Blue Jays left with frustrating finish

From The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal:

Blue Jays left with frustrating finish
Sluggish start proves costly in Commonwealth final loss to Widener

Intelligencer Journal
Published: Mar 02, 200900:00 EST
Chester

By GORDIE JONES, Correspondent

Somebody told Phil Schaffer late Saturday afternoon, just a few minutes after he became a former college basketball player, that when one door closes, another opens — meaning, of course, that another opportunity will come along for Elizabethtown's departing point guard.

It was much too soon for the Blue Jays' only senior to think about that, though. He and his teammates had just lost to Widener in the Commonwealth Conference championship game, an agonizing 67-65 affair in which they played sloppily much of the day and could never get over the hump down the stretch.

And after the final buzzer, after the Jays had met one last time, Schaffer and the other players filed out of a room not far from the court, betraying the emotions they might be expected to betray, Schaffer most of all.

The door did in fact close behind them.

"Coming to an end like this," Schaffer would say a little later, "just (stinks)."

Mike Church, the junior center from Solanco, had remained behind when everyone else had left the meeting room. He too had watched the door close.

He too was left to ponder the opportunity the Jays let slip away on this day, and could only wonder if another door would open for them, this time next year.

"We had them," he said. "We should have had them."

The Jays, who finished 14-12, had been especially brutal early in the game, turning the ball over time after time against the Pride's pressure.

"Everyone had the jitters," Church said.

They eventually found their footing. Sophomore guard Keith Fogel began making shots, wading into traffic, digging out loose balls. Church, en route to a 17-point, 12-rebound day, began scoring in the post.

And then, in the closing seconds of the first half, Josh Houseal, the junior forward from Hempfield, claimed a defensive rebound and fired an outlet pass to Fogel along the right sideline. He took a dribble or two, then fired from midcourt, just before the buzzer sounded.

The ball splashed through the net, and Fogel high-stepped off the court, his teammates not far behind.

E-town's deficit, once 12, was now 40-39.

They would take a brief lead immediately after halftime before falling behind again. Widener defenders were crawling inside Fogel's jersey by now; he still led all scorers with 18 points.

Church, meanwhile, was surrounded every time he caught the ball on the block; he managed just four points after the break.

It helped not a bit that the Jays' leading scorer, sophomore guard/forward Joe Flanagan, had torn a ligament in his right pinky the day before, in practice. The Lancaster Mennonite grad shot just 2-for-10, and scored five points.

The game was nonetheless there for them, in the closing minutes. Down 61-59, and then 63-61, each of their possessions seemed more hurried than the one before, the result being that they never did draw even.

And while coach Bob Schlosser would take issue with the home timekeeper in the final seconds, when his team was again within two, he wouldn't blame the loss on that afterward. Nobody would.

"We had to make plays at the end," Church said. "It wasn't the last play, them messing up the clock."

As a result, the door closed, but not before Schaffer walked out. He is one of those try-hard guys — great to play with, a pain to play against — and a quick study. All year he had been conscious of each visit to a conference site, knowing it would be the last one for him.

And, he said, "Once we got in the playoffs, I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to lose. It's hard to imagine tomorrow I'll wake up and not put on the uniform again."

He hopes to open a new door, hopes to become a teacher and coach. And while the team he leaves behind looks to be a promising one, those who remain can only hope that some fresh opportunities await them, next year and beyond.

That Saturday didn't represent the best one they will have.