LANCASTER - A holiday edition of L-L League girls’ basketball notes for your reading pleasure.
Everything and anything you need to know about L-L League girls’ basketball as we hurtle toward 2013 …
SCORING LEADERS
Gillian Glackin, Solanco - 9 games, 211 points - 23.4
Porscha Speller, Lancaster Catholic - 6 games, 119 points - 19.8
Jenna Plastino, Columbia - 8 games, 152 points - 19.0
Marissa Gingrich, Cocalico - 8 games, 138 points - 17.3
Cheyenne Hassler, Elco - 9 games, 152 points - 16.9
Jada Dunsen, Lancaster Mennonite - 9 games, 145 points - 16.1
Sarah Haddon, Ephrata - 9 games, 145 points - 16.1
Jen Fairbanks, Elizabethtown - 9 games, 134 points - 14.9
Jahnae Hall-Gaddy, Conestoga Valley - 10 games, 149 points - 14.9
Lexie Lantz, Lampeter-Strasburg - 9 games, 134 points - 14.9
Abby Shay, Lebanon Catholic - 9 games, 128 points - 14.2
Megan Seibert, Columbia - 8 games, 111 points - 13.9
Alex Siebecker, Annville-Cleona - 8 games, 107 points - 13.4
Mady Reeser, Lancaster Mennonite - 9 games, 119 points - 13.2
Emily Brandt, Northern Lebanon - 7 games, 90 points - 12.9
Elaina Wanamaker, Annville-Cleona - 8 games, 101 points - 12.6
Helene Reist, Lebanon Catholic - 9 games, 108 points - 12.0
Hailey Fricke, Garden Spot - 8 games, 95 points - 11.9
Brittany Ulrich, Lebanon - 9 games, 101 points - 11.2
Alex Ross, Manheim Township - 5 games, 54 points - 10.8
Ana Edmondson, McCaskey - 10 games, 107 points - 10.7
Holly Marinkov, Lebanon Catholic - 9 games, 94 points - 10.4
Alyssa Hershey, Pequea Valley - 9 games, 91 point s- 10.1
3-POINTERS
Cheyenne Hassler, Elco - 24
Holly Marinkov, Lebanon Catholic - 19
Brittany Ulrich, Lebanon - 18
Madison Derr, Warwick - 15
Megan Seibert, Columbia - 13
Helene Reist, Lebanon Catholic - 12
Shaela Shellehamer, Lebanon - 11
Ana Edmondson, McCaskey - 10
Taylor Lininger, Lampeter-Strasburg - 10
Arielle Battiste, Solanco - 9
Lauren Chambers, Lebanon - 9
Marissa Gingrich, Cocalico - 9
POWER POLL
1. Lancaster Catholic (4-0, 6-0) - Quiet break for the Crusaders - but still very much the team to be in Section 4, the league and probably District 3 until it’s all said and done.
2. Lampeter-Strasburg (4-0, 9-0) - Saw the Pioneers on Friday. Liked what I saw. FYI: L-S at Lancaster Catholic is Tuesday, January 15. Be there.
3. Manheim Township (4-0, 7-2) - Couple of hiccups early on - although losses are to heavyweights Red Lion and West York, by a grand total of 5 points - but you get the feeling the Blue Streaks are poised for a run here. Finally 100 percent healthy.
4. Cocalico (3-1, 6-2) - Eagles are really coming on like gangbusters. And the whole league knows it.
5. Hempfield (3-1, 5-3) - Three wins in a row, including a pair in the Spring-Ford Shootout. Beware the Black Knights.
Honorable Mention: Annville-Cleona (2-2, 4-4), Elco (2-2, 5-4), Elizabethtown (3-1, 5-4), Ephrata (3-1, 6-3), Garden Spot (4-0, 5-3), Northern Lebanon (2-2, 6-3), Solanco (2-2, 5-4).
News, notes and other assorted goodies …
2012 FINALE: A New Year’s Eve non-league game for you on Monday - Columbia travels to Northeastern York for a 1 p.m. tip. I’m heading to Manchester for that one, and will have coverage for you before you hunker in to watch the ball drop.
