If you need one more refresher course on where we stand heading into the final week, here is my column from Monday’s New Era …
The finish line is upon us.
There are just two games to go in what has been a memorable regular season.
The races have been compelling and the plot twists entertaining.
And there’s still a lot on the line: section titles are still up for grabs in Section 1, Section 2 and Section 3, and the race for second place in Section 4 is going right down to the wire.
Here’s where we stand:
SECTION 1
IN FRONT: McCaskey (13-1, 19-2).
LURKING: Cedar Crest (12-2, 18-3) and Hempfield (11-3, 17-4).
SPOILERS: Warwick (9-5, 14-7), Manheim Township (7-7, 13-8) and Penn Manor (4-11, 7-14).
THIS WEEK: McCaskey hosts Township on Tuesday and is at Cedar Crest on Thursday; Cedar Crest welcomes Warwick tonight and hosts McCaskey on Thursday; Hempfield hosts Penn Manor on Tuesday and is at Township on Thursday.
THE SCOOP: McCaskey is alone in first place, and clinches at least a tie for the section title if Warwick can knock off Cedar Crest tonight in South Lebanon. The Warriors clipped the Falcons 57-52 in OT on Jan. 19 in Lititz.
If Cedar Crest wins tonight, McCaskey would need to beat Township on Tuesday to maintain its one-game lead.
If McCaskey wins out, the Tornado would clinch the title, but if McCaskey falls to Township, and if Cedar Crest tops Warwick and knocks off McCaskey, we’d have a tie, and we’d need a one-game playoff to determine the section champ.
Hempfield needs two wins and some help.
McCaskey can finish no worse than in second place, because if the Tornado and Hempfield finish tied for second, McCaskey owns the tiebreaker because it swept the season series from the Knights.
SECTION 2
IN FRONT: Conestoga Valley (7-7, 11-10).
LURKING: Garden Spot (6-8, 10-11) and Solanco (6-8, 10-11).
SPOILERS: Elizabethtown (4-10, 7-14), Ephrata (3-11, 7-14) and Cocalico (2-12, 4-17).
THIS WEEK: CV hosts Garden Spot on Tuesday and is at Cocalico on Thursday; Garden Spot is at CV on Tuesday and hosts Ephrata on Thursday; Solanco is at Cocalico on Tuesday and is at E-town on Thursday.
THE SCOOP: CV saw its three-game lead dwindle to one game after two losses last week, but the Buckskins can still clinch at least a tie for the title with a win over Garden Spot on Tuesday.
If the Spartans win – don’t forget: Garden Spot topped CV 44-36 on Jan. 19 in New Holland – they’d force a tie for first, and would own the tiebreaker over CV if they finish tied for second at the end of the week.
In that same scenario, if Solanco also wins Tuesday – the Golden Mares lost to Cocalico 49-48 on Jan. 19 in Quarryville – there would be a three-way tie for first place heading into the final night of league play, and if all three teams would win Thursday, we’d have a three-team playoff to determine the section champ.
If CV wins twice, it clinches the section crown outright.
If Garden Spot and Solanco end up in a tie for second place, the Mares would get the nod because they swept the season series from the Spartans.
SECTION 3
IN FRONT: Lebanon (12-2, 15-6).
LURKING: Lampeter-Strasburg (11-3, 15-6) and Manheim Central (10-4, 13-8).
SPOILERS: Elco (9-5, 12-9), Donegal (4-10, 5-15) and Northern Lebanon (0-14, 0-21).
THIS WEEK: Lebanon is at Central on Tuesday and is at L-S on Thursday; L-S is at Northern Lebanon on Tuesday and hosts Lebanon on Thursday; Central hosts Lebanon on Tuesday and welcomes Elco on Thursday.
THE SCOOP: Lebanon, which can finish no worse than second, is in the driver’s seat, and can clinch a tie for the crown with a win Tuesday at Central. But if Lebanon and L-S both win on Tuesday, L-S would force a tie with a win over the Cedars on Thursday in Lampeter – and we’d have a one-game playoff for the title.
Lebanon beat L-S 54-37 on Jan. 23 in Lebanon. Central needs two wins and some help (read: for L-S to lose twice), but the Barons went 0-2 against L-S in their season series, so Central would be the odd team out if we went to the tiebreakers for second place.
SECTION 4
IN FRONT: Lancaster Catholic (14-0, 19-2) clinched its third Section 4 title in a row back on Jan. 26.
LURKING: Lancaster Mennonite (8-6, 14-7) and Lebanon Catholic (8-6, 8-13).
SPOILERS: Annville-Cleona (3-11, 5-17), Columbia (3-11, 5-16) and Pequea Valley (2-12, 5-16).
THIS WEEK: Lancaster Mennonite hosts Lebanon Catholic on Tuesday and welcomes Pequea Valley on Thursday; Lebanon Catholic is at Mennonite on Tuesday and travels to Annville-Cleona on Thursday.
THE SCOOP: Tuesday’s Mennonite-Lebanon Catholic winner takes over sole possession of second place, and can clinch second place with a win on Thursday.
If Tuesday’s winner trips up on Thursday, and Tuesday’s loser wins on Thursday, then we’d have a tie, and we’d go to the tiebreakers.
We’re not sure how far we’d have to go down on the list since we wouldn’t know Tuesday’s winner yet, and the No. 1 tiebreaker is head-to-head.
Mennonite edged Lebanon Catholic 47-44 on Jan. 19 in Lebanon.
JEFFREY REINHART
