February 6

Thursday morning lunch with Jenny in Quarryville, the trip was no trouble but remnants from Wednesday's weather were still in evidence on the side roads. In the afternoon we boarded the bus at McCaskey for the trip to Hempfield HS. This was the final game of the regular season and the goal was clear: win and qualify for league playoffs or lose and sit it out until the district tournament starts on the 19th. On this night in Landisville the Red Tornado was not denied as we defeated Hempfield 55-44. It was another typical McCaskey/Hempfield battle to the finish, both teams were in the same position in the standings and there was no quarter asked or given on either side. At halftime we were down by two but rallied to lead by three into the decisive fourth quarter . JPM posted three players in double figures as Antanee Pickard led with 17 and Kobe Gantz added 16 but it was Randolph Speller who spearheaded the victory, he scored ten of his thirteen in the final quarter. The win closes the regular season record at 13-3, the overall mark stands at 15-7. Shortly after we were done we got word that Cedar Crest had won their game over Penn Manor, that sets up a tiebreaker game for the division title on Friday night. In 2011 we defeated Hempfield in a similar playoff after splitting the season series but this time around we face a team we lost to twice during the regular schedule. An win gives us a home game against the runner-up from LL Section III in the first round, a loss would put us against the Section III champion in their gym (either way it's a one-and-done deal). What happens on Friday is anybody's guess, it's a quick turnaround with little time to prepare but both teams are in the same position. As they say on TV, "say tuned". Take care, thanks for reading.