Quick hits: G-A falls to York High in thrilling District 3 quarterfinal

It had a good look at the end to extend the dream, but Greencastle-Antrim's District 3 title aspirations vanquished on Thursday.

Bryan Gembe's 3-pointer missed wide in the dwindling seconds in Greencastle Thursday night, as the No. 2 seed Blue Devils couldn't overcome a rough shooting first half, falling to York High 53-50 at home in the District 3 quarterfinals.

The Blue Devils were able to overcome a double-digit deficit in the third quarter to eventually take the lead in the fourth, but clutch shots by the Bearcats' Kyree Generett and Seth Bernstein helped propel York High to the win.

Generrett and Marquise McClean lead the Bearcats with 18 points each, while Gembe led the Blue Devils with 17 points.

Both teams had already earned a state playoff berth with their first round victories, and York High advances to the District 3 semifinals on Monday in Hershey.

Here are some quick hits from the Thursday thriller.

Rule of threes

Both York High and Greencastle-Antrim are teams predicated on physical defense, and that was the case from the beginning of the game Thursday, as bodies were flying from the first whistle.

What was uncharacteristic was the Blue Devils' inability to hit open shots, as they didn't nail a single 3-pointer until Brandon Stuhler drained one at the halftime buzzer.

"I think we did a good job of closing out and contesting shots," York High head coach Clovis Gallon said. "Early on [Greencastle-Antrim] had some threes they didn't knock down that they usually make. And I told my team at halftime that some of those shots are gonna start falling, so we have to make sure and contest them."

Those threes did start falling in the second for the Blue Devils, enough to give Greencastle-Antrim a 48-47 late in the fourth, but weren't able to get stops at the end.

"I'm proud of our kids," Blue Devils head coach Rick Lewis said. "We just didn't shoot the ball well tonight... With all that being said, we had a one-point lead late, and a good shot at the end. Our kids played their hearts out. You think about what you could have done different to put them to take that next step and unfortunately, we didn't do that."

Greencastle-Antrim ended up with more made threes (6) than the Bearcats (4), but in the end it was too little, too late.

Atypical 10 seed

Sometimes, it's easy to look at the No. 10 seed distinction listed next to a team like York High and make assumptions.

Lewis said his Blue Devils knew the Bearcats were going to be much tougher than that number, though.

"They're good," Lewis said. "There are 38 teams in District 3 5A, you get to the final eight, there are no bad ones."

That No. 10 seed makes more sense for York High given context.

The Bearcats have played a ferocious schedule, with Gallon noting that the top five teams in the York Adams 1 division all qualified for district playoffs, as well as the fact that his team has already played Chester, Harrisburg, J.P, McCaskey, Math Civics & Sciences, Cedar Crest, Williamsport and Reading.

Gallon says all of that should put the seeding and 15-9 record in perspective.

"We're battle-tested," Gallon said. "We've had some losses, but all the games have been competitive, and we've been in wars. Our kids were prepared for this... Seeding is not a big deal to us."

Fuel to the fire

Following the Blue Devils' most recent loss, a 33-point drubbing at the hands of 6A team State College in the Mid-Penn Championships, Greencastle-Antrim took the approach of moving on from the loss without stewing over it.

After a much closer game, Lewis says he needs a bit more time to soak in the disappointment before their eventual state playoff appearance and district playoff consolation games.

"I think we'll take 24 hours to digest it," Lewis said. "Tomorrow, we'll get back to work."

Senior guard Brandon Stuhler, who scored 14 points in the loss, still expects the defeat to linger as motivation in the team's final stretch run of games.

"It's really tough for us after this loss, a little disheartening, because we wanted to go to the Giant Center [for the semifinals and finals] really bad," Stuhler said. "But we just have to use it as motivation."

Lewis is confident his players will respond well.

"They're kids," Lewis said. "They'll handle it better than me."

Up next

York High will travel to the Giant Center in Hershey on Monday night, when it will take on No. 3 Northeastern at 7 p.m.

Greencastle-Antrim heads to Cumberland Valley High School on Monday, where it wil face No. 6 Hershey in the consolation semifinals for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.