Antietam could not complete a second-half comeback in losing 53-45 to Lancaster Mennonite in the Antietam Holiday Tournament championship game Thursday at Reiffton.
The Mounts (3-5), down 10 at the half, cut it four late in the third quarter, but that was as close as the Blazers (6-3) would let them get.
Antietam beat Mount Calvary 59-54 on Wednesday to reach the final of the tournament, which was being played at Exeter High School due to the damage caused to Antietam High School by flooding in July.
Both teams battled back and forth in the first as the Blazers led 15-13 after one.
The Mounts then went cold at the start of the second quarter. They did not score until 3:47 remained when Jonas Coste made a layup in traffic to stop a Blazers’ run.
Lancaster Mennonite’s Cody Fisher, who was named tournament MVP, made three 3-pointers in the quarter and ended the half with 18 points.
“We let him lose early and we saw the night before he was knocking down shots,” Mounts coach Mike Green said of Fisher. “They were doing a nice job of dribble penetrating to find the open man. We have to do a better job in the future if we see them again.”
After struggling on offense in the second quarter, the Mounts came out firing in the third. AJ Scheifly knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing to get it started.
Scheifly went on to score nine straight points to keep the Mounts within range.
With 1:39 left in the third, Josiah Marodey forced a turnover before hitting a 3-pointer to cut Anitetam’s deficit to 37-33.
As momentum appeared to be shifting in the Mounts’ favor, Kellen Jones hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to make it 40-33 after three and quiet the Antietam crowd.
In the fourth, both teams traded baskets in the first couple of minutes before Fisher and Jordan Lilly hit layups to extend the Blazers’ lead to 47-38.
For the Mounts, Scheifly finished with 21 points. For the Blazers, Fished ended with a game-high 24 points.
“We have a lot of young kids and they’re still trying to develop their game,” Green said. “It’ll come. Traditionally we don’t come out blazing. We tend to do better at the end of the season. From what we’re shown in our division, we can play with anyone in our division and be able to compete. We want to get in the playoffs, then anything can happen. That’s the main goal.”
Source: Berkshire mont