It was the third quarter that tested the Whitehall Zephyrs the most in an overall size-and-strength battle against the Easton Red Rovers, and the Zephs passed with flying colors in their 51-39 victory on Friday night.

“Easton came out and went more man-to-man, and we were almost hoping they would go man-to-man. We felt like, at times this preseason, we were better versus man-to-man. It didn’t work out that way tonight, necessarily, but mostly, their physical play was difficult,” said Whitehall head coach Jeff Jones.

“They’re throwing three guys out there who have tremendous size and strength. We’re throwing out a freshman (AJ Hines) there at 6’5, and he may not have scored a point, but he made a big difference in the paint, and then Damonte Foreman came in which was big, and then Tommy Buskirk who’s 6’1, 6’2 and probably 185 lbs. is battling these guys for rebounds all night. I can’t give those guys enough credit inside. The way we competed, I was really proud of them.”

The Zephyrs were sitting on a 23-14 halftime lead, but when the Red Rovers switched up their defense in the third quarter, Coach Jones was forced to call a timeout after Easton’s Kola Lysenecky and Austyn Lutes combined for seven straight points to make it a two-point game.

“It was a big four minutes the beginning of the third quarter, but that didn’t happen, so we had to bounce back and finish that quarter strong,” said Whitehall sophomore Luke Keppel, who had 19 points on Friday night. “We knew [Lysenecky] was good and that he could finish around the rim. We just needed to stop him.”

Lysenecky, a 6’7 senior, had 21 points for the Rovers and gave Easton its first lead of the game with 2:17 remaining in the third quarter.

Whitehall managed the last few minutes of the third with six points courtesy of Alex Derkits and two apiece from Keppel and Ray Jackson.

“Easton’s a tough opponent, and we knew we had to start strong and finish strong. I’m just trying to stay calm, not get too high or too low, just stay in the middle because that’s when I’m at my best,” Derkits said. “We stopped their run and made a run of our own.”

The Zephs turned to full-court pressure to open the fourth quarter, forcing two initial turnovers that resulted in points from Damonte Foreman, who shook things up off the bench, and Tommy Buskirk, who was all alone under the basket on a loose ball.

Keppel proceeded to sink a three pointer around the 6:00 mark that was just as big as the two threes the Zephyr sophomore had early in the game.

“Once my first shot went in, I knew I was gonna have a big night,” Keppel said, “and my teammates set me up in the right spots. It was very important. After losing to Central, we knew we had to come out and play good in front of our home crowd and just get the win.”

Derkits, who tallied 12 points for Whitehall, had a shot blocked earlier in the game, though his hands never left the ball, and the 6’0 senior was able to convert for two points that widened the gap by 12.

“On the last screen, I felt like I picked up my dribble too early, so on the next one, I wanted to come off that fast and aggressive, so when I came in, the two bigs collapsed on me, but I still tried to go up. I got blocked but number five (Richard Vaquero) tried to take it, so I just ripped it out and went right up,” Derkits said. “We’ve just got to have more heart, more hustle, and do those little things that are going to put us over the edge. The goal is just to win.”