Solanco boys basketball coach Scott Long plans to use his squad's season-ending three-game win streak as a springboard to even more success next year. The Mules defeated Ephrata and Lebanon last week to finish with a record of 11-11 (7-9 Lancaster-Lebanon League). "I think with the way we ended the season the kids are buying into the idea that hard work pays off," Long said. "We will have a full offseason this year and this is a huge motivation for us to work in the weight room and on skills."
Aaron Constein knocked down a go-ahead three-pointer as Mules edged Ephrata 45-44 Tuesday, February 2. "It was an ugly game," said Long. "They have a very good player (Matt McGillan, who scored 22 points) and we struggled to guard him. We couldn't stay in front of him so we had to play a lot of zone defense and that slowed the game down." Solanco led by eight with five minutes left in the game before Ephrata rallied. With under two minutes to play, McGillan stole the ball, made a layup while drawing a foul, and hit the free throw. The three-point play put Ephrata ahead by two. Solanco called a timeout with 50 seconds left and Long designed a play where dribble penetration would set up an open shot from the perimeter. The Mounts defended the play well, so the Mules hang on to the ball. Long planned to use another timeout to design another play, but before he could, Desmond Kreider penetrated and kicked out to Constein. Constein connected to put Solanco ahead 45-44 with 15 seconds left. Ephrata turned the ball over before it could take a shot, enabling the Mules to eke out a win. Luis Alvarez led Solanco with 12 points. Dylan Hastings had 11. Constein finished with nine and Kreider supplied seven. On Monday, February 1, Solanco never trailed in upending host Lebanon 48-45. In the first matchup, Lebanon prevailed by 22 points. "We're a much better team now and it's cool to see that growth," said Long. "We thought we would be competitive with them and the kids played with confidence. To combat Lebanon's quickness, the Mules used a big lineup and played a 3-2 zone. "We forced them to take contested threes and Lebanon struggled with that," Long said. "It was opposite to the layups they were getting in the first game." Solanco led by nine at halftime and then Lebanon made a run. "Before I could blink it was a two-point game," said Long. The Mules led by between two and four points for most of the fourth quarter. Colin Kilgore provided a key shot for Solanco, burying a 17-foot jumper with 1:15 left. Long said Kreider made the play of the game, drawing a charging foul to nullify a potential go-ahead basket with 15 seconds left. Hastings hit both ends of a one-and-one with seven seconds left and Lebanon missed a three-pointer at the buzzer. Alvarez had another big game with 15 points. "He was the best player on the court all night," said Long. The coach said Alvarez played well early in the year before being sidelined by a concussion for five weeks. Unable to do any physical activity in that span, Alvarez then needed to work his way back into game shape. "He played really good basketball and helped us to two big time wins," said Long. Hastings collected 11 points and 11 rebounds and influenced several shots while on defense. "Dylan did his thing," said Long. "He's so long and athletic he alters so many shots. I'm not sure he gets enough credit for that," Robbie McHugh contributed eight points. "Robbie was really aggressive all night," said Long. Hastings, McHugh, Kilgore, Aaron Constein, and Jon Rush will help comprise the nucleus of next year's team. "We're really excited about the guys we have coming back," said Long. "We'll be in the weight room [this week]" Solanco's seniors are Kreider, Alvarez, Mike Figueroa, Taylor Dombach, Will Constein, Troy Miller, and Matt Haldeman. Comments are closed.
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