L-L League girls' basketball standings.
TWO FOR A THOUSAND: A pair of L-L League players have joined the 1,000-career-point club this season; Solanco’s Gillian Glackin and Lampeter-Strasburg’s Lexie Lantz - the two top post players in the league - both hit that milestone recently.
Lucky to have both of those accomplishments on video …
Glackin scores 1,000th vs. Garden Spot.
Lantz scores 1,000th vs. Ephrata.
Just scouring my stat sheets, and thinking the L-L League won’t open its doors to another 1,000-point girls’ scorer for a while. I don’t have anyone on the radar.
As we hit the new year, there are currently three active girls’ players with 1,000 career points:
Lancaster Catholic’s Porscha Speller - 1,169 points. Speller needs 484 points to snap the Crusaders’ school record of 1,652 points, held by 2001 grad Gina Testa. Also, keep in mind that Speller played her first two seasons for McCaskey, so her points are spread out.
Solanco’s Gillian Glackin - 1,144 points. Glackin is already up to third in points in school history; she needs 60 to jump into second place, and she needs 77 points to become the program’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing 2010 grad Taylor Kreider (1,220).
Lampeter-Strasburg’s Lexie Lantz - 1,003 points. Lantz is the 10th girls’ player in Pioneers’ history to score 1,000 points. She still has a way to go to catch the all-time leader: Sara Burcin, a 1996 grad, piled up 1,598 points, meaning Lantz needs 595 more points to catch her.
SCHEDULE CHECKER: L-L League head-to-head section play resumes Wednesday and Friday this week. The week after is a three-game week, with tilts Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Friday, January 11 games are the second wave of crossover games.
SECTION 1 NOTABLES: An 0-2 trip and a fourth-place finish in the Eastern York Holiday Tournament for Cedar Crest, which has dropped three in a row overall and is looking up at the lead pack in the section race. Rachel Miller has been steady from the perimeter (6.9, 8 3-pointers) and Alex Rich has helped out in the lane (7.7), but you get the feeling the Falcons are still searching. We’ll see if they can play spoiler. … Nice run by Hempfield, winners of three in a row, including back-to-back victories in the very competitive Spring-Ford Shootout in Royersford. Knights beat Agnes Irwin and Great Valley before Saturday’s game vs. Downingtown West was shelved by snow. That game will be made up February 2 at 2:30 p.m. at Downingtown West. Nice tournament by Alecia Rohrer, who crashed the boards for a pair of 15-point outings at Spring-Ford. Nikki Rhoads had a season-high 10 points in the win over Great Valley. And Sarah Helgeson is back - again. She missed the first three games with a foot injury, returned to play in one game - a loss to Elizabethtown on December 27 - and then missed three more games after the foot acted up again. She played Friday vs. Great Valley. Hempfield will need her speed from here on out. … As mentioned, both of Manheim Township’s losses are gut-punchers; Blue Streaks lost to Red Lion 41-39 in the Lions’ tip-off tourney finale on December 28, and to West York by a 49-46 count in the first round of York Suburban’s holiday tournament on Thursday. Still, Manheim Township’s Section 1 winning streak stands at a very healthy 36 in a row, and the Streaks are 4-0 and a full two games clear for first place in the section race already. And the Streaks snapped back after the loss to West York with a 20-point victory over L-L League foe Lancaster Mennonite in York Suburban’s third-place game. … McCaskey just can’t see to get untracked. Red Tornado has a lot of nice pieces, but has just one win and has lost four in a row after an 0-2 trip in Ephrata’s holiday tournament. PG Ana Edmondson averaged 12.5 points and hit five 3-pointers and F Khadijah Williams averaged 11.5 in the tourney; Williams scored a season-high 19 points in the consolation game - a 21-point setback to Governor Mifflin. Hearing good things about newbie Ayanda McGill-Jefferson (7.0). Remember her name. … A fourth-place finish for Penn Manor in Hershey’s holiday tournament. Comets fell to a couple of Mid-Penn teams: host Hershey and Middletown, and have now lost four of five - but at 2-2, Penn Manor is tied for second place with Hempfield. … Did not see a 0-9 start for Warwick coming. The Warriors definitely didn’t either. But Warwick still has a goose egg in the W column heading into 2013 after a 0-2 trip in Cumberland Valley’s holiday tourney. The Warriors didn’t produce a double-digit scorer in the tournament and are averaging just 37.9 points per game. Warwick has cracked 50 just once. Bright note: Keep an eye on freshman Kate Martin (5.6, 8 3-pointers). Remember that name.
