Font ResizeThat entry would read "sixth man", noun, Jevaughn Murphy.
That'd be the Bearcat senior guard, who has spent the past two seasons coming off the bench to turn William Penn's up-tempo offense into a dizzying blur.
And there he was Tuesday night, coming off the bench once again to help the Bearcats shift gears to outrun Dallastown, 72-57.
"Coming off the bench shows what the speed of the game is and what the intensity is like," Murphy said. "It's kind of hard starting games for me because I don't know how the intensity is going to be, so I like coming off the bench and bringing that spark."
That spark came at the start of the second quarter. With the Wildcats methodically chipping away and cutting William Penn's 16-point lead to four, Sowers called a timeout.
Murphy checked in, and in the huddle Sowers drew up a play for his super sixth man.
Without having a chance to get into a rhythm, Murphy calmly nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The Bearcats forced a Dallastown (9-10 overall, 7-6 Division I) miss, and point guard Chemin Lambert found Murphy in the corner for his second straight trey.
A pull-up jumper on the next possession gave Murphy eight points in less than two minutes. More importantly, it swung the momentum back to William Penn (17-3, 12-1) and forced a Wildcat timeout.
Murphy finished with 19 points, including
"For the last two years he's just been that spark for me, and he's unselfish," Sowers said. "He just wants to come in and change the game, and he takes that role and rolls with it.
"No matter what the pace, even if it's a fast-paced game, Murph picks it up a step. He changes what's happening out there."
Tuesday night was a stark contrast from the teams' previous meeting. This time William Penn was able to get out and run, which forced Dallastown to constantly play catch-up.
And while Dallastown rallied behind Four McGlynn's game-high 31 points to mount several mini comebacks, the Bearcats responded every time with flurries of transition baskets.
"We didn't handle their transition well," Dallastown coach Troy Smeltzer said. "We focused on trying to get at least one guy back, and it just seemed like when we did get one guy back they had two in front of the ball. So it was always a two-on-one situation, and it's hard because York High capitalizes on that."
With his team playing at postseason form, Sowers said he never mentioned to his players that Tuesday's win clinched at least a share of another division crown to hang in the gym on West College Avenue.
Sowers said his mind tends to wander if he looks too far ahead and worries about counties or states before the regular season is finished.
"If I think about down the road, my mind goes crazy. Because then I think, 'We have these two games, and Red Lion is really good, and at Spring Grove, and then we got the tournament, and then we got seeding in districts and then we got states. It's crazy,'" Sowers said.
"So let's focus on Dallastown, and then let's move onto Spring Grove. We're really at a peaceful place as a coaching staff if we do that."
