Antietam’s season ends against nemesis Lancaster Mennonite
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
LANCASTER – A cold stretch that saw it go 10 straight possessions without a point led to the end of Antietam’s season Friday in a 50-30 loss to nemesis Lancaster Mennonite in a District 3 Class 2A semifinal.
The third-seeded Mounts (12-12) were within a point after one quarter and within six of the second-seeded Blazers (16-8) at the half.
Mennonite opened the second half with an 11-0 run to build a 35-18 lead and essentially put the game away. It heads to the district title game against top-seeded Halifax looking for its fourth straight championship. They’ll play Wednesday at 4:30 at Giant Center.
The Blazers beat the Mounts in the district finals in each of the past three seasons; they also beat them earlier this season at Mount Penn, 53-45.
Antietam scored just nine points over the second and third periods and went into the fourth trailing 39-22.
Sophomore Cody Fisher, a 6-4 guard averaging 16.7 points, led the Blazers with 11 points.
Mounts scoring leader AJ Scheifly was held to six points, his second-lowest output of the season. He entered averaging 15.9 points and scored in double figures in 18 straight games at one point this season.
Julious Williams led Antietam with seven points.
The Mounts end the season with three losses in their final four games since an overtime victory Feb. 1 over Oley Valley that clinched the Berks IV title.
The Blazers hadn’t played in 10 days and were in a four-game losing skid before Friday. They dropped three straight to end the regular season and lost in the opening round of the Lancaster-Lebanon League Tournament.
Antietam needed a win to return to the PIAA Tournament for the third straight year, something it hasn’t done since 1999-2001. Only the top two finishers in District 3 advance to the state tournament.
Friday’s loss also snapped the Mounts streak of three straight winning seasons.