THIS WEEK IN SECTION 1
WEDNESDAY
Cedar Crest at Hempfield
Warwick @ McCaskey
Penn Manor @ Manheim Township
FRIDAY
Manheim Township @ McCaskey
Penn Manor @ Hempfield
Cedar Crest @ Warwick
SATURDAY
NON-LEAGUE
Warwick @ York Suburban, 6:30 p.m.
SECTION 2 NOTABLES: Four wins in a row for Cocalico, which has everyone’s attention. Eagles are 3-1 and find themselves in a three-way logjam for first place with Elizabethtown and Ephrata. Cocalico’s last three wins: By 22 points over hot Hempfield, a 6-point squeaker over Elizabethtown (remember that for tie-breaking purposes later) and by 10 over Garden Spot, which shares first place in Section 3. Impressive. The win over the Spartans came in the first round of Muhlenberg’s holiday tournament on Friday. The championship game (Cocalico vs. Muhlenberg) and the third-place game (Garden Spot vs. Schuylkill Valley) were snowed out Saturday. Waiting for make-up dates. Last three games for Cocalico’s Marissa Gingrich: 22.0 points and seven 3-pointers, including a season-high 29 points and four treys vs. Elizabethtown and 20 points vs. Garden Spot at Muhlenberg. … Don’t look now, but Conestoga Valley is building momentum. After a couple of down seasons, the Buckskins are up to 4-6 overall, including a pair of wins to capture Exeter’s holiday tournament. CV beat a couple of Berks County entrants - Exeter and Wyomissing - to claim the gold trophy. Tournament MVP Jahnae Hall-Gaddy scored 29 points in two games, including 15 in the clincher over Wyo. Bucks have won three of four - and now get into the meat of the Section 2 slate, with Cocalico, Elizabethtown and Ephrata out there lurking. … Three losses in a row for Elizabethtown, including a pair of setbacks in Northeastern York’s holiday tournament, where the Bears fell to a pair of YAIAA outfits: Northeastern York by 5 in the first round and then by 3 to New Oxford in the third-place game. That after a loss to Cocalico last Friday knocked E-town out of sole possession of first place in Section 2. So the Bears are in need of a pick-me-up coming out of the break, especially with tri-leader Ephrata on Wednesday‘s docket. Sniper Jen Fairbanks continues to sizzle. She scored 27 points in two games at Northeastern York, and she’s scored in double-digits in all nine games this season. Last three games for Erin Sollenberger: 13.0 points, including back-to-back season-high 15-point outings, vs. Cocalico and Northeastern York. … After a 30-point triumph over McCaskey in the first round of its own holiday tournament, Ephrata was sailing along, winners of five of six, with a tri-lead in Section 2. Then came a much-anticipated match-up vs. undefeated Lampeter-Strasburg in the tourney title game Friday. The Pioneers walked away still unblemished after rolling Ephrata 59-36. Hardly back-to-the-drawing-board time, but the Mounts need a quick snap-back with Elizabethtown coming to town Wednesday. Hot stretch for Ephrata’s Sarah Haddon: She’s averaging 18.2 points in the last six games, including a season-best 25 points in the win over McCaskey. According to a published report, Haddon recently committed to Franklin & Marshall. … Lebanon has lost three of five, but don’t let the record fool you. Cedars are 2-2 and in the thick of the hunt. And here’s my favorite Lebanon nugget: Coach Ben Brewer has zero - none, zip, nada - seniors on his roster. Get used to this crew; Cedars will challenge the next several seasons with a lot of (young) weapons in tow. Lebanon settled for second in its holiday tourney, falling to neighbor Elco 33-31 in the finale - after a defensive-minded 23-point win over Twin Valley in the opener Thursday. Alicia Haitos scored a season-high 12 points in that victory. … Head-scratcher time in Quarryville, where three-time reigning Section 2 champ Solanco has lost three in a row and finds itself behind Cocalico, Elizabethtown and Ephrata in the race. Golden Mares dropped a pair of games to YAIAA teams in Central York’s holiday tourney: A 19-point setback to state power York Catholic and then a 2-point squeaker to Central York in the consolation game. Nobody has stopped Gillian Glackin, who continues to pile up points in the paint. She’s scored in double figures in all nine games and leads the league in scoring. She’s putting together quite the senior season. … Section 2 just might end up being the best race in the L-L League. Thinking this sucker is going right down to February 5 - and possibly beyond.
