Mount stop Donegal

Up 18 points in the second quarter, Ephrata saw that lead dwindle to three with just 65 seconds left Wednesday night. Still, the host Mountaineers eventually held on for a hard-fought 48-43 non-league boys basketball win over visiting Donegal.

In doing so, the Mountaineers (5-0) remained the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s lone unbeaten squad to this point, while the Indians (4-4) have lost their four games by an average margin of just 3.5 points.

Ephrata’s hot start in the third year under coach Scott Gaffey is even more remarkable considering the program’s recent history.

“From zero wins before I got here to two wins the first year to six last year to get to a 5-0 start this year is huge,” Gaffey said.

Asked if this is the start he had anticipated to his senior year, Ephrata point guard Dylan Mahlandt said, “I don’t know about 5-0.”

Mahlandt (seven points, five steals) steers the Mounts’ ship while 6-foot-5 junior wing Gavin Haupt (15 points) and 6-3 senior guard/ forward Dylan Kohl (18 points) provide the scoring, and 6-2 junior forward Trent Wolf (three points, six rebounds) and 6-0 senior forward Andre Weidman (two points, eight rebounds, two steals) do the grunt work around the basket.

Weidman, better known for his prowess on the football field in the fall, has returned to hoops after a year away. And Kohl has led Ephrata in scoring in three of five games to this point.

“We try to do motion offense so everybody ends up everywhere,” Gaffey said. “We try to keep people moving. It’s harder for the defense to then load up on the help side if we move the ball.”

On the other end, Ephrata is holding opponents to an average of 38 points per game — Wednesday marked just the second time the Mounts gave up more than 40 points this season.

The Mounts jumped out to a 22-5 lead at the end of the first quarter, in which Haupt scored 12 of his 15 points and Donegal committed eight of its 16 turnovers.

A Wolf free throw at the start of the second quarter gave Ephrata its largest lead before Donegal began to claw away at the deficit. The Tribe later used a 9-0 run to get to within 24-19 until the Mounts closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 32-19 advantage to the break.

Donegal cut it to 3226 midway through the third quarter. Ephrata pushed the lead to 42-32 with 4:17 left. A layup and a pair of free throws from Donegal sophomore guard DeAndre White (16 points) backended a 11-4 Tribe spurt that cut the deficit to 46-43 with 65 seconds remaining.

“Their pressure both-ered us some,” Gaffey said of Donegal. “We made the plays we needed to down the stretch.”

Donegal is out of action until next week’s holiday tournament at East Pennsboro, while Ephrata looks to keep on chugging.

“We got Cocalico (Thursday),” Mahlandt said. “We’re not going to stop.”

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