HARRISBURG – The boys basketball rivalry between Steel-High and Harrisburg dates to the 1940s and while the schools are in different Mid-Penn Conference divisions, the competition on the court is still hot and heavy.
Harrisburg, behind solid, balanced scoring, opened a 16-point lead third quarter lead Saturday, but veteran Cougar head coach Kirk Smallwood knew the Rollers weren’t going to lie down or let up.
“Usually, this game is an up-and-down track meet, but they tried to slow us down with zones. I knew they’d make a run at us. We were lucky to come out with a win,” Smallwood said.
Steel-High trimmed the Cougars 16-point lead to two with 3:30 remaining to play but key back-to-back steals by Kyroll Williams led to late field goal and Harrisburg fended off the Rollers, 54-46, in an entertaining Mid-Penn interdivisional game at Kimber Gym.
The victory was the 600th of Smallwood’s coaching career that started at Harrisburg during the 1994-95 season.
“The 600 wins is nice, but the credit goes to all the great kids I’ve had in the program all these years that worked hard day in and day out and all of my current and former assistants who worked just as hard. It’s not about me. It’s about team and program,” Smallwood said.
The Stars: Davon Lee lead all scorers for Harrisburg with 16 points with 11 of those coming in the second half. Naleigh Thompson also had a big second half with eight points for a game total of 14.
The Rollers got 13 from Mekhi Flowers who helped key the Steel-High rally effort along with Vashon Spencer’s 11 and Kavel Davenport three key 3-pointers.
Game deciding moments: Steel-High’s comeback run was well underway and was punctuated midway through the fourth when Chris Walls drove to the hoop and dunked over Thompson for a three-point play that saddled Thompson with his fourth personal. The Roller bench and fans erupted at that point and another quick 4-0 run brought Steel-High within 45-43.
The Cougars remained calm in the face of the storm and Williams’ steals snuffed out the Rollers momentum.
Harrisburg’s Avery Cloud, Nateur Dennis, Thompson and Williams combined for seven critical free thrown down the stretch to help seal the deal.
They said it: “I was off a little in the first half, but I kept shooting and they started finding the back of the net. It was cool, as long we persevered,” -- Harrisburg’s Davon Lee.
“Davon is one of the top, if not the top player in the league. When he gets consistent, he can be very effective. I thought we did a good job on the boards tonight, got good defensive play and our guards played well again,” -- Harrisburg head coach Kirk Smallwood.
HARRISBURG 54, STEEL-HIGH 46
STEEL-HIGH (46): Mehki Flowers 5 3-4 13, Vashon Spencer 3 4-6 11, Kavel Davenport 3 0-0 9, Charles Brooks 0 1-2 1, Chris Walls 3 4-6 10, Marcellis Coleman 0 0-0 0, Tyrone Holland-Ali 1 0-2 2. TOTALS 15 12-10 46.
HARRISBURG (54): Avery Cloud 3 2-2 9, John McNeil 3 0-1 6, Nateur Dennis 0 4-8 4, Davon Lee 7 1-2 16, Nahleigh Thompson 5 4-4 14, Kyroll Williams 0 1-2 1, Amerian Blanton 1 0-0 2, James Moore 0 0-0 0, Jay Stanley 1 0-0 2, Ellyan Houston 0 0-1 0. TOTALS: 20 12-20 54.
Steel-High – 04 06 23 13 – 46
Harrisburg – 07 15 17 15 – 54
Fouled out – Steel-High: Flowers; 3-point goals -- Steel-High: Spencer, Davenport (3); Harrisburg: Cloud, Lee; Rebounds – Steel-High 20, Harrisburg 35.