By Levi Cressler

Over the last four years, the Shippensburg Greyhounds have won a number of games on their home floor. When the Golden Bears from Upper Moreland left to head back to suburbs of northern Philadelphia, they had seen their season ended with a 56-46 loss to the Greyhounds. It marked the third state playoff win in school history and the first ever inside the SASHS gym.

The Greyhounds came out firing on all cylinders early as they raced to an early 7-0 lead on two buckets by Anthony Smith then a corner three from Jayden Statum. Following a Golden Bear timeout and a baseline jumper by Matt Tiernan, the Hounds went back to work on the offensive end. Trae Kater found Jeremy Thomas on a backdoor cut for two points. A few possessions later Smith was the beneficiary of a Thomas pass to the post as the Hounds stretched their lead to 15-6 after one quarter. “We were really focused on the defensive end and our intensity was where it needed to be,” said Shippensburg coach Ray Staver.

The second quarter opened with Upper Moreland switching to a 2-3 zone, but the veteran Greyhounds sliced through it. Thomas and junior forward Graison Michalijuk played some nice two man basketball with high-low passing, resulting in a layup. Then in a serious of four possessions, Kater splashed home two three pointers and Shippensburg found themselves up 29-16 at the break.

The second half proved to be a bit more of a challenge as the Golden Bears scored the first four points of the third quarter. Following a Thomas three ball, Stefano Garofalo scored his 7th point of the third quarter to bring the Golden Bears within 9. Moments later with Shippensburg holding on to a 36-30, Upper Moreland got a steal and pushed the ball in transition. Kater made what was possibly the defensive play of the night as he ran down the opposing player and blocked the shot.

In the fourth the Greyhounds were tested time and time again, but always had a response. Thomas found himself working the middle of the floor against the Golden Bear zone throughout much of the fourth quarter. Thomas delivered as he scored a bucket himself and then got an assist as he found Kater in the corner for another three pointer. As Upper Moreland fouled to force Shippensburg to the line it was Michalijuk who came up with another big play on the boards. Holding a four point lead with less than two minutes to go, Michalijuk tapped a missed free throw back out to Thomas. Thomas then found Statum who was immediately fouled. After making the first free throw, he missed the second, but Smith gathered the offensive rebound and scored the put back to put the finishing touches on a hard fought win.

With the win the Greyhounds will square off with Pittston, who was a 53-51 winner over Lower Dauphin Tuesday night. “ Pittston is very good, and they beat a quality opponent tonight in Lower Dauphin,” added Staver.

Friday’s second round game site will be announced Wednesday. The game will be carried (audio only) on www.midpennbroadcasting.com

Shippensburg 56 Upper Mooreland 46
Shippensburg: Statum 4 2-4 11, Kater 3 0-0 9, Thomas 7 3-5 18, Michalijuk 2 2-2 6, Smith 6 0-2 12. Totals 22 7-13 56
Upper Mooreland: Hopkins 5 3-8 13, Meakim 0 2-2 2, M. Teirnan 4 2-2 11, Garofalo 5 1-3 12, Campbell 2 0-0 5, J. Teirnan 0 1-2 1, Delahan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 9-17 46.

Ship 15 14 9 18——–56
UM 6 10 14 16——46
Three point shots- Ship 5 (Kater 3, Statum, Thomas) UM