Conestoga Valley vs. Lancaster Catholic - L-L League girls basketball quarterfinal
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Lancaster Catholic’s Charlotte Albertini (21) sinks a three pointer against Conestoga Valley during first-half action of an L-L League girls basketball quarterfinal at Lancaster Catholic’s Berger Gymnasium on Saturday Feb. 8, 2025.

 CHRIS KNIGHT | Staff Photographer

 

It’s nitty-gritty time in the District 3 girls basketball playoffs.

One Lancaster-Lebanon League team has already locked up a trip to a title game. That would be Pequea Valley, which will be making its first trip to Hershey, a feather-in-the-cap moment for the Braves’ program.

Four L-L League squads are ready for semifinal showdowns. League champ Lebanon in 6A. Manheim Central — the surprise bunch out of the L-L League — in 5A. And Lancaster Catholic and Northern Lebanon in 4A.

And a pair of Commonwealth Christian Athletic Conference outfits that call Lancaster County home — Linville Hill Christian and upstart Lancaster County Christian — are in the Class 1A Final Four.

Pull up a chair. Here’s breaking it all down, plus some stats, notables, and plenty of links …

CLASS 6A

Lebanon’s time to shine? The Cedars already have Section 1 and L-L League titles. Can they add a third crown this week?

No. 3 Lebanon Cedars (24-3 overall) at No. 2 Dallastown Wildcats (25-2), semifinals, Monday at 7 p.m. — Two league champs squaring off here. Dallastown, which won York/Adams gold, eliminated Lebanon, the L-L champ, the last two years in districts, including a 40-34 victory in the semifinals last season. … Can Lebanon clear this hurdle? The Cedars finally got over the hump in the L-L League playoffs — hoisting the gold trophy for the first time since 1979 — and now they’ll take aim at a team that bounced them the last two years. Should be plenty of motivation in Cedars’ camp. … Winner goes to Thursday’s title game at 8 p.m. in Hershey’s Giant Center against the (4) Central Dauphin at (1) Red Lion survivor; CD beat Dallastown in last year’s finale. … Loser goes to the third-place game on Wednesday; all four semifinalists are heading to states. … Key kid: Lebanon senior catalyst Kailah Correa (19.5 points a game, 57 3-pointers) is up to 2,118 career points. Safe to say Dallastown can’t let her control the tempo; Wildcats also can’t let Cedars’ low-post stalwart Liliana Harrison (14.9; 1,114 career points) have her way on the glass.

Interview with Lebanon's Kailah Correa & Liliana Harrison at L-L Basketball Media Day

No. 7 Wilson Bulldogs (17-8) at No. 6 Manheim Township Blue Streaks (19-8), consolation semifinals, Monday at 7 p.m. — It’s the seventh time the L-L League runner-up Streaks and the Bulldogs will square off in a D3 playoff game; Wilson leads 4-2, and this is the first time they’ll knock heads in a D3 game since 2019. … Winner plays for fifth place and the loser plays for seventh place, on Wednesday. Both teams have already qualified for states. … The other consolation game on Monday is (8) Central York at (4) Mechanicsburg. … Key kid: Township senior wing Brooke Weaver (13.4, 32 3-pointers) is sitting on 799 career points for the Streaks. Wilson can’t let her get hot from the perimeter, or slither through the key for easy layups.

Interview with Manheim Township's Brooke Weaver at L-L Basketball Media Day

CLASS 5A

Hate to call Manheim Central a Cinderella. But the sixth-seeded Barons slayed No. 3 Northern York on the road, and find themselves in the Final Four. Hello, indeed. Now, can they finish the job?

No. 6 Manheim Central Barons (17-7) at No. 2 Middletown Blue Raiders (21-3), semifinals, Monday at 7 p.m. — Fifth district semifinals trip for the Barons, and their first since 2022. … Blue Raiders beat Central in a D3 first-round matchup back in 1989. The rematch — 36 years in the making — is for a spot in Thursday’s finale at 6:15 p.m. in Hershey’s Giant Center against the (4) West York at (1) York Suburban winner. Suburban in the defending champ. … Key kid: Central sophomore sniper Gianna Walters (11.9, 51 3-pointers) has 101 career treys — 24 games into her 10th-grade season. Middletown’s D must protect the arc.

