A Handful of Sports

A Handful of Sports has MOVED

2009-02-25T20:33:54Z

A Handful of Sports has officially moved to a new location: www.handfulofsports.wordpress.com. As you can probably tell, the design of this site has gone haywire. So in the last couple of days, I've been in the process of changing server's and as a result, there has been a change in the domain name as well. Please save this new IP address into your favorites! For up-to-date information on Hanover area prep coverage and all other things considered, visit our new location! The new site is still under construction, but it's up and running and should be the one and only repository for your sports information needs. If you have any questions, hit me up at cmull@eveningsun.com. Thanks!

HSB: Hanover's Back to the Future moment

2009-02-19T04:35:08Z

Jordan Martz is the kind of player you love watching on the basketball court. It's not just the fact that he doesn't look like your average player -- he's about 5-foot-7 and 140-pounds. It's because he's the selfless cog who will jump into the third row even if he knows he's going to break a leg doing it. He's all heart, all guts, pure emotion, straight adrenaline, the kind of kid who takes a beating, but gets right back up and says "I want more." He's basically every coaches dream. I'm not painting this picture to say that he's one-of-a-kind. I'm sure most players on Hanover would do the same kinds of things. It's just, by watching this kid, you see all these things in plain view. And I can't say that it was more fitting than when Martz popped a game-winning jumper at the buzzer against Annville-Cleona to send the Hawks into the quarterfinals of the District 3 Class AA playoffs, two games away from the Giant Center. You have to remember, this team was 5-19 the last two years. Now? Not only have they won their first district game in over 10 years, the Hawks could potentially knock off No. 2 Holy Name in the next round and could possibly earn a state berth. Saying that, it's a long shot. Holy Name is a very talented team. They knocked off Delone last year in states. But after watching this team for most of the year, and seeing what they can do on the court when they're at their best, it's not impossible. This team is fire on wheels. They play the type of chicken-with-its-head-cut off style of defense that's effective and allows them to create on the other end. Now, onto this Back to the Future moment. I'm sure many Hawks fans still remember the shot heard-round-Hanover that devastated this program early in the season. Specifically, it was Delone Catholic. And even more down to the point, it was Cody Smith at the buzzer. He nailed a buzzer-beating MONSTER of a shot that erased a great game from Hanover and simply made it a footnote. His shot, much like Martz's on Wednesday, was created from nothing. It was a broken play, something that materialized after instincts took over. But back to Wednesday: Was it fate tonight, karma? Who knows. But Hanover will have one more game to find out if this season has more leg to it. "I told the guys, at this time of the year it's about surviving the games," head coach Nathan Myers said. "We barely survived and we advanced."

College Athletics: Two games left for the Bullets

2009-02-18T21:49:50Z

The Gettysburg College men's basketball team has two games left in the season. Looking back, the past three games for haven't been that productive. Three straight losses have raised some questions heading into the Centennial Conference playoffs for Gettysburg. Can they repeat the success of last year, when they reached the conference finals and the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament? As for tonight, the Bullets face Franklin & Marshall, who's ranked No. 13 in the nation, for the second time this season. The Diplomats only have two losses on the season, but I bet you can guess who one of them is to. The Bullets are looking for a sweep tonight at Bream Gym, where Gettyburg is 14-2 this season. Expect Gettysburg to show some type of explosiveness that hasn't been seen in some time tonight. As for that picture...that's McDaniel's Chad Arrington...dunking on Dan Capkin. It was too good of a picture not to post.

HSB: New Oxford slips by East Pennsboro

2009-02-18T20:55:08Z

The New Oxford High boys basketball team left South Western on Tuesday a little bit frustrated and a little more determined. The Colonials had just beaten East Pennsboro, 45-36, in the first round of the District 3 Class AAA playoffs, but they were far from impressive. It took a shaky first quarter for New Oxford to shake the rust off before the Colonials finally started to breathe easy with some hot shooting. "We're not satisfied with how we played the whole game, but a win is a win," New Oxford head coach Jim Zinn said. "You'll take it and move on." What went wrong? Well, considering the Colonials only scored seven first quarter points, that's a start. But secondly, it never seemed as though the vaunted New Oxford offense could fully begin to get on track. Luckenbaugh helped in the second quarter with three 3-pointers and nine points. But the Colonials hot outside shooting came in spurts and was only a bandaid that secured a less than stellar win. East Pennsboro wasn't that impressive, either. The Panthers entrusted their hopes in throwing different defensive schemes at the Colonials, whereas a simple, trusted offensive gameplan might have worked better. The Panthers wore their bodies down by chasing Luckenbaugh all over the court and doubling Carson Miller under the rim. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, East Penn had no energy left. "I think they tried to put different guys on him," Zinn said. "And really with them chasing (Luckenbaugh) around, we told him not to overdo it. I thought they wore out more than we did in the box-and-1 and therefore they got it and played us man a little more in the second half." Luckenbaugh was a little frustrated by the time the game was finished -- he missed both of his shots during his trips to the line for a 1-and-1 -- but in the end, a win was a win. The Colonials move on to play York Suburban in the quarterfinals on Friday at Dallastown at 7 p.m. The Ox lost to the Trojans by 15 the last time the two teams matched up. This time the stakes are a little higher.

College Athletics: Gettysburg College Needs to Reevaluate

2009-02-16T23:03:04Z

Nearly a month ago, I asked Gettysburg College men's head basketball coach George Petrie after the Bullets game against Johns Hopkins -- a 71-62 win in Bream Gym -- if it was a reflection of their up-and-down season. The game itself was filled with peaks and valley's, but in the end Gettysburg did what it needed to do. With that in mind, Petrie still said no, saying that his team's record up until that point didn't indicate an up-and-down season. The loss to Haverford in the game previous to that, which made the Bullets 11-3, was more of an abberation than anything else, he implied. I disagreed, but I didn't trudge on with my logic. Fast forward to now, Gettysburg is 14-8 and has two wins in its last seven games. In the Bullets last game, they lost to a 1-20 (WHAT!!!!) Swarthmore team. The win snapped an 18-game losing streak for The Garnet and ended a nine-game skid for them against Gettysburg. I'm not joking. And I'm sure Petrie isn't too comically charged, either. For a team that had hopes of repeating it's record-breaking season of last year (when it earned the most wins in school history), the Bullets sure aren't showing any resolve. And for Petrie, he better rethink his logic, because if this isn't an up-and-down season, I don't know what is.

NBA: Shaq take form OF...Jabba-Wockeez!

2009-02-16T20:38:24Z

Annual Festival of Hoops a huge success in Cactus USA NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix has to be regarded as a major success in the eyes of the fans and league commish David Stern, seeing as though the event took the highest ratings ever on Saturday and presumably, on Sunday didn't lose much interest, either. The festival of ball began on Friday with the Rookie Challenge (Kevin Durant, upon further reflection and comic book influence, will now be refered to as Mr. Fanastic), remained heavy on entertainment on Saturday with the Skills, 3-point and Dunk challenges and culminated with one massive bang on Sunday with the All-Star game. Shaq came to party, Kobe Bryant came to play (as usual) and CP3, Chris Paul, was overlooked as the MVP of the night. If MVP's were determined by the most outrageous plays of the night, LeBron James would have taken that honor easily. Dwayne Wade (Human Torch, anyone? ...Cause he's a fireball and a ladies man?) added his usual touch from the perimeter and in the paint, and Brandon Roy showed exactly why he's one of the best up-and-coming stars of the league. Dude didn't show-off and still came away with one of the best low-radar performances of the night. Anyway, maybe the BEST of Sunday was during warmups, when MTV's America's Best Dance Crew winners Jabba-WockeeZ stole the show with Mr. Aristotle, The Original Superman, Ku Fu Shaq. Experience it for yourself. Be entertained.

