Bears Clinch Section Two

E-town clinched the Section Two title outright for the first time in 32 years last night with a 12-point win over Garden Spot. After beating CV on Friday night to clinch at least a share of the title, the section title was almost a formality for the Bears. They only had to win one of their final four games to take it outright, and they took care of business last night.

"I think the guys were really excited for the CV game and came out and played hard," said head coach Kevin Dolan. "I think they knew we only had to win one out of four, so they just had to come out and take care of business."

And that's what they did. Since their last loss (a 65-51 setback to Hempfield on Jan. 13), the Bears are 5-0 and have an average margin of victory of 20 points, including two straight 32-point wins. Think that loss didn't fire the Bears up?

Also, this warrants mentioning. E-town beat Garden Spot last night without two starters – Chad Styer and Bradley Garber. According to Dolan, Styer tweaked his injured knee in practice on Monday and was forced to miss the game. Dolan said that Styer could see some minutes tonight, but don't expect him to play much. Garber suffered a leg injury on Tuesday that forced him out too. Dolan didn't sound optimistic that Garber would play tonight against Ephrata, but he didn't rule it out completely either. Either way, those two should be fine for the playoffs.

Speaking of playoffs, here's an updated look at where teams stand in terms of the upcoming Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs.

Section One:
Hempfield has a two game lead here with three to play. They've already clinched a league playoff berth, and should finish as Section One champs.

Penn Manor trails Hempfield by two games and plays them tonight. I wouldn't put it past the Comets to win tonight, but even if they do, they need help to win the section. I see them getting in as the runner up.

It's really down to those two teams in Section One, as Penn Manor has a three game lead over McCaskey and Township.

Section Two:
The Bears are the only team to clinch their section outright so far, so they'll play the runner up of Section Four, once that race is decided.

The second spot from this section will likely go to 8-5 Conestoga Valley, which has a three game lead over the two teams in third place with three to play.

Section Three:
At 10-3 Cocalico has clinched a playoff berth and can lock up the section with one more win. They'll probably get Penn Manor in the first round of leagues.

The race for second is a bit more tight. Right now, Elco has second place locked up at 7-6, but lurking behind them at 6-7 are L-S and Donegal. Elco and Donegal play tonight in a huge game for playoff position.

Section Four:
Well, it's either going to be Lancaster Catholic or Lancaster Mennonite. Those two teams are both guaranteed playoff spots, but neither has clinched the section yet. Both are 11-2 in league play. Here is each team's remaining schedule:

Catholic: @ Pequea Valley, @ Columbia, @ Lebanon Catholic.
Mennonite: @ Lebanon Catholic, vs. Pequea Valley, @ Annville-Cleona.

Mennonite gets the advantage for now because they will have at least one home game down the stretch. But whoever comes out on top of this section will probably get CV in the first round. Whoever finishes second gets E-town.

The Bears haven't played Mennonite this year, but they did play Catholic back on Dec. 27 and beat them 72-52.

Definitely some interesting races going down to the wire here. When standings are final, I'll post the first round games for you and also a preview of whoever E-town ends up playing, Catholic or Mennonite.