City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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MANCHESTER — Already on the record concerning the need for his Northeastern basketball team to claim as many rebounding and defensive battles as possible — if the Bobcats want to succeed consistently — Jon Eyster may have another way to stack wins.

Plenty of them, too.

And that’s by finding all sorts of production from option No. 3, No. 4 and so on throughout a remarkably athletic yet undersized rotation — even when the guys everyone else is familiar with are already doing what they typically do.

Well, that’s exactly what happened Friday night when previously unbeaten Dallastown checked in for an early-season matchup with an Eyster-coached group that had opened the season with three victories in as many attempts.

“It’s hard to defend,” Eyster said. “It’s hard to defend.”

Picking up 23 points from Austin Greene and 11 more off the bench from nervy freshman Nate Wilson, Eyster’s frenetic Bobcats stayed perfect in the early going with a satisfying 70-58 victory over YAIAA-I playmate Dallastown in front of a packed house at electric Northeastern York High School that roared throughout.

Antonio Rizzuto also scored 23 points for Northeastern (4-0, 2-0) — the No. 6 side in City of Basketball Love’s preseason 5A rankings — and 5-9 Fred Mulbah dealt seven dimes to go with an eight-point salvo highlighted by an alley-oop flush.

“It was crazy,” Rizzuto said. “Playing with my teammates from AAU [York Ballers] and stuff, giving them a little talk. … It was a fun game.”

Brandon McGlynn (15), Will Barton (12) and Donovan Catchings (10) cracked double digits for Mike Grassel’s Wildcats (4-1, 1-1), who trailed 60-58 with 2:46 to play after Catchings slipped a defender at the foul line and finished at the rim.

While the 5-9 Catchings also finished with a team-high seven boards and 10 assists, Eyster’s explosive Bobcats closed the game on a 10-0 spurt.

“Tonight, they made more plays than we did,” Grassel lamented.

Greene got to the bucket twice and canned one of two freebies, while Wilson knocked down a pair from the line and Rizzuto caressed a Mulbah dish in the paint while hanging in the air, kissed a short jumper off the glass and bagged the ensuing freebie.

“We did a pretty good job the last two minutes,” Eyster said. “But, other than that, I felt like we were kind of out of control. Much of the game, to be honest with you.”

Greene piled up 19 of his 23 points after the break, using a quick first step to blow by defenders and get to the basket or draw a foul en route. He would have pocketed even more points, but the 5-11 youngster was just 5-for-12 at the line.

“Austin’s our secret weapon coming in, because nobody knows anything about Austin Greene,” Eyster remarked. “We knew coming in that he was gonna be as tough as anybody with the ball in his hands in our league.”

“Austin came ready to play,” Rizzuto said. “His will tonight was big and he filled it.

“He stepped up big for us.”

Northeastern also closed the first half in similar fashion, using a 6-0 spurt in the final 2:24 to pull within a pair (28-26) of the Wildcats. Rizzuto’s short J from the left baseline, off an earlier Bobcats miss, tumbled through the hoop as the horn sounded.

Revved up heading to the lockers? Not necessarily.

“They were confident,” Eyster said. “They knew they didn’t play well. They were pretty cool. … I think they felt like they dug out of a hole we put ourselves in.”

And while Northeastern continued to display its spurtability once the second half commenced — Rizzuto’s deep rip from the right wing off a Brandon Coleman skip pass popped the Bobcats up 29-28 — the Bobcats capped a 22-4 run when Rizzuto sank the back end of a two-shot look with 2:27 to go in the third.

“We had a tough week,” admitted Grassel, whose athletic outfit bested perennial YAIAA-I hammer Central York earlier in the week. “We had Central in at our house on Tuesday. We had [Elizabethtown] on Wednesday.

“So, look, they’re high school kids, that’s going to happen. But I was proud of our resiliency. They could have rolled over when they made that run and went up in the third quarter, but we kept coming back, we kept coming back.

“Those are two good basketball teams,” Grassel continued. “That’s fun to watch on a Friday night. Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end.”

Dallastown dug in and worked its way back into a fast-paced affair, tying the game 47-47 on Braden Caldwell’s stickback early in the fourth and Barton’s slick finish at the rack off a Caldwell dish that made it 49-all a minute or so later.

Moments later, the second of Wilson’s three treys gave the Bobcats the lead for good. Although Barton had a chance to tie, his freebie was off the mark and Rizzuto buried the last of his four treys from the left corner to push the hosts up by four.

Da’Trail Albert responded on Dallastown’s next possession with a deep pop from the left corner, but Wilson offered up a trey seconds later that had the crowd at a full boil.

Geez, Wilson buried two freebies with 6.3 showing to win the JV game 50-49.

The Wildcats twice pulled with two, but that was it.

Northeastern was able to hold serve at home, a critical element that will be in play throughout what should be a rollicking chase for the YAIAA-I championship.

“It was a big game, obviously, because we’re both undefeated,” Rizzuto admitted.

“So, it’s huge for us.”

“Our division’s pretty tough,” Eyster added. “If you want that gold ring at the end, you better hold serve at home or you won’t have a chance because they’re going to be tougher at home. And when we go to Dallastown, they’re going to be tougher.”

While the Wildcats continue to push forward after going .500 (11-11) a season ago — and upward as well — Grassel wasn’t content with playing the Bobcats close.

“I don’t believe in moral victories,” Grassel said. “Our guys don’t believe in moral victories. We’re competitive and we want to win. … It’s a credit to Northeastern. They got us tonight. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

Although Eyster was pleased about the result, he knows there’s room for more growth.

“We’re still pretty inexperienced, so we’re feeling our way. We’re hard to guard,” Eyster continued. “We have rebounded well. If we play against bigger teams, our 5-man has done a good job of keeping the other teams’ bigs off the boards and we go get it.

“When we do, we’re off to the races.”

While Northeastern wants to run whenever possible and that’s problematic for the opposition — perhaps to the concession stand and back during a timeout — when Eyster’s speedy Bobcats get numbers from players such as Greene and Wilson to go along with what they typically get from Rizzuto and Mulbah that’s trouble.

Just ask Dallastown.