THIS WEEK IN SECTION 2
WEDNESDAY
Solanco @ Lebanon
Conestoga Valley @ Cocalico
Elizabethtown @ Ephrata
FRIDAY
Cocalico @ Lebanon
Conestoga Valley @ Ephrata
Elizabethtown @ Solanco
SATURDAY
NON-LEAGUE
Ephrata @ Elco, 1:30 p.m.
SECTION 3 NOTABLES : A quiet holiday break for Donegal, which hasn’t played since December 21. But a 2-3 getaway for the Indians, who have already topped last season’s 1-win total. So finally some good vibes in Mount Joy after a 1-43 stretch. … Good vibes for Elco, as well. Raiders picked up some major momentum by winning Lebanon’s holiday tournament, with victories over rival Lebanon Catholic in the first round and a 33-31 gut-check win over Lebanon in the finale. Cheyenne Hassler continues to cook; she scored 31 points in the two tourney games, including 20 points against Lebanon Catholic. She leads the league with 24 3-pointers, and she’s hit at least one trey in all eight games. Some really good pieces at Elco; we’ll see if the Raiders will be contenders in Section 3. … Garden Spot brought a 4-game winning streak into its match-up against Cocalico in the first round of Muhlenberg’s holiday tournament. The Eagles snapped that. Still, the Spartans are 4-0 and tied atop the Section 3 heap with undefeated Lampeter-Strasburg. Speed, speed and more speed for Garden Spot. And Hailey Fricke is becoming a force in the scoring department; she’s averaging 13.6 points in the last five games. FYI: Garden Spot at Lampeter-Strasburg is Monday, January 7. And wouldn’t that be fun if they were both 6-0 going into that one? … Lampeter-Strasburg continues to hum right along. Pioneers and Lancaster Catholic are the lone undefeated teams in the league, and Lampeter-Strasburg made it 9-0 on Friday with a convincing 59-36 win over Section 2 tri-leader Ephrata in the Mounts’ holiday tourney finale. That’s the night Lexie Lantz joined the 1,000-point club. Balance aplenty for coach Tony Fink’s club. And depth. Feisty bunch, too. Defensive-minded first with plenty of options offensively. … Seven setbacks in a row for Manheim Central, the reigning Section 3 champ. That includes a 63-19 setback to District 3 heavyweight Palmyra in a non-league game last Thursday. Couple of kids out for the Barons, who are flat scuffling. … Incredibly tough break for Northern Lebanon, the preseason pick to win Section 3. Stalwart G Emily Brandt, the team’s leading scorer and floor general, went down with an ACL knee injury against Manheim Central on December 21. She missed both games in Annville-Cleona’s holiday tournament. Word is Brandt will take some time off, get fitted for a brace and try and finish out her senior season. Vikings settled for third in A-C’s tournament; Northern Lebanon fell to two-time reigning PIAA-A state champ Steel-High by 21 points in the opener before edging out Halifax 35-34 in the consolation game. Morgan Phillips hit three 3-pointers and scored a season-high 10 points vs. Steel-High and the duo of Mariah LiBrandi (24 points in two games) and Kristen Lessing (22 points in two games) stepped up in the scoring department with Brandt on the bench. Key stretch for Vikings starts Wednesday against co-leader Garden Spot.
