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'Boro boys are on the rise


At the beginning of the season, it looked like it was going to be a long year for Waynesboro's boys basketball team.

The Indians started with a 10-point loss to Greencastle in the Franklin County Tip-Off Tournament and were defeated by James Buchanan, 57-44 in the consolation round. They then suffered a 68-44 loss at the hands of Shippensburg, and it looked as if Waynesboro still hadn't found its identity.

"We're not giving up on them," Indian coach Tom Hoffman said following the loss to the Greyhounds. "It's a good group, and we know they're trying. I know it's not for lack of effort. We just have to stick together and keep working hard for (the next game)."

Hoffman stuck with his boys, and after an 0-8 start, the Indians may have hit a stride.

Waynesboro got its name in the win column for the first time at the New Oxford Christmas tournament with a 40-34 victory over Bermudian Springs.

The Indians then went on a three-game skid, but produced a huge upset over Shippensburg, which was undefeated in the Mid Penn Colonial Division at the time. Since then, Waynesboro has won three of its last four and is 4-12 (3-6 MPC). It has won three straight division games.

Cameron Keck has been Waynesboro's leading scorer all season long and is now averaging 14.1 points per game, but a big difference for the Indians recently has been Keck's supporting cast.

In the 60-51 win over Ship, the Indians had two others finish in double figures for points - Mitch Neterer with 16, and Kyle Hoffman with 10. In Waynesboro's next victory, a win over Boiling Springs, Neterer led the way with 18 points, and in a 55-59 defeat of Northern, both Kyle Hoffman (19 points) and Dakota Rhyne (11) were big offensive contributors.

After the Indians' first loss to Shippensburg, it was clear that scoring was a big problem. Waynesboro scored just 44 points, and really had only 32 points before the Greyhounds took out the majority of their starters.

"We'll do everything we can to try to create situations for them to put the ball in the bucket," Tom Hoffman said at the time. "But there's only so many things we can come up with."

Whatever Hoffman has been doing has worked, though. The Indians were averaging 46.8 points per game over the course of the first eight games of the season, and in the last four games, they've put up 57.3 ppg.