JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
THE GAME: Section 4 champ Lancaster Mennonite Blazers (15-1 league, 20-2 overall) vs. Section 1 runner-up Cedar Crest Falcons (13-3 league, 17-5 overall), Tuesday, 7 p.m. at Warwick.
WINNER GETS: Section 2 champ Ephrata or Section 3 runner-up Northern Lebanon on Thursday in the semifinals.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Lancaster Mennonite pretty much went wire-to-wire in winning the Section 4 race outright for the second season in a row. And no one-game playoff this season; Lancaster Mennonite sewed up the section on Jan. 30 and coasted home. … Cedar Crest was in the Section 1 hunt right up until the last night. But when Manheim Township knocked off Wilson in its regular-season finale, the Blue Streaks won the section crown and Cedar Crest settled for second – snapping the Falcons’ two-season reign over Section 1.
COMMON OPPONENTS: Ephrata (Lancaster Mennonite went 1-0; Cedar Crest went 1-0).
LANCASTER MENNONITE PROBABLE STARTERS: 10 G Sarah Mentzer (3.0), 23 G Steph Rheinheimer (9.3, 16 3-pointers), 25 F Kami Skoloda (5.1, 2 3-pointers), 32 F Erin LaVenice (12.7), 35 G Katelyn Vanderhoff (20.9, 16 3-pointers).
WHO’S HOT: Vanderhoff has been white-hot all season, so I’ll go with LaVenice, in her last three games – 20.0 points, including 23 points in a win over Lebanon Catholic and 25 points in a win over Pequea Valley.
CEDAR CREST PROBABLE STARTERS: 2 G Marla Simmons (7.0, 2 3-pointers) 5 G Meghan Phillips (14.4, 13 3-pointers), 12 G Jazmine Trimble (8.7, 24 3-pointers), 22 F Taylor Boyer (8.0, 9 3-pointers), 42 F Megan McCabe (3.2).
WHO’S HOT: Trimble, in her last two games – 17.5 points and six 3-pointers, including a career-high 19 points and three 3-pointers in regular-season finale against Penn Manor.
L-L LEAGUE PLAYOFF HISTORY: Lancaster Mennonite is the reigning league runner-up; the Blazers fell to Hempfield in last year’s league championship game. It was Lancaster Mennonite’s first trip to the L-L League finals. … Cedar Crest has five league championship banners, tied with Manheim Township and McCaskey for second-most in league history (1977, 2001, 03, 04, 07).
THE COACHES: Lancaster Mennonite’s Sherri Gorman is in her 4th season (79-26). … Cedar Crest’s Gretchen Hall is in her 3rd season (68-18).
ABOUT LANCASTER MENNONITE: Blazers bring a rip-roaring 13-game winning streak into the L-L League playoffs, where they hope to get back to the final after dropping a gut-wrencher to Hempfield there last year. … Running out of things to say about Vanderhoff, the University of Maine recruit. I guess the best thing I can say is that she’s playing like a Division 1 recruit, which is top of the line. She’s the only player in the L-L League that has scored in double-digits in every game, and she’s scored 21 points or more in eight of her last nine games, including a career-high 29 points in a win over three-time reigning state Double-A champ York Catholic on Jan. 17. … LaVenice has also been playing incredibly well on the boards, and Steph Rheinheimer has become a legit No. 3 scorer who can beat you from the perimeter. Sis Jess Rheinheimer has pitched in a ton from the bench, and Mentzer and Skoloda do scads of dirty work, particularly Skoloda, who has adopted the role of defensive stopper. … Tons to like here; Blazers have been lights out since falling to York Suburban on Dec. 27 in the finals of the York Suburban Holiday Tournament. Other loss was to L-S (55-54) on Dec. 19. So the Blazers’ two losses are by a grand total of 3 lousy points. … No. 1 seed in the upcoming District 3 Double-A bracket. Won the District 3 Triple-A title last season before bumping down to Double-A this season.
ABOUT CEDAR CREST: Lost four starters from last year’s team, returning just Phillips, the Falcons’ junior floor general. She missed a couple of games early on (ankle), but rebounded nicely and was solid throughout. She can shoot, drive, distribute, score in transition and defend. When Phillips is hot, Cedar Crest is pesky. … Running mate Trimble finished the regular season in a flourish with 12 3-pointers in her final six games. She has super speed and defends quite well in the open court. … Boyer and McCabe will do most of the board work, but Boyer isn’t afraid to step back and launch. … Good depth with guards Torri Wagner and Kirsten Clemens coming off the bench. They’d start for a lot of other teams. … Really like Simmons’ athleticism.
BREAKDOWN: Nobody else has had any luck curtailing Vanderhoff, so how will Cedar Crest do? That’s the $64,00 question. She’s big enough to tangle in the lane and uses the glass nicely (and gets to the line a ton). And she’s nimble and athletic enough to pop back and shoot 3’s and score in transition. And she’s probably the best lock-down defender in the area. So if Phillips has a hot hand, don’t be surprised if Vanderhoff is in her face before too long. Cedar Crest will need an answer for LaVenice, as well. She’s been large on the glass the last week or two, and she has a bunch of tricky spin moves and can finish with either hand. The Falcons can’t forget about her – while chasing Vanderhoff around and hoping either of the Rheinheimer’s doesn’t catch fire from the arc. Lancaster Mennonite has some mad, mad weapons, including the best weapon (Vanderhoff) in the L-L League. They’re also smoking, riding a 13-game winning streak. Tall task for the Falcons here.
