Ben Troyer-Hempfield

Ben Troyer enjoys putting LEGO sets together. He can also drop 30 points in a basketball game. The 6’4 senior has emerged as one of the top scoring threats in the Lancaster-Lebanon League. Troyer and the Hempfield Black Knights left Laureldale with a 55-48 victory on Tuesday. The York College commit poured in 25 points and went 12-of-14 from the free throw line. Muhlenberg raced out to a 7-2 advantage. “You could tell they weren’t giving us any respect to start so we had to fight the entire game,” said Troyer. The (3-2) Muhls were up 17-14 after one quarter, but trailed 26-25 at halftime. They averaged 67 points in their first four contests. The (2-2) Black Knights allowed just 14 combined points over the middle quarters. Hempfield led 43-35 with four and a-half minutes remaining. A three-point play by Shermar Killens energized Muhlenberg. The 6’2 junior had a career-high 16 points. Back-to-back turnovers by the Black Knights resulted in layups for Alex Collado (12 points) and Mike Miller (10 points). The Muhls’ full court pressure got them within 49-48 with 51 seconds left. Caden Axe got an easy basket off an inbounds play with 35 seconds to go. Troyer and Thomas Gable sealed the deal by going 4-for-4 from the foul line over the final 14 seconds. Troyer’s younger brother, Spencer, added a dozen points. The 6’2 sophomore forward provided six points in the fourth quarter. Their cousin, Nick Deeg, is a senior point guard for Hempfield. “I was yelling at them a little bit more than the others. That’s just because I love them and I know they can do better,” explained Ben Troyer. He’s averaging 28 points which the Black Knights have needed after losing five of their top six players from a season ago. That team went (25-4) and finished third in the District 3-6A tournament. “We’re expecting to be the underdog throughout the entire season,” remarked Troyer. Muhlenberg is in a similar position. The Muhls had to replace all five starters from an (18-11) squad that reached the second round of the state playoffs. Both teams had key players in foul trouble on Tuesday night. Hempfield finished 15-of-20 from the free throw line, while Muhlenberg was 13-for-18. Black Knights’ head coach Danny Walck picked up his 396th career win over 29 years. The former Reading coach is in his 14th season at Hempfield. “It’s great. He’s been around the game so long. You always learn something from him,” said Troyer.