Lady Bears come up just short

What a late season run it was for the EAHS girls basketball team. After a loss to Cedar Crest back on Jan. 20, the Bears found themselves sitting at 6-11 overall and 3-8 in league play, needing to win out to have a shot at a postseason berth.

And they darn near made it.

E-town reeled off four straight wins after the Cedar Crest loss, beating Conestoga Valley, Garden Spot and Section Two front runners Ephrata and Solanco, setting up a one-game, win or go home scenario last night against Lebanon. Had the Bears won, they would have made the District Three playoffs. Unfortunately, E-town came up a little short, falling to the Cedars 49-40 to end their season.

But in terms of growth for the future, E-town shot up 7 inches this year. The Bears were 2-22 overall last year and 0-16 in league play. This year, with virtually the same team (minus senior Jen Dunkelberger and plus outstanding freshman Sara Fairbanks), E-town went 10-12 overall and 7-9 in league play and were right in the Section Two race in the last week of the season. What a great job by this young team. I know head coach Mike Pericci and his staff are extremely proud of them, and they should be proud of themselves.

Next year, E-town will return nearly its entire team again. They will lose Becca Bigler, though, who has been the leader of this group all year. Fifteen players saw varsity time this year for E-town, one was a senior (Bigler), 3 were juniors, 3 were freshmen and 8 were sophomores. These Bears will be tough next year, write it down.

Also, if anyone is interested in checking out any of the L-L League girls playoffs, Jeff Reinhart has the skinny on those brackets. You can read all about that by clicking here.