When the shots aren’t falling against a team the caliber of Harrisburg, it’s paramount to win the other battles.
This is the situation York High faced Saturday night at the Cougars’ Kimber Gymnasium, trailing most of the first half by double digits and staring at a 15-point deficit early in the third quarter.
Buoyed, though, by winning the hustle points, and sparked by a defense that harassed the Harrisburg shooters, the visiting Bearcats roared back for a 67-60 victory.
“Got to push it out, get every loose ball,” said senior York guard Ramel Stephens, who scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to fuel the comeback.
“Every 50-50 ball is ours. We were just determined and very aggressive. We have a lot of grit to our team. Gotta get to everything. Everything is ours.”
Foes rarely get the better of the Cougars (3-1) in these areas, though the rival Bearcats (3-1) are no stranger to this stage, having stormed back from double figures to win in overtime at Harrisburg a couple of seasons ago.
Sophomore Jahaad Proctor drained five 3-pointers and totaled 19 points to lead the Cougars, who wasted leads of 12-0, 31-17 and, in the third quarter, 37-22.
“We didn’t play well in the second half,” head coach Kirk Smallwood said. “We had problems scoring [19-of-58 shooting], made some bad decisions with the ball [20 turnovers] and missed a lot of free throws [14 of 28].”
Proctor’s impressive range pushed Harrisburg to the early advantages, but Smallwood thinks his team settled too often for the long ball, especially as the game progressed.
“It was fool’s gold,” Smallwood said. “As the season goes on, we’ll work to get better team buckets. But it’s still early. I’d rather lose now than in districts.”
York sliced its deficit to 41-40 after three quarters, and it took its first lead, 53-52, on a Stephens bucket with 2:57 remaining.
By that time, Harrisburg was ice cold, and the Bearcats were decidedly warm. Coach Troy Sowers’ club not only banked 9-of-11 shots in the fourth quarter, it didn’t turn the ball over once in that frame.
“I felt we had to grow up in this game, and fast,” said Sowers, whose lineup also featured double-digit scoring efforts from Jahaire Wilson (13), Tavon Parker (11), Derek Wilson (10) and Stephen Dickson (10).
“As a high school player, you live to play games like this. There is no bigger rivalry than York-Harrisburg.”
Kyle Cook scored nine and Chris Britton eight for the Cougars.
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