Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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Winter Sports

Crusaders Back to Pinnacle


Lancaster Catholic’s Lancaster-Lebanon League redemption tour is over.

One year after falling to Hempfield in the league championship game, snapping a glorious three-year run of tournament titles, the Crusaders earned their 16th girls basketball crown Thursday night, dominating upstart Ephrata 58-43 before a packed house at Manheim Township in Neffsville to get back in the winner’s circle.

“This one feels different because we had it taken away from us last year,” Catholic coach Charlie Detz said. “Last year we didn’t have that killer instinct. So, this one feels great to get it back.”

Catholic (21-4 overall) took the Mountaineers’ first-quarter punch, answering the bell with a game-changing 11-0 blitz to open the second quarter. The Section Four-champ Crusaders never flinched after that, keeping Ephrata at bay the rest of the way.

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Ephrata Escapes in Overtime


The prologue to Tuesday’s furious drama looked benign at the time: Ephrata star Jasmine Griffin picking up her fourth foul early in the fourth quarter of her team’s Lancaster-Lebanon League playoff semifinal with Penn Manor.

That led to a furious rally by the Comets, followed by the story’s climax: Brynn Adams of the Mounts drilling a tying 3 a half-instant before the regulation buzzer to tie the game at 35 and force overtime.

After all that, the extra period was a relative anticlimax, the only points coming when Ephrata’s Kamyrn Andes banked in a short jumper with 11.8 seconds left to give the Mounts a 37-35 win and a berth opposite Lancaster Catholic in Thursday’s league championship game.

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Lady Mounts into Quarter Finals


Two games. Two spots in the Lancaster-Lebanon League girls basketball quarterfinals up for grabs. And a couple of really solid matchups that weren’t settled until the fourth quarter.

The league’s play-in games were contested Thursday night at Warwick, with Section Two co-champ Ephrata and Section Three cochamp Lampeter- Strasburg picking up hard-fought victories.

The Mountaineers broke away late from Section Four runner-up Elco for a 46-38 win in Thursday’s opener.

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Mounts Keep Season Alive


The Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs are probably all that’s left for Ephrata’s girls basketball team.

The Mounts pushed the ride a step further Friday with a 36-33 win over Manheim Central in a league quarterfinal game at Doe Run Elementary School, which is Central’s home gym this winter.

“We’re just happy to be playing in these playoffs,’’ said Ephrata coach Brian Cerullo. “We dug such a big hole for ourselves early (this season).’’

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TITLE TIME FOR MOUNTS


Ephrata’s Chad Jones admits that his mind was on little other than Thursday’s big Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two swim meet at Elizabethtown.

Both the boys and girls competitions had championship implications. With wins, the Mountaineers would wrap up the section titles. Wins by the Bears would clinch at least a tie for the crown.

“All week long, that’s all I’ve been thinking about,” he said. “Monday night in the living room I told my mom, ‘E-town Thursday, E-town Thursday.’ It’s all I’ve been thinking about and it paid off.”

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