Wilson scores big victory over Central York, extends winning streak to seven
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
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LANDISVILLE — Matt Coldren could tell by Madyx Gruber’s body language that the Wilson junior didn’t want to go to the free throw line after being fouled with 9.7 seconds left in the game Wednesday.
What was it, the pressure of going to the line in the final seconds against one of the top teams in District 3?
No, explained Madyx.
“I was tired.”
Tired of shooting free throws, it turned out. He went to the line 12 times in the final quarter and knocked down 11 of them, more than enough to protect the Bulldogs’ lead in their 61-50 victory in the opening round of the Hempfield Holiday Tournament.
Wilson will meet host Hempfield, a 49-42 winner over Elizabethtown, in Thursday championship game.
Gruber wasn’t tired from all the shooting; he puts up dozens and dozens of shots each day at practice. He won’t stop until he hits at least 20 in a row.
No, he was tired from handling the ball so much in the fourth quarter when the Panthers tried to scramble back after trailing by 15 points with six minutes to go.
Central York (7-2) attacked with its fullcourt zone trap, managed to force a few turnovers, and trimmed the deficit to seven at one point. Forced to foul in the final minutes the Panthers kept sending Gruber to the line. They had no other choice.
“Coach tells me to go get the ball (in that situation),” said Gruber, the Bulldogs’ most experienced hand and one of their best, if not their best, shooter from the line.
Gruber ended up going 12-for-14 from the line and finished with a game-high 17 points.
The Bulldogs (8-1) were good on 17-of-22 free throws overall, including 15-of-18 over the final seconds.
Their poise allowed them to win the second half of their two-part contest against the Panthers.
They were so good in the opening stages, building a 12-point halftime lead by knocking down seven 3-pointers, the Panthers forced them to play a different style game for much of the second half.
The Bulldogs, now with seven straight wins, proved they could handle that, too.
And they showed they’re good on the defensive end, and on the boards, too. Central made just 7-of-21 shots in the first half and shot 38 percent from the game.
The Bulldogs always seemed to be in strong defensive position, didn’t have any breakdowns and did give up any easy shots.
“I thought we did a great job defensively (against) a team that’s averaging in the mid 70’s,” said Coldren. “I thought we did a good job of bottling them (up).
“We played three different defenses, and I thought (in) all of them we did a good job. (Considering) their size, we did a great job on the glass. We went in and fought and competed on the boards.”
Central York’s veteran lineup includes 6-7 Greg Guidinger, a 1,000-point scorer, and 6-8 Ben Rill. The Bulldogs played at times with three players under 6 feet and at times without their only big, 6-5 Luke Levan, who picked up some early fouls. Still, they held a 25-21 rebounding advantage.
“It’s the grit,” Gruber said. “It’s the Wilson way. We wanted it more.”
Levan had a game-high seven rebounds, went 5-for-5 from the field and scored 10 points. He outplayed Guidinger for stretches of the game.
Correll Akings, a 5-10 sophomore guard, chipped in with six rebounds and eight points. Senior Kevin Twiford came off the bench and knocked down a pair of first-quarter 3’s to erase Central’s early lead; he finished with eight points.
“All of them did great things tonight,” Coldren said. “All of them (also) did some dumb things.”
The Bulldogs had 17 turnovers. They didn’t play a perfect game – they almost never do in Coldren’s eyes – but they probably played their best half of the season in rolling to a 29-17 lead against a Central York team that was No. 2 in the District 3 Class 6A power ratings and a preseason pick to challenge for a district title.
“We had a great performance tonight,” Coldren said. “We could’ve won by 20, 25. We had a couple bad turnovers. Missed foul shots. . . missed a wide-open layup.”
The Bulldogs hit 7-of-13 shots from beyond the arc in the first half, with five different players contributing: Jon Etim, Tommy Hunsicker, Cam Zullinger, Twiford and Akings.
Gruber hit a 3 in transition in the early minutes of the third quarter to open the lead to 15; it grew to 17 at one point.
Impressive, considering the other team on the floor.
“We knew they were gonna come out and play very hard (after trailing at the half),” Twiford said. “I don’t know how many times they’ve been down at half, but us getting them down was very good.
“We knew they were going to come out even harder and we had to match that energy, and we gave even more energy.”
The win solidifies what Coldren has felt all along about his team: That it can compete with any team in the District 3 Class 6A field.
“(This) boosts our confidence so much,” said Gruber. “We knew coming in this is a very good team. We knew we had to get this dub, and we did.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Central York | 13 | 4 | 12 | 21 | 50 |
| Wilson | 13 | 16 | 11 | 21 | 61 |
| Panthers (7-2) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Brown | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Natal | 5-9 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| Nace | 1-7 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Guidinger | 4-10 | 5-5 | 0-3 | 0 | 4 | 13 |
| Rill | 2-7 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| Suchanic | 3-5 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Jackson | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Layer | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 18-47 | 12-14 | 2-8 | 3 | 19/21 | 50 |
| Bulldogs (8-1) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Gruber | 2-8 | 12-14 | 1-5 | 1 | 3 | 17 |
| T. Hunsicker | 1-3 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Etim | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Akings | 3-9 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Levan | 5-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| McFadden | 1-2 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| C. Hunsicker | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Zullinger | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Twiford | 3-3 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Totals | 18-35 | 17-22 | 8-16 | 11 | 24/25 | 61 |
Turnovers: Central York 13, Wilson 17. Team rebounds: Central York 2, Wilson 1.
