Skip to main content

Elco uses big bursts to top Cocalico


MYERSTOWN - Oh, those spurts.

Catch a wave on the top side and one can ride an outburst into a positive result flush with entertainment and completely satisfying.

Wind up on the wrong end of one or more of those momentum-generating salvos and the air leaves the bellies more rapidly than a punch to the gut.

Benefiting from several second-half bursts, Elco parlayed those timely spurts into a 64-50 triumph over Cocalico on Tuesday night at home that kept Brad Conners’ Raiders in hot pursuit of the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s Section 3 boys basketball title.

Not to mention an L-L tournament berth.

“Game’s all about runs,” said senior guard Caleb Buchmoyer, who pocketed all 17 of his points after the break, with 12 arriving in the fourth quarter. “Just gotta match them and keep taking shots.”

Colton Lawrence collected 25 points — Lawrence became the school’s all-time leading scorer late in the fourth quarter — as the Raiders (16-2, 10-2) carded their fifth straight win and stayed one game behind first-place Lampeter-Strasburg.

Assuming south central Pennsylvania is not buried under snow drifts Friday, Conners’ bunch will visit L-S with a chance to grab a share of the Section 3 lead.

Mason Bossert added 15 points for Elco — including several deep first-half treys that were launched from the county line — and his team used two third-quarter spurts to turn its 25-20 halftime lead into a 41-29 advantage heading to the fourth.

An extended offensive blast had the explosive Raiders up by as many as 18 points (47-29, 49-31 and 52-34) in the final quarter. Buchmoyer treys played a large role in the final segment (four of his five came in the fourth) as Elco pulled away and put an end to the Eagles’ nifty five-game winning streak.

“Stuff falls,” Buchmoyer said. “I didn’t have anything in the first half, so I had to pick my team up and start hitting shots.”

“It was nice to see him get hot,” Conners added. “There was definitely a Buchmoyer sighting down the stretch, so that was nice.”

Aidan Trynosky banked 23 points and Moses Ulysse wound up with a dozen for Travis Wealand’s Eagles (13-4, 9-3), who played without all-time leading scorer Tucker Lescoe. Lescoe was in civvies, sporting a boot on his right leg.

“You see it all the time in sports. When a team’s best player goes down, somebody steps up and that team, like everybody sort of lifts their play,” Conners said. “You can do that for a couple games. I did remind our kids about (going hard despite Lescoe’s absence) and it was a concern.”

Not for long, however.

Lawrence reached his memorable milestone with 2:41 remaining in the game, collecting a Bossert miss and sticking it back. The 6-3 senior, just the third player in Elco history to reach four figures, is sitting at 1,368 career points.

Zach Kulp, who completed his career in 2002, totaled 1,364.

Up next is a journey to Lampeter-Strasburg, which handled the Raiders 62-42 in late December.

“We’ve definitely had our eye on them,” Buchmoyer said. “We’ll just wait until Friday to see how that one comes out.”

Elco 64, Cocalico 50

Cocalico (50)

Ian Arcudi 1 2-2 5, D.J. Fabiani 1 0-0 2, Moses Ulysse 4 2-2 12, Aidan Trynosky 9 2-3 23, Brad Heck 0 0-0 0, John Landis 2 0-0 5, Dante Haines 1 0-0 3, Nick Monteleone 0 0-0 0, Tyler Keppley 0 0-0 0. Totals — 18 6-7 50.

Elco (64)

Mason Bossert 4 4-4 15, Caleb Buchmoyer 6 0-0 17, Colton Lawrence 9 6-10 25, Ryan Eshleman 2 0-0 4, Dylan Stoops 0 0-0 0, Nate Beamer 1 0-0 3, Devin Stoops 0 0-0 0, Jeff Lorah 0 0-0 0. Totals — 22 10-14 64.

Cocalico_ 10_ 10_ 9_ 21 _ — _ 50

Elco_ 11_ 14 _ 16_ 23 — _ 64

3-point goals — Coc 8 (Arcudi, Ulysse 2, Trynosky 3, Landis, Haines); Elco 10 (Bossert 3, Buchmoyer 5, Lawrence, Beamer).