JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
The races in Section 1 and Section 4 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League are still fit to be tied.
With victories on Monday, Hempfield and Cedar Crest in Section 1, and Lancaster Catholic and Lancaster Mennonite in Section 4, remained deadlocked with one game to go in the regular season.
Should those races be tied come Wednesday night after the final league games, Hempfield would meet Cedar Crest and Catholic would meet Mennonite in one-game playoffs for their respective section titles.
Hempfield kept its share of first place in Section 1 Monday with a hard-fought 45-37 win over rival Manheim Township, while Cedar Crest took care of its end with a 66-49 victory over McCaskey.
The loss knocked McCaskey out of playoff contention, as Hempfield and Cedar Crest locked up the two league playoff spots from Section 1.
Meanwhile, in Section 4, Catholic raced past Columbia 60-41 and Mennonite crushed Pequea Valley 85-21 as the Crusaders and the Blazers remained tied at the top.
In Monday’s Section 1 games:
Hempfield 45,
Manheim Township 37
Analicia Evans pumped in 20 points for the host Black Knights, who held off the Blue Streaks and kept pace with Cedar Crest. Hempfield is at Penn Manor on Wednesday.
Kiersten Green hit three 3-pointers and scored 18 points for Township.
Cedar Crest 66,
McCaskey 49
Meghan Phillips (19 points), Carrie Sheffey (14), Shannon Stokes (12) and Cassie Jones (11) fueled the Falcons, who kept pace with Hempfield and knocked the host Red Tornado out of the playoff race. Cedar Crest is at Warwick on Wednesday.
Cherelle Simmons scored 12 points for McCaskey.
Penn Manor 53,
Warwick 47
L-L League scoring leader Kelsey Caruthers pumped in 20 points for the Comets, who used a 13-7 third-quarter run to open up some breathing room, and then held off the host Warriors down the stretch.
Ana Cruz scored 13 points for Warwick.
And in Section 4:
Lancaster Catholic 60,
Columbia 41
Molly Holt hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 points for the Crusaders, who kept pace with Mennonite. Catholic will host Pequea Valley on Wednesday.
Tori Aston scored 21 points for the host Crimson Tide.
Lancaster Mennonite 85,
Pequea Valley 21
Dani Zeamer scored a season-high 18 points to pace the Blazers, who led 49-10 at the half and remained in a tie for the top spot with Catholic. Mennonite is at Lebanon Catholic on Wednesday.
Lebanon Catholic 60,
Annville-Cleona 24
Hailey Carangelo scored 18 points for the host Beavers, who outscored the Little Dutchmen 26-2 in the third quarter and cruised from there.
