Hoops report: Section title races taking shape, county teams closing in on postseason

Pat Huggins, Lebanon Daily News
·4 min read

If the Elco boys basketball team ends up winning the Lancaster-Lebanon Section 4 title it may want to think about investing in some thank you cards for Northern Lebanon and head coach Chris George and his team.

Because George's Vikings did Elco a major favor Tuesday night by upending Lancaster Catholic 48-39 in Fredericksburg, keeping the Raiders, who fell to Octorara 69-61 Tuesday, in sole possession of first place and a game up on chief rival Catholic with five league games remaining.

Northern Lebanon's Simon Grimes (10) tries to get around Elco's Rheece Shuey (33) during first quarter action Tuesday at Northern Lebanon. Northern Lebanon aided county rival Elco's section title hopes by upsetting Lancaster Catholic Tuesday night.
Northern Lebanon's Simon Grimes (10) tries to get around Elco's Rheece Shuey (33) during first quarter action Tuesday at Northern Lebanon. Northern Lebanon aided county rival Elco's section title hopes by upsetting Lancaster Catholic Tuesday night.

Peyton Wolfe led the Northern Lebanon effort with 13 points and Simon Grimes added 11 as the Vikings improved to 6-9 overall and 2-7 in Section 4 with their third straight win.

MORE: Vote for the Lebanon Athletes of the Week - Jan. 17-22

MORE: Elco grad Lawrence returning to top form after injury

Speaking of section title races, let's take a look at where the rest of Lebanon County's teams are sitting as the stretch drive arrives...

Lebanon boys

Thanks to Tuesday night's 68-20 demolition of Ephrata, the defending L-L League champion Cedars (12-4, 6-2) remain percentage points behind Warwick in the Section 2 race.

Lebanon's only two losses in league play were crossover setbacks to Cedar Crest and Hempfield and it is tied with Warwick in the loss column, having played two fewer section games than the Warriors (13-3, 8-2). So the Cedars are pretty much right where they need to be at this point, although we'll know more after back-to-back makeup games with Manheim Township and Conestoga Valley Friday and Saturday. Lebanon handled Warwick 58-43 in their first meeting in December. The rematch is next Friday in Lititz.

Lebanon's Adrian Cruz (21) opens the scoring by sinking a 3-pointer in a recent game at Cedar Crest.
Lebanon's Adrian Cruz (21) opens the scoring by sinking a 3-pointer in a recent game at Cedar Crest.

Lebanon girls

The Cedars have hit the wall a bit and have now lost 4 out of 5 since their feel-good 10-2 start. They also dropped into a first place tie with Ephrata in Section2 after Tuesday's 51-41 loss to the Mounts on the road. They also face Section 1 power Manheim Township Thursday before jumping back into section play.

Not ideal, but there is still a lot to like about where the Cedars are and where they're headed. Freshman point guard Kailah Correa continues to impress, averaging 21.2 points per game, and being in a section title race surely beats playing out the string, which Lebanon did more than its share of in recent years.

This is the fun stuff. Enjoy it.

Lebanon's Kailah Correa (1) has the Cedars in contention for the Section 2 title and a postseason spot,.
Lebanon's Kailah Correa (1) has the Cedars in contention for the Section 2 title and a postseason spot,.

Cedar Crest boys

The young Falcons have hit some choppy waters after a four-game win streak that propelled them into Section 1 title contention, and have now lost three straight after Tuesday night's blowout loss to Conestoga Valley.

Now 9-9 overall and 5-3 in Section 1, Cedar Crest finds itself two games back of first-place Hempfield (8-2 Section 1) and in dire need of a win heading into their meeting Friday night in Landisville.

Like Lebanon girls, there's still a lot to like about the sophomore-dominated Falcons, whose best days are still to come.

Playoffs?!

Yes, it's time to start thinking about playoffs. The Lancaster-Lebanon League released its playoff brackets last week, and the District 3 power ranking deadline of Feb. 12 will be here before you know it.

So here's who is contending for the postseason at this point...

Boys

Palmyra (13-4, 5th in 5A), Lebanon (7th in 6A), Elco (5th in 4A) and New Covenant (11-2, 4th in 1A) all appear to be district locks, with Cedar Crest (15th in 6A) still in the hunt but on the outside looking in at this point.

As for Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs, Lebanon and Elco are in fine shape to receive invitations to the dance, while Cedar Crest still has work to do to hold off Manheim Township for Section 1's second playff berth.

Girls

If the season ended today, only Cedar Crest (11th, 6A), Palmyra (15th, 5A) and New Covenant (5th, 1A) would qualify for the District 3 playoffs. But it doesn't, so there is still time for Lebanon (13th in 6A, 12 qualify), Elco (14th in 4A, 10 qualify) and Annville-Cleona (8th in 3A, six qualify) to move up and earn a spot.

As for the L-L playoffs, Lebanon should earn one of Section 2's two berths, barring a collapse, while Elco and Northern Lebanon will battle it out for second place in Section 4 and the L-L berth that goes with it.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Section title races taking shape, county teams closing in on postseason