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Milton Hershey 57, Shippensburg 52
Of note: Dereck Mills led Shippensburg with 13 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals...The Greyhounds racked up seven 3-pointers...The Hounds will lose five seniors to graduation...Yaphet Michael led Milton Hershey's scoring with 19 points.
Records: Shippensburg finishes 10-12 ... The Spartans (11-9) will host Hershey (19-4) in a District 3-AAA first-round game Tuesday, 8.
By CHRISTINA METHNER
For Public Opinion
SHIPPENSBURG -- The Shippensburg Greyhounds' season ended in a battle Friday night in a District 3 Class AAA boys basketball playoff game against Milton Hershey.
Despite some predicting a blowout, the Hounds kept the game close all four quarters, fighting until the end and making the Spartans work for every point. However, Milton Hershey eventually prevailed with a 57-52 victory.
"I'm proud of our intensity tonight," said Shippensburg's Derek Boone who contributed 11 points including three treys. "We struggled rebounding but we really came to play in the first half. I'm pleased with our effort."
Milton Hershey took an early first quarter lead, but the Hounds led 21-19 at halftime with two of Boone's 3-pointers coming in the second quarter.
The Spartans answered in the third, going on a five minute, 13 point unanswered drive to regain the lead and set the pace for the rest of the game.
"We were able to go on a run in the third," Milton Hershey coach Bob Ebert said. "We
The Hounds didn't make it easy--they answered the Spartan's run with two treys in the third, and Ryan Maun opened the fourth quarter with another 3-pointer to tie the game. He and Dereck Mills (who led with 13 points) each added one more with less than a minute and a half to play, but their effort came up short as the Spartans held on for the win.
"We missed an awful lot of easy shots and didn't shoot free throws well tonight," Shippensburg coach Darren Shaffer said. "But our kids played extremely hard. We've faced a lot of adversity over the last few weeks but we had a great effort tonight."
The Hounds will lose five players to graduation this year, and Shaffer appreciates all the hard work they put into the season.
"They're a good group of kids and we're going to miss them," he said. "I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know the five seniors I had. Faust did a nice job as the senior captain. His leadership will be missed."
Shippensburg finished the season with a 10-12 record.
" The kids have done really well this season," Shaffer said. "I think we can look back and be able to reflect on more positives than negatives."
M. Hershey 57, Shippensburg 52
MILTON HERSHEY
Yaphet Michael 6 5-6 19, Al-Shabazz Jabateh 4 2-6 11, Cesar Ramirez 3 1-2 7, Ron Hunter 3 0-0 6, Andre Rogers 3 0-3 6, Nathan King 1 3-4 5, Jordan Crawford 1 1-3 3, Abi Olaogun 0 0-0 0, James Landron 0 0-0 0, Julio Ramirez 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 12-24 57.
SHIPPENSBURG
Dereck Mills 5 2-5 13, Travis Faust 4 3-5 11, Derek Boone 4 0-1 11, Ryan Maun 3 0-1 9, Ausin Monzullo 2 0-0 4, James Kiami 1 0-0 2, Tanner Hamman 1 0-0 2, Chace Weltz 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 5-12 52.
Milton Hershey 9 10 22 17 -- 57
Shippensburg 7 14 16 15 -- 52
3-point shots -- MH 3 (Michael 2, Jabateh); Ship 7 (Maun 3, Boone 3, Mills). Rebounds -- Ship 36 (Faust 12). Assists -- Ship 10 (Mills 5). Steals -- Ship 5 (Mills 3). Turnovers -- Ship 17. Fouled out -- Maun, Faust.
