The ice and snow piled up in Lancaster County overnight Sunday into Monday and forced several area school districts to close for the day. Closed schools typically result in lost practice opportunity for winter sports teams. Following Friday night's resounding win over Northern Lebanon (71-49), Coach Butt gave the team an extra day off on Saturday. With the "slush day" off, Butt now faced the dilemma of taking his team to a new gym, against a new and formidable opponent, Garden Spot, without having practiced for 3 days.
The trip to New Holland went well (a rarity this season). The immediate reaction to entering Garden Spot was, "So that's what a weight room looks like." We then entered the visiting team locker room and saw a note hanging on the white board that read, "Please Clean." Underneath the note was the last visiting team's game plan for beating the Spartans. Next to the Spartans' numbers were the initials of the visiting team's starters. It became a little eerie as we realized Manheim Central was the last visiting team in the locker room. This night marked the first game night since the accident that took the life of MC's starting forward, Devaughn Lee, and his initials on the board reminded us of how precious life can be.
The coaching staff was quite wary of the Garden Spot lineup. This team had gotten off to a 5-0 start and, despite a cold streak, the Spartans posed a difficult matchup for the Indians. The game started off roughly for the Indians as the starters committed turnover after turnover early. Additionally, points came few and far between in the early moments. Austin Musser took the scoring burden upon himself and led the Indians to a 12-9 first quarter lead. Points were even more scarce in the second period, as both teams showed signs of rust and mental fatigue from their lack of practice. At the end of the very low-scoring half, the Indians maintained a 5-point advantage going into the locker room, 20-15.
It's no secret that Donegal often begins the second half slowly; this night was no different. Garden Spot raced out of the gates with an aggressive defense that limited the Indians offensively, and the Spartans began knocking down shots. The Indians' halftime lead had all but disappeared; Garden Spot was down by only 1 entering the fourth.
During the final frame, both teams picked up their intensity. The Indians pulled away, and Garden Spot rallied. Ultimately, Donegal's senior leaders made big plays down the stretch, led by Drake Brumfield's "Beast Mode" impersonation. The senior point guard ripped the ball away from a GS guard and raced down the court for a layup, was fouled, and converted the three-point play. He also knocked down some clutch free throws to seal the victory.
After the game, Coach Butt unintentionally echoed the sentiments of iconic Lewisburg Cross-County and Track & Field Coach, Mark Sundberg, "This was a defining moment to our season." The players overcame the many in-game challenges and found a way to win.
The Indians are on a three game winning streak and will travel to face Lebanon Catholic on Thursday night
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