Mechanicsburg has hit a hot streak when it comes to playoff games. Handling Exeter, coming back to beat York Suburban, and finishing strong in Hershey, against Hershey. With a game high 22 points from Chance Yanoski, 14 from Josh Smith, and 19 from Justin Bardo, the Mechanicsburg Wildcats hoisted the PIAA District III 5A Championship trophy, defeating No. 1 seeded Hershey 63-47, on Thursday night.
The Wildcats wasted no time getting to business in pursuit of a championship, the first District title since the team won in 1995. Chance Yanoski put up ten points in the first quarter. The ‘Cats when into the first quarter to second quarter intermission with a 22-9 lead, a huge factor to open up play.
“Hershey is a fantastic defensive team, we knew that. We knew we were going to have to make some shots early. I think that gave us some footing, we felt pretty good about ourselves. Knowing, even though it was 22-9, they’re going to come back at some point. We enjoyed the lead while it lasted, and battled through some adversity.” - Mike Gaffey on the early lead.
Coming back was in fact in the cards for Hershey. They outscored Mechanicsburg 17-14 in the second quarter, with an explosion from Derek Guzman, scoring nine in the second quarter as Hershey began to build momentum towards a comeback. With the clock winding down and a 33-26 Mechanicsburg lead, Josh Smith took a glance at the video board in the Giant Center.
He saw one second to go, and decided it was now or never to fling a shot up from the other side of the court. Spoiler alert, he drilled it. Smith, along with the rest of the Mechanicsburg Wildcats, ran into the tunnel to their locker room with momentum galore after one of the best shots you can find in District 3 this season.
Mechanicsburg went on to outscore Hershey 12-11 in the third quarter and 15-10 in the fourth for a monumental win.
Mechanicsburg will go on to the seventh place finisher from PIAA District 7, Gateway. Gateway is 17-8 this season and is coming off of a February 24th loss to Bethel Park. Hershey will play Bethel Park in the first round of the PIAA tournament.
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