LebCo Boys Basketball Season Update: February 15

To see the rosters of any of the teams mention below, please visit the Season Outlook section and visit any of the teams from there.

Home teams are in italics, Bolded games are wins

     Annville-Cleona Dutchmen 

Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4

Current Record: 8-14 overall, 1-7 in Section 4 (4th place)

District Power Ranking: #9 AAA (top 6 qualify)

Recent Games: 

1/25: ELCO 62, Annville-Cleona 26

1/26: Lancaster Country Day 64, Annville-Cleona 47

1/31: Columbia 64, Annville-Cleona 44

2/3: Mount Carmel 67, Annville-Cleona 40

2/8: Pequea Valley 44, Annville-Cleona 43

Update: The Dutchmen finished the season with eight wins, which was a vast improvement over the two wins from a season ago.  The mantra of this year’s team was “COMPETE”, which they did throughout the season, ultimately falling short of making the postseason by  However, there is much to look forward to the rebuild continues as Annville will be returning three starters when they hit the court next season.  Sophomore Jon Shay led the team in scoring with 11 points per game, along with averaging 7.5 boards.  Fellow sophomore Elisha Slabach averaged 9.4 points per game, while knocking down 25 threes.  As underclassmen, Shay and Slabach also emerged as strong leaders from Coach Coletti’s crew.  Add in junior Ben Morcom, who provided quality defense and timely scoring, and the Dutchmen look ready to take on the top dogs in Section 4.  It worth mentioning that they will have to replace senior guard Ricky Cruz, who came on strong during a winning stretch of the team’s season, finishing with 6.5 points per game and 21 three-pointers.

     Cedar Crest Falcons 

Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1

Current Record: 14-8 overall, 7-3 in Section 1 (2nd place)

District Power Ranking: #10 AAAAAA (top 12 qualify)

Recent Games: 

1/27: Cedar Crest 95, Lebanon 55

1/31: Cedar Crest 64, Lampeter Strasburg 48

2/2: Cedar Crest 62, Manheim Township 40

2/3: Cedar Crest 64, Conrad Weiser 54

2/7: Cedar Crest 61, JP McCaskey 51

Lancaster Lebanon League Playoffs – Quarterfinals

2/13: Cedar Crest 54, Columbia 40

Update: Whatever questions about this Cedar Crest team existed at the midway point of the season have evaporated as the Falcons finished the regular season with seven straight victories to nab the second-place spot in Section 1.  By doing this, they also earned a ticket to the Lancaster Lebanon League Playoffs, leading to an eighth straight win when they dispatched Columbia in the quarterfinals match-up on Monday night.  This hard fought road win was also Coach Smith’s 200^th career win.  The key to the Falcon’s success has been a balanced scoring attack that has featured J’veon Reyes-Vega, Fernando Marquez, and Leo Tirado.  They have also benefitted from the timely scoring from Owen Chernich and Aiden Schomp.  More than anything, all of these scorers are all willing to let the hot hand have the shot, as they know that it will result in a victory for the team.  This was not any truer than in the final game of the season on the road at McCaskey when it was Reyes-Vega who hit six three-pointers to overwhelm the Red Tornado.  This type of team effort shows no signs of slowing, with their next challenge coming tonight when they will play Manheim Central in the LL Semifinals.

    ELCO Raiders  

Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3

Current Record: 11-11 overall, 4-8 in Section 3 (4th place)

District Power Ranking: #9 AAAA (top 10 qualify)

Recent Games: 

1/25: ELCO 62, Annville-Cleona 26

1/27: ELCO 49, Northern Lebanon 31

1/31: Lancaster Catholic 63, ELCO 54

2/3: ELCO 67, Cocalico 53

2/7: Octorara 77, ELCO 51

2/9: Donegal 65, ELCO 56

Update: The Raiders split their final six games over the final two weeks of the season, but held onto one of the final District Playoff spots after that thought had been in jeopardy due to a losing streak at the end of January.  In the losses, Coach Conners made sure that his team learned from those experiences.  This will make them even more prepared for what lies ahead.  Throughout the season, it has been junior Dallas George who has been the leader of the offensive attack. It is not a secret that when George gets going, he opens up the floor for his teammates.  In the scoring equation is junior Camden Marquette, who is the only other Raider to average double figures scoring.  In recent weeks, sophomore Micah Gray has emerged as another weapon among the deep bench of role players.  If the shots are falling for ELCO, especially from long-range, they are tough to beat.  They have at least one more game to put that theory to the test.

