City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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CAMP HILL — Maybe Central Dauphin East should schedule all of its basketball contests in two-game blocks. In other words, play on consecutive days.

Don Ross’ Panthers did just that last weekend, downing McCaskey on Day 2 to earn the split after falling to Cumberland Valley one night earlier.

And that’s what took place earlier Saturday as East rebounded from an exhausting setback delivered by Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division playmate Carlisle some 16 hours before to turn back Philly’s stubborn John Bartram by a 61-51 count in Game 1 of a Play-by-Play Classics five-game set at Trinity High School.

Brennen Jackson collected 19 points and seven rebounds to lead East (12-6), which used a late 9-2 burst to finally put Andre Brown’s Braves (8-11) away.

Evan Chandler, displaying the ability to get into the paint off the bounce repeatedly, added 15 points and a handful of assists. And D.J. Cooper cranked out a hustle double-double, posting 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Panthers.

“I’m very happy with the guys,” Ross said. “They exerted a lot of energy in the second half of last night’s game, being down 18 and having a couple of unfortunate calls. …

“We put ourselves in a bad position, but to come back again this morning because they exerted a lot emotionally and physically,” Ross continued. “They dug down and played well today. At this point we’re just pushing to try and get better.”

While Tyrae Green’s 15 points topped Bartram — Bartram used just six players — Brown’s iron-man bunch also picked up 14 points from Khyree Lloyd and 12 more from Ali Sherif. Green was tagged the Braves’ MVP by the Play-by-Play crew.

Jackson landed the same honor for East.

“I just had to make myself big and my guards were finding me,” said Jackson, who scored 10 points in the first half as East opened a 31-27 lead. “We can all shoot, but it was them making the extra pass that gave me the opportunity to get a bucket.”

Still unable to create much separation, a late trey from Justin Henry had the Panthers up 48-43 after three. Four more points — a pair of freebies from the 6-9 Jackson and a slick runner by Jaylen Hawthorne — made it 52-43 early in the fourth.

Lloyd canned a trey to interrupt East’s surge, but Chandler drained a pair, Jackson stuck back a miss and added a free throw, and Cooper added another putback that extended the Panthers’ advantage to 59-46 in the final seconds.

“D.J. played great,” Ross said. “He scrapped. He communicated. I thought [Jordan] Gillis did the same kind of stuff, scrapping, communicating.”

Up next for the Panthers is a rematch with neighboring Harrisburg on Tuesday, but one night later Ross & Co. will climb on the bus for the lengthy trek north to Williamsport.

Yep, another set of back-to-back contests.

“We lost a tough one last night,” Jackson admitted. “We came out here with the mindset we had last night — let’s go get one.”

“That’s what’s fun about this,” Ross said. “We’re getting really tough games in groups of four, it seems like. And that’s good. We’re trying to get ready for the [District 3] playoffs.

“And today’s win helped us think more about the playoffs.”

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Powerful Westtown uses strong second quarter to pull away from Timber Creek

With a packed house in place to see Seth Berger’s ridiculously talented bunch — including Harrisburg native Jake Forrester — Westtown certainly didn’t disappoint en route to a 75-57 victory over Timber Creek (N.J.) Regional in Game 3.

Arizona recruit Brandon Randolph paced the Moose (23-2) with 22 points, while Forrester pocketed a double-double (15 points/11 rebounds) and Cameron Reddish chipped in with 15 more for the suburban Philly outfit.

Mo Bamba also uncorked a double-double for Westtown, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 boards to go along with four blocks and four assists. Westtown will be back in action again Sunday at Hoop Group’s five-game deal in Allentown.

Randolph was tagged Westtown’s MVP.

Timber Creek’s MVP was Maurice Murray, who banked 16 of his game-high 26 points after the break. The Chargers also picked up 21 points from Isaiah Sanders.

And with Murray getting seven points in the opening quarter, Timber Creek was down by just a deuce (14-12) after eight minutes. Showing its spurtability in the second stanza, Westtown canned 11 of its 12 field-goal attempts and led 42-23 at half.

“Coach told us just step on their necks,” Forrester said. “In the beginning, we were a little slow and then taking off. That’s what we do.”

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Teaneck guards James, Washington just too much for Germantown Academy

With 5-8 Jaquaye James pouring in 31 points and Leondre Washington II finishing with 21, an electric Teaneck (N.J.) side held off Germantown Academy 74-68 in Game 2.

Adrian Baucom complemented the James-Washington combo — James was named Teaneck’s MVP — by chipping in 14 points for Jerome Smart’s guard-driving group.

Evan-Eric Longino rang up 21 of his 26 points after the break for Jim Fenerty’s Patriots (16-7), landing MVP honors. Villanova football recruit Kyle McCloskey also enjoyed a productive outing for GA, collecting 17 of his 21 points in the first half.

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Balanced Martin Luther King closes out day with impressive victory

Popping five players into double figures, shorthanded Martin Luther King drilled Frederick Douglass (N.Y.) Academy 74-36 in the fifth and final outing.

King dressed just seven players.

Elijah Kiah-El paced King (14-7) with 16 points, while MVP Will McNair and Ricardo Monteiro added 13 apiece for Sean Colson’s Cougars.

Qadir Burgess and Denelle Holly also reached double digits, splitting 22 points as King ran away and hid from the New York City side.