Sunday Morning Coverage

From The Lancaster Sunday News:

E-town shuts down Messiah, 71-59

Vogel's timely trey keys 71-59 victory

Sunday News
Elizabethtown

By GORDIE JONES, Correspondent

Just about every game has been a tractor pull for the Elizabethtown men's basketball team, as might be expected of a club that has decent, but hardly overwhelming, talent.

There have been occasions when the Blue Jays have found someone (or several someones) to dig them out of the muck; their seven victories entering Saturday afternoon's Commonwealth Conference meeting with Messiah had come by a little more than five points a game.

But there also were times when E-town had been buried. Its six losses had come by an average of 12 points apiece.

Saturday's game followed the first of those scenarios. And the guy manning the shovel was none other than sophomore guard Mark Vogel, a seldom-used reserve from Hempfield.

It was his 3-pointer with three minutes left — his first of the season — that gave the Jays a critical boost in a typically taut affair, as they beat the Falcons 71-59 to improve to 2-0 in conference play, 8-6 overall.

"He is a very good shooter," coach Bob Schlosser said.

But coming in, Vogel had missed 10 of 11 shots, including all four of his 3-point attempts, while playing just 30 minutes over five games.

He was on the floor down the stretch, though, and alone in the right corner when point guard Phil Schaffer passed him the ball. The Jays, who had led most of the night but never comfortably, were nursing a 57-52 advantage.

"You've got to do what you've got to do," Schlosser said.

And Vogel did, splashing in the trey that increased the lead to eight.

E-town tacked on the next six points as well, four of those by sophomore guard Joe Flanagan, to go up 66-52.

Flanagan, a Lancaster Mennonite graduate, finished with a career-high 23.

Keith Fogel, another sophomore guard, scored 21 to match his career best.

But Vogel's basket was the obvious back-breaker.

"That's his shot," Flanagan said.

"Coach keeps telling me to look for my shot in the game, so that's what I try to do," Vogel said. "My shooting's down. I'm playing well in the JV games. I always keep going at it. I was a great shooter in high school, but I haven't been hot right now. It will come back."

Before Saturday, his greatest contribution had likely come Wednesday, when after the Jays won at Lycoming he surprised Schlosser and everyone else by standing up in the locker room and proclaiming it "a great team victory" — even though Vogel didn't play at all.

"We're all in this together," he said. "We don't know whose day it's going to be, so you have to be ready. Everybody's going to get their shot one time."

The Jays surely took Messiah's best shot Saturday. The Falcons (0-1, 2-11) fell into a 29-16 hole early but then reeled off 13 straight points, including 3-pointers by Jamie Yoder (another Lancaster Mennonite grad), Kyle Snyder and Josh Hartman, to draw even.

Fogel's basket gave E-town a two-point lead at the break, and the hosts increased that to seven early in the second half. But Messiah narrowed the gap to one, and had a chance to go ahead when Hartman squared up from the arc with 8:26 left.

He missed, but three minutes later it was 53-50, E-town. Flanagan made a free throw, then a 3-pointer. Messiah's Colton Reitz answered with a layup.

It was 57-52. Enter Vogel, shovel in hand.