Gettysburg can't shake Lampeter-Strasburg
HERSHEY - Gettysburg's boys' basketball team took on second-seeded Lampeter-Strasburg in the quarterfinals of the District 3 Class AAA tournament Friday.
The Warriors kept the game close all night but didn't have quite enough to earn the victory, falling, 53-45, at Giant Center.
For the second consecutive game, the Warriors succeeded in slowing down the game against a team that likes to play uptempo basketball.
"I'm proud of how hard that we played tonight," Gettysburg head coach Jeff Bair said. "We defended well, we just didn't make enough shots to win the game."
L-S (23-2) was held nine points below its season average, after Gettysburg had kept Palmyra 17 points below its average in a 45-44 victory on Tuesday.
Gettysburg (13-9) will face Cocalico, who lost to Bishop McDevitt, 63-40, in a consolation game. The winner secures a berth in the PIAA tournament. That game is slated for 7:30 p.m. Monday at Dallastown.
"We have to get ready for Cocalico now," Bair said. "We have to win or we turn our uniforms in and the season is over. Doesn't get more simple than that."
L-S opened the game on an 11-3 run but a 10-0 Gettysburg spurt that spanned the first quarter break gave the Warriors a 13-11 lead when Marquise Camel had a steal and layup early in the second quarter.
Gettysburg went to the half in front, 19-17, courtesy of a runner in the lane by Connor Weikert with three seconds to go until the break. The Warriors had held the ball for the previous 1:50 before Weikert's hoop.
The second half saw the Pioneers score the first eight points out of the locker room and 11 of the first 12 to open a 28-20 lead a little more than two minutes into the third quarter. A pair of 3-pointers by Ben Sandberg and one by Isaac Beers keyed the rally.
"I was concerned with how things were going in the first half," L-S head coach John Achille said. "We needed to hit those shots early in the third quarter. We had to get them out of the zone that they were playing."
The Warriors closed to within three points midway through the third quarter before trailing 35-30 heading for the final stanza.
Max Lampe's old-fashioned 3-point play to open the fourth sliced the deficit to 35-33 and Gettysburg trailed 42-39 following Devin Ringler's stickback bucket with 5:12 left.
L-S held a 44-40 lead when the Warriors started sending the Pioneers to the free-throw line. L-S was able to put the game away there by making 9-of-11 in the last 2:16 of the game.
"Great teams don't have weaknesses, and they're a great team," Bair said. "They made shots late when they needed to."
Lampe paced the Warriors with 11 points, while Camel, Dillard and Ringler each put in nine.
For L-S, Matt Achille notched a game-high 14 points to go with seven boards and four assists, while Sandberg contributed ten points to the win.
L-S will face Bishop McDevitt in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Giant Center.
Gettysburg (45)
Eckhart 0 0-0 0, Camel 4 0-0 9, Biggins 0 0-0 0, Max Lampe 4 2-3 11, Ringler 2 5-6 9, Weikert 3 0-0 7, Sherman 0 0-0 0, Dillard 3 2-5 9, Buxton 0 0-0 0. Totals - 16 9-14 45.
Lampeter-Strasburg (53)
I. Beers 1 4-4 7, Boynton 2 1-2 6, Brown 3 0-1 7, L. Beers 2 2-3 7, Matt Achille 5 2-4 14, Ben Sandberg 4 0-0 10, Metz 1 0-0 2. Totals - 18 9-14 53.
Gettysburg _8 _11 _11 _15 - _45
Lampeter-Strasburg _11 _6 _18 _18 - _53
3-point goals - Get 4 (Camel, Lampe, Weikert, Dillard), L-S 8 (Achille 2, Sandberg 2, I. Beers, Boynton, Brown, L. Beers).