JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
It wouldn’t be basketball season without a preseason All-Star team right?
So here they are … my 5 players to watch in Section 1 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, listed alphabetically for your reading pleasure …
Dani Busansky, senior guard, Penn Manor – Fabulous sniper with limitless range who averaged 7.0 points and hit 36 3-pointers last season, when the Comets went 15-9 and went to Districts. Penn Manor lost some major firepower in the post, so expect Busansky’s numbers to go (way) up this season.
Ana and Carmen Cruz, senior guards, Warwick – But wait, Jeff. That makes six kids on your preseason Section 1 watch list, doesn’t it? Yes, it does. But Ana and Carmen are twins, so I’m counting them as just one spot on the list. Clever, eh? Running out of ways to describe just how fast the Cruz twins are. So trust me when I say they’re very quick with the basketball in their hands, and they’re both major pests on defense. And they can both score: Ana averaged 11.8 points and hit 21 3-pointers last season; Carmen chimed in with 6.9 points and a team-best 35 3-pointers. Good luck guarding either one of these two.
Kiersten Green, sophomore guard, Manheim Township – What a nice breakout freshman season for Green, who stepped right in quite nicely and more than held her own on the varsity. Green paced the Blue Streaks in scoring (10.8) and she nailed 14 3-pointers. And she was wicked hot down the stretch, averaging 16.8 points and hitting eight 3’s in her final four games.
Meghan Phillips, junior guard, Cedar Crest – Heady floor leader is lone starter back for the Falcons, so she’ll be called upon to do a little more in the coming months. But she’s got the game – and the moxie and determination – to handle just about anything. She led Cedar Crest in scoring as a soph (13.0, plus 19 treys).
Danee Simms, senior guard, McCaskey – Athletic and graceful, she was Teasia Myers’ backcourt partner last year, and chipped in with 11.2 points per game and drilled 19 3-pointers as the complimentary scorer. She’ll need to score a lot more this season with four new starters flanking her.
