February is here and the weather was downright spring-like. OK, after last week just about anything is spring-like. Made my usual stop on Monday at Gift Horse. Got carded! I must look young or something…. The gingerbread stout was finally released. 11.5% ABV is nothing to sneeze at and after the Super Bowl one was sufficient.
Tuesday brought York High to South Western. Dinner was at the Famous Hot Weiner joint on the West End. Usually it is a stop at the one in Hanover but I guess this one works better, though the one in Spring Grove worked better but it closed and moved to the West End. Oh well, I like the milkshakes and it gets the coveted Kevin Seal of Approval. With a win York wins the division outright and will take the top seed in the upcoming league tournament. This game was over fairly early and turned into a blah affair as York just went through the motions with a big lead. The Mustang’s top scorer went down with an injury in the middle of the first quarter and they never got going, not that they were good to begin with. The starters played in the 1st and 3rd quarters, the reserves in the 2nd and 4th. York wins 71-39.
Wednesday brought Salisbury to York College. They’re neck and neck with Christopher Newport for the top of the division though I think Newport has an easier schedule the rest of the way. This was a back and forth and high scoring affair. Both teams would open up leads, the other would come back and open their own lead and wash rinse repeat. York’s Jason Bady had a big game notching his 1,000th points. Congrats to him. With about 4 minutes to go York had a 10 point lead but proceeded to blow it over the course of the remainder of the game thanks to poor defense, poor decision making on offense and one heck of a 3-point shot to tie it up with 7 seconds left from a Salisbury player. It wasn’t tied long, Bady drove the ball down the court, went to the basket and was fouled. He hit the first, missed the second intentionally and that was ballgame. York wins 83-82.
One other thing, one of the refs was apparently being heckled by the student section. He had to ask an adult to go sit with them. He made some bad calls and if he can’t take a little heckling he probably shouldn’t be reffing. Young guy too, he’s probably got his sights set higher.
Thursday and Friday were devoid of any evening activities so the cats got to reacquaint themselves with me. The good news though is that as this time of year arrives it means Spring Training baseball is right around the corner! And that means baseball season is not far off.
Saturday started the YAIAA boys basketball tournament. Glad I didn’t get a ticket for Hibrewnation. I’d have probably been going to the bathroom every 20 minutes or so after that. The ol’ bladder just isn’t quite what it used to be. Instead I ventured down to Baltimore and visited the Total Wine on Lock Raven Blvd. That place is huge! Looks like the beer bottle collection in is no danger of running out of new entries. Stopped in at B.C. Brewing in Hunt Valley, just up the road where where I used to work. Different system there with a card that records how many ounces you take and you pay by the ounce. It’ll take some getting used to but with it being right up the road from where I park for the Light Rail I will definitely be back more than a few times this coming baseball season.
The first game was Littlestown against West York. Littlestown has an impressive record but has not played anyone. West York is much more battle tested so which would prevail? West York lead at the half but Littlestown used a huge 3rd quarter to build a lead and the Bulldogs were never able to get back in. That is not to say that Littlestown didn’t give them the opportunity as they almost played not to lose at in the 4th quarter and West York missed some repetitively easy shots. Littlestown wins 73-63.
York played at Central against Dover. Dover can be dangerous, they have two 1,000 point scorers and then they can also lay eggs. They would need to play their best game of the year and they did in the first quarter knocking down 28 points. The problem was that they only scored 25 the rest of the way. The adrenaline wore off and they tired. York chipped away and at half had a 11 point lead. They held it there for the 3rd and Dover just ran out of gas in the 4th allowing York to put the game away. York wins 75-53 setting up a semifinal match up with Littlestown.
Sunday brought me to Hershey to watch the suddenly hot Hershey Bears play the top team in the AHL in the Charlotte Checkers. First was a stop at Mt. Gretna Brewing for a beer and then stopped at Troegs to pick up some First Cut. In the game the Bears struck first with Jayson Megna finding the back of the net. Charlotte got on the board halfway through the second period. Hershey appeared to get back on top on a power play late in the 2nd but it was waved off. A minute later on a 5-on-3 Riley Barber found the back of the net. Hershey’s defense and Ilya Samsonov held Charlotte scoreless in the 3rd and Hershey wins 2-1.