The notebook from Central York boys' basketball's state championship run

It was quite the ride for the Central York boys’ basketball team in 2023-24, as the Panthers capped off their dream season by winning the school’s first-ever state title Saturday evening in Hershey.

The 29-3 campaign had its ups and downs — mostly ups, of course — and even Central’s 53-51 victory over District 11 champion Parkland at the Giant Center was a roller coaster. But for as much talent as the Panthers had up and down their roster, their championship mindset ultimately set them apart.

“They just wanted to win,” head coach Jeff Hoke said. “And that’s what it was all about. I love them … every single one of them and they deserve this. I’ve said it all year.”

Central York broke through for the York-Adams League’s first basketball title in the highest classification with an incredibly young roster. The eight players who saw the floor on Saturday included one senior, three juniors, three sophomores and a freshman. But throughout an unprecedented run for the program, the Panthers kept their perspective.

“These kids know that we’re representing District 3 and we’re representing York County,” Hoke said. “And they’re representing everybody that played against them. So I just told them to embrace and really have it fire you up and get you ready, and it did.”

Much of the journey, from the first game on Dec. 5 to the state final on March 23, has been well documented, but some interesting tidbits may have been overlooked in the process. Here’s a look at a few more layers to Central’s championship story.

Hard work pays off: Hoke knew all season that a state championship was possible for these Panthers, but he had his doubts after his team lost its District 3 Class 6A opener at home to rival Red Lion on Feb. 23. Every single time those thoughts crept into his mind, however, his team’s work ethic would assuage them.

“These kids are like my sons — I don’t ever want to see their feelings hurt,” Hoke said. “They say let them fall and then pick them back up, but I don’t want my boys to fall. I saw them fall against Red Lion and it hurt my heart. I couldn’t come out of that tailspin.

“I’m an eternal optimist, but I almost packed it in. I told (reporters that night) that we could make it to the Giant Center, but I had to really believe that in my heart to really sell it to them. It took me 48 hours to do it.”

Hoke’s message to the team was clear — do whatever is needed to win.

“And they did,” Hoke said. “Never for one time did I have to ask them to work hard. All season long, it was exhausting. I didn’t have to coach energy. They ran everywhere, they hustled, they talked and they sat at lunch together. The principal would say, ‘These guys are locked in, man,’ and I knew it and I could feel it. We were going to make a run here.”

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So you’re saying there’s a chance: “Here” was the Giant Center, the site of both the district and state finals. That loss to Red Lion ruined Central York’s chance of winning a district title, but by qualifying for the state tournament through district consolations, the Panthers still another opportunity to get to Hershey.

History, however, would say that chance was infinitesimal. The only time a team seeded lower than fourth ever won a state title in biggest classification of boys’ basketball was in 2004 when Penn Hills, the sixth seed from District 7, rebounded to knock off Parkland in the state final.

Since 2004, every team to win the biggest class was either a district champ or runner-up until the Panthers snapped the streak Saturday.

Play as a team, win as a team: While senior Greg Guidinger, the program’s all-time leading scorer, has received his fair share of the hype, no single player was responsible for the team’s championship run. Along the way, Panthers up and down the roster stepped up with key plays both offensively and defensively that fueled Central’s run at states.

On Saturday, Guidinger managed just seven points — he averaged 18.1 across 32 games this season — but made contributions elsewhere. He pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, and his block of a Parkland 3-point attempt with just over a minute left kept Central’s lead at five in a big moment.

Parkland’s focus on containing the 6-foot-7 Guidinger helped open up space inside for 6-8 junior Ben Rill in the first half. Rill scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the half to help Central take a 34-24 lead into the intermission.

“I had a lot of one-on-one situations which is perfect for me,” Rill said. “We knew that we outsized them a little bit, but my guys found me.”

The Panthers were able to hang on after Parkland’s 16-3 run in the third quarter thanks to their defense, as the Trojans were just 3-of-15 in the final frame. No one embodied that defensive effort more than junior Saxton Suchanic. A power-conference defensive back recruit in football, Suchanic tallied a game-high three steals and grabbed four key rebounds. He also helped keep Parkland all-state Nick Coval relatively in check.

“It’s unbelievable,” Hoke said of Suchanic’s defensive efforts. “He changes games every night. Every night. The coaching staff and I talk about him and sometimes we’ll say, ‘This is going to be a Saxton game.’ Saxton works so hard. He smiles … that kid just does everything for everybody. He’s a selfless kid. Every (NCAA) Division I college football coach in the world is ridiculously stupid if they don’t offer that kid, because they’ll have a flat-out winner. He’s a great kid with a high GPA and he’s going to make them successful no matter where he goes.”

When the Panthers needed a response after the Trojans took the lead, it was sophomore Ryan Brown who came up with a pair of big buckets. Brown’s runner to end the third-quarter gave Central a 45-43 lead in the fourth, and right after Parkland took a 47-45 lead, his 3-pointer on the other end helped shift momentum back toward the Panthers with four minutes left.

“I’m very thankful that my team trusts me with it,” Brown said. “I’m always ready. I have some good guys in front of me right now, but you know they have trust in me, so that goes a long way. I was ready for the shot and I knocked it down.”

Defense, defense: The saying goes that while offense sells tickets, defense wins championships. It sure rang true Saturday. Central won on the back of a defense that limited the Trojans to just eight points in the final frame, including just thee points in the final 3:11.

“Our biggest emphasis on this game was defense,” Rill said. “Practice makes perfect, and we practice so hard overall and it shows here.”

Hoke knew Parkland relied heavily on Coval, a Davidson pledge who surpassed 2,000 career points earlier in the postseason. While Coval finished with a game-high 18 points, the senior struggled with his shot, finishing 7-of-22 overall and just 3-of-12 from beyond the arc.

“Our whole week of practice has been based around him,” Rill said of Coval. “We know he’s going to do great things at Davidson and we know what he’s capable of so we just tried to contain him as much as we can. We watched a lot of film on him and he had a tremendous game against Archbishop Wood (in the semifinals). We put our best defenders (on him). Shout out to Saxton and (sophomore guard) R.J. Jackson — they worked their butts off this week and they worked their butts off tonight.”

Mosely takes charge: Friday’s last practice of the season was also the final one in high school for Guidinger. One of Hoke’s assistant coaches — Dyllon Hudson-Emery — let the head coach know that Guidinger had some ideas for his last practice.

“Greg came in and he was being a little goofy,” Hoke said. “Dyllon texted me and said, ‘Greg said it’s his last practice and he wants to have fun.’

“(Assistant coach) Ricky (Mosely) walked into practice and I said, ‘Here’ (pointing to his phone). Ricky said ‘I got it’ and Greg had the best practice he’s had … he was on fire. Ricky played here (in high school) and he takes pride in that and he said, ‘No way. We’re going to Giant Center and we’re not screwing around today.’ He took ownership of that.”

Hoke also praised Mosely for getting the team ready defensively for Parkland, whcih had a number of sets designed to get the ball to Coval.

“What’s great is that Ricky entered the defense (Friday) on that exact play that (Parkland) was running,” Hoke said. “We had them switch and switch back and he had them do breakdown drills on one end of the floor. So we knew what they were running.

“I’m just so proud of our guys. They did it.”

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