LANCASTER - Lancaster Mennonite knocked off Lebanon Catholic in a key L-L League Section 4 boys’ basketball game Tuesday night.
And the Blazers can thank a couple of bench kids for keeping them on Lancaster Catholic’s heels in the section race.
Playing in just his second varsity basketball game, D’Angelo Daniels hit a 3 from the right wing, giving Lancaster Mennonite a 46-45 lead with 5:33 to play.
Later, Christian Kemp buried a 3, also from the right wing, giving the Blazers the lead for good, 49-47, with 3:10 left, and Lancaster Mennonite went on to hold off Lebanon Catholic 59-55.
“Give those kids a lot of credit,” Lebanon Catholic coach Scott Clentimack said of Daniels and Kemp. “They both hit big shots.”
Lancaster Mennonite improved to 8-4 in league games and took over sole possession of second place in Section 4, a game behind Lancaster Catholic, which improved to 9-3 with a 53-35 win over Annville-Cleona.
Lebanon Catholic slipped to 7-5, fell out of a second-place tie with Lancaster Mennonite and is alone in third place.
“It’s exciting to be playing in games that count for something,” Blazers’ coach Geoff Groff said. “It gets the nerves going - and that’s fine. That’s a part of this process we’re going through because we have a young team. But this is certainly exciting.”
Lancaster Mennonite was in first place on January 7 after a 62-49 triumph over Pequea Valley.
But then the Blazers lost three out of four, including setbacks to Lancaster Catholic, Donegal and Lampeter-Strasburg.
Heading into Tuesday’s game vs. Lebanon Catholic, Lancaster Mennonite was in a second-place tie with the Beavers.
That tie was snapped thanks to a fast finish on Tuesday.
Lancaster Mennonite bolted to a 16-11 lead after the first quarter; the Beavers didn’t score until the 4:44 mark, while the Blazers established an inside game with Jon Snader and Zach Lehman dominating in the post.
Snader had 6 points and 6 rebounds and Lehman had 8 points and 3 boards in the first half, when Lancaster Mennonite built a 29-22 lead.
The Blazers led by as many as 10 points - 36-26 - in the first half.
Lebanon Catholic sprang to life in the third quarter. The Beavers finally caught the Blazers when Anthony Pletz drilled a jumper to knot the game at 38-all with 2:05 to go in the third, which ended in a 41-all tie.
The Beavers took their first lead, 45-43, when Anthony Thomas finished on the break off a sweet feed from Timmy Orr with 6:20 to play.
That’s when Daniels answered with his clutch 3-ball.
Lebanon Catholic took one last lead, 47-46, on Thomas’ basket with 3:50 to go.
It was all Lancaster Mennonite after that; Kemp splashed a 3 with 3:10 to go and then Matt Hess kissed in a short shot in the lane and the Blazers led 51-47 with 2:44 to go.
“Those shots were really, really big,” Groff said of Daniels’ and Kemp’s treys. “Those shots might not have been exactly scripted, but at that point in the game it was close and it was going to come down to which team made plays. It’s usually your go-to guys that make those kinds of shots. But it’s a bonus when those guys (subs) can make those kinds of shots.”
Hess hit three free throws in the final 38 seconds to help ice it for the Blazers. He paced Lancaster Mennonite with 16 points.
“We were in scramble mode there for a while; we knew they were going to make a run and make some shots,” Groff said. “We told our kids what we tell them all the time: Don’t panic. Stay within yourselves.”
It worked.
Lebanon Catholic, on the other hand, slipped another game back in the Section 4 race.
L-L League boys' basketball Section 4 standings.
“Coming into this week, all three teams (Lancaster Catholic, Lancaster Mennonite, Lebanon Catholic) controlled their own destiny,” Clentimack said. “It was going to come down to who beats who. Unfortunately, we’ve lost a little bit of our mojo. And this game still came down to the end. We just had some mental breakdowns in the end. We grinded it out and grinded it out and got out of that hole. But we just couldn’t finish it off.”
Still, the Beavers can throw a monkey wrench into the proceedings with a win Thursday vs. Lancaster Catholic. Lebanon Catholic is also thinking big when the District 3-A playoffs get rolling, and want to go into Districts healthy and on a roll.
“Our goal is Districts,” said Clentimack, whose Beavers came into Tuesday ranked second in District 3-A behind Greenwood. “But we’ve put ourselves in a position now to possibly win the section - which we’ve never done - and make the league playoffs. So we have to adjust our goals a little bit now that we’re here. This kind of puts us behind the 8-ball a little bit. So at this point, whatever happens in the league, happens. But there’s still a possibility because there’s a lot of basketball left.”
Four games, including Lancaster Catholic coming to Assumption Hill on Thursday.
Stay tuned. The Section 4 race is far from over.
NOTABLE: Julian Collazo added 13 points and Zach Lehman had 12 points and 6 rebounds for Lancaster Mennonite. Lehman and Jon Snader (8 points, 7 rebounds) played well in the paint for the Blazers, who enjoyed a 28-24 rebounding advantage. “The first time we played, we didn’t get the match-ups the way we should have,” Groff said. “Our point of emphasis for tonight was doing a better job on the boards. And I thought those guys (Lehman and Snader) made some big plays.” … Orr scored a game-high 17 points to pace Lebanon Catholic, which is 1-3 in its last four games. … Thomas added 13 points and Pletz had 12 points for the Beavers. … Both teams turned the ball over 13 times.
MILESTONE UPDATE: Orr, a four-year contributor for the Beavers, has 976 career points. He’ll need 24 points on Thursday vs. Lancaster Catholic to join the 1,000-point club. He’s poised to become the 13th boys’ player in Lebanon Catholic history to hit that milestone.
JEFF REINHART: jreinhart@pennlive.com
ON TWITTER: @JeffReinhartPN