Manheim Township's Bill Vaughn-Geib looks for passing options while McCaskey's Brian Newsome defends. Vaughn-Geib scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Newsome had eight points.
The Red Tornado's Devonne Pinkard, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds, goes up for a shot against Township's Cory Stoltz, who scored 12 points.
A capacity crowd.
A heated rivalry.
First place in L-L Section One on the line.
The stage was set Friday night for a classic confrontation, and Manheim Township and McCaskey delivered one of the best L-L boys' basketball games in anyone's memory.
"It's at the top of the list," said Blue Streaks' senior forward Jomar Guerrero, whose game-high 22 points helped hold off a furious Red Tornado rally and secure a 79-75 double-overtime win amid a raucous atmosphere at McCaskey.
"It was a great game," said Tornado coach Steve Powell. "Both teams had chances. Manheim Township took advantage of their opportunities. That's the way it goes sometimes."
"Super game," said Blue Streaks boss Jim Kreider, whose squad clinched at least a tie in search of its first section title since, according to Kreider, 2004.
"You think of what's at stake, big crowd, players on both sides making plays," he added. "Just a great game."
Billy Vaughan-Geib added 20 points, Niki Veronis 15 and Cory Stoltz 12 as Township (13-1 L-L, 17-2 overall) took a two-game lead over defending champion McCaskey (11-3, 15-5) with two games left in the regular season.
Diante Cherry scored 17 for the Tornado and drained a clutch 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime. Luis Fuentes also scored 17, Devonne Pinkard added 16 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, and Shaki Staten scored 10.
Guerrero tied Vaughan-Geib for the team lead in boards with eight and tied the Tornado's Calvert Gantz for game-high honors in blocked shots with three.
"Jomar's had some really good games," said Kreider. "When you think of what was at stake, this was one of his better games."
What was at stake was control of the section, and in the view of the Streaks, public opinion. Despite beating McCaskey 59-53 in Neffsville on Jan. 10, Township entered Friday night's game feeling it still had something to prove.
"We've been looking at this game for a long time," said Guerrero.
Eschewing the zone defense that played a pivotal role in its previous win over McCaskey and playing straight man-to-man, Township took leads of 12-9 at the close of the first quarter and 29-25 at halftime.
McCaskey didn't move in front until Pinkard's three-point play made it 41-40 with 3:29 left in the third.
"It's McCaskey," said Guerrero. "We knew they were going to go in spurts."
From there, the lead changed hands seven times until Cherry's trey from the top of the arc forced overtime.
The first OT featured four ties, the last coming on a three-point play by Veronis with 49 seconds left. That tied it at 70 and brought on a second overtime.
Township lost Vaughan-Geib to his fifth foul with 2:09 left in the initial OT, but Guerrero and Shawn Hines helped pick up the slack.
"We had to keep going," said Kreider, "because McCaskey kept coming after us."
Hines' basket 2:38 into the second overtime gave the Streaks the lead for good, and Guerrero sealed the deal when he scored with 30 seconds left and then came up with a steal on the defensive end.
"He did a nice job," Powell said of Guerrero. "He kept them together."
The Streaks will seek to stick together for their next two games — against Hempfield at home on Monday and at Warwick on Wednesday.
According to Kreider, Township could end up playing Tuesday and Wednesday depending on how the Streaks' wrestling team fares today in the District Three Team Tournament.
"Two really tough teams," Kreider said of his next two opponents, then smiled. "It's nice to be two (games) up."
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