JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
L-L LEAGUE GIRLS’ BASKETBALL RANKINGS COMING OUT OF THE HOLIDAY BREAK
I hope you’re having a nice holiday season.
But not even the holiday break can keep me from my weekly rankings, which feature the same five teams as last week – just in a different order of sorts.
We hop back into L-L League play with games on Wednesday and Friday this week.
Heading into the new year (happy 2008!), here is my latest poll:
1. Hempfield (5-0 Section 1, 11-1 overall; last week: 1st) – Black Knights enter the new year atop my rankings after a solid showing in their own Hempfield Holiday Tournament, nipping Section 4 heavyweights Lancaster Mennonite (40-35) and Lancaster Catholic (49-45). I saw the Mennonite game, and was impressed with Hempfield’s defensive prowess. “We’re not always pretty,” Hempfield coach Lenny Groft said after the game. “But we keep finding ways to win.” The win over Catholic was Hempfield’s 11th in a row. Whopper of a game right out of the chute, when co-Section 1 leader Cedar Crest visits Landisville on Wednesday. Should be a dandy. And at rival Township on Friday. I’ve seen Hempfield twice now, and I must say that Analicia Evans is firmly establishing herself as one of the top players in the league. What a great start for her.
2. Lampeter-Strasburg (4-1 Section 3, 11-1 overall; last week: 5th) – Bumped the Pioneers up three slots after they took care of McCaskey and host Ephrata to win the Ephrata Holiday Tournament. Both games were close (McCaskey roared from 14 down in the third to down by just two in the waning seconds; and Ephrata had the ball late with a shot to tie), but L-S gutted out a pair of victories. Check Monday’s New Era for my column on the Pioneers’ plucky freshmen. Home with Donegal and Lebanon this week. Love the balance here.
3. Lancaster Mennonite (4-1 Section 4, 10-2 overall; last week: 3rd) – Status quo for the Blazers, who bowed to Hempfield in the first round of the Hempfield Holiday Tournament (but gave the host Knights all they could handle) and topped Quad-A Dallastown in the consolation game. Still tied for first with Lancaster Catholic in Section 4 race. At Columbia and home with Pequea Valley this week. Erin LaVenice, a Hempfield transfer, is quickly becoming a very reliable low-post threat, and she compliments wingers Kelsey Gorman and Katelyn Vanderhoff quite nicely.
4. Cedar Crest (5-0 Section 1, 9-2 overall; last week: 4th) – Kept the Falcons at No. 4 even though they fell to Wilson in the finale of the Wilson Holiday Tournament. That one made me scratch my head a bit. Tied with Hempfield for Section 1 lead, and that tie will be snapped Wednesday, when Crest heads to Landisville. I will be pulling up a chair at Hempfield for that one. Crest will host McCaskey on Friday. Falcons went 5-for-5 against the Red Tornado last year (including the L-L League title game), and this will be their first meeting this season. Good chance I’ll be in Lebanon for that one.
5. Manheim Central (4-1 Section 3, 9-2 overall; last week: 2nd) – Dropped the Barons from 2 to 5 after they fell to Pottstown in the first round of the Daniel Boone Holiday Tournament. Pottstown is a really good District 1 team, by the way, so it was hardly a bad loss. Barons rallied nicely, defeating Berks power Wyomissing in the consolation game. Tons of balance here (led by Bekah Roland, who is off to a wicked fast start), and it looks like Central and L-S are going to wage quite a war for the Section 3 title. Stay tuned for that race. Barons are at Northern Lebanon and home with Elco this week. At 3-1 and a makeup crossover still on the books, Elco is in a virtual tie with Central and L-S for first in Section 3. So that game could be interesting. Barons will also host Conrad Weiser in a non-league game on Saturday.
