PIAA 2A Playoffs:

Talk about close.

Last Saturday, in the opening round of the PIAA 2A playoffs with under 7 seconds remaining, David Weaver nails his free-throws and Lancaster Mennonite wins 62-61 win over St. John Neumann in

Moving along to the 2nd round Wednesday, Lancaster Mennonite defeats 59-46 win over Eden Christian Academy.

It was a close game into the early stages of the fourth quarter, when a 3-pointer by 5’ 10” senior Savier Sumrall with 5;28 left in the contest gave Lancaster Mennonite a 45 to 34 lead, too much of a deficit for Eden Christian to overcome.

Camden Hurst was also a handful for Eden Christian, and, in the third quarter he scored four field goals on an ally oop, a drive, a floater, and a pivot play. However, Eden Christian did not roll over in the second half. David Ryan, a 6’ Eden Christian senior, didn’t score from the field in the first half, but the outstanding marksman sank three 3-pointers in the third quarter. Eden Christian’s ball handling improved some in the third frame—they committed four turnovers in the third period—and Ryan’s sharpshooting kept them in the game. Toward the end of the third quarter, Lancaster Mennonite seemed to go to a 1-3-1 zone defense for a possession, and Ryan immediately hit a 3-pointer from near the left baseline to give Eden Christian a 31 to 30 lead. That would be Eden Christian’s last lead of the contest. Lancaster Mennonite responded with a 7 to 0 run to close the third quarter on a floater and then a pivot play by Camden Hurst and a 3-pointer by Sumrall. Lancaster Mennonite led 37 to 31 after three quarters of play.

Eden Christian came right back with another 3-pointer by Ryan at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Leading 37 to 34, Lancaster Mennonite launched an eight point surge to put the game out of reach on a drive by Camden Hurst, a free throw by Weaver, a hoop inside by Weaver, and a decisive 3-pointer by Sumrall with 5:28 left in the game. That gave Lancaster Mennonite a 45 to 34 lead. Eden Christian was able to trim their deficit to nine points three times in the last five minutes of the contest, but they could not get closer.

Lancaster Mennonite is unselfish on offense. They have a diversified attack with Camden Hurst’s slashes, Weaver’s power down low, and Sumrall’s outside shooting. Lancaster Mennonite plays nice man-to-man defense, which is enhanced by some quick-handed guys who come off the bench. It is a well-coached, disciplined team.

Eden Christian rebounded really well in this game, and they had impressive outside firepower. Had they been more effective attacking the hoop, they might have gotten a better result. Their offense was crippled by too many turnovers.

Eden Christian Academy out-rebounded Lancaster Mennonite 31 to 21. Lancaster Mennonite committed 11 turnovers, while Eden Christian had 19 miscues. Lancaster Mennonite was 11 of 15 from the free throw line. Focused so much on outside shooting, Eden Christian only took five free throws in the game, and they made four of them. It is usually a sign of an unbalanced attack when a high school team goes to the stripe fewer than nine times in a game. Lancaster Mennonite scored twice from beyond the arc, while Eden Christian made eight 3-pointers. There were five ties and five lead changes.

Lancaster Mennonite scoring: Cameron Hurst 23, Savier Sumrall 15, David Weaver 10, Chase Hurst 5, Myles Halvorsen 4, and Asaad Salim 2.

Eden Christian Academy scoring: David Ryan 19, Malachi Manges 8, Sean Aiken 6, Ryan Merrick 4, Nathan Garrett 4, Noah Elias 3, and Luke Gronbeck 2.

Lancaster Mennonite is now 18-8 this season. They advance to the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class 2A state championship tournament where they will play 22-4 Mahanoy Area on Saturday at a location and time to be determined.

Scoring:
Eden Christian Academy 12 8 11 15-46
Lancaster Mennonite 5 17 15 22-59