If you go to Giant Center tonight to watch Cedar Crest’s boys’ basketball game at 6:30 p.m., don’t plan to arrive at 6:25 and expect to see the start of the game.
Buying a ticket won’t be a big problem; those lines generally move quickly. The issue is getting through the hand-held metal wand lines that are set up. On Saturday morning, many people had to wait 10 minutes or longer to enter the arena because not enough security people were on hand to check spectators.
Exactly why there are wand lines at all is a bit of a mystery. The District Three committee has no say in Giant Center’s security decisions. Wanding is not done at district wrestling, held next door at Hersheypark Arena. Wanding is not done for Hershey Bears hockey games.
But for some reason, someone in Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, which operates Giant Center, decided that wanding was necessary for basketball games. An attempt to get an explanation from Hershey Entertainment & Resorts today was unsuccessful.
Cedar Crest’s game against Central York tonight will be the middle game of a tripleheader, starting with a AAAA girls’ game between Dover and Cumberland Valley at 5 p.m. The third game will feature York and Hershey in the other AAAA boys’ semifinal.
The AAAA boys’ winners will play for the district championship at 1 p.m. Saturday.
This year’s district playoffs, especially AAAA and AAA boys, have been terrifically competitive, with several games going down to the last second and/or into overtime. Two of Friday’s AAA quarterfinals were won on last-second 3-pointers. Great stuff.
Win or lose tonight, the Falcons have qualified for state playoffs, which begin March 7-8. If they reach the district finals, the Falcons are pretty much assured of playing their first-round state playoff game close to home (Lebanon High?) on March 8. Even third-place finishers from District Three — seven teams from the district qualify for states — sometimes don’t have to travel far.
Tonight’s district semifinal is a rematch from the third game of the season, when Cedar Crest traveled to Central York and lost 69-65 in overtime. Central York soph Charlie Gingrich, a strong 6-4 post player, led the Panthers with 24 points while Crest soph Evan Horn topped the Falcons with 18. Guards Dominic Garloff and Josh Bucher also reached double figures for Cedar Crest while Royce Clemans scored 13 for Central. The teams’ usual leading scorers — Sam Saxton for Central and Andrew Eudy for Crest — were both limited to 6 points; Eudy was in foul trouble for most of the game and his backup, Andrew Eberhart, did not play due to a concussion.
On Saturday, Cedar Crest jumped on Cumberland Valley early with pressure defense and led wire to wire for its eighth straight victory. Central, which has won 18 straight, also dominated its game with Carlisle, opening up a big lead only to have Carlisle storm back in the middle quarters before Central York pulled away in the fourth quarter to win by 10.
Both Cedar Crest and Central York have been successful primarily because of strong defense and deep rosters. They usually play about 10 or more players and try to wear down their opponents.
In the other game tonight, Hershey guns for its fifth straight win against a very young York team that has won 11 of 12 (with the lone loss to Central York in the York-Adams championship game). Hershey is bigger and has been scoring a ton of points, including 98 against Reading Saturday. All five Hershey starters average 10 or more points a game. York usually likes to run too but showed it can be patient in its come-from-behind 53-47 upset of top seed Wilson. York’s starters are all juniors and sophomores.
Given its youth, York figures to be the longest shot of the final foursome. Unlike the other semifinalists, York is a frequent flyer, having won 10 district titles, with the most recent in 2011. York has appeared in three of the last five district finals, losing to Harrisburg last year. Hershey’s only prior title came 40 years ago, when Frank Etchberger’s team was led by big man Hank Kuzma. Hershey lost in district finals in 1973 and 1999. Central York reached the district final for the only time in 1984, losing to Dave Althouse’s Warwick Warriors, while Cedar Crest has never advanced past the semifinals, doing so in 1989 when Frank Kuhn’s team was led by big man Art Schomp, now an assistant coach.
So there you go. We have one traditional city power and three suburban teams with similar demographics for which visits to this level of district playoffs have been rare. Should be a fun night at Giant Center.
Follow along on Twitter @sesnyderleb.