Blue Devil Dispatch
By JAI E. COURTER Echo Pilot

Jordan Statler looks to pass after pulling this rebound against CD East.

Boys' Basketball

The Greencastle-Antrim Blue Devils slid past Central Dauphin East on a last-second tip in by Dameatric Scott to advance in the Mid-Penn Conference playoffs Monday.

The Devils showed no sign of fear from the start as they got out to a 10 point lead early in the first quarter. The first quarter came to a close with the Devils up by four, but they found themselves trailing by one at halftime.

Greencastle started off hot again, as it opened the second half with a 7-0 run to go up 34- 28. However, CD East made a strong comeback to end the third as the Devils trailed 41-38 heading into the fourth.

The game came down to the wire, and the Devils were holding on to a 51-50 lead with under a minute remaining. A missed foul shot gave the ball back to CD East with about 40 seconds to play.

The Panthers took it down and knocked down a jumper near the foul line to give them a one point edge with about 25 seconds remaining. The Devils got the ball to Jordan Gembe, who penetrated with about 13 seconds left. As he drove, the ball was pinned between his arm and his waist, but there was no call.

John Frick and Dameatric Scott team up to deliver a block against Central Dauphin East.

Gembe managed to pass the ball out to Scott and G-A was able to call timeout with 10.6 seconds left. The plan was to get the ball to Scott. The inbound went to Scott on the wing, who passed up a shot and took it inside. His first shot attempt was tipped, but he grabbed it and put it back up again. The second chance rimmed out but Scott got a hand on it for the third time and it fell with three seconds on the clock.

From there it was chaos, as CD East attempted to call a timeout but no official recognized it, and the G-A students flooded the court as the clock hit zero.

Scott led the Devils by racking up a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Gembe contributed with 15 points and four assists, while Jordan Statler added six points and eight boards. Evon Wiestling chipped in with five points and two assists while Levi Holman and Adam Ritchey each had four points.

Perry McLaughlin fights off an attempt from a Jefferson wrestler.

The Blue Devils moved on to play the top-ranked Class AAA team in the state on Wednesday at Cumberland Valley. The Devils, a top-10 ranked team in their own right, stayed close for about a quarter and a half but suffered a second quarter run that made the difference as they fell 58-52.

The Devils went down 7-5 in the first quarter after a jumper from Susquehanna Township and stayed behind for good. They trailed 15-9 after the first quarter but brought it back within four to start the second half. From then on they were outscored 15-6, including a 9-0 run before heading into the break trailing 30-17, thanks to a buzzer-beater three pointer from Scott.

The Devils outscored Township in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome the first half deficit. The second quarter run proved to be the difference, as G-A played them even in the third quarter, actually outscoring the Indians by one point.

Mitch Stevens battles for the Blue Devils last week against Jefferson.

The Devils just couldn't seem to find their way back in the game, as they trailed by about 10 points for most of the second half. Any time the Devils drained a shot and picked up any momentum at all, Susquehanna would answer right back.

The Devils lived on the three-point line for much of the game, but no one was able to heat up until it was too late which caused some problems for the Devils. Scott knocked down five three pointers, many of which came from NBA range, and racked up 17 points in the fourth quarter. But The Devils ran out of time, and they escaped with a six point loss.

Scott led the Devils with 27 points and six rebounds, while Gembe netted 10 points to go along with his eight assists. Statler chipped in with nine points and five rebounds, while Holman added two points and four boards. Rusty Cordell had one bucket along with three rebounds, and Wiestling added two points and three assists.

Wrestling

The Blue Devils sealed the deal with a pin by Matt Copenhaver in the final match to defeat Jefferson 40-33.

The Devils got easy points in the first two matches, winning by forfeit at 215 and 285. However, the Devils fell in the following two matches at 103 and 112. Brenden McLaughlin scored an 8-0 major decision at 119, and Tyler Ezolt needed just 1:08 to get the pin at 130.

Jefferson took the points at 135, but Dylan Schaeffer scored a pin in 1:23 at 140. Jefferson won by forfeit at 45 and 152, followed by a pin by Todd DeWalt at 160. The Cougars took more points thanks to a Blue Devils forfeit at 171 cutting the Devils lead to 34-33 with one match remaining.

Copenhaver erased all Jefferson hopes as he needed just 55 seconds to pin his opponent at 189. The pin secured the victory for the Devils.

The Devils fell in six of the 10 matches that were actually wrestled on Thursday as they fell 37-15 to Waynesboro.

The Devils fell at 135, 140, and 152 before Todd DeWalt got them on the board with a 2- 0 decision at 171. Copenhaver got redemption from a onepoint loss last year as he captured the 2-1 victory after two overtimes at 189.

The Devils suffered after that, dropping the next five matches including two major decisions, a technical fall, and a pin for weight classes 215, 285, 103, 112, and 119. Perry McLaughlin got points at 125 with a 3-2 decision and Tyler Ezolt finished with a pin at 130 for the Devils.

