State College boys’ basketball turns up heat to keep record perfect

The State College boys’ basketball team certainly knows how to flip that switch when it’s needed.

Cumberland Valley kept nipping at the Little Lions’ heels before State College took command with a 15-1 run in the span of just 2:30 of the third and fourth quarters to bury the Eagles 71-47 Friday night.

“We knew we needed to turn it up a little bit,” said junior guard Keaton Ellis, who posted 16 points and four steals. “We kind of put it into another gear, and everybody kind of bought in and everybody was hustling and everybody was going 110 percent. That’s what we have to do the whole game.”

Ryan McNulty and Drew Friberg paced the offense with 18 and 17 points, respectively, and each pulled down seven rebounds as the Little Lions put on a show for the program’s alumni and improved to 16-0 on the season.

The Eagles (8-10) got nine points each from Max Reznitchencko and Dylan Buzalka.

The Little Lions had an early double-digit lead, but Cumberland Valley stayed close and trailed by just nine before an Ellis layup closed the third quarter.

That was when the Little Lions put the pedal to the floor.

McNulty started the frame with a 3-pointer, Ellis drove in for another layup and a defensive rebound by Ellis started a break that ended with a McNulty dunk.

“I hate having to rely on that,” State College coach Joe Walker said. “We could be more consistent so we don’t have to exert so much energy to do that. It’s momentum if you let a team hang around and build their confidence. We could have done that earlier, but we did it when we had to.”

The burst continued with Drew Friberg putting back a miss on another fast break, and after an Eagle free throw, Friberg hit a long jumper and seconds later Ellis swiped the ball and raced in for another slam.

“We were feeling great,” Ellis said. “We got the crowd into it, which is always a great thing, and it gave us the momentum, which was huge to finish out the game.”

The lead had exploded to 62-39 with 5:39 left, and most of the starters went the bench for the rest of the night.

“We just came out with a lot of energy,” McNulty said. “The steals, the and-ones and the 3-pointers in the third quarter really pushed our momentum into the fourth quarter. Then when we came out and gave the knockout blow, it was like stepping on them.”

While it was good to see his team deliver that knockout blow, Walker was disappointed it took that long and reminded his team after the game there will be teams in the coming weeks that will be able to handle that defensive pressure.

“When the flip the switch, it’s tough,” Walker said. “But the energy level, we were just going through the motions, not doing a good job on offense of taking advantage of opportunities. In the second half we started to put pressure on them and finishing everything.”

With only six games left in the regular season, and the record still unblemished, the team now has to try to keep the “one game at a time” mentality and not get caught looking ahead.

“It’s a little hard for some of us,” McNulty said. “But at the same time, we’re still really, really focused.”

They should have no trouble when they return to the court Saturday night in Camp Hill, facing defending PIAA Class 6A champion Reading.

“It’s the commitment to, ‘Hey we’re going to work, we’re going to get better even though we are a good team,’” Walker said. “The difference between good teams and great teams is the commitment and willingness to admit that you can get better.”

Team members also got a history lesson Friday, with a little over a dozen alumni honored at halftime, including a celebration of the 15th anniversary of the program’s last PIAA title.

“There’s a lot of history that was here tonight, a lot of people that came before us,” Ellis said. “We just have to respect that and honor that. We’re part of the same history and part of the same school, and we have to represent them just as well as they did during their time.”

This story was originally published January 27, 2018 at 12:23 AM with the headline "State College boys’ basketball turns up heat to keep record perfect."