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PIAA 1A/4A/5A: Milton Hershey, McDevitt, Lancaster Country Day advance

03/10/2018, 8:15am EST
By Michael Bullock

Don'yae Baylor-Carroll went for 35 points as Milton Hershey picked up its first-ever state playoff win. (Photo: Michael Bullock/CoBL)

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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HARRISBURG — Highly motivated when he rolled into Central Dauphin East High School, Don’yae Baylor-Carroll had one sizable reason for wanting to play well — and prevail.

He and his basketball-playing Milton Hershey teammates had never won a state tournament game.

Well, that misfortune was corrected Friday night — in impressive fashion.

Pouring in 35 points — including 21 from beyond the 3-point arc — the highly flammable and electrically charged Baylor-Carroll put on an offensive show as Milton Hershey wheeled to a decisive 75-52 victory over West Chester Rustin in the opening round of the Class 5A state playoffs.

“We lost [two] games in a row, so we had to come out and play hard,” admitted Baylor-Carroll, who also grabbed three rebounds and dished out two assists while posting his ninth game this season with 30 points or more. “I knew I had to step my game up.”

Before Baylor-Carroll’s sparkling night came to an end — with some 1,000 Milton Hershey partisans among those tucked somewhere in a crowded house — the 5-9 senior canned 12 of his 21 field-goal attempts and buried four of his five tries from the line.

“Definitely a great game, a great vibe and the fans were great, too,” a grinning Baylor-Carroll said.

What really got the house engaged was Baylor-Carroll’s effectiveness from deep, as he splashed seven of his 12 looks from beyond the arc — several on pull-up treys in transition and several more on step-back pops that simply froze wannabe Rustin defenders and left them shaking their heads.

Josh Parra hopped off the bench to tack on 14 points and grab seven boards for the District 3 champs (24-5), who will square off against another Ches-Mont League adversary in Bishop Shanahan Tuesday night when the Class 5A field swings back into action at sites and times yet to be determined.

Shanahan moved forward by belting Hershey 76-38 — Milton Hershey downed its crosstown rivals twice — in its opening-round tilt.

Milton Hershey also received 10 points, six boards and four assists from blue-collar 6-2 senior Pedro Rodriguez, as well as six points, eight rebounds and six dimes from highly athletic 6-2 senior Treyvon Ferguson — the PIAA’s reigning Class AAA triple jump champion.

“I like to get my team started, and set the pace really,” said Baylor-Carroll, who posted 20 of his 35 points before the halftime break. “They already know what to do. Pedro’s been in this situation a lot and he’s been playing good this year, so I expected it out of him and for Trey to step up.”

Bryce Barrouk, Josh Nelson and Dylan DeMarco shared 42 points for Rustin (16-12), which shrugged off a 14-2 deficit generated by 12 points and an assist from Baylor-Carroll and actually led 15-14 after one quarter. Keith Cochran’s Golden Knights were even within four (34-30) early in the third quarter, but a pair of Ferguson finishes off the bounce soon restored order.

Once Baylor-Carroll splashed two rips from the Capitol Rotunda, Mark Zerbe’s opportunistic group was sporting a 48-33 lead with 2:32 left in the third. Other than a pair of technicals early in the fourth that briefly slowed the high-octane Spartans, little went wrong the rest of the way.

Baylor-Carroll, who had a number of Division III programs on hand to watch him play, drained two more 3-balls down the stretch as Milton Hershey put the Golden Knights away and erased the negative thoughts that remained from state losses to Lower Moreland and Chester the past two seasons.

“Those were growth experiences that could help us to be battle-tested,” Zerbe admitted.

“And try to get a little further this year.”

And when the 6-3 Parra flushed Rodriguez’s alley-oop just before the buzzer sounded, the Milton Hershey backers still on hand went berserk with glee. They were moving on.

No one was happier about that than Baylor-Carroll, the Harrisburg-born youngster who was sent to the boarding school by his great-grandmother in time to start Kindergarten.

He’s still there splashing 3-balls, using his quick hands to torment opposing ballhandlers and ignite fast breaks that he often finishes and putting his teammates in good spots.

Such as the second round of the state tournament.

“It’s definitely great,” Baylor-Carroll said of scoring 35 points in a state playoff win. “I’m not gonna dwell on this win. I’m going to try to play well in the next game, too, so we can keep this run going.

“I want this to be a special year.”
~~~

Bishop McDevitt seals opening-round victory at foul line

Locked in a struggle with a valiant Danville side, Bishop McDevitt parlayed its effectiveness at the free-throw line into a 60-45 victory that pushed Mike Gaffey’s club into Tuesday night’s second round.

Davon Lee collected 21 points to lead the Crusaders (15-12) into a matchup with District 6 champion Huntingdon, a 60-58 victor over Lancaster Catholic. Lee, a 6-0 sophomore, was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line in the fourth quarter as McDevitt turned a close game into a 15-point success.

McDevitt led by just three (45-42) with 2:59 left, closing the contest with a 15-3 salvo.

Jake Kelly added 10 points for the District 3 runners-up, while Alin Jones came off the bench to toss in 10 first-half points by hitting his first four shots as the Crusaders built a 29-20 halftime lead. Nasty man defense also frustrated the Ironmen (22-6), who shot just under 29 percent for the game.

“Something caused some disruption,” Gaffey said, alluding to his team’s effective defensive work.

Although Danville was within three — and the Ironmen were still down just four (47-43) with 2:40 to play and six (49-43) after Lee splashed two freebies — Lenny Smith’s club was hurt when Peyton Riley was whistled for his fifth foul going for a steal. When Riley objected, he drew a technical.

That led to McDevitt sinking three of the four freebies and two more followed when Ben Marsico was tagged and went to the line. Marsico also had a perfect fourth quarter at the line, going 4-for-4.

Danville, which picked up 15 points from Mavin James and 14 from lone senior regular Jordan Bickhart, never recovered. The Ironmen also picked up 11 rebounds from Shane Kozick.

“Every time we needed a basket, we just couldn’t get one to go down,” Smith lamented. “Even though we had good looks, I can’t fault our players. We had what we needed, the ball just didn’t fall in.”

And for McDevitt, it did — especially from the foul line.

Enough — McDevitt was 15-for-19 at the stripe in the fourth quarter and 19-for-27 overall — to move a youthful Crusaders side that started three sophomores forward.

“We’re really excited about that,” Gaffey said.
~~~

Lancaster Country Day pockets first state victory

Leading from opening tip to final buzzer, Lancaster Country Day claimed its first-ever state tournament victory, decking Blacklick Valley 74-51 in the Class A portion of the opening-night three-bagger.

Andrew Williams dropped in 20 points to lead the Cougars (19-8), personally propelling the Tri-Valley League entry to an 8-0 lead in the opening 2:30 by pocketing his team’s first four hoops.

LCD pushed four others into double figures, as Luke Walling added 15 points and the trio of Sam Duncan, Cole Fisher and Will Lisk each banked 10.

Walling added 13 rebounds for Curtis Butler’s club, which led by as many as 26 points (58-32) early in the final quarter as a second-round date with District 2 entry Susquehanna Community on Tuesday night at a site and time to be determined. Susquehanna defeated Conestoga Christian 58-54.

Jude Gdula paced Blacklick Valley (21-6) with 18 points.


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