Monday afternoon at McCaskey for the first road game/bus ride of the season, the destination was thankfully close by as we traveled about six miles out of town to Manheim Township. Given the circumstances the league schedule is arranged differently than usual, the first eight games are the home-and-homes within our division, the five one-and-done crossovers with Section Two opponents are at the end. On this night in Neffsville there were fans in attendance, I was told each player received a voucher for two admissions (presumably their parents). It made for a good atmosphere although the crowd was obviously much smaller than normal. The JV squad fell to 0-2 with a five-point loss but all things considered it was nothing to be ashamed to, thanks to what I call "The Three Is" (injuries, illness and ineligibility) the club played virtually the entire game without substitution. Two of the varsity underclassmen were added as reinforcements but the coaches used the game as an opportunity to give the JV regulars a chance to prove their worth. The varsity game was your typical Lancaster-Lebanon League Section One middle-of-the-ring fifteen-round fight to the finish, when the final horn sounded JPM got the decision in overtime. We trailed by four at the quarter, led by two at the half and had an eleven point lead after three. In the fourth period Township fought back and forced the extra stanza, in OT the Red Tornado prevailed 12-9 and won it 69-66. Nine players appeared for The Good Guys and everybody scored: Javonzee Washington had the big night with 17, Jonathan Byrd and Dante Ashford also hit double figures with 12 each. Sam Hershey had seven points with Hasan Williams, Grady Bachman and Jared Kumah adding six apiece, Jayon Burnside had a field goal and Kevin Bell was one-for-two at the line. The win evens the club's record at 1-1, the boys are back home against Penn Manor on the 14th. On Tuesday morning Jenny was in town for a medical appointment, I took her home and we had lunch together. In the afternoon she came back to the city with me, a friend of hers is expecting her third child just about any day now and Jenny went there to help with the two older daughters. Take care, thanks for reading.
