WAYNESBORO- The Waynesboro Indians varsity basketball team is experiencing life on the other side of victory.
After two seasons of pure dominance, Waynesboro finds itself in search of an identity and a lineup that gives the Indians the best chance to win. When foul trouble hits, it gets even more challenging for head coach Tom Hoffman, who has to shuttle players in and out.
The Greencastlie-Antrim Blue Devils used their experience (four seniors and a junior made up the starting five) and timely shooting to defeat Waynesboro 57-35 in a Mid-Penn Colonial Division contest.
The reasons the Indians – who were coming off an encouraging 58-49 win against Shippensburg on Friday – were numerous, including all the missed shots and turnovers (whether forced or unforced).
“The first thing is they’re good,” said Hoffman of the visitors. “We got a little disjointed with different lineups due to foul trouble. Then we stopped scoring. I’ll have to watch the film to see why, but we were okay with the way things were going. When things didn’t go well for us, things took a turn for the worse.”
At one point in the second quarter, the game was tied 19-19. Before that, Waynesboro had leads of 10-7, 13-10 and 17-14. Each time Greencastle-Antrim had an answer. A Rayshawn Frazer-Hewitt three-point field goal gave the Tribe (4-9) a 17-14 lead, but the Blue Devils responded with five straight points to lead 19-17. Jordan Hunt hit a three-pointer to give G-A the two-point lead, only to have Waynesboro tie the score on a two-pointer by Frazer-Hewitt.
The Blue Devils tallied four straight points and appeared to be pulling away thanks to Waynesboro turnovers. However, Julian Mencia made a three-point bucket to make it 23-22.
That was as close as the Indians would get the rest of the game. Greencastle went on a 9-1 run to take a 32-23 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was a blur as Waynesboro scored only two points in the eight-minute period. That came on a lay-in by Alex Torbica. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils scored 13 points and led 45-25 going into the fourth quarter.
It didn’t help matters when the Indians couldn’t get points at crucial times or get significant production from two or three players as has happened in previous wins. Mencia led the team with eight points. Farin Parks had seven points.
The Indians finished the game with 17 turnovers, while the Blue Devils turned the ball over 16 times. The difference was the number of shots that went in. G-A made 20 two-pointers and seven threes. Waynesboro was good on five three-pointers and made 14 two-pointers. Also, the Blue Devils were 10 of 14 from the foul line. The Indians attempted only six free throws and made two of them.
Waynesboro next plays on Friday at West Perry in a Mid-Penn Colonial Division game.
