Middletown girls rally past Manheim Central, beat Barons in District 3 Class 5A semifinal showdown

MIDDLETOWN — Manheim Central’s girls basketball team was 16 minutes from a trip to Hershey’s Giant Center, and a spot in the District 3 Class 5A championship game.

The Barons had an early 10-2 lead, and were up 23-22 coming out of the locker room for the second half.

And then, well, then the wheels kind of fell off.

Host Middletown turned its defense up a notch and started getting transition buckets in bunches, and the second-seeded Blue Raiders rallied past Central 48-39 in a 5A semifinal.

“It’s tough and this will sting,” Central coach Michael Smith said. “When you get this close to one of your goals … all of our players wanted to play in the Giant Center. We had a chance. All we can do is take this feeling and remember it. We have a young group. We’re thankful that we can keep playing.”

Central (17-8 overall) will play at fourth-seeded West York in the third-place game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. — and then continue on in the PIAA playoffs. Middletown, a Mid-Penn semifinalist, will take on top-seeded and defending champ York Suburban in the title game on Thursday in Hershey.

Suburban beat West York 50-42 in the other semifinal.

Middletown (22-3) held the sixth-seeded Barons to three second-half field goals, all in the fourth quarter. The game flipped in the third quarter, when the Blue Raiders opened the second half on a 10-0 run, and went 13-2 for a 35-25 lead.

Central couldn’t have asked for a better start. Maddie Gehman, Kaylee Brubaker and Lilah Walters rattled in first-quarter 3-pointers — Walters’ trey gave the Barons a snappy 10-2 lead — Gehman had a put-back bucket, and Central was up 13-8.

Middletown warmed to the task in the second quarter, and the Blue Raiders took their first lead, 22-21, when Ja’Liyah Stover knocked down a jumper from the top of they key with 41 seconds to go in the half.

But the Barons got the last bucket before the break; Walters’ dribble-drive through the lane gave Central a 23-22 lead at the half, and the Barons had momentum and were still in good shape.

But Middletown was a different animal in the second half. The Blue Raiders opened the third with a 10-0 run to seize control. Jayla Koser, who scored a game-high 14 points, had a pair of transition layups during the spree. Aja Rossum drilled a baseline jumper. Stover’s steal and layup capped the 10-0 blitz and Middletown was up 32-23 and in control.

“They went on that run, and we never really recovered from that,” Smith said. “We just couldn’t score. They turned their defense up, and they played a better second half. We just couldn’t get things going offensively. That’s a credit to their defense.”

Middletown’s aggressive defenders held Gianna Walters, the Barons’ leading scorer and top 3-point shooter, to zero points. She barely got a clean look at the basket.

Central made one last salvo in the fourth. Brubaker (10 points) hit a jumper. Lilah Walters (11 points) drilled a jumper. And Gehman’s 3-pointer cut Middletown’s lead to 44-38 with 1:26 to go. Gehman scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Barons.

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JEFF REINHART | Sports Writer

In Class 6A on Monday ...

Wilson 47, Manheim Township 24 — In a consolation semifinal in Neffsville, the seventh-seeded Bulldogs opened up some breathing room with a 16-8 third-quarter run, and Wilson outscored the host Blue Streaks 32-18 in the second half to win it. Teagan Byler scored seven points for sixth-seeded Township, which couldn’t get over the hump after falling behind 15-6 at the half. The Streaks (19-9) will host eighth-seeded Central York in the seventh-place game on Wednesday; both teams have qualified for the state playoffs.