Biglerville routed again by York Catholic

It was a game Biglerville coach Steve Elsier felt he had seen before.

Just over a month after Biglerville lost to York Catholic by 37 points on Dec. 11, the Canners were once again unable to keep up with the Fighting Irish in 80-47 home loss Tuesday night.

While Elsier is well aware York Catholic (10-3, 9-0 YAIAA Division III) is the class of Division III, he felt his team didn't do itself any favors by failing to match the Fighting Irish's physicality throughout the game.

"I thought intensity-wise, we just came out either intimated or lackluster but they had 15 offensive rebounds in the first half," Elsier said. "That's willpower and heart and going after the ball. You've got to do everything, and I mean everything, right to beat this team."

Rebounding wasn't the only area Biglerville (8-8, 3-6 YAIAA Division III) struggled in on Tuesday. They allowed the Fighting Irish to make eight 3-pointers and were unable to prevent them from getting to the basket.

After a basket by Drew Riley minutes into the second quarter cut Biglerville's deficit to just six points, York Catholic immediately scored six straight baskets and went into halftime up by 19. That was the closest the score would be the rest of the game.

During timeouts, Elsier could be heard telling his players they needed to "pick their poison" against York Catholic. That's because when the Canners tried to focus on double-teaming guard Andrew Forjan (25 points), they left themselves susceptible to forwards Melik Martin (15 points) and Steven Nigro (11 points) among others.

"When you're playing a team that is just loaded the way they are, the little bad things turn into big bad things," Elsier said. "We wanted to force their action baseline, and we got some things we wanted, but we didn't get loose balls. We had opportunities we didn't take advantage of while I thought they converted every steal they had."

The only bright spot for Biglerville was junior Noah Ayers. The 5-foot-8 guard scored 28 points and went 13-for-13 from the free throw line.

Elsier has no plans to make his players watch any film from Tuesday. Moving forward, he said the Canners need to forget about how poorly they played and focus on getting their intensity back.

"This is a throw-away trash game," Elsier said. "We didn't play well, our heads weren't in it. If we can (play with intensity) for four quarters at our place, maybe it's a different story."

It was a bounce-back win for the Fighting Irish, who lost by 29 points to Palmyra on Saturday. While Forjan provided much of its offense Tuesday, York Catholic got points from nine different players.

York Catholic coach Blaine Claiborne has preached about the importance of depth all season, and said Tuesday was a good opportunity to get more of his rotation involved.

"We just got our butts handed to us a couple of days ago, so we had to make sure our defensive principles are still strong," Claiborne said. "It's good getting guys like Nick (Castellanos) and Zach (Echevaria) extended minutes in tougher games, guys get in foul trouble or get tired, those guys need confidence they can step up."

York Catholic 80, Biglerville 47

York Catholic (80) 

Andrew Forjan 9 2-2 25, Melik Martin 7 1-1 15, Steven Nigro 5 1-2 11, Davis 2 1-1 5, Derowski 1 0-2 2, Smith 2 0-0 6, Echevaria 3 1-2 8, Ellis 3 0-0 6, Castellanos 1 0-0 2 . Totals — 33 6-10 80.

Biglerville (47)

Noah Ayers 6 13-13 28, Greist 0 3-4 3, Bell 1 0-0 2, Shaffer 2 0-0 5, Cox 0 0-0 0, Riley 3 0-0 6, Parker 1 0-0 3. Totals — 13 16-17 47.

York Catholic _ 16 _ 22 _ 20 _ 22 _ — _ 80

Biglerville _ 8 _ 11 _ 18 _ 10 _ — _ 47

3-point goals — York Catholic 8 (Forjan 5, Smith 2, Echevaria), Biglerville 5 (Ayers 3, Shaffer, Parker).