Capping a furious rally with Jordan Wix Rauch’s penetration and finish with 4.3 seconds to play, Hershey claimed an 80-79 victory over Lower Dauphin in an up-and-down, offensive-minded Mid-Penn Keystone Division backyard scrap Wednesday night at Lower Dauphin High School.
Paul Blackburn’s Trojans (11-6, 9-4), who won their second straight and for the seventh time in eight games, were down 76-66 with 2:33 to go.
Chase Watkins paced Hershey with 22 points, the Trojans also picked up double-digit efforts from Jack Gunkel (19), Ricky Bugg (17) and Taylor Sweeney (16) in their win over their U.S. 322/422 neighbors.
Kaylor Kulina tossed in 22 points to lead Mark Hofsass’ struggling Falcons (11-6, 7-5), who dropped their fourth game in a row. Matt Seip checked in with a career-high 17 points and a team-high nine rebounds off the bench. LD also picked up 14 points from Colten Nagy and 12 from Ryan Naccarato.
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REVIEWING THE NUMBERS
Hershey finished the game shooting 57.6 percent (34-for-59) from the floor. Forcing several late turnovers with pressure, the Trojans knocked down 11 of their 18 field-goal attempts in the final eight minutes. … Blackburn’s club also buried eight of their 20 3-balls, getting three apiece from Gunkel and Sweeney. …
Blackburn’s club attempted just five free throws, draining four. … Hershey outboarded Lower Dauphin 24-21. … LD finished with 12 turnovers, one more than the visiting Trojans. … Bugg and Watkins each wound up with a team-high six boards. … Gunkel dished out seven assists, one more than Wix Rauch. …
Lower Dauphin converted 53.7 percent (29-for-54) of its field-goal attempts. Although the Falcons shot 50 percent in the first half, Hofsass’ club was even better after the break (16-for-28). … LD bagged 11 of its 22 rips from deep, collecting six treys from Kulina and two from Nagy. … The Falcons were 10-for-13 at the stripe. …
Nagy dished out eight assists to lead Hofsass’ Falcons, while Tommy Bowen and Luke Rutledge finished with three apiece. … Kulina, who did not score in the fourth quarter, was 6-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc.
PIVOTAL SEQUENCE
Trailing 76-66 with 2:33 to play, the Trojans began their furious comeback when Bugg triggered the rally with a 3-pointer from the left wing. Following a Rutledge free throw, Hershey answered with a couple of hoops, pulling to within four (77-73) on a slick up-and-under move by Watkins and a Bugg runout.
Although Naccarato’s two freebies momentarily stalled the Trojans, another Bugg finish and Gunkel’s trey from the left wing had Blackburn’s club within one (79-78) with 45 seconds to play. Following another empty LD trip, Bugg was yo-yoing the ball out front when he spotted Wix Rauch all by himself on the right wing.
One drive to the rim later, Hershey was holding an 80-79 lead with 4.3 ticks showing. LD had time for one last pop, but Rutledge’s trey from the left wing fell short and Bugg grabbed on to the loose ball as the clock ran out.
We’ll have more post-game reaction and notes from Hershey’s 80-79 triumph shortly, so check back for more on this wonderfully entertaining game.
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