McCauley leads West York to tip-off tourney win
On Friday, Darian McCauley learned how to play "big-boy basketball," according to his coach Bill Ackerman. On Saturday, he learned how to take over a game.
West York's senior forward dropped 32 points, grabbed seven rebounds and swiped three steals to lead the Bulldogs to a 77-70 win against Dallastown in the York Suburban tip-off tournament championship.
McCauley was named tournament MVP after scoring 51 points in two wins. The highlight of his Saturday night came in the second quarter. Dallastown had taken an 11-point lead after shooting 9-of-12 in the first. His counterpart Aaron Ward scored 11 in the opening quarter, and for the second night in a row, West York had dug itself into an early hole.
But McCauley came out fired up in the second. The senior scored six of the team's first eight field goals on his way to a 15-point quarter.
“We couldn’t stop Darian McCauley,” Dallastown head coach Mike Grassel admitted. “We didn’t follow our game plan to get down and dig the ball out. And he made us pay for it. He was getting into the body and finishing. He’s a heck of a player.”
Kenton Meckley (12 points, 11 rebounds) added four points in the quarter, and the Bulldogs took a 37-32 lead into the half.
“We talked to Meckley in the shootaround and told him he needs to play like people would recognize his game,” Ackerman said. “He didn’t do that yesterday. You wouldn’t know that he played yesterday, but he made sure you noticed him today.”
The Wildcats tied the score out of the half with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by Ward and Braden Caldwell, who combined for 45 of Dallastown's 70 points.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can play, and those two guys stepped up tonight,” Grassel said. “We need more than two guys to step up.”
West York's Matt DellOrfano sank two straight baskets. Point guard Josh Bailey, who had been struggling all night from the floor, scored his first bucket of the night — a 3-pointer from the wing — and let out a sigh of relief. Bailey added two free throws and put West York up 52-45 after the third.
“West York did a good job of moving the basketball and getting to the rim,” Grassel said. “Credit to them, but my expectation would be for our guys to toughen up defensively.”
Dallastown never closed the gap to within seven the rest of the way, and McCauley secured the win with 10 points down the stretch.
“We’ll take the ugly wins,” Ackerman said. “At the end of the season, you don’t remember it was an ugly win, you just remember it was a ‘W’ and a tourney championship. But we have to get better and we certainly can.”
In the consolation game, the host Trojans erased an early nine-point deficit and picked up their first win, 57-52, against Red Land. Chey Carter scored 22 points, and Donovan Mears and Jack Schultz chipped in 12 apiece. Morgon Keiser led the Patriots with 22.
West York 77, Dallastown 70
West York (77)
Darian McCauley 9 13-16 32, Kenton Meckley 6 0-2 12, Ian Lalic 6 2-4 11, Dellorfano 3 2-6 8, Bailey 2 3-4 8, Cains 1 2-2 4, Hawkins 1 0-0 2, Frey 0 0-2 0. Totals — 28 22-36 77.
Dallastown (70)
Aaron Ward 10 1-1 27, Braden Caldwell 6 3-3 18, Mike Diaz 4 2-2 10, Albert 2 2-6 7, Catchings 2 0-0 4, McGlynn 1 2-3 4. Totals — 25 10-15 70.
Dallastown _ 22_ 10 _ 13 _ 25 _ — _ 70
West York _ 14_ 23 _ 15 _ 25 _ — _ 77
3-point goals — DT 10 (Ward 6, Caldwell 3, Albert), WY 3 (Lalic, McCauley, Bailey).
York Suburban 57, Red Land 52
Red Land (52)
Morgon Keiser 10 0-0 22, Dillin Wright 4 2-3 11, Wagner 2 3-4 9, DeJesus 3 0-0 7, Snyder 1 0-0 3. Totals — 20 5-7 52.
York Suburban (57)
Chey Carter 9 4-5 22, Donovan Mears 4 2-2 12, Jack Schultz 4 4-6 12, Mailman 2 0-0 5, Weinstein 1 0-0 2, Trust 1 0-1 2, Merkle 1 0-1 2, Thomas 0 0-0 0, Batty 0 0-0 0, Dowling 0 0-0 0. Totals — 22 10-15 57.
Red Land _ 24 _ 7 _ 7 _ 14 _ — _ 52
York Suburban _ 15 _ 15 _ 12 _ 15 _ — _ 57
3-point goals — RL 7 (Keiser 2, Wagner 2, Wright, DeJesus, Snyder), YS 3 (Mailman, Mears 2).