HSB: Ron Johnson among Big 15

2009-02-13T21:59:59Z

Patriot News' photo by Paul Chaplin Gettysburg High senior Ron Johnson (left) was recently named as a member of the Patriot News' Big 15, which is the paper's yearly basketball awards wrap-up. Johnson, who has committed to play Division I basketball at St. Francis of PA, has been the defensive block for the Warriors all season. His scoring has been up-and-down throughout the HSB slate, but one thing that has remained constant is his defensive presence. It's hard to look past a 6-foot-9 body like Johnson's in the lane. The Warriors begin the District 3 playoffs tonight against Carlisle at Gettysburg.

Hairdos: The Mach 3

2009-02-11T03:38:24Z

So I finally found time to download a few pictures I took on Saturday during the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships and what do you know, one of them features a slick hairstyle. What do you think? Crazy? Slick? Flossy? (As I'm been told, that means in the hip-hop vernacular: "showy") Sporting the "Mach 3" is Bermudian senior grappler Kiefer Kuhn. I didn't get the full story on the throwback to the 90s "House Party" hairdo, but I can only imagine. It wasn't just Kuhn with the digs, either. Derek Schmelyun imperceptibly had three perpendicular lines on the side of his head. So did Tanner Coyle. I tried to get a picture of Preston Greens -- his and Kuhn's were the best -- but I could never get him at the right angle. My question is this: will they keep the 'do?

HSB: District Pairings

2009-02-10T21:07:02Z

The brackets are officially out. Here are the matchups: Boys... Class AA Delone Catholic vs. Bishop McDevitt (Potential 2nd round game: Halifax) Hanover vs. Annville-Cleona (Potential 2nd round game: Holy Name) Class AAA New Oxford vs. East Pennsboro (Potential 2nd round game: York Suburban) Class AAAA Gettysburg vs. Carlisle (Potential 2nd round game: Harrisburg) Girls... Class AA Delone Catholic vs. Tulpehocken (Potential 2nd round game: Halifax) Biglerville vs. Holy Name (Potential 2nd round game: Lancaster Mennonite) Hanover vs. Wyomissing (Potential 2nd round game: Newport) Fairfield vs. Brandywine Heights (Potential 2nd round game: York Catholic) Class AAA Spring Grove vs. Solanco (Potential 2nd round game: Lower Dauphin) New Oxford vs. Dallastown (Potential 2nd round game: Reading) Game Sites -- Boys: Delone Catholic and Hanover at New Oxford (Feb 18). New Oxford at South Western (Feb 17). Gettysburg at Gettysburg (Feb 13). Girls: Delone Catholic and Spring Grove at Spring Grove (Feb 17). New Oxford at New Oxford (Feb 17). Fairfield at Lower Dauphin (Feb 17). Hanover at Hamburg (Feb 17). Biglerville at Northern (Feb 17).

HSB: Squirettes face next challenge in Eastern York

2009-02-10T20:59:43Z

The Squirettes, who will face Eastern York tonight at Dover, are young, but they're mighty talented. Here's the skinny from the York Daily Record's "YAIAA basketball semifinal previews" spot in today's edition.

Delone Catholic (21-2) vs. Eastern York (19-4) at Dover Tipoff: 6:30 p.m. The skinny: Each team won by double-digits in the quarterfinals, but something will have to give when these two powers collide for a spot in the title game. Squirettes must: Stay strong on defense. Delone held Eastern to 44 points in an early-season victory over the Golden Knights and kept Spring Grove to only 37 in a quarterfinal victory. Golden Knights must: Use their experience. Players like Tierney Hiltz and Kate Dellinger have played in plenty of big games during their time with Eastern and know how to step up when feeling the pressure.

