Tuesday was the second round of the YAIAA Tournament at Red Lion. York High took on New Oxford and then York Suburban took on Central. Stopped in at Wyndridge Farms to pick up some beer to go and at the Red Lion Alesmiths for a pregame beer. I was not expecting York to take this one as I think New Oxford is the better team but I didn’t expect a repeat of Senior Night in New Oxford a few weeks ago. When the Colonials are hitting their shots they are tough to beat and they hit their shots tonight. Some of them were long distance, like from Felton long. There’s not much that you can do about them. York hung around and did manage to retake the lead at the end of the third quarter since New Oxford does have major lapses too but they immediately gave the lead back for good in the 4th. They had their opportunities, turning New Oxford over multiple times in the 4th only to miss easy layups or turn the ball right back over. New Oxford wins 60-54.
Central entered the second game as the heavy favorite. Suburban stuck around for the first quarter but Central used suffocating defense to slowly build a big lead. Suburban had a lot of trouble with their defense and with a 20 point fourth quarter Central lead I left. So did a lot of other people. I missed the comeback but Central hung on to win 55-50. I will go out on a limb and say New Oxford is the favorite for the title.
On Wednesday I had to do my uncle-ly duty and take my niece to Tiny Tumblers. I skipped the league title game and just relaxed at home. Central won in 42-32 so I was wrong about New Oxford. Glad I skipped this one and that sentiment was helped since Gift Horse had 2 new brews on the menu.
Saturday took me over to Elizabethtown to take in their afternoon game against Drew. Pregame stops at Cox, Funk’s (for beer to go) and Moo-Duck. Avoided the big Bernie Sanders event on the square in Etown. They wanted people to honk for Bernie and let’s just say I heard no honking. They were gone by the time I left Moo-Duck.
Drew is one of the top programs in the Landmark Conference and Etown is good but not great. It beats watching Juniata this year and they come to town next week but I will not be able to make it. I have enjoyed a trip over there in part to pay visits to these breweries, hence why I went. Drew jumped out to a quick double digit lead, E-town came back but was never able to get it back under 5. Every time E-town made a run Drew came down and hit a 3. Etown missed a lot of free throws and they didn’t do much from three for most of the game. With about 10 minutes left the wheels fell off and Drew took advantage of it opening a 20+ point lead. E-town did finally hit some 3’s to help make the final look a bit more respectable at the end. Drew wins 92-75. Dinner was at Bube’s in Mt. Joy. Didn’t feel up for doing Twisted Bine so I’ll save that for later.
Headed up to Hershey on Sunday for their game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Pregame stops at Spring Gate and Newfangled. First time (sort of) to Spring Gate. I had stopped in before but the line to get a beer was halfway out into the yard so I turned around and left. This time Weenie Boy and I were the only people there. The Bears game was sold out tonight, we scooped up some of the last tickets left. Liam O’Brien put the Bears up 1-0 and then Christias Djoos put the Bears up 2-0 with a power play goal. Apparently the Bears power play is “heating up” according to the play-by-play guy but outside of that power play it looked like the normal one with the Bears spending more time on defense than offense. Lehigh came back tying the game at 2 with 2nd period goals from Morgan Frost and Maksim Sushko and the Bears were starting to look tired. But the Bears found new life in the 3rd. Bobby Nardella had a nice wrap around goal to put the Bears up and Beck Malensteyn followed putting in a nice pass coming down the middle. Lehigh pulled their goalie and got one back but Brian Pinho put in an empty netter to seal it. Hershey wins 5-3.
That was not the end of the excitement. After turning in for the evening someone crashed a car on my street into a parked car. I heard a loud screech, then a bang and then the unmistakably sounds of someone running away. Wonder if they stole the car? I will say that curtains do not block out police lights. Mr. Haka probably witnessed the whole thing, too bad he can’t talk.
