YORK, Pa. – The men's basketball team would take the rematch against York College of Pennsylvania at their place and be outmatched 85-69 in the Middle Atlantic Semifinals on Wednesday night.
Inside the Box Score
Garrison Linton (New Market, Md./Oakdale) scored 25 points and shot 75 percent from the field.
Garrett Cox (Glen Allen, VA/Glen Allen) earned a double double via 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Jevon Yarbrough (Williamsport, Md./Williamsport) scored 10 on the evening.
How it Happened
In a place that the Blazers have had their trouble, the Blazers would score the first eight points of the game with the will to give the Spartans their best punch. Cox had hit from three and made a hard-earned layup and the Blazers would be rolling 8-0.
The Spartans eventually answered with the three ball, which has been an ailment of the Blazers in conference play.
The size of the Spartans caused the Blazers early in the shot clock to hold on the ball, creating uncharacteristic turnovers and creating extra possessions for York.
Three players in green and white had triples including Pat Gilhool with a late attempt finding a way for his basket to be good and then another to York up by eight with less than nine minutes to go.
Kia Cipalla had his way in the middle of the zone disrupting the game plan by his way of being a tough bucket and drawing contact. Although he ended up with a couple turnovers in the first half, he remained 80 percent from the field and would find teammate Tate Landis outside the arc to run the floor.
With a 20-point deficit at half, the Blazers had 20 more minutes to fight for their season.
Another example of the reign of Cipalla was a pass inside that had been stripped by Linton but Cipalla regained control, and battle two defenders for the made layup to extend 55-30.
With some elements remaining the same, Linton had been now getting opportunities in the second half to use his length and speed to get down the lane. With the suffocation in the paint, a good decoy from the likes of
Jack Fricka (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) or
Jude Huseby (Frederick, Md./Urbana) decongested the paint and a good time to feed Linton up high and get him the lane needed to convert.
Quiet in the first half, Linton would showcase what he meant to the team with five minutes until the curtain would close on the season and his time at Hood.
The Blazers would manage the paint better in the second half and players like Robinson would take advantage of sloppy play of the Spartans to try to even out the turnover battle. But with Hood having multiple opportunities to have that moment to take over the second half in that regard, the Blazers couldn't capitalize.
York's gameplan under five minutes would be to chew clock, doing so to suppress any opening for Hood and limit the number of opportunities for turnovers and fastbreak runs.
Linton would continue to empty the tank, playing with an aggression that added concentration at the basket that answered the call that Hood needed to keep the matchup from unraveling.
Cox on the boards played physical while Fricka was left with the ball in his hands to make something happen. Upperclassman on the team contributed to end on the best note they could.
"Really tough loss tonight," said head coach
Chad Dickman. "I feel bad for our seniors that played their last game in a Blazer uniform. They were huge reasons why our program is where it is right now, and they were only one win away from being the all-time winningest class in school history."
For the Opponent
Kai Cipalla had 22 points.
Tate Landis scored 11 and dished eight assists.
"Hat tip to York—they played outstanding and were extremely poised," said Dickman. "We just couldn't find our usual groove. I probably overthought this game too much defensively, instead of just focusing on being great at what we do. It hurts ending the season like this because we had a great team, but we seemed to hit a wall in February and just couldn't get over the hump."
Analysis
The Spartans made 15 shots from deep, four guys had three made three's
Only one player that entered the game for the Spartans had less than 10 points on the night.
Up Next
This marks the end of the road for the Blazers in the 2024-25 season.
