By Levi Cressler

The Shippensburg Greyhounds entered Thursday’s Mid-Penn Championship game versus the Cedar Cliff Colts knowing they would be in for a battle. By the end of the night it was easy to say a battle it was, as the Colts held on for a 55-49 victory.

Cedar Cliff shot out of the gate early with confidence and knocked down shot after shot early on their way to a 20 point first quarter output. VMI commit Tyler Houser lead the Colts early with ten first quarter points and guard Ayden Frey chipped in 9 first half points for the Colts. “We got down early and that hasn’t happened that often to us, but I knew our guys would battle back,” said Greyhound coach Ray Staver. Battle back they did as they cut into an eleven point deficit by hitting the locker rooms down 27-24. In the first half the Greyhounds found themselves with some good scoring opportunities, but just couldn’t get shots to fall consistently. “We had some good looks, but we just didn’t finish some of them,” added Staver.

The third quarter saw Cedar Cliff come out hot again stretching the lead to six points. In the blink of an eye the Hounds came sprinting back again. This time it was junior guard Trey Kater who got hot. Kater knocked down three third quarter three point field goals. Add in a transition bucket by Graison Muhaluk and a tough finish while drawing a foul by Anthony Smith and the Greyhounds led 41-37 after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter the Hounds’ went cold, scoring just 8 points in the frame. “They seemed to win all the 50-50 balls and that hurt us,” added Staver. Cedar Cliff closed out the night by knocking down four straight free throws to seal a sweep of the Mid-Penn Conference. Earlier in the evening the Cedar Cliff girls defeated Trinity by a score of 52-36. 

The Greyhounds will now prepare for the PIAA district 3 tournament where they will face 14 seed Octorara from the Lancaster-Lebanon league. “They finished the regular season by winning 11 of their last 13 games, so they are certainly a dangerous 14 seed,” added Staver. 

Shippensburg will host Monday’s game which starts at 7:00 PM. The top nine seeds from District 3 will advance to the PIAA 5A tournament, so with a win Monday the Greyhounds would return to the state playoffs for the second time in three years. 

CEDAR CLIFF 55 SHIPPENSBURG 49

Cedar Cliff

Werner 1 2-2 5, Frey 6 0-0 13, Grube 3 0-0 6, Smith 2 0-0 4, J. Houser 0 2-2 2, T. Houser 8 7-8 24, Aramini 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 12-14 55.

Shippensburg

Statum 4 1-2 9, Kater 3 0-0 9, Weller 1 0-0 2, Funk 0 2-2 2, Thomas 3 3-4 9, Michaljuk 1 0-0-2, Smith 7 2-6 16. Totals 19 8-14 49.

Three point Shots- Shippensburg 3 (Kater 3). Cedar Cliff 3 (Werner, Frey, T. Houser.)

Shippensburg    13   11   17   8——–49

Cedar Cliff 20 7 10 18——-55