E-town hopes for stronger finishes

From today's Lancaster Sunday News:

E-town hopes for stronger finishes
Last year, the Blue Jays' men's and women's teams faded after fast starts.

Sunday News
Published: Nov 09, 200800:13 EST
Elizabethtown
By MIKE GROSS, Assistant Sports Editor

Last season did not end happily for Elizabethtown College's men's and women's basketball teams.

Usually if the Blue Jays perform well in the non-conference portion of their schedule, they can handle most of what they face in the Commonwealth Conference.

Last year the men started 13-1, the last of those an 80-69 not-that-close flogging of then-nationally ranked DeSales. The Jays also handled local Division II rival Millersville.

Then they dropped, over the course of six days, overtime decisions at Lycoming and Albright, and the roof caved.

E-town finished 15-9 overall, but an incredible 2-8 in the Commonwealth.

It wasn't quite so dramatic for the women, but they were 6-2 at one point, and 8-4 as late as Jan. 19, before falling to 11-14 overall and, again, 2-8 in the Commonwealth.

"If we had it to do over, we'd emphasize conditioning and developing the bench a little more," men's coach Bob Schlosser said Wednesday. "I'm not totally sure, though, that we'd do a whole lot differently."

Schlosser's club loses its two leading scorers, Mike Schatzmann and Chad Piersol, who combined to average nearly 38 per game.

It's probably not as gloomy as all this sounds. Schlosser appears to have enough talent to play his beloved, tempo-pushing style. The Jays scrimmaged Dickinson, which should be pretty good, last week and fared well.

"I liked what I saw," Schlosser said. "We don't change the way we play, and I think we'll be able to pressure the ball more effectively and maybe be better defensively."

Point guard Phil Schaffer, chief provider of energy and grit, returns. Local kids Mike Church (Solanco) and Josh Houseal (Hempfield), both 6-5, are back, as is Keith Fogel, a combo-guard contributor last year as a freshman. Now he'll start at 2-guard.

Chris Fairbanks, a 6-3 junior who missed last year with a torn knee ligament, will be the fifth starter.

That's a workable first five. Church (11.7 ppg last year), Vogel and Fairbanks should be able to replace the Schatzmann/Piersol points, while Schaffer and Houseal take care of the blue-collar stuff.

The bench includes two kids Schlosser is sure can help: Sophomore Joe Flanagan (Lancaster Mennonite), who played some last year, and freshman point guard Kyle McConnell (Cedar Crest), an energetic, athletic, strong little guy who seems like Schlosser's type of player.

The E-town women will miss guard Erin Walton, who graduated with 1,702 career points, making her the second-leading scorer in the history of the program.

And this program has some history. Coach Yvonne Kauffman, in her 39th season, is 640-279, and has won two national championships.

It hasn't been like that lately, though.

These Jays might be oriented toward three-point arc. Senior guard Megan Quinn, the leading returning scorer with 12.2 points per game, made 33 3-pointers last year.

Soph guard Megan Strohman (Lebanon High School), a transfer from Lebanon Valley College who'll be available the second semester, is also a 3-point bomber.

The Jays also have some size. Senior forward Jenn Montague moves into the starting lineup full-time after averaging nine points and six rebounds last year. Newcomers Teanna Ziegler and Kelly Sauerkopf add much-needed size to the frontcourt.

Lycoming stole the men's Commonwealth title with a 7-3 mark a year ago, earning coach Don Friday a new gig at Division I St. Francis. This year's favorite is probably Widener, which returns five starters from a 23-6 team.

No probably about the women's favorite. It's powerful Messiah, which went 10-0 in the league, 30-3 overall a year ago and reached the Division III national championship game.

Both E-town teams open their season Saturday (Nov. 15), the men home with Alvernia (3 p.m.).
The Jays go to Millersville Dec. 3.

The women open the year with a trip to Virginia, facing Randolph-Macon Saturday (3 p.m.) and Lynchburg (1 p.m.) Sunday.