Matt Coldren-Wilson

Central Dauphin and Wilson held the top two spots in the District 3-6A power rankings entering Monday. Their battle in West Lawn went down to the wire. The Bulldogs knocked off the Rams 59-53 in a potential playoff preview. “In my opinion, that’s the best starting five in our district…I think we proved ourselves a little bit tonight,” said Wilson coach Matt Coldren. All-County guard and All-State football player Madyx Gruber is comfortable playing in big games. The 5’11 senior poured in 27 points and knocked down six 3-pointers. “He was really fantastic. He was feeling it early. When he’s feeling it, we pretty much don’t run stuff. We let him do his thing,” noted Coldren. Gruber exploded for 19 points and hit five triples in the first half. He’s up to 958 career points. The (11-2) Rams trailed 25-15 in the second quarter. Standout sophomore Shakur Starling got his third foul midway through that period. The 6’2 guard finished with ten points and seven rebounds. A breakaway dunk by Wayne Fletcher II in the final seconds of the half tied it at 32-32. The 6’3 Navy commit ended up with a team-high 18 points and seven boards. “He’s a great player. He’s the best player that we have faced this year. He’s a tough matchup. He’s a 3-level scorer,” stated Coldren. Fletcher II has 1,046 career points. His father is in his seventh season as the head coach at Central Dauphin. Like Coldren, he also played basketball for Kutztown University. Gruber drilled a trey from the right wing to end the third quarter and expand the Bulldogs’ cushion to 50-42. That lead quickly evaporated as the Rams scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter. Gruber drove to the basket and found Luke Levan for a layup to make it 54-51. A putback by Jelani Easter got Central Dauphin within 55-53 with 52 seconds remaining. Easter, a 6’5 junior, provided 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. Tommy McFadden sank a pair of free throws with 47 seconds left. After Khalil Roberts missed a layup, McFadden went 2-for-2 again at the foul line with 12 seconds to go. The Albany soccer commit played great defense and converted at the charity stripe when the rest of the team was struggling. Wilson was 9-of-18 from the free throw line, while the Rams went 8-of-9. The (13-2) Bulldogs did an outstanding job of taking care of the ball. They only committed four turnovers and had none in the second half. “To have four turnovers is pretty amazing so kudos to our guys. They stepped up to the occasion. I’m super proud of them,” said Coldren. Correll Akings added a dozen points and made two of Wilson’s eight 3-pointers. Levan, a 6’6 senior, chipped in with ten points. “It was a great team effort. Every guy that played for us contributed in big ways. That’s what you need to do when you play good teams,” emphasized Coldren.