BLUE DEVIL DISPATCH 1-27-10
BOYS’
BASKETBALL
The Blue Devils (8-7, 3-1 MPC-Capital Division) had a roller coaster type of week on the court; first trailing non-conference and undefeated Eastern York, 68-53; then winning in the final seconds over Boiling Springs, 63-62; before traveling to York County and dropping a 59-54 verdict to New Oxford.
Two Golden Knight players combined for 48 of Eastern York’s 68 points en route to the win. G-A trailed 22-8 after a quarter and were never able to close the gap any further than eight points the rest of the way. Still the Blue Devils battled and Christian Hoover inked his career-high output for a game at 22 points. G-A stayed on task, going on an 8-0 run to start the second half and making it an eight-point game. The fifth-ranked Class AAA Knights responded each time the Devils challenged and sealed the win. Nathan Pool added 15 points. Eric Baymon had five assists and Seth Sprague six rebounds.
G-A caught fire as Boiling Springs came to town later in the week, gunning to a 22-5 lead over the opening stanza. The tone didn’t stay set however as the Bubblers came storming back and were in the lead twice in the fourth quarter. G-A struggled at the free throw line, however, got a key steal from Pool, block from Jared Grove and the game-winning shot from Hoover to settle the score. Hoover and Pool had 15 points each, while Sprague put in 11. Grove and Eric Schanzenbacher added 11 points each. Baymon contributed seven rebounds and seven assists.
The Blue Devils had another go at a non-conference foe at New Oxford, but fell behind 16-7 in the first period and never covered it in the loss. Hoover racked up 18 points. Baymon checked in with 10 points, six boards and four assists.
In junior varsity action, G-A topped Eastern 56-31 behind a 14-point effort from Tyler Szaflarski. The Devils dominated Boiling Springs 77-30 with 21 points for the winners. Trenton Springs (11 points) and Denver Cordell (10 points) also had double figures. G-A won solidly over New Oxford 63-40 with 16 from Szaflarski.
WRESTLING
The Blue Devil wrestlers (2-6, 2-5 MPC-Capital) made it close in both of its divisional matches of the week, but were on the short end against Susquenita (42-28) and Milton Hershey (39-33).
Things started well enough against the Blackhawks with a technical fall (16-1) from Dylan Schaeffer (171), a 4-1 decision by Todd DeWalt (189) and a 3:45 pin from Denton Ensminger at 285 that helped the Devils to a 14-3 lead on the team board. Susquenita won the next six bouts to take the lead at 24-14. The Blue Devils put up back-to-back wins at 130 and 135 to came within a point again. Bobby McPhearson had a 6-3 decision and Tanner Maloy notched a second-period pin. Tyler Ezolt worked a 17-1 tech fall at 160 but the match already belonged to the Blackhawks.
A couple of forfeits and bonus points from Milton Hershey fed a close 39-33 win for Milton Hershey. McPhearson (130) and Malloy (135) stopped an early run by the Spartans; McPhearson with a major decision and Maloy a decision. Chris Kinzey also helped the Devils work back with a pin at 145. Ezolt also again did his part with a technical fall at 160. Schaeffer and DeWalt followed with pins that boosted G-A to within three at 33-30. Ensminger got a decision at 285, but the Spartans got bonus points for a pin at 215 for the team win.
GIRLS’
BASKETBALL
The Greencastle-Antrim girls’ team (5-8, 2-2 MPC-Capital) finished on the short end of a pair of non-divisional games. Turnovers in the second quarter led to a 17-4 advantage for Boiling Springs and a 61-37 loss for the Devils. Rachelle Piper contributed 10 points, two steals and a block on the night. Jenna Crunkleton had nine points and Tache Smothers added eight points and two assists.
G-A fell behind Jefferson in West Virginia 24-11 early, but kept battling in a 72-60 loss. Smothers was hot with 23 points. Crunkleton added a dozen points and had three assists. Charmayne McFadden pulled four rebounds.
For the junior varsity circuit, Boiling Springs won 40-28, however the Blue Devil jayvees bounced back for a 38-29 over Jefferson.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Wrestling
The Blue Devil middle school wrestlers saw both sides of the coin last week; staging a strong comeback for a 39-36 win over Susquenita and close 48-46 loss to Milton Hershey.
G-A won just one of the first seven bouts against Susquenita, but then took six of the final seven for the team win. Jared Starliper had a decision at 145 for the early win. The comeback came by way of decisions by Wyatt Binkley (85) and Wade Rider (110), pins from Cody Carbaugh (100) and Ryan Wolff (115) and forfeit wins from Eugene Byers (90), Aaron Grossman (105) and Austin Rodriguez (122).
Girls’ Basketball
The only middle school hoops action last week saw the G-A girls’ freshman team nipped 22-21 by Biglerville. Chloe Hoover led the Blue Devils with 10 points.