And here's a game preview from our own Chuck Curley. If Delone can get off to a running start, it shouldn't have much of a problem against the Lady Knights tonight. But if the shots aren't falling, then the Squirettes' defense better step up and answer the call. For much of the season, it's done that. But for a young team that's trying to wrap its head around all the hype, you also have to wonder whether it's going to catch up to them. My take: It won't -- at least not now.

PIAA Wrestling: Eagles vs. Panthers

2009-02-07T16:42:29Z

After five matches, it's as close as its going to get. Bermudian Springs trails Schuylkill Valley 10-9 with 103-pounds now on the mat. The Eagles have one decision at 160 with Jacob Stimer and a pin at 189 with Nick Grim. Brad Farley, the hero last night in the Eagles win against Burrell, is wrestling at 103. Five more matches are in the can and Bermudian is now facing a 28-15 deficit with three to go. Dalton Anthony snared away a win at 130, putting together a string of moves that gave him a 4-3 win against Mike Giorgio, but Eric Meszaros was unable to negate a pin by Colin Shober at 135, which gave the Panthers the 13 point lead. UPDATE: So Kiefer Kuhn was the last hope for Bermudian Springs at 140. He grabbed a 3-2 lead at one point in the second period, and it looked like Noah Horst was tired enough to let the match slip away, but one period later, Horst was up 6-3. His victory gave the Panthers a 30-15 lead, which essentially was it for Bermudian Springs. There was nothing Derek Schmelyun or Devin O'Brien could do at 145 or 152 and Schuylkill Valley forfeited both matches. The final score was 30-27, Schuylkill Valley. The loss ends a four year period of one of the most successful group of Eagles in some time. Head coach Dave McCollum said he's had some of his player's three, even four years and in that time, Bermudian has found itself in the state tournament three years. He gave props to all of his seniors, but a few, like Schmelyun, O'Brien, Stimer and Grim, will be missed the most because of what they brought to this team in terms of experience and leadership.

PIAA Wrestling: Bermudian set to go on Saturday

2009-02-07T15:45:14Z

The Bermudian Springs High wrestling team is waiting to begin its semi-final consolation match against the winner of Shady Side Academy and Schuylkill Valley at 11 p.m. at Hershey's Giant Center. At the present moment, Schuylkill Valley is leading Shady Side 27-26 in the last match of their meet -- which started at 9 a.m. Obviously, the loser of said match will be tired when they face the Eagles. And this will obviously help Bermudian's chances of advancing to the finals of the consolations, where they could wrap up third place in Class AA. I'll try to keep you updated on the happenings on Saturday. Keep in touch. If you want some quick updates of the Eagles situation, visit www.twitter.com/eveningsunsport.

HSB: The YAIAA tournament

2009-02-07T15:34:04Z

My schedule was tapped out with wrestling on Friday at Hershey's Giant Center, so I wasn't able to see any YAIAA playoff basketball. But a few of our area teams competed in the first round of the York-Adams tournament. Delone Catholic was a staple Friday night, as both the boys' and girls' teams played at Central York High. Spring Grove's girls also competed, coincidentally against the Squirettes. And New Oxford's boys went up against York Suburban. As seen by the photo -- a big thanks to the Evening Sun reader who e-mailed it to me -- Chris Hartmann got his smash on against West York, dunking his way toward two of his game-high 18 points. But the Squires fell to the Bulldogs, 64-54, in the first round of the tournament -- you can check out the live-blog of the game here. The Squires pulled to within two points late in the game, but a rash of turnovers spelled doom for the Squires. What's up next for Delone (15-7)? The District 3 Class AA tournament will begin in the coming week. The Squires most square their goals on this tournament, considering they have a very legitimate shot at running away with some hardware. As for the girls, the Squirettes avoided the first round upset to the Lady Rockets, using nice performances from Sierra Moore, Courtney Riggs, Arielle Placke, Chelsea Hoffman and substitute Janice Erbe before leaving with a hard-earned 45-37 win. Riggs led Delone with 16 points. The New Oxford boys' team also played on Friday, losing to York Suburban, 57-42. Stats were not available.

