All I can say is "WOW"..... In the first game at Kimber Gymnasium, it's going to be hard to top that one.... Harrisburg coming in ranked #5 in the State vs Lancaster McCaskey ranked #6 in the State, this exceeded the expectations and then some.....
Now, just so everyone understands, I predicted that Harrisburg would win this game in overtime by 4 points...
Harrisburg ended up winning this game 99 - 94 in OVERTIME!!!!
This game started out with Lancaster jumping on The Cougars early with a 6 - 0 lead before Harrisburg's Don Ralls hit a pull up jumper to stop the run.... But then, 6'0 rock solid combo guard Diante Cherry hit a 3 pointer and then a sweet drive to the basket to extend the lead.....
Harrisburg inserts 6'4 Widebody Shaquan "Shoop" Sheppard (8 pts, 10 rebs) as he scored on a lay up immediately.... Harrisburg would have their chances but they could not convert on layups or free throws as The Red Tornado took a 21 - 10 lead by the end of the first quarter...
As the second quarter began, it looked more like the first as 6'5 Keyon Cowan came flying through the lane on a one hand slam on Harrisburg to get the Lancaster crowd cheering louder than ever....
But all of a sudden Harrisburg has Division 1 football recruit Chris Britton, super fast and pesky guard Ashton Cooksey-Easter and Sophomore Sharp Shooter Jahaad Proctor on the floor with Jerel Patterson and Sheppard and the game just changed....
It all started with a 15 foot dive on the floor by Britton in which he recovered a loose ball which led to a three ball by Proctor..... Cooksey-Easter started pressuring the ball and it converted into another three ball by Proctor and Kyle Cook came in with a quick 3 ball himself..... add in a few more layups and what once was an 18 point lead turned into a 43 - 39 Lancaster lead by halftime.....
In the first half, Diante Cherry was unguardable scoring 22 points and they still had another 16 minutes to play.... 6'6 Wing forward Davonne Pinkard was smooth as silk with the ball and owned the glass while Cowan was a bruiser inside.....
All of this action happened and that was only the first half.....
The second half came and you could see that foul trouble on Cherry plus fatigue was starting to hurt the Red Tornado.... Lancaster was missing their starting pg Aaron Swinton who was on a football recruiting trip and they could have used him big time....
The second half the officials decided to tighten the game up as they called foul after foul on both teams and between the two teams they took 104 free throw attempts..... That's incredible!!!! Also 8 players fouled out between the two teams.... That worked more in the Cougars favor because they are so deep and can keep bringing in more players than most teams....
If it wasn't James Ezel (7 points and 14 rebounds) banging the boards, it was Proctor (15 points, 7 rebs) hitting the outside shots, or Britton (11pts, 7 rebs) drawing contact in the paint, or Cooksey-Easter (14pts, 6 steals).....
Steven Stoney decided to take over in the second half as he scored most of his 23 points after intermission..... Stoney can be the best player in the area if he can put a complete game together on a consistent basis...
As Stoney took the ball to the basket to lay it up at the end of regulation, all you can say is "This kid is TOUGH!!!". in overtime, the Cougars had a little too much for a depleted Lancaster team due to foul outs as they pulled out the victory.... Diante Cherry ended up with 30 points for the game while Pinkard collected 22pts and 14 rebs along with Cowan who had 19 points and 11 boards....
Patterson didn't score as much this game with 7 points but did a good job handling the pressure in the second half.... He has to be more ready for games of this magnitude because The Cougars needed more from him this game.... He has special ability but is too relaxed at times....
This was a good first game for Proctor but he has to remember he's playing higher level basketball now and has to be ready for the next game mentally.... Always be ready to contribute and keep improving.....
I can see these two teams possible seeing each other again in a District 3 championship game.... This time Lancaster should be fully loaded... We'll see what happens....
Coach Little
Now, just so everyone understands, I predicted that Harrisburg would win this game in overtime by 4 points...
Harrisburg ended up winning this game 99 - 94 in OVERTIME!!!!
 |
| Kyle Cook, Jamaal Carter, Chris Britton and Steven Stoney |
Harrisburg inserts 6'4 Widebody Shaquan "Shoop" Sheppard (8 pts, 10 rebs) as he scored on a lay up immediately.... Harrisburg would have their chances but they could not convert on layups or free throws as The Red Tornado took a 21 - 10 lead by the end of the first quarter...
As the second quarter began, it looked more like the first as 6'5 Keyon Cowan came flying through the lane on a one hand slam on Harrisburg to get the Lancaster crowd cheering louder than ever....
But all of a sudden Harrisburg has Division 1 football recruit Chris Britton, super fast and pesky guard Ashton Cooksey-Easter and Sophomore Sharp Shooter Jahaad Proctor on the floor with Jerel Patterson and Sheppard and the game just changed....
It all started with a 15 foot dive on the floor by Britton in which he recovered a loose ball which led to a three ball by Proctor..... Cooksey-Easter started pressuring the ball and it converted into another three ball by Proctor and Kyle Cook came in with a quick 3 ball himself..... add in a few more layups and what once was an 18 point lead turned into a 43 - 39 Lancaster lead by halftime.....
In the first half, Diante Cherry was unguardable scoring 22 points and they still had another 16 minutes to play.... 6'6 Wing forward Davonne Pinkard was smooth as silk with the ball and owned the glass while Cowan was a bruiser inside.....
 |
| Lancaster up 18 as Shoop Sheppard is at the line |
The second half came and you could see that foul trouble on Cherry plus fatigue was starting to hurt the Red Tornado.... Lancaster was missing their starting pg Aaron Swinton who was on a football recruiting trip and they could have used him big time....
The second half the officials decided to tighten the game up as they called foul after foul on both teams and between the two teams they took 104 free throw attempts..... That's incredible!!!! Also 8 players fouled out between the two teams.... That worked more in the Cougars favor because they are so deep and can keep bringing in more players than most teams....
If it wasn't James Ezel (7 points and 14 rebounds) banging the boards, it was Proctor (15 points, 7 rebs) hitting the outside shots, or Britton (11pts, 7 rebs) drawing contact in the paint, or Cooksey-Easter (14pts, 6 steals).....
Steven Stoney decided to take over in the second half as he scored most of his 23 points after intermission..... Stoney can be the best player in the area if he can put a complete game together on a consistent basis...
As Stoney took the ball to the basket to lay it up at the end of regulation, all you can say is "This kid is TOUGH!!!". in overtime, the Cougars had a little too much for a depleted Lancaster team due to foul outs as they pulled out the victory.... Diante Cherry ended up with 30 points for the game while Pinkard collected 22pts and 14 rebs along with Cowan who had 19 points and 11 boards....
Patterson didn't score as much this game with 7 points but did a good job handling the pressure in the second half.... He has to be more ready for games of this magnitude because The Cougars needed more from him this game.... He has special ability but is too relaxed at times....
This was a good first game for Proctor but he has to remember he's playing higher level basketball now and has to be ready for the next game mentally.... Always be ready to contribute and keep improving.....
I can see these two teams possible seeing each other again in a District 3 championship game.... This time Lancaster should be fully loaded... We'll see what happens....
Coach Little
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