With three games remaining in the regular season, Lebanon High’s boys and girls basketball teams are poised to clinch section championships tonight when they play Cocalico.
The Cedar boys, who travel to Denver, hold a three-game lead over second-place Ephrata, which is a game ahead of Cocalico for the section’s second berth in the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs. Lebanon’s girls, who will play at home, lead Cocalico by two games.
Other county teams are close to sewing up L-L section titles or playoff berths.
Cedar Crest’s boys are in a three-way tie with Lancaster and Hempfield in Section One. Both Cedar Crest and Hempfield will play Lancaster next week, with the Falcons travelingl to McCaskey Monday. The Falcon girls can’t catch unbeaten Manheim Township but they are tied with Hempfield for second place.
Northern Lebanon’s boys are a game behind second-place Lampeter-Strasburg in Section Three. L-S has to play first-place Manheim Central tonight. If the Vikings take care of business tonight against Elco and on Monday against Donegal (both at NL), their final game at L-S on Wednesday will likely determine the section’s second L-L playoff representative. Sam Light needs 35 points to become Northern Lebanon’s all-time scoring leader.
Elco’s girls are locked in a three-way tie for the Section Three lead with L-S and Donegal, while Annville-Cleona’s girls are in second place in Section Four behind powerhouse Lancaster Catholic. A-C holds a two-game lead over Columbia.
So if the local teams fare well in their last three league games, we could have three Lebanon County teams in the boys bracket and an amazing four in the girls playoffs. Quite a winter.
As for the District Three playoffs, four Lebanon County boys teams and five girls teams are looking good to qualify, with two others just outside the margins.
The most recent district power rankings were released Thursday, including Wednesday games. Here’s how our teams look:
Class AAAA boys — Cedar Crest is No. 3, with Lebanon at No. 14. Because 20 teams qualify, the teams seeded 13 through 20 will have play-in games for the round of 16.
Class AAA boys — Northern Lebanon is No. 14, with 18 teams qualifying. If they stay 14 or higher, the Vikings can avoid a play-in game.
Class AA boys — Annville-Cleona, despite having just two wins, is No. 11 and just shy of qualifying in the 10-team bracket. Last year the Little Dutchmen snuck in with four wins. They still have a shot at passing No. 10 Biglerville, even though Biglerville has won six games.
Class A boys — Lebanon Catholic is a solid No. 2, just behind Mount Calvary. The Beavers figure to make a strong defense of their 2013 district title.
Class AAAA girls — Cedar Crest is No. 5 and Lebanon is No. 8. Both will play first-round home games if they continue to win.
Class AAA girls — Palmyra is No. 2, just behind Susquehannock, the team the Cougars defeated to win the 2013 championship. Looks like a good chance for a rematch. Elco is No. 14.
Class AA girls — Annville-Cleona is No. 7 and in good shape to qualilfy.
Class A girls — Lebanon Catholic’s six-girl team is No. 13, just outside the 12-team bracket. If Patti Hower coaches this team into the playoffs, she probably deserves a medal to add to her large collection. For the Beavers to have managed four wins with their tiny roster is a credit to Hower and her players.
The cut-off date for games to count for district power ratings is Feb. 6.
One college note before we move along — long-time rivals Elizabethtown and Lebanon Valley will meet for the last time as Commonwealth Conference rivals Saturday afternoon at LVC, with the women’s game set for 1 and the men’s game at 3. LVC’s women are in first place at 9-2 and a game ahead of E-town, Messiah and Stevenson. LVC’s men are 4-7 and in a three-way tie for sixth place with E-town and Lycoming, two games back of Albright. The top five teams qualify for conference playoffs. Elizabethtown is bolting the Commonwealth Conference (half of the Middle Atlantic Conference) after this season to join the Landmark Conference, which includes former MAC members Susquehanna, Juniata, Moravian and Scranton.
As always, follow along on Twitter @sesnyderleb.