THIS WEEK IN SECTION 3
WEDNESDAY
Garden Spot @ Northern Lebanon
Lampeter-Strasburg @ Elco
Manheim Central @ Donegal
FRIDAY
Northern Lebanon @ Elco
Manheim Central @ Lampeter-Strasburg
Garden Spot @ Donegal
SATURDAY
NON-LEAGUE
Ephrata @ Elco, 1:30 p.m.
SECTION 4 NOTABLES: Pegged Annville-Cleona for a runner-up finish in Section 4, and at the holiday checkpoint, the Little Dutchmen are 2-2 and alone in second place - two games behind unbeaten Lancaster Catholic. A good showing for A-C in its holiday tourney; Dutchmen decked Halifax in the first round before taking two-time reigning PIAA-A state champ Steel-High to OT in the finale. Rollers pulled that one out, 56-53, behind Malia Tate-DeFreitas, who poured in 42 points. With a short bench, A-C coach Jaime Walborn has been playing six kids; Alex Siebecker (16.2 points last five games), Elaina Wanamaker (14.0 points last five game, including a season-high 22 points against Steel-High) and Kayla Parks (11.8 points last four games) have all emerged as go-to scorers. Gas up the bus and pack snacks: A-C makes trip to Pequea Valley and to Lancaster Mennonite this week. … Columbia will be in action Monday with a non-league trip across the river to Northeastern York. Crimson Tide certainly could use some momentum; Columbia has dropped four games in a row after an encouraging 3-1 start. The Jenna Plastino/Megan Seibert combo continues to sizzle from the perimeter. Plastino has scored 23 or more points four times. She’s averaging 17.7 points in the last three games, including 27 points and three 3-pointers on December 21 vs. Pequea Valley. In the last six games, Seibert is averaging 14.3 points with 11 3-pointers. … Lancaster Catholic took the holiday off; just six games played for the Crusaders, who are 4-0 and large and in charge atop Section 4. Hands-down the team to beat in the L-L League - but I’m looking forward to the Lampeter-Strasburg game on January 15. And you know somewhere down the line that Manheim Township would love a stab at the Crusaders. Long way to go. … A fourth-place finish in York Suburban’s holiday tourney for Lancaster Mennonite, which has dropped five of six. But a gutsy 56-53 win over Lebanon Catholic on December 21 gave the Blazers some street cred in the Section 4 hunt. Thinking someone from the pack is going to rise up and give A-C and Lancaster Catholic some headaches. Lancaster Mennonite perhaps? … Lebanon Catholic followed up that loss to Lancaster Mennonite with a 53-36 setback to Elco in the first round of Lebanon’s holiday tournament. Beavers rallied with a third-place win over Twin Valley on Friday. Just nine kids on coach Patti Hower’s roster - and two of those kids never played organized basketball before this season, so she‘s been going basically with a 7-player rotation. Last five games for Lebanon Catholic’s Abby Shay: 17.2 points, including a season-best 22 points in the loss to Elco. … Two wins in a row for Pequea Valley, including an 11-point triumph over Octorara in the Spring-Ford Shootout. Braves’ second game in that tourney on Saturday vs. Oxford was snowed out. Waiting on a make-up date for that one. Couple of season-high efforts by Laura Stoltzfus (11 points) and Becky Andes (10 points) in PV’s win over Columbia on December 21. And Alyssa Hershey continues to lead the scoring parade, averaging 11.0 in the last three games.
THIS WEEK IN SECTION 4
WEDNESDAY
Annville-Cleona @ Pequea Valley
Lancaster Catholic @ Lebanon Catholic (6 p.m. tip)
Lancaster Mennonite @ Columbia
FRIDAY
Lancaster Catholic @ Pequea Valley
Annville-Cleona @ Lancaster Mennonite
Lebanon Catholic @ Columbia
SATURDAY
NON-LEAGUE
Lancaster Mennonite @ York Catholic, 4:30 p.m.
Bishop McDevitt @ Lancaster Catholic, 6 p.m.
Happy New Year!
JEFF REINHART: jreinhart@pennlive.com
ON TWITTER: @JeffReinhartPN