorite offensive players to play with. Transition defense to transition offense, anything.

“Whatever we need to win, he does it. … In my opinion, in all the years playing with point guards, he’s one of the best players I’ve played with without a doubt.”

“They were hungry,” Perez said of Carlisle. “They wanted this. They were determined.”

Millington tossed in 19 points, Jordan Purcell banked 16 and Ethan Houston dropped in 13 for Anderson’s No. 7 Thundering Herd (17-6), who forced Reading to scrap its 3-2 zone by repeatedly knocking down perimeter looks.

“That’s when the fireworks began,” Anderson said. “That’s the thing. We’ve been preaching that the last few games. … We’ve been preaching about getting up in games. Pull teams out of zones. We’re a different team when we rebound the ball on the defensive end and we hit a few shots. We’re a completely different team. And our guys feed off of that.”

Carlisle, which will meet Lebanon in Tuesday night’s consolation semifinals at Cumberland Valley, canned nine treys before the day was done.

“We kind of expected it,” Walker said of the Herd. “We personally thought that was going to be one of the hardest games in districts.

“They have amazing players … in [Purcell] and [Millington],” Walker continued. “Basically, the top two players that we played this whole year. It was a lot more competitive than we thought it would be.”

“Every team should be doing that, it shouldn’t be about knocking us off,” Perez added. “Everyone is chasing the same dream. Carlisle is an exceptional team. We watched them. We know how hard DeShawn plays. They have an excellent coach. They’re the hardest-playing team we played all season.”

Every time Reading appeared poised to generate some separation — particularly in the second half — Anderson’s Herd responded positively.

“My kids weren’t out of it,” Anderson said. “When they threw a punch, man, we threw one right back. That’s one thing about my guys. They weren’t planning to back down at all throughout the entire game. Not a moral victory or anything like that, man, but I’m telling you right now these guys are coming along at the right time. Don’t be surprised if we make some noise.”

For instance, the Knights opened a seven-point cushion (46-39) on Mauras’ trey only to see Carlisle rattle off 10 consecutive points on back-to-back 3-pointers from Millington and Tyler Greene, along with Gavyn Barnes’ ‘and one.’

Houston’s freebie capped the double-digit salvo.

Yet when Mauras was able to step in front of a pass, latch on and turn that pilfer into a conventional three-point play, Reading rolled into the fourth with a 55-52 lead.

And when Ki Barnes found Houston for a finish and a 63-62 advantage with 3:29 to play, that started a back-and-forth mix of Carlisle opening up a narrow lead and the Red Knights answering with points of their own to pull even.

Eventually, Walker pushed Reading in front 69-67 in the final minute with a couple of freebies, Millington’s pull-up J knotted the scoreboard yet again.

Perez’s Knights had a chance to win it late, but Isiah Cook and Oenis Medina each missed chippies and an instant classic was destined for OT.

Buoyed by a pair of Walker hoops that gave the Knights a 73-71 lead — not to mention a Purcell charge — Perez ordered his club to spread the floor and choke clock. And that tactic worked as Reading ate up some 90 seconds.

Mauras cashed in twice at the line to extend Reading’s margin, but Millington’s circus layup off penetration had the Herd within two. And when Walker sank just one of two, Millington had a chance to narrow Carlisle’s deficit.

Walker said no way, rejecting Millington’s shot and snaring the defensive board. Two more free throws followed — both of them successful — as the Red Knights locked up their return trip to Hershey’s Giant Center in a few days.

“That’s one of the five championships that we want,” Walker said matter-of-factly, referring to the divisional title and Berks County postseason championship the Red Knights already have tucked away. “We’re just very hungry."

“Last year, we thought it was ours and it was taken away from us,” Walker added. “This year, we took a different approach. We’re hungrier. We’re more determined. We’ve just got to keep playing our game.”

“We took their best effort,” Perez said. “For our kids to come together the way they did, hats off to Carlisle. Lots of tradition in the building. It was just a great game. They’ll come out [of the District 3 tournament] as the fifth seed, they’re going to beat some people and they’re going to enjoy the rest of their season.”

Anderson, too, found plenty of positives.

“I’ll roll with my guys any day,” Anderson said. “I’m proud of the way we played.”

No. 14 Wilson continues daring dash, lands in semis

Able to jump out quickly at the start of the second half, Matt Coldren’s 14th-seeded Wilson Bulldogs parlayed that early burst into a 55-39 triumph over No. 11 Lebanon in the opening game of Saturday’s morning/afternoon three-bagger.

Christian Sload collected 16 of his game-high 19 points in the second half as the Bulldogs (18-8) earned their fourth shot at neighborhood rival Reading in Tuesday night’s semis — also at Giant Center.

“Christian played with a very heavy heart today,” Coldren said. “His grandmother passed away yesterday morning at their house — and he was present. At the end of the game he was very emotional. And there were times today when he was in a little bit of a fog, but he’s our leader. We go as he goes, and he’s fantastic.

“Without him, we would really struggle.”

Mason McElroy added 17 points for Wilson, which parlayed a 12-3 start to the second half into a 33-23 advantage. The Bulldogs were up by just one (21-20) on Tim Speraw’s gritty Cedars (16-9) when the halftime break arrived.

Wilson’s burst also forced Lebanon to scrap its compact 2-3 zone for a man defensive look, enabling Coldren’s club to turn a devastating series of back-door cuts into easy finishes at the tin and a comfortable second-half cushion.

“It was important for us to get off to a good start and once we got that lead, I wanted to pull them out because I felt athletically they wouldn’t be able to handle Christian,” Coldren continued. “Because Christian’s really fast with the ball.

“That was the game plan, to get them spread out and make them chase him around a bit so we could get our back-door stuff.”

Shaq Ortiz’s 17 points topped Lebanon — Ortiz also grabbed eight rebounds — which will take on Carlisle in Tuesday night’s consolation semis at the Cumberland Valley High School Dome. Allan Escoto added six points and four assists.

Top-seeded Central York eases into semis

In the third and anti-climactic final contest of the day, Kevin Schieler’s top-seeded Central York Panthers took command early and danced its way past Hempfield 63-49, earning its second trip to the 3-AAAA semis in three seasons.

York College recruit Jared Wagner dropped in 28 points, including 16 before the break as Central (22-3) zipped to a 32-12 lead.

Schieler’s Panthers, who will square off against Spring Grove or McCaskey in Tuesday’s semis at Giant Center, also picked up 14 points from Courtney Batts.

Connor Moffatt collected 21 points for Danny Walck’s Black Knights (15-8), who lost to Central York in the championship game of their own holiday tournament.

Its state tournament ticket punched, Hempfield will take on the Spring Grove/McCaskey loser in Tuesday’s consolation semis at Dallastown High School.