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Brooks, Spring Grove hold off Dallastown


Spring Grove weathered a six-minute stretch that saw star junior Eli Brooks strapped to the bench with foul trouble, and the Rockets beat Dallastown, 83-76, in YAIAA Division I boys' basketball action Friday at Spring Grove.

Brooks picked up his fourth foul with 3:49 left in the third quarter and his team in front, 46-36. When he returned with 6:19 left in the game, Spring Grove's lead had diminished by just two points at 59-51. During Brooks' time on the pine, Darin Gordon put in eight of his 22 points.

"The guys realize that they have to keep fighting even if Eli is on the bench. They're capable players and they have to keep playing," Spring Grove head coach James Brooks said. "We kept running our offense, and Darin stepped up big for us."

Dallastown (3-2, 2-1) didn't fold when Brooks returned, though. In fact, the Wildcats did the opposite.

Trailing 61-51 after Austin Panter's hoop with 5:46 remaining, Dallastown responded with a 17-9 run. The Wildcats cut the deficit to 70-68 on Brandon McGlynn's layup with 2:51 to go.

Brooks answered by hitting all three foul shots after being fouled shooting a 3-pointer, but McGlynn scored an old-fashioned 3-point play with 2:12 to play.

Aaron Ward's trifecta with 34 seconds left brought the count to 79-76 before the Rockets put the game away at the charity stripe, hitting 4-of-4 in the final 33 seconds.

"We were able to get the lead down to two points. But give Spring Grove credit, they made plays at the end to win the game," Dallastown head coach Mike Grassel said. "You can't spot a good team a 14-point lead. That cost us the game. We lost by seven, but it took a lot of energy just to try to get back in the game."

Spring Grove (1-1, 1-1) sped to a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter and led 18-5 before an 8-2 Wildcat spurt to end the frame left the Rockets in front after the opening stanza, 20-13.

Dallastown closed the gap to 26-24 on McGlynn's bucket with 4:24 left in the second quarter, but Spring Grove sprinted to a nine-point halftime lead with a strong finish to the quarter capped by Brooks' breakaway slam right before the end of the half. It was his third dunk of the half.

"We had a chance in the first half to put the game away and didn't," James Brooks said. "They got in the lane a lot and that's something that we're going to need to improve on."

Eli Brooks led all scorers with 29 points. Gordon hauled down 10 boards to go with his 22 points.

McGlynn put in 24 points for the Wildcats, while Ward had 22 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Dallastown shot well from beyond the arc (10-of-20) and at the charity stripe (20-of-22) and had 14 turnovers in the game.

"We shot great at the line and from 3 and scored 76 points. That should be enough to win the game," Grassel said. "Giving up 83 points is unacceptable."

Dallastown (76)

Braden Caldwell 0 0-0 0, Julian Adams 0 0-0 0, Ben Ward 0 0-0 0, Aaron Ward 5 8-9 22, Brandon McGlynn 7 9-9 24, Donovan Catchings 2 0-0 6, Justin Atwood 0 0-0 0, Mike Diaz 2 2-2 6, Da'Trail 4 1-2 11, Brandon White 2 0-0 5. Totals 22 20-22 76.

Spring Grove (83)

D.J. Howard 1 0-0 3, Jake Messersmith 0 0-0 0, Drew Gordon 0 4-4 4, Grant Wierman 4 3-6 12, Liam Flaherty 2 0-0 4, Eli Brooks 11 4-4 29, Darin Gordon 9 4-5 22, Jon Sager 1 0-0 2, Jeremy Bellamy 0 0-0 0, Austin Panter 3 1-2 7. Totals 31 16-22 83.

Dallastown _13 _15 _15 _33_ _76

Spring Grove _20 _17 _19 _27_ _83

3-point goals Dt 10 (A. Ward 4, Catchings 2, Albert 2, McGlynn, White); SG 5 (Brooks 3, Howard, Wierman)

JV score Spring Grove 57 Dallastown 49