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Hanover-Adams area boys' basketball power rankings


We're 11 days into basketball season now, so the first edition of our Hanover-Adams area power rankings are here. Undefeated Hanover takes the top spot with Spring Grove and Gettysburg rounding out the top three. Enjoy.

1. Hanover (4-0) The Nighthawks' four wins have come against teams with a combined 3-16 record. So what? They've taken care of business and they're outscoring opponents by an average of 33 points per game. Games at York Catholic on Friday and back home against Trinity on Saturday will help erase the easy-schedule talk.

More good news for the Nighthawks: They have four guys averaging at least 8.0 points including Dylan Krieger, who is leading the league with 26 points a game.

2. Spring Grove (2-2) The Rockets' two losses have come against Boiling Springs and William Penn, who both lead their divisions and have a 7-1 combined record. So there's nothing to be ashamed of Rockets fans, especially after Spring Grove came one possession from ending a 25-game losing streak to William Penn.

The fans were into it, the team didn't back down and the Rockets controlled that game for about 25-30 minutes before the Bearcats surged ahead and won 45-43.

The Eli Brooks-Darin Gordon duo is one of the best in the league and scattered contributions from Grant Wierman, Erik Myers and Drew Gordon have helped as well.

A big test awaits on Friday when Red Lion (3-1, 1-0 YAIAA Div. I) visits the Grove.

3. Gettysburg (3-2) The good news: The Warriors have three guys averaging at least 13 points (Colin Bortner, Tyler Lampe and Marquis Camel) and currently sit at 3-2. The knock on them is that their three wins are against New Oxford, Kennard-Dale and Littlestown.

However, Gettysburg has a chance to make a big statement over the next seven days when they play each of Division II's top three teams (12/16 vs. Dover, 12/19 at Northeastern, 12/23 vs. Eastern York).

4. Biglerville (4-2) The Canners followed a 4-0 start with a 43-point loss to Delone Catholic (1-3, 1-1 YAIAA Div. III) and a 13-point loss at Halifax. So coach Steve Elsier's squad is a bit of a question mark right now. Biglerville has a chance to bounce back this week with road games at Fairfield and Bermudian Springs.

Noah Ayers has doubled his scoring average from last season and is up to 17.5 points. Nick Bell has chipped in with 10 points per game.

5. Bermudian (2-3) Opening weekend went really badly for the Eagles. A loss to a Kennard-Dale team that went 0-22 last season followed by a 34-point loss to Dover had us wondering if maybe the Eagles had suffered from the GameTimePA/Evening Sun cover curse. Just as we were wondering about their struggles, they won two straight games. Oh, then they lost to Kennard-Dale again. Maybe games at York Catholic and home against Biglerville this week will help clear up who the Eagles really are.

6. Delone Catholic (1-3) Fun fact: The Squires have yet to play at home this season. Their opponents are a combined 13-6 and Delone is only being outscored by two points per game. They hung tough with Hanover, Penn Manor and Eastern York before blowing out Biglerville to get first-year head coach Lawrence Williams his first victory.

We wondered how Delone's offense would look without Devon Moore and Jake Wiles, but Tavian Dorsey, Jimmy O'Boyle, Bryce Mondorff and Logan Alexander (who all average at least 9.5 ppg) have picked up the slack. The Squires have a chance to get to .500 by the end of the week with a home game against Littlestown on Tuesday and a game at York Tech on Friday.

7. South Western (1-3) The Mustangs bounced back from tough losses to Mechanicsburg and Spring Grove by defeating New Oxford 53-52. Brock Geiman and Darius Rowlette have done their share of scoring, but the team as a whole is averaging 49 points a game and shooting just 50 percent from the free-throw line. The Mustangs have a tough task ahead. Their next five games are: vs. Red Lion, at Dallastown, at Delone, vs. Central York and at William Penn.

8. New Oxford (1-5) The Colonials snapped a five-game losing streak by upsetting Dover, 73-67. Freshman John Wessel has been a pleasant surprise, averaging double figures and leading the team with 11 3-pointers. New Oxford has four consecutive divisional games before going on the road to face Delone Catholic and Littlestown in January.

9. Fairfield (0-4) The Green Knights have been outscored by 29.6 points per game this season. Through the first three games, no one on the roster was averaging more than 5.6 points. Fairfield gets Biglerville and Littlestown this week as the Green Knights try to get on track.

10. Littlestown (0-5) Another team looking for their first win. Head coach Scott Motter was happy with the team's effort in the tip-off tourney at Hanover and a 37-30 loss at Biglerville. But the Bolts followed those tough losses with a 56-point loss to Hanover and a 39-point loss to Gettysburg. Motter and the Bolts are looking for positives each night, no matter how big or small they may be.