Cameron Swarb: White Deer senior scored 24 points in win against Clarendon.
Parker Petty: White Deer senior is a scoring threat inside and outside.
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Cameron Swarb: White Deer senior scored 24 points in win against Clarendon.
Parker Petty: White Deer senior is a scoring threat inside and outside.
Not officially, of course, but No. 3 White Deer's 63-61 overtime win at home against No. 6 Clarendon certainly qualified as a playoff-caliber game.
The Bucks (14-5) won without one of their big guns, 6-foot-3 inside-outside threat Parker Petty, who fouled out 30 seconds into the overtime period with 14 points. Clarendon led by eight after three quarters.
"The kids got a little confidence. Parker went out, and the other kids stepped it up," 11th-year coach Warren Swarb said of handing Clarendon its third loss against 20 wins. "I thought these would be the best two teams in the region."
White Deer's season got off to a late start because of the football team's success, but the Bucks have won six of their past seven games and have started District 7-1A play 3-0.
White Deer is among the area's best teams on defense, allowing just 45 points points a game.
The core of the team returned - seniors Petty and 6-0 guard Cameron Swarb, the team's top scorer with 19 points per game, and junior guard Tyler Perryman. Swarb poured in a game-high 24 points against Clarendon.
The Bucks added 6-4 post Thomas Rapstine, who missed all but the first two and last two games of last season because of an injury. The fifth starter is sophomore guard Cragar Swarb.
The Bucks' biggest challenge is depth. Warren Swarb thinks White Deer is tough to beat seven players deep. But when Petty was injured in a preseason loss to Highland Park and missed a loss to Stratford, the Bucks faced the reality of having to make do with a reserve.
Is having three Swarbs the charm for White Deer, which went 21-6 last season and lost to New Deal in the Region I final?
"It has been fun to watch them and be part of it," Warren Swarb said of coaching two sons. "It probably hasn't been as much for them having to take the brunt of the abuse. They've handled it pretty well."
More important is the longtime basketball relationship between Cameron Swarb and Petty.
"Those two seniors have really pushed this program," their coach said. "We've built a little tradition. We haven't had much of that."
"You never know about the polls. I'm not sure if we're a two or three team," Swarb said. "I'd rather end at that spot."
If Swarb's thinking pans out, White Deer or Clarendon could play for a state championship for the first time in decades.
White Deer won the 1962 title against Woodsboro, and Clarendon lost to Kennard in the 1970 final.