Carlisle High School’s varsity team traveled to Altoona High School to compete in the PIAA Class AAAA Boys Basketball Quarterfinals on Saturday, where they were to face the Allderdice Dragons. The Herd’s winning game three days prior not only advanced them into the quarterfinals, but also gave them two state tournament wins for the first time since the 1988 State Championships.

Looking to end the season with a bang, Carlisle held the Dragons at bay up until halftime with a 26-23 lead; a large portion of this score owed to junior Deshawn Millington, who came away from the first half with an impressive 14-point, five-rebound contribution. Senior Jordan Purcell and Sophomore Ki Barnes also made the scoreboard with shots that helped to jumpstart Carlisle’s lead over Allderdice.

While the large Carlisle fan base at the game was optimistic after the solid first half, Allderdice surprised the Herd with a full court trap press at the beginning of the third quarter which enabled them to score basket after basket, ending the quarter with a 43-26 lead over Carlisle.

Purcell blamed this sudden freeze in Carlisle’s offensive gain to missed layups and shots rolling out. Unfortunately, the 17-point deficit of the third quarter proved too steep for the Herd to recover from, resulting in a 59-42 win for Allderdice.

“You know, we had them in the first half, but the third quarter kind of spelled out the whole second half for us,” Purcell said.

With the loss marking the end of the season for the Herd, the Carlisle basketball team must say a final goodbye to its seniors: Paul Candland, Jordan Purcell, Chuckie Nist, and Tyler Greene.

“It was emotional for me, knowing that it was my last time wearing a Carlisle jersey,” Greene said. “I was proud of all of our  achievements and my teammates for growing…looking  now from where we started at the beginning of our season, we absolutely evolved into a force on the court.”

Not only did this season include many victorious regular season games, the Herd also shares the Mid Penn Commonwealth title with Harrisburg this year and went 3-1 in district play, losing to a tough Reading team by merely 5 points.

“Overall, it was an excellent season and I couldn’t be more proud of my brothers on coming together and exceeding all expectations,” Purcell added. “We can’t hang our heads for long because we made history and put Carlisle back on the map in a way.”