     Lebanon Cedars

Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1

Current Record: 0-22 overall, 0-10 in Section 1 (6th place)

District Power Ranking: #26 AAAAAA (top 12 qualify)

Recent Games: 

1/27: Cedar Crest 95, Lebanon 55

1/30: CD East 82, Lebanon 51

2/2: Penn Manor 82, Lebanon 59

2/4: Milton Hershey 87, Lebanon 50

2/7: Hempfield 75, Lebanon 37

2/9: Lower Dauphin 82, Lebanon 39

Update: This was no doubt a challenging season for the Cedars, as they relied heavily upon young talent that was not quite ready for prime time.  However, they were a young, hardworking group and do not be surprised when they return with a vengeance in future seasons.  Early in the season, Lebanon relied upon senior Eman Mason for its scoring, but an injury knocked him out of the middle of the season.  When he returned to the lineup, his impact was immediately felt.  On February 2, Mason hit nine threes on his way to a 40-point night.  For the players who will be returning, they will miss Mason’s scoring, but will work to put many of the lessons learned to good use.  In every game, Coach Uffner took advantage of the scoreboard to give key varsity minutes to at least ten players, getting them more ready for prime time. Based on the results of this experience, it looks like it will be freshman Malachi Briddell, along with sophomores Emmanuel Suarez and Ben DiScuillo who will be the ones leading a resurgent Cedar Nation.

New Covenant Flames

Commonwealth Christian Athletic Conference

Current Record: 11-11

District Power Ranking: #12 A (top 10 qualify)

Recent Games

1/31: Linville Hill 74, New Covenant 45

2/3: Lancaster Country Day 48, New Covenant 39

2/7: York Country Day 63, New Covenant 58  2OT

2/9: Dayspring Christian 59, New Covenant 50

2/10: High Point Baptist 67, New Covenant 58

CCAC Playoffs – Quarterfinals

2/13: Linville Hill 67, New Covenant 29

Update: The Flames missed the District Playoffs in heartbreaking fashion as they lost their final five games.  This included a double overtime loss to York Country Day.  New Covenant did earn a spot in the CCAC Playoffs, but lost the opening round match-up to District 3 1A #1 Linville Hill.  Going forward, the Flames will miss the scoring of senior Ben Hartman, who averaged 20 points per game this season.  The good news is that they will be returning several players, including junior Tycen Vanderploog, whose elevated play in recent weeks was a bright spot for this team.

     Northern Lebanon Vikings

Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3

Current Record: 1-21 overall, 0-12 in Section 3 (7th place)

District Power Ranking: #23 AAAA (top 10 qualify)

Recent Games:

1/27: ELCO 49, Northern Lebanon 31

1/30: Donegal 65, Northern Lebanon 48

2/3: Lancaster Catholic 53, Northern Lebanon 21

2/4: Schuylkill Valley 61, Northern Lebanon 50

2/6: Lampeter Strasburg 58, Northern Lebanon 35

Update: The Vikings only notched one victory during the season, but they competed hard throughout and were very rarely an “easy” win for their opponents.  Coach George’s squad was young, with James Voight as the lone senior starter.  As the season progressed, freshman big man Brady Krall took on a larger role, with fellow frosh Kael Erdman seeing an increased amount of playing time.  The two Rileys, the sophomore Messinger and the junior Clinger, provided a lot of solid minutes for the Vikings.  Overall, this team proved that they could shoot consistently from the free throw line and they could bomb teams from deep.  They will need to continue to gel as a unit, but anyone paying attention should not be surprised when Northern Lebanon wins many more games next year.

   Palmyra Cougars

Mid-Penn Conference – Keystone Division

Current Record: 10-12 overall, 5-8 in Keystone

District Power Ranking: #17 AAAAA (top 14 qualify)

Recent Results: 

1/27: Cedar Cliff 60, Palmyra 59

1/28: Palmyra 53, Pottsville 39

1/31: Lower Dauphin 58, Palmyra 45

2/3: Mechanicsburg 59, Palmyra 46

2/7: Milton Hershey 64, Palmyra 56

Update: The Cougars finished the season with double-digit wins, but fell just short of qualifying for the District 3 Playoffs.  A major reason for the team’s success was the play of senior forward Eli Becker, who surpassed the 800 point mark for his high school career.  His career high for points in a game came on January 27^th when he scored 34 against Cedar Cliff.  Becker’s scoring and defensive skill will be tough for Coach Conrad to replace, but it was Becker’s leadership that will live on with the young players who will be returning.  Among those players is sophomore Alex Dorta, who was solid throughout the season.  Down the stretch, sophomore Hank Roesch began showing that he may be a large part of a successful future for Palmyra.  Time will tell, but it is looking like this team may have a very bright future ahead of it.

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