Three of the four L-L League girls’ basketball section championships have been settled.
The fourth — not so much.
Lancaster Catholic wrapped up the Section 4 championship a week ago, the Crusaders’ fourth section title in a row.
On Friday, two more teams locked up section crowns:
Manheim Township made it four Section 1 titles in a row when the Blue Streaks won at McCaskey, maintaining a 3-game lead — with two to play — over Cedar Crest and Hempfield.
So coach Sean Burkhart and crew — No. 8 in Class AAAA in PennLive’s state rankings at 20-0 overall — will be hanging yet another banner.
Alex Leslie bucketed 26 points to pace the Streaks against McCaskey.
Meanwhile, Lebanon clinched the Section 2 title on Friday when the Cedars beat second-place Cocalico.
Shaela Shellehamer had her best game this season to spark Lebanon against the Eagles; she drilled five 3-pointers and pumped in a season-high 21 points in the Cedars’ 7-point victory.
This is Lebanon’s first section championship since the Cedars won Section 3 in 2006-07.
Cocalico senior Marissa Gingrich scored 15 points, raising her career total to 976 points. She’ll need 24 points vs. rival Ephrata on Monday to join the 1,000-point club.
And then there’s the 3-way logjam that is the Section 3 race.
Donegal, Elco and Lampeter-Strasburg all won Friday, all improved to 11-3 in league play, and remained in a gaudy 3-way tie for the top spot.
Donegal had the toughest night; the Indians needed OT to fend off Garden Spot 41-39. It’s the second time this season Donegal and Garden Spot needed OT; in fact, the Indians won the first meeting in triple-OT.
The loss dropped the Spartans two games back in the race, with two games to play.
On Monday, Donegal hosts Northern Lebanon, Elco hosts Manheim Central and Lampeter-Strasburg hosts Garden Spot.
If the Indians, Raiders and Pioneers all win their home games, they’ll still be deadlocked heading into the final night of league play next Wednesday.
Elco is at Donegal on Wednesday.
As for the section runners-up, and the trip to the L-L playoffs that comes with it:
Cedar Crest (11-3) and Hempfield (11-3) are tied for second in Section 1. If they remain there, the Falcons and Black Knights would go to the tiebreaker criteria. They split their season series.
Cocalico (8-6) is in second place in Section 2, just ahead of Ephrata (7-7). The Eagles and the Mountaineers play on Monday; a Cocalico win would lock up second place — and the L-L playoff bid.
The Section 3 race will play itself out by Wednesday night. We think. Stay tuned.
And in Section 4, Columbia (5-9) remained alive for the second spot Friday when the Crimson Tide beat Lebanon Catholic and Annville-Cleona (6-8) fell to Lancaster Mennonite.
The Tide plays the Little Dutchmen on Wednesday.