Lebanon Catholic holds off Penn Manor 49-41; Lebanon edges Exeter 49-44 

JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com

LEBANON – It will be an all-Lebanon County final in the championship game of the Lebanon Holiday Tournament.

Lebanon Catholic and host Lebanon both earned hold-them-off-at-the-wire victories Monday night in first-round games.

In the opener, Lebanon Catholic never trailed, but had to fend off Penn Manor down the stretch for a 49-41 victory.

And in the nightcap, Lebanon coughed up a 10-point lead in the second half, but took the lead for good with 1:01 to play and survived Exeter 49-44.

The Beavers and the Cedars will square off Tuesday night at 8 p.m. for the tourney title.

Lebanon Catholic 49, Penn Manor 41

The Beavers never trailed, but the pesky Comets sliced the lead to 36-35 with 5:57 to go.

Then Hailey Carangelo took over for Lebanon Catholic, scoring 10 of her game-high 21 points and plucking five of her game-high 13 rebounds in the fourth quarter (many of those in super-duper crunch time) for the Beavers, who withstood Penn Manor’s late charge and hung on.

“We had a feeling coming in that this could be a close game,” said Carangelo, who secured defensive rebounds on three trips in a row late in the fourth to squelch Comets’ possessions.

“When we came out and played with a lot of fire right away, we knew we could stick with them,” she said.

The Beavers, who improved to 6-3 overall, jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and led 14-6 after the first quarter and 20-13 at the break before the Comets sprang to life.

Bianca Ygarza scored 8 of her team-high 17 points in the third quarter, when the Comets kept it close, but still trailed 34-29 heading into the fourth.

Penn Manor whittled the Beavers’ lead down to 36-35 with 5:57 to go when Alicisa Ygarza picked off a pass and scored in transition.

After a timeout, Lebanon Catholic responded, with Carangelo doing most of the damage. She hit three field goals and went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

“When the game was on the line, I wanted to step up big,” Carangelo said. “And I thought we all stepped up big.”

And when it was over, a little old Single-A Section 4 team had knocked off a Quad-A Section 1 team.

“We wanted to get some recognition in our own league, and I think we did that,” Lebanon Catholic coach Patti Hower said. “I know people look down on Section 4 sometimes, so we’re hoping we can use this to build some momentum.

“We want to be in the Section 4 race, and we know we still have to take care of the Lancaster Mennonites and the Lancaster Catholics, and we have no leeway there at all. But hopefully a win like this will give us some confidence going into those games.”

Before the Beavers jump back into Section 4 play on Friday, they’ll take on their in-county rivals for the tournament title on Tuesday night.

“We really wanted to play Lebanon,” Carangelo said with a smile.

It will be the first meeting between the Cedars and the Beavers since Jan. 14, 2008, when Lebanon Catholic topped Lebanon – then in Section 3 – 49-41 in a crossover game.

“Our kids know each other … they hang out together, so it’ll be fun,” Hower said. “I know our kids are looking forward to it. I won’t have to say very much to get them psyched up for this game.”

In Monday’s game, Lebanon Catholic did a nice job defending Penn Manor sniper Dani Busansky, who was held scoreless for the first time this season. She was second in the league with 18 3-pointers coming into the game.

Ygarza, who was eighth in the league in scoring coming into the game (15.4), scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed six rebounds. But nobody else scored in double digits for Penn Manor, which slipped to 5-4 overall.

Devin Yecker chipped in with 8 points and a team-high 8 rebounds for the Comets, who out-rebounded a much smaller Lebanon Catholic team by just 32-31; Carangelo’s clutch boards late helped out in that department.

Kelsey Boehmer was a sparkplug for the Beavers. She was fantastic in the open court and scored 15 points for Lebanon Catholic, which survived 21 turnovers while forcing the Comets to turn the ball over 14 times.

Lebanon 49, Exeter 44

The Cedars did pretty much everything possible to hand the Eagles the game after leading by as many as 10 points in the second half.

But freshman Sadie Eisenhour hit the biggest jumper of her blossoming career, and Gemiqua Benjamin hit the go-ahead basket with 1:01 to go and the Cedars set up the all-Lebanon County final after coming from behind to edge Exeter.

Lebanon led 32-22 at the half and 39-33 heading into the fourth quarter when the Eagles mounted their comeback. Exeter took its first lead, 40-39, Sara Scheirer scored in the lane with 3:33 to play.

Exeter led one last time – 44-42 with 2:19 to go – when Laura Orth picked off a pass and scored in transition.

Timeout, Lebanon.

“We talked about taking a deep breath and pulling it all together,” Lebanon guard Brittany Padillas said.

Done.

Eisenhour buried a jumper from the right wing off a feed from Padillas to knot the game at 44-all with 2:10 to go. And Benjamin, who scored a team-high 17 points, grabbed a team-high 9 rebounds and swatted 4 shots, put the Cedars ahead for good, 46-44, with a shot in the key with 1:01 to play.

“Yeah, it got really close,” Padillas said, breathing a sigh of relief. “We got a little too antsy there. We were up by 10, but instead of passing the ball around, we were too quick to shoot it. Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and kick it back out.”

Lebanon was able to do that in the waning seconds, working the ball around for Eisenhour’s jumper and Benjamin’s post move.

The Cedars slammed the door when Ashley Uhler hit one free throw and Jess Rivera hit a pair of foul shots in the final 27.4 seconds to seal the deal for the Cedars, who improved to 3-5 overall.

“We couldn’t put them away; that’s something we’re still learning to do,” Lebanon coach Carlos Sanchez said. “Two weeks ago we probably lose that game. But now we’re finding ways to win. I like what I saw … we didn’t give up and we had some kids step up.”

Like Benjamin, who was her usual dominating self on the glass; and Padillas, who hit a pair of second-quarter 3-pointers and scored a season-high 13 points; and Eisenhour, who coaxed in a jumper in a pressure-packed situation; and Rivera and Uhler, who both grabbed big rebounds and hit key free throws down the stretch.

“We’re still a pretty young team, and we always want to go fast,” Padillas said. “It seems like we only have one speed.”

The youth and the quick triggers didn’t work so hot early on, when Lebanon stumbled to a 1-5 start. But the Cedars routed reigning Section 2 champ Garden Spot 63-39 last Tuesday, and then found a way to win against Exeter, which out-rebounded Lebanon 36-33.

Lebanon, which turned the ball over 16 times, but forced Exeter into 18 turnovers, will take on Ephrata in a key Section 2 game on Friday. The Mountaineers lead the race with a 2-2 mark. If the Cedars win, they’ll tie Ephrata for first place.

“We know Ephrata is there Friday, and we’ll work hard for that game; the section is our main focus,” Padillas said. “We started out kind of sketchy because we wanted to play so fast. So we sat down and talked about playing on the same page and about the goal being to win the section. We’re committed to winning the section; that’s what we’re practicing for and what we’re playing for.”

And the way Section 2 is shaping up, it looks like anybody can win it.

“The section is our focus,” Sanchez said. “I know we’ll be ready for Friday. As far as I can see it, the section is up for grabs. Solanco knocked off Ephrata the other night, and now we’re all within a game of Ephrata, so anybody can win the section. These next couple of head-to-head section games are crucial.”

Lebanon and Lebanon Catholic will both jump back into their respective section races on Friday.

But first they’ll square off in what should be an intriguing all-Lebanon County tournament finale on Tuesday night.