C.D. East and Reading reach District 3 AAAA final

East looking for its first District 3 championship and Reading for its 18th
By Gorden Blain

HERSHEY – With its 45-39 PIAA District 3 AAAA semifinal victory over Harrisburg Tuesday night at Giant Center, Central Dauphin East (23-4) achieved two rare feats at once.

The Panthers defeated Harrisburg for the third time this season and they earned a spot in the PIAA District 3 AAAA championship game Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Giant Center against Reading.

Reading (29-0) had an easy time defeating Elizabethtown 61-38 in the other semifinal at Giant Center.

The Panthers are headed to their first District 3 championship game since 1980 when they lost to York, which was led by future NFL star Chris Doleman. Reading has won 17 District 3 championships, its most recent in 2004.

The Reading versus East final matches the number one and number three seeds in the tournament. Both had to defeat teams that only earned their spots in the 16-team tournament bracket by winning play-in games.

As an 18-seed, Harrisburg (15-11), the two-time district champion, had to defeat Chambersburg in a preliminary round and 13-seed Elizabethtown (17-11) defeated Gettysburg in the preliminary round.

While Reading breezed, East had to come from behind in the final two minutes to knock off the Cougars, who were determined to win their third straight district championship despite suffering 10 losses before Tuesday night.

Harrisburg led 23-18 at halftime and 25-20 with six minutes left in the third quarter when East scored eight unanswered points to grab a 28-25 lead with 2:12 left in the quarter.

East stepped up its defensive pressure, limited its turnovers and began to gain a rebounding edge. The same combination that Harrisburg has made its trademark in becoming the dominant AAAA basketball team in District 3 the past 20 years.

Still, Harrisburg charged back to regain the lead when it scored eight unanswered points midway through the fourth quarter. Quincy Roberts’ two free throws and Eric Henry’s drive to the basket gave the Cougars a 37-34 lead with 2:23 left in the game.

East halted the Harrisburg charge when the Panther’s Demond Bates made a clutch three-point shot to tie the game at 37 with 2:10 left.

Then Roberts’ shot missed its mark at the other end and East’s Jonathon Breeden rebounded and was fouled. He missed the front end of the one-and-one free throw opportunity but East got the rebound and drew another foul. This time Breeden made one of two free throws to give East the lead for good at 38-37 with 1:30 left to play.

The Panthers iced the game when Breeden sank four straight free throws and Bates made three out of four down the stretch and Harrisburg could only muster a Roberts’ jump shot.

Breeden, a transfer from Harrisburg, led C.D. East with 18 points and Demond Bates had 14. Eric Henry led Harrisburg with 10 points. The East defensive pressure, led by the man-to-man defense of Christian DeVan on Roberts, limited Roberts, a Division 1 recruit, to nine points.

Reading wasted no time extinguishing any upset hopes for Elizabethtown. The Red Knights led 22-11 after one quarter and 34-22 at halftime.

Jordan Burdine led the Red Knights with 20 points and Jermaine Jackson had 10. Nathan Koach led Elizabethtown with 13 points.

Harrisburg and Elizabethtown will meet to decided third place at a site and time to be determined.