Interview with Manheim Central's Emma Herman at L-L Basketball Media Day

CLASS 4A

Two L-L League teams — and Section 3 rivals — are in the semifinals here. Is Lancaster Catholic vs. Northern Lebanon III on the big stage in the cards? Stay tuned. Chalk bracket here, and anything can happen.

No. 4 Delone Catholic Squirettes (20-5) at No. 1 Lancaster Catholic Crusaders (21-4), semifinals, Tuesday at 7 p.m. — A classic matchup here; the Crusaders have been to (gulp) 30 D3 title games with a record 21 championships, and the Squirettes have been to 21 title games with seven crowns. … Sixth D3 playoff meeting between these blue-blood programs; Delone leads 3-2, including a championship win in McSherrystown in 2021 — when only the district champs across the state went to the PIAA playoffs. Remember that? … Winner goes to Friday’s title game at 4:30 p.m. in Hershey’s Giant Center. … Lancaster Catholic — the reigning state 3A champ — certainly knows its way around that place. … Key kid: Lancaster Catholic sophomore multi-purpose threat Nevaeh Kennedy (13.2, 17 3-pointers) is at 17.2 points in the last six games, including 17 points in the Crusaders’ defensive-minded 33-17 quarterfinal win over Eastern York.

Interview with Lancaster Catholic's Carleigh Anderson at L-L Basketball Media Day

No. 3 Wyomissing Spartans (20-4) at No. 2 Northern Lebanon Vikings (21-4), semifinals, Tuesday at 7 p.m. — Wyo toppled the Vikings 45-15 in the semifinals last year. The Final Four rematch is for a trip to Friday’s 4:30 p.m. championship game in Hershey’s Giant Center. Wyo is the defending champ. … Key kid: Wyo senior post Amaya Stewart — an Albany recruit — is at 19.8 points a game, tops in Berks County. She will test NL’s defenders, especially at the rim.

Interview with Northern Lebanon's Olivia Shutter at L-L Basketball Media Day

CLASS 3A

It’s a Braves new world in Kinzers.

No. 2 Pequea Valley Braves (22-2) vs. No. 1 Trinity Shamrocks (18-5), championship game, Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Hershey’s Giant Center — PV will play for a district title for the first time in program history; Trinity will be making its 29th championship appearance, and the Shamrocks have 17 titles. This is old hat for that crew. … Trinity is 5-0 against PV in D3 games, including semifinal wins in 2018 and 2022. … Winner gets the District 12 fifth-place finisher (in the lower West bracket) and the runner-up gets the District 12 third-place finisher (in the upper East bracket) in state-playoff openers on March 7. … Key kid: PV junior floor general Janae Patterson (19.9, 39 3-pointers) leads the L-L League in scoring, and she’s up to 1,183 career points. Can she control pace? Anxious to see how PV handles the big floor in the arena; will likely be some wide eyes. Whoever controls the butterflies best, wins.

Interview with Pequea Valley's Janae Patterson & Katie Stoltzfus at L-L Basketball Media Day

CLASS 2A

No L-L League or CCAC teams here — No. 3 Lancaster Country Day was eliminated in the semifinals — and the title game is set: No. 1 York Catholic vs. No. 2 Shalom Christian Academy is Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in Hershey’s Giant Center.

York Catholic will be appearing in its 20th D3 title game, and the Fighting Irish are angling for their 14th championship.

CLASS 1A

CCAC fever. Catch it.

No. 4 Greenwood Wildcats (18-6) vs. No. 1 Linville Hill Christian Warriors (22-2), semifinals, Monday at 7 p.m. at Pequea Valley — Linville Hill, fresh off its third straight CCAC title, is the defending champ in this bracket, and the Warriors get a shot at a Greenwood squad that knocked them out in the PIAA quarterfinals last March. … Greenwood, the lone public school in the 1A bracket, also beat Linville Hill in a district game in 2018; it was the Warriors’ first D3 appearance. … Winner goes to Thursday’s championship game at 2:45 p.m. in Hershey’s Giant Center. Loser plays for bronze on Thursday. … Key kid: Linville Hill junior arc shooter Courtney Good (11.1, 44 3-pointers) has 125 career treys. Greenwood can’t let her get hot.

