Chatting up several girls just outside Cumberland Valley High School's splashy Dome -- a comfortable grin stretching well across his face -- Tanner Kirkpatrick looked like a kid enjoying the heck out of a remarkably memorable day.
Repeat: A remarkably memorable day.
Just take a quick inventory -- commit to Gettysburg College, wander on to the Dome's court before Friday night's game with Mom on one side and Dad on the other and pop a double-double in your final regular-season home appearance -- and you'll soon see why Kirkpatrick will eagerly file this one away.
Plus, the Eagles won.
OK, then.
Cranking out a 21-point, 12-board performance, Kirkpatrick's efforts helped fuel Cumberland Valley's 63-60 victory over a State College side with plenty of perimeter firepower that remained dangerous right up to the final horn.
"It feels good," Kirkpatrick said. "It feels good.
"It's a great way to go out -- but I'm not done yet."
Bullish 6-5 Matt Tamanosky added 13 points and eight rebounds for Mike Hibbs' Eagles (13-7, 7-6), while Trevor Magnuski netted seven of his nine points in the second half and Collin Schutjer finished with eight.
Just a sophomore, Schutjer started in place of junior wing Gray Kline. Kline, who was sick and missed the game, may not play again on Saturday when the Eagles step out of Commonwealth Division play for a game at Wilson.
Bryan Sekunda racked up 21 points -- his 1,000th career point arrived on a 14-foot pull-up with 5:38 remaining -- for a State College side (13-6, 9-4) that was sitting on an eight-point lead midway through the third.
Then, suddenly, CV detonated.
Drew Frank's Little Lions also picked up 18 points from lead guard Kyle Kanaskie -- Kanaskie's pops, Kurt, lit up the Dome many times during his spectacular CV career (1973-76) -- and 17 from Jason Costa.
And when Sekunda knocked down a pair of free throws with 4:09 left in the third, State High was sitting on a 42-34 cushion that was beginning to look mighty comfy to the Little Lions and their small collection of fans.
Once the powerful Tamanosky muscled his way to the hoop moments later, the Eagles were off and winging on a 22-6 salvo that turned their eight-point deficit into a seven-point lead with 2:45 remaining.
Tamanosky collected eight points during CV's timely run -- four in the paint and four more at the line -- while Magnuski added six, the agile 6-6 Kirkpatrick tacked on five and Schutjer buried two freebies
"They did a better job of getting the ball to their players where they needed it in order to score," Frank said. "I thought we were just a little too much one-on-one -- and we can't play like that."
Although Tamanosky was able to exploit State High's long but lean interior repeatedly with his strength and ability to penetrate from the high post -- Kirkpatrick also generated plenty of damage inside -- that opened things up on the perimeter for the Eagles.
"We wanted Matt to get more touches in the second half than he got in the first," said Hibbs, CV's fourth-year head coach.
"I thought Matt had an amazing game," Kirkpatrick added.
"He stepped up and he played big. That was key because that really allowed us on the outside to get some shots."
Kirkpatrick's trey from the right wing with 4:10 to go -- off an out-of-bounds play triggered by Magnuski -- was just one example.
Magnuski also showed the ability to get to the rim repeatedly, using a series of baseline drives and short pull-ups to puzzle Frank's outfit.
"They're a very good basketball team," Frank admitted. "They have something of everything that you need to compete."
CV also flashed some concerted man defense that pushed to the arc -- and beyond -- whenever Kanaskie, Sekunda or Costa had his mitts on the ball and was looking to hoist something toward the rim.
While State High buried seven 3-pointers, that's still eight fewer than Frank's Little Lions drained in Wednesday's win over Altoona.
Heck, Kanaskie rimmed nine 3-balls by himself as part of a 35-point explosion.
"It's not like they can't get it off the dribble, either, so pick your poison," Hibbs remarked. "Basically, that's what we told them. We want no threes, so get on them and stay in front of them.
"That's how they really destroy people," Hibbs said. "We said, 'Give up two, that's better than giving up a three.' That was our philosophy going into the game. They're gonna get open looks on some of them, but we tried to focus in as much as we could."
Still, despite holding a 56-48 advantage with 1:41 left, State High wasn't about to go away. And while Kanaskie buried two late treys and Costa hit one as well, Hibbs' Eagles did enough damage at the line in the closing moments to run the Commonwealth Division scrap into the history books.
Just enough.
While Sekunda and Costa teamed up for 25 points as Frank's Little Lions snared a 33-30 lead at the halftime break, Kirkpatrick had 11 on the books by the time CV headed for its locker room for a needed breather.
More points were on the way.
And none were bigger than the two freebies he canned with two seconds showing on the clock, freebies that stretched CV's lead to 63-57 and gave the Eagles more than enough room to absorb Kanaskie's deep trey at the horn.
"No lead is comfortable against them at all," Hibbs said.
"Up there, they got a little distance on us at the end, but this time we were able to get some distance on them at the end and were able to hang on."
As a result ...
Senior Night -- a celebration that paid tribute to Kirkpatrick, Magnuski and Will Bachinsky (6 points, 4 boards, 2 assists) -- was a success. Magnuski was effective defensively on Sekunda after the break, limiting him to six points.
"[Tanner] comes up huge," Hibbs said. "Will comes up huge for us defensively. Trevor comes up huge. All three of those seniors played great basketball in the second half. I'm really proud of those guys."
Friday night's victory also might have bumped the No. 8 Eagles higher in the District 3-AAAA power rankings -- particularly since No. 5 Chambersburg and No. 7 Elizabethtown lost. For a team about to appear in the 3-AAAA festivities for the first time in six years, CV will take all the help it can get.
With Wilson at No. 4, more momentum can be gathered Saturday night.
"We told these guys, 'Playoffs start now.' " Hibbs said. "We're playing two playoff teams right there. You gotta really come ready to play on both of these nights. They definitely did it tonight."
"We're really rolling," Kirkpatrick said. "This is [four] in a row.
"We've got two more on Saturday and Tuesday. Finish it out and make some noise in the playoffs. That's the goal."
So, in other words, there might be a few more remarkably memorable days awaiting the Eagles. That's what the guys in red are hoping.