Middle School

Boys' Basketball

The ninth-graders used a 13- 3 first quarter advantage to get past Boiling Springs by a score of 37-29. The 10-point lead was cut to three by halftime but they outscored the Bubblers in the second half for the victory.

Jared Grove led the Devils with 10 points, while Jake Statler added six. Dan Combs dropped five points, while Seth Sprague and Dustin Kelbaugh each added four. DJ Eich, Cody George, Trenton Springs and Alex Yoder each chipped in with two points.

The eighth-grade boys used a strong fourth quarter comeback to force an overtime, but fell 48-46 to Boiling Springs. The Devils pulled out to an 11- 5 lead after the first quarter, but trailed 34-27 after three. After outscoring the Bubblers 12-5 in the fourth quarter to force overtime, they didn't have enough gas as they fell by two in the overtime period.

Tyler Szaflarski led all other scorers with 20 points, while Corey Meyers had nine, and Aaron Bumbaugh added eight for the Devils.

The freshmen team had no problem with Mercersburg Academy as they cruised by with a 42-25 victory. Leading by seven at the half, the Devils turned it on in the second half to run away with the victory.

Combs led the Devils with 10 points, while Jared Grove and Trenton Springs added seven points each. Derek Miller chipped in with five points and Kelbaugh had four.

The ninth grade boys outscored Waynesboro in every quarter on their way to a 41-27 victory. They led 22-17 at the half, but outscored Waynesboro 8-1 in the third to extend the margin.

Combs, Kelbaugh, Sprague, Springs and Statler shared the top spot, each scoring six points for the Devils. Eich and Grove each chipped in three, while Jordan Koons rounded out the scoring with two.

The eighth-grade boys also proved to be too much for Waynesboro, using an early start to get by with a 45-21 victory. They jumped out to a 10-2 lead after the first quarter and led 23-10 at the half. The second half was more of the same, outscoring Waynesboro by 11 points in the two quarters combined.

Szaflarski paced the Devils with 14 points, while Bumbaugh added seven. Corey Meyers chipped in with six points, while Wes Heacox, Dylan Meyers, and Cody Young each contributed with four.

Girls' Basketball

The ninth-grade girls held off a late Boiling Springs run to hold on to a 30-28 victory. They outscored the Bubblers 25-17 in the middle two quarters, which proved to be the difference.

Brittany Norling led the Devils with seven points, while Tache Smothers netted six. Diamond Byers, Jenna Crunkleton, and Rebecca Norris chipped in with four apiece, while Rachel Kline added three and Paige Klouser had two.

The eighth-grade girls also held off a late Boiling Springs run to capture a 24-22 victory. The Devils led by one at the half, but outscored the Bubblers 10-6 in the third to give them enough of a cushion to escape with a victory.

Jennifer Cournoyer led the Devils with six points on two three-pointers, while Brooke Strait added five points, including a three-pointer. Brooke Kerstetter, Malaya Maloy and Celia Smith each added three points, while Ema Bobbit and Heather Sanders each chipped in with two.

The seventh-grade girls struggled to get things going as they fell 30-10 to Boiling Springs. They went down 9-5 after the first quarter and 17-6 at the half. The second half was much of the same thing as the Devils struggled offensively all night.

Miranda Sharp led G-A with four points, while Morgan Fetting, Lauren Koontz and Mary Ward each chipped in with two points apiece.

Wrestling

The Blue Devils won nine of the 12 matches that were wrestled to cruise past Waynesboro 61-37.

Cody Carbaugh started things off with a major decision at 75, but Waynesboro answered with a major decision at 80. Rusty Pine used 1:03 to get the pin at 85 and Ryan Wolf followed with a win by forfeit at 90.

The Devils suffered a pin at 95 followed by four forfeits at 100, 105, 110, and 115. Bobby McPhearson won at 122, but Greencastle's JT Root suffered a 6-2 decision at 130. Charlie Snyder scored a 1-0 decision at 138 followed by five straight Blue Devil pins.

Josh Pluta started the streak at 145. Jolyan Walker needed a minute to record the pin at 155, followed by Devin Schaeffer's pin at 165. Cody Ezolt added another pin at 185, and Denton Ensminger scored the pin at 210 in just 30 seconds. Gerardo Juarez closed things out, winning by forfeit at 250.

The Devils finished 13-7 on the year, including a fourth place finish at the Shippensburg Invitational and the Boiling Springs Duals and a fifth place finish out of 15 teams at the Juniata Duals. Devin Schaeffer completed the year with a perfect 23-0 record, while many others had very few losses this year.

Other winning records were as follows: Cody Carbaugh (19- 3), Wade Rider (12-9), Rusty Pine (18-5), Bobby McPhearson (12-7), Charlie Snyder (13- 10), Josh Pluta (19-4), Joylan Walker (10-5), Cody Ezolt (21- 1), Denton Ensminger (18-2) and Gerardo Juarez (18-4).