Interview with Linville Hill's Desiree Smucker at L-L Basketball Media Day

No. 7 Lancaster County Christian School Lions (16-9) at No. 3 New Covenant Christian Flames (18-3), semifinals, Monday at 7 p.m. — Deepest district trip ever for LCCS, which beat NCC 40-33 in the CCAC quarterfinals earlier this month, so there is some familiarity here. … Second district semifinal trip for NCC — the Flames fell to Christian School of York in 2022 — which features dynamo Qynne Demler (23.0, 50 3-pointers), a sophomore sniper who needs 22 points for 1,000. … Winner goes to Thursday’s title game; loser dips to the third-place game on Thursday. All four semifinalists will go to the state playoffs. … Key kid: LCCS senior paint protector Alicia Fisher (18.1 points, 11.0 rebounds) has been a double-double machine. She’s also in the 1,000-point club.

Interview with Lancaster County Christian's Faith Urenovitch & Alicia Fisher at L-L Basketball Media Day

No. 9 Our Lady of the Cross Lions (14-8) at No. 4 Veritas Christian Academy Monarchs (20-5), consolation semifinals, Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Warwick — Do-or-die time for both teams; winner advances to the fifth-place game on Thursday and will go to states. The loser is done. … Key kid: OLC senior shooter Riley Hatzfeld can get buckets in bunches. She’s worth the price of admission alone. Veritas will need a big defensive effort here.

Interview with Veritas Academy's Avery Moses & Natalie Cochran at L-L Basketball Media Day

No. 6 Dayspring Christian Academy Warriors (17-7) at No. 2 Mount Calvary Christian Chargers (21-5), consolation semifinals, Tuesday at 7 p.m. — Ditto scenario here, with the winner getting a state bid and a trip to Thursday's fifth-place tilt, and the loser is eliminated. … CCAC runner-up Mount Calvary — which had its string of three D3 title-game trips in a row snapped — swept the season series, winning CCAC games 68-66 and 56-44. That second meeting was the night Mount Calvary junior standout Kylie Masters (18.8, 9 treys) joined the 1,000-point club. … Key kid: Mount Calvary senior sniper Kayley Barnes (7.8, 62 3-pointers) can shoot it from deep. She’ll keep Dayspring’s perimeter defenders busy.

Interview with Mount Calvary's Kylie Masters & Kathleen Smucker at L-L Basketball Media Day

Interview with Dayspring Christian Academy's Arissa Devens at L-L Basketball Media Day

TOP SCORERS

Here are the L-L League’s leading scorers: Pequea Valley’s Janae Patterson (19.9 points a game), Lebanon’s Kailah Correa (19.5), Annville-Cleona’s Kendall Cooper (19.4; season complete), Lancaster Country Day’s Sophia Sanchez (18.0; season complete), McCaskey’s Johanna Mills (17.6; season complete), Lebanon’s Liliana Harrison (14.9), Cocalico’s Kira Lehman (14.7; season complete); Elco’s Kenzie Eckhart (14.4; season complete).

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TOP SHOOTERS

Here are the L-L League’s leading 3-point makers: Lebanon’s Kailah Correa (57 treys), Lancaster Country Day’s Sophia Sanchez (54; season complete), Lebanon’s Olive Brandt (53), Cocalico’s Corrine Fair (51; season complete), Manheim Central’s Gianna Walters (51), Pequea Valley’s Katie Stoltzfus (48), Lampeter-Strasburg’s Anna Horner (45; season complete), Elco’s Maddie Stout (42; season complete).

NOTABLES

Lebanon junior Olive Brandt (885 career points) is 15 shy of joining the 900-club. If the Cedars can make a deep run, she’ll inch closer to 1K in her 11th-grade season. … Last seven games for Manheim Township’s Brooke Weaver: 13.3 points with 10 3-pointers. She’s been a stalwart during the Streaks’ playoff push. … Last four games for Lancaster Catholic vet Carleigh Anderson: 13.3 points with five treys; Crusaders will need her senior leadership moving forward. It’s been a MASH unit in Catholic’s camp this season. Will they use that as motivation moving forward? … Last eight games for Manheim Central’s Gianna Walters: 12.0 points with 17 3-pointers. With 101 career treys, she’s on pace for 200-plus triples. We’ll monitor. … Last five games for Northern Lebanon’s Olivia Shutter: 15.8 points with 11 3-pointers. The York College recruit it up to 1,281 career points for the Vikings. … Last seven games for Pequea Valley’s Janae Patterson: 18.6 points with 12 treys; PV has 143 3-pointers as a team, heading into the D3-3A finale.

TWITTER-X: @JeffReinhart77

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