Column Feb 3rd : LL’s ‘what ifs’

Written by: Dell Jackson on February 3, 2019

Last week…weather issues all over the place.

Dell checked out
West York/Penn Manor- twitter accounts only (@llhoops)
Crest/McCaskey – Makai Ortiz-Gray Video,  Coach Ramos, Wrap
LS/Lanc. Cath- Coach Berryman  LS wrap

Andy’s games:
Ephrata/CV
Eastern/Columbia

LL races…all unofficial info – disclaimer 🙂

Section 1…as seems the case this year, the Section continues to be topsy turvy. McCaskey beating Cedar Crest on a buzzer beater (60-58) after being down by a bunch, sets up a wild finish.

Crest….the Falcons head to Millersville to take on the dangerous Comets of Penn Manor on Monday Feb. 4th. The Comet took TWP into OT at TWP Friday only to lose by a 69-63 count. The Comets have been competitive especially at home (W’s over MCCaskey and Hempfield and close losses to Warwick (by 3) and Etown (by 1). Then the Falcons take on second place TWP at home Tuesday. With 2 wins this week the Falcons claim the Section 1 title. However, if the fall in either game, we could have a 2 or 3 way tie for first place. Stay tuned.

TWP…The Streaks came back from a big deficit vs PM Friday, and they are now one game back. TWP only plays one game this week- at Crest. The last time these two tangled, Crest won in OT 69-66 with the game being at TWP. A win by the Streaks could force a playoff game for the section title with Crest and/or McCaskey 🙂 A loss could knock the Streaks out of the LL’s.

McCaskey….named by LLhoops as the ‘comeback kids’ this week. The Tornado battled thru a slow start vs Crest and used Mr. Mo to gather a HUGE W vs Crest. McCaskey cleaned up their turnover issues from the first half, made some huge 3’s, and played the taller Falcons even on the boards in the second half, and of course a buzzer beater to tightened the Section 1 race. On Saturday, McCaskey fell behind Exeter only to make up 5 points in the last 50 seconds to claim another heart-challenging W. McCaskey has Ephrata at home Monday and travels to Hempfield on Tuesday for a renewal of an old-time tradition of Hempfield /McCaskey last game of the LL regular season. With 2 wins, the Tornado would get into the LL’s either by tying for first and a playoff game (TWP win) or earning 2nd slot with a (Crest W vs TWP). If TWP/McCaskey tie for 2nd place (TWP loses to Crest and McCaskey splits this week), the McCaskey would hold the tie-breaker vs the top team (having beaten Crest).

We could possibly have a three way tie …IF Crest splits this week -has to be a loss to TWP, and IF McCaskey wins both…In case of three way tie, the LL will have a playoff…one team getting bye into the final game. We will get the procedure out IF needed this week. 🙂
IF IF IF…:)

Section 5…
Lancaster Mennonite is currently leading the pack by a game. They play Columbia at home on Feb 5th. With a win LMHS would be the Section 5 champ. With a loss and Columbia wins vs P Valley, there would be a tie for first and the teams would playoff for the Section 5 Champion and the loser would slide to 2nd. If LMHS beats Columbia and LCDAy beats P Valley on Tuesday, this would create a 2 way tie for 2nd place. Columbia would hold the tiebreaker as LCDAy and Columbia split the regular season, but Columbia has beaten LