LebCo Girls Basketball Season Update: February 11

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:  14-8 overall,  7-4 in Section 4 (3rd Place)

District Power Ranking: #8 AAA (top 6 qualify)

Recent Results:

1/27: Annville-Cleona 48, Lancaster Country Day 41

1/31: Columbia 56, Annville-Cleona 21

2/2: Annville-Cleona 48, Octorara 17

2/6: Pequea Valley 44, Annville-Cleona 30

2/9: Mifflin County 59, Annville-Cleona 43

Update: Annville put forth a strong effort throughout the season, falling just short of gaining a spot in postseason contention. In achieving 14 wins, the Dutchmen counted heavily upon some of their senior leaders; namely Sarah Speraw, Josie Clay, and Sage Sherk.  With that being said, there is a foundation in place as sophomores Ava Hoover and Kendall Cooper will be back next year.

     Cedar Crest Falcons 

Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1

Current Record:  14-8 overall,  6-4 in Section 1 (T-2nd Place)

District Power Ranking: #9 AAAAAA (top 12 qualify)

Recent Results:

1/20: Hempfield 40, Cedar Crest 20

1/24: Cedar Crest 56, Penn Manor 34

1/27: Lebanon 66, Cedar Crest 64  (3OT)

2/2: Manheim Township 46, Cedar Crest 36

2/7: Cedar Crest 43, JP McCaskey 27

Update:  The Lady Falcons finished the regular season tied for second place in Section One, but lost out on a LL League Playoff spot as a result of a tiebreaker with Manheim Township (decided by power ranking).  While disappointing, this will give extra time for Cedar Crest to prepare for the District 3 Playoffs.  This is a team that two weeks ago pushed Lebanon into triple overtime, which is just one example of how this group of young ladies can run the floor with anyone on any given night.  While they have a variety of scoring options, the team has been led recently by Allie Metzgar, the junior long-range shooter.  Opposing teams hoping to adjust cannot forget about Kaila Francis on the inside if they want to try to stop the perimeter game.  What this creates is a pick-your-poison scenario in a game where every possession will matter, especially given the Falcon defense’s ability to slow the game down. Crest will not know officially until next week as to who they will be playing in Districts, but you can bet that they will be ready for the challenge.

    ELCO Raiders  

Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3

Current Record:  11-11 overall,  6-4 in Section 3 (3rd Place)

District Power Ranking: #11 AAAA (top 10 qualify)

Recent Results:

1/27: ELCO 40, Northern Lebanon 37

1/30: Lancaster Catholic 52, ELCO 25

2/1: ELCO 38, Conrad Weiser 35

2/3: ELCO 47, Cocalico 31

2/9: ELCO 60, Donegal 21

Update: ELCO finished the season winning five of their last seven games.  However, the Lady Raiders will fall one spot shy of postseason play, finishing 11^th in District 3 AAAA.  In one of the victories, they proved to everyone that it was not just a fluke that they had beaten Northern Lebanon earlier in the season.  They went on to show how far they had come as a team when they beat Donegal in the final game of the season.  The 39-point win against Donegal occurred on senior night, which featured strong play from Sam Nelson, Julia Bidelspach, and Sophie Irvin who were all playing their last games at the high school level.  With the rise of many young players under the leadership of these older players, Coach Keath’s program should continue to move on an upward trajectory for the foreseeable future.

     Lebanon Cedars

Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1

Current Record: 22-0 overall,  7-0 in Section 1 (1st Place)

District Power Ranking: #3 AAAAAA (top 12 qualify)

Recent Results:

1/27: Lebanon 66, Cedar Crest 64  (3OT)

1/31: Lebanon 47, Cocalico 40

2/2: Lebanon 66, Penn Manor 45

2/4: Lebanon 67, Reading 40

2/7: Lebanon 60, Hempfield 49

2/9: Lebanon 82, Milton Hershey 45

Update: Lebanon completed a perfect 22-0 regular season, earning them the LL Section One Title and the #3 seed in the District 3 playoffs.  They will start their postseason quest today as they will be playing in the first round of the LL League Playoffs against Pequea Valley.  The team continues to be led by sophomore Kailah Correa, who now has 923 career points through her first 46 varsity games.  However, this accomplishment has not rested squarely on Correa’s shoulders, as a strong cast of supporting characters often lead the team in scoring and other intangibles that help the team to win.  This makes the Cedars a tough team to totally shut down for long periods of a game.  One other thing that is worth noting is that while their record is dominant, there have been some wins that have been decided at the end.  While stressful, this experience and clutch free throw shooting in high pressure situations may help propel Lebanon into a deep playoff run at the League, District, and State levels.

New Covenant Flames

Commonwealth Christian Athletic Conference

Current Record: 5-12

District Power Ranking: #14 A (top 10 qualify)

Recent Results:

1/27: New Covenant 33, Covenant Christian 27

1/31: Linville Hill 47, New Covenant 21

2/3: High Point Baptist 40, New Covenant 24

2/6: York Country Day 30, New Covenant 20

2/9: Dayspring Christian 31, New Covenant 29

2/10: High Point Baptist 39, New Covenant 21

Update: The Flames continued to compete hard each game, but ultimately were unable to make a run at a .500 record.  However, not all is lost as several younger players were able to gain experience throughout the course of the season.  While they will miss their seniors, there were only two of them on the roster.  With the success of this year’s middle school team, combined with half of the current team consisting of underclassmen, New Covenant may not have many losing seasons in the near future.

     Northern Lebanon Vikings

Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3

Current Record: 13-9 overall, 5-5 in Section 3 (4th Place)

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

Recent Results:

1/27: ELCO 40, Northern Lebanon 37

1/31: Northern Lebanon 49, Donegal 41

2/3: Lancaster Catholic 57, Northern Lebanon 27

2/7: Northern Lebanon 51, Lampeter Strasburg 39

2/9: Schuylkill Valley 44, Northern Lebanon 39

Update: The Lady Vikings won several key non-league games throughout the season, giving them the points needed to qualify for the District 3 Playoffs.  This Northern Lebanon team is led in scoring by sophomore Olivia Shutter, along with freshmen Kasey Weimer and Hayley Sheroky.  While they won’t know until next week who their opponent will be, they will no doubt be taking the time to continue to gel as a unit, something that is even more important given the experience levels of their top three scoring options.  If the Vikings can continue to exploit other teams through the use of their balanced scoring attack, they could make a run in the District Tournament.

   Palmyra Cougars

Mid-Penn Conference – Keystone Division

Current Record:  5-17 overall, 3-10 in Keystone

District Power Ranking: #16 AAAAA (top 14 qualify)

Recent Results: 

1/27: Cedar Cliff 47, Palmyra 18

1/31: Lower Dauphin 33, Palmyra 18

2/3: Mechanicsburg 44, Palmyra 32

2/7: Milton Hershey 45, Palmyra 36

2/9: Central Dauphin 42, Palmyra 14

Update: As the end of the regular season drew close, Palmyra used their elimination from playoff contention to their advantage for future growth.  In doing so, there was an increase in minutes given to younger players, such as freshman Mya Doster.  Throughout the season, this was still considered to be Maddie Henry’s team, as she used her leadership abilities to help ease the transition to including less experienced talent into the game plan.  There is hope that this will translate into successful seasons in the future.

If you are looking to provide feedback or are a business or individual interested in providing sponsorship to aid our mission at LebCoSports, you are asked to contact Dan by emailing dan@lebcosports.com.