PIAA Wrestling: Bermudian loses in the quarters

2009-02-06T19:52:59Z

OK, so Bermudian ran into the Berlin Wall at noon. Reynolds High, who won their fifth straight District 10 championship leading into the PIAA tournament, was just too overpowering for the Eagles to handle. Literally, from the first whistle, Bermudian was put on its heels. Only Mike Megonnell (125), Derek Schmeylun (145) and Matt Wolf (189) could produce decisions in the quarterfinal round of states. Bermudian was handed its worst loss in what head coach Dave McCollum thought was three years, 43-9, by the Raiders on Friday afternoon. Usual point-scorers Devin O'Brien, Kiefer Kuhn, Jacob Stimer and Dalton Anthony had to fight from behind in their matches and couldn't produce results. O'Brien's was the most deflating, because he went into a seventh overtime, in what is referred to as an "ultimate tiebreaker" and left with a one-point loss. O'Brien, who wrestled at 160-pounds, took a 4-3 lead after an escape in the second overtime, but Greg Baptiste countered in the third with an escape of his own. In the final frame, O'Brien couldn't hold Baptiste from powering off the mat and for an eventual 5-4 win. Kuhn suffered a 2-0 loss at 140, Jacob Stimer lost 8-5 at 152 and Anthony fell 4-0 to Cody Kelly, who was 33-2 entering the match. After the loss, McCollum brought his boys in a secluded area of the Giant Center halls, telling all of his guys to sit down and think. He wasn't disappointed. He wasn't livid. McCollum had the impression going into the match that it was a battle he wasn't going to win. His team had been dealt so many blows before the season, during the season and now, that this bumpy run had to hit a roadblock somewhere. To start off conversation, he said "Reynolds is going to win the state championship." He felt his Eagles wrestled hard, but at least for those two hours, hard didn't cut it. A few wrestlers made some mistakes and had to pay for them. Lessons to live and move on from. Really, there wasn't much to ponder the "what ifs" anyway, because the Eagles will continue their state showing at 4 p.m. against Ridgeway. If the Eagles win, they advance to the 8 p.m. match.

PIAA Wrestling: Bermudian moves on to the quarters

2009-02-06T15:08:28Z

Bermudian Springs High head wrestling coach Dave McCollum said after Tuesday’s win against Octorara that he didn’t know much about his team’s next opponent in the PIAA Team Wrestling Championship’s second round. Elk Lake, meet Bermudian Springs. It’s safe to say the Warriors won’t be exchanging pleasantries with the Eagles anymore after Friday morning’s smackdown in the Giant Center. The Eagles were dominating in their 54-12 win over Elk Lake, amassing five falls, two technical falls and two major decisions. The even more impressive stat, though, is the fact that Bermudian hit for eleven straights wins against the District 2 champion after it fell into a 9-0 hole early after losses at both 215-pounds and 285. Brad Farley reenergized the Eagles at 103, recording a surprising pin after only 46 seconds on the mat. After forcing a takedown moments into the match, Farley put Eddie Raines on his back and pulled the Warrior to the ground. Tanner Coyle followed at 112 for Bermudian with a nice 8-4 decision over Keaton Bennett. Coyle was outsized by Bennett, but he crafted his way into good positions before securing the win and a 9-9 tie. From there, Wesly Marshall (119), Mike Megonnell (125), Dalton Anthony (130), Eric Meszaros (135), Kiefer Kuhn (140), Derek Schmelyun (145), Devin O’Brien (152), Jacob Stimer (160) and Nick Grim (170) took over. Anthony, O’Brien, Stimer and Grim recorded pins, Marshall and Kuhn earned technical falls and Schmelyun and Megonnell produced major decisions. The Eagles move on to the quarterfinals, where they will face District 10 champion Reynolds at 12 p.m.