They didn’t win a state title. They didn’t win a district title. But they’ll still be remembered for the success they had on the court.
“They carried the torch,” said ELCO boys basketball head coach Brad Conners. “From freshman and sophomore year forward, they worked, they spent time on their game.”
Conners describes his senior class, the class of 2024. It’s a special group that will go down in history at ELCO.
“They just worked,” said Conners. “It’s a group of athletes that know how to win.”
Winning was a way of life for the class of 2024. The group helped ELCO to double-digit win totals each season from their sophomore through senior years.
“Something we talk about a lot is grit,” said ELCO senior guard Camden Marquette. “I think the grit we had as a team just taught me for life, things will never be always perfect or too high or too low. You can always find a way to get back on top.”
On top is where the Raiders routinely found themselves. Especially during this senior class’s sophomore campaign in the 2021-22 season. Thanks to a late-season win over Lancaster Catholic, the Raiders claimed their first Lancaster-Lebanon League section title in 30 years, with the then sophomores playing a contributing role.
“It means a lot to all of us,” said ELCO senior point guard Dallas George. “We were all excited.”
Marquette added: “It’s something special. You can’t look at it any other way. It’s a number on the banner that you can always point to, say you were a part of it.”
That 2021-22 team’s success didn’t stop there. The Raiders won enough games in the district tournament to qualify for the state tournament where they would suffer a first-round loss to eventual state champion Neumann-Goretti.
As juniors, the 2024 senior class again qualified for districts. They would repeat the feat as seniors, posting a 13-10 overall record during the 2023-24 season.
“I’ll just remember the fun that we had,” said Conners. “There were ups and downs … but definitely more ups than downs.”
The ELCO 2024 senior class featured six players: George, Marquette, Logan Kless, Dante James, Kody Boyer, and Elliot Kreider. They were all important pieces to the puzzle. But make no mistake, the leader of the group was the stable point guard who contributed on varsity all four years.
“He was a calming influence on everybody,” said Conners. “When things got hectic, things seemed to slow down when Dallas got the ball.”
George added: “When I first started, I was scared to shoot the ball as a freshman … starting freshman year, my focus was on defense and just trying to take care of the ball and that’s kind of what I did throughout my whole career. Just progressed a little more in the scoring category and being a leader each year as I got older.”
George holds the program all-time records for career steals and assists. But if you ask him or his teammates, they hope their impact goes beyond the numbers they achieved in statistics and the win-loss column.
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“We worked hard day-in and day-out,” said Marquette. “We didn’t slack off. (Coach Conners) raised the bar and we always wanted to hit it, wanted to make him proud.”
Conners added: “I wasn’t ready for it to be over just because of how hard they worked and how willing they were to work. When I think about them, I think about kids that worked hard, wanted to win, wanted to play, and loved to compete.”
With three trips to districts and a section title to boast, the Raiders’ class of 2024 competed and won at the highest level.
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