JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com

Another week, another Monday feature. Is this season flying or what? This week, a piece on Garden Spot, which is alone in first place in Section 2 heading into Monday’s showdown against Conestoga Valley. It’s been a while since the Spartans won a title of any kind. In fact, I was five the last time Garden Spot won a section championship. Wow. Here’s my column from Monday’s New Era:

The girls’ basketball banner hanging inside Garden Spot’s gymnasium hasn’t been stitched since 1974.

That’s the last time the Spartans won a title – any title.

Garden Spot won the Section 1 championship and league titles the first two years of L-L League play – in 1972-73 and 1973-74.

But nothing since.

There have been some second-place finishes and trips to the league playoffs and district playoffs sprinkled in, but no championships.

At 5-2 and with a one-game lead in Section 2, this year’s team would love to have the numbers 2007-08 stitched on that banner – which the Spartans are using as motivation.

“We have a digital picture of the banner, and we take it on the road with us,” Garden Spot senior guard Chrissy Taylor said. “We usually hang it on the door in the locker room, and we all have to touch it before we go out to the court.”

“It motivates them,” said first-year Garden Spot coach Kevin Gensemer, the Spartans’ third coach in the last four seasons.

Heading into tonight’s showdown against two-time defending Section 2 champ Conestoga Valley, Garden Spot is 7-6 overall and is very much line for a trip to Districts.

And unlike last season, when the Spartans made a late run, overtook Solanco and finished second behind CV in the section, this time Garden Spot is the front-runner.

“It’s nice to be ahead, but you’re always looking over your shoulder,” said Taylor, an Ursinus College recruit. “So it’s also nerve-wracking to be where we are. It seems like every time we walk in a gym now, it’s like we have a target on our backs.”

The Spartans certainly will tonight, when first-place will be on the line against CV (4-3 league, 6-8 overall).

So why the success this season? For starters, Gensemer, a former Cocalico assistant, has installed a new pressing, trapping defensive scheme, and the Spartans are thriving in it. Garden Spot gets plenty of points in transition, and prefers a face-paced, get-the-ball-and-go game.

Gensemer’s up-tempo attack has the Spartans in first place with one game to go in the first half of section play. Teams will play their final crossover games Wednesday, Friday and next Tuesday before going through the section one last time.

“We’re not used to winning this much, so it’s nice to be where we are,” Garden Spot senior guard Nicole Yunginger said. “We definitely have a lot more confidence. But we’re not satisfied.”

That’s why the Spartans tack up the photo of the banner. It gives them something to shoot for. It keeps them focused. And it keeps their attention on the game directly in front of them.

“We feel the nerves a little bit,” Garden Spot senior guard Brittany Hibshman admitted. “I mean, we love being in first place. But it’s also nice being the underdog. So for us, it’s about sticking it out. It’s going to be tough. And it’s going to be hectic. But we’re having a lot of fun.”

It shows on the court. Like last Friday against Ephrata, for instance. The Mountaineers came flying back from a big first-half deficit and took a fourth-quarter lead.

Undaunted, Garden Spot got back-to-back three-point conversions from Taylor and rising star junior forward Breana Caldwell, got the lead back and made a couple of key defensive stops in the waning seconds, holding on for a 53-49 win.

Happy as can be, the Spartans sprinted off the floor, arms raised, into the locker room. And as each player made their way out of the locker room, they touched the photo of the banner, which was taped to the back of the door.

“We want teams to have to keep chasing us,” Yunginger said. “We want to stay where we are.”

Alone in first place.

“They know where they’re at, and they’re focused on where they are,” Gensemer said. “We just have to keep taking it one game at a time because this section is so wide open. That’s what we talk about every day; staying focused on the next game, and winning that game. They’re really focused on that.”

Which leads to the other big reason why the Spartans have been playing so well: Teamwork. Gensemer has a deep bench, and he regularly plays nine or 10 kids per game. Everyone has a role and everyone is focused on one thing – winning.

“We’re thinking big,” Taylor said. “We’d like to go places. And we definitely have the drive to do it.”

And the motivation, in the form of a digital photo of all things, to do it.