Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

L-L GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Playoff set for Cocalico, Ephrata

The Lancaster-Lebanon League regular season ended in girls' basketball Tuesday night, but one thing is still unsettled.

The Section Two title.

Entering the night tied for the section lead, Cocalico (13-3 L-L, 17-4 overall) and Ephrata (13-3, 17-5) both won to force a one-game, winner-takes-all playoff for the Section Two crown Friday at 7 p.m. at Garden Spot.

Getting a game-high 15 points from senior forward Sarah Haddon and 12 more from senior center Sarah Hoffer, Ephrata beat visiting Lebanon, 42-32.

Leading 30-25 after three quarters, the Mountaineers put it away by outscoring Lebanon (6-10, 9-13) 12-5 down the stretch.

Meanwhile, getting a game-high 13 points from junior forward Marissa Gingrich, Cocalico avenged an earlier loss to Solanco with a 45-34 victory over the Golden Mares (10-6, 13-9) in Quarryville.

The Eagles, who dropped a 33-29 decision to Solanco in the teams' first meeting Jan. 9, managed to hold the Golden Mares' 6-foot-2 senior center Gillian Glackin -- a 1,000-point club member and the league's leading scorer -- to a season-low eight points, 13 below her 21.1 average.

Cocalico and Ephrata split during the regular season, beating one another on the road.

The Eagles earned a 46-43 victory in Ephrata on Jan. 7, before the Mounts made amends with a 38-28 decision last Friday in Denver.

Also settled Tuesday night was the chase for Section Three's final L-L playoff berth.

Entering the night with a one-game lead over Elco (11-5, 13-8), Northern Lebanon (11-5, 14-8) dropped a 61-32 road decision to Lampeter-Strasburg, while the Raiders claimed a 47-36 victory over Donegal (2-14, 4-15) Tuesday night in Myerstown.

Elco was awarded the section's final playoff bid based on the first tiebreaker criteria (head-to-head), having swept Northern Lebanon -- 44-43 on Jan. 4 and 44-37 on Jan. 29 -- during the regular season.

With the Section Two title race still unsolved, the brackets for the L-L playoffs, which begin with next Tuesday's 7 p.m. semifinals, are still in limbo.

Solidified at this point is that Section One champion Manheim Township (16-0 L-L, 19-2 overall) will host Section Four runner-up Annville-Cleona (11-5, 14-8) and Section Four champ Lancaster Catholic (16-0, 21-0) will host Section One runner-up Hempfield (12-4, 16-5).

The winner of Friday's playoff between Cocalico and Ephrata will host Section Three runner-up Elco on Tuesday in the quarterfinals, while the loser will travel to play Section Three champion Lampeter-Strasburg (15-1, 20-1).

Next Tuesday's quarterfinal winners advance to the 7 p.m. semifinals Feb. 14 at Warwick and Conestoga Valley.

The L-L final is set for 1 p.m. Feb. 16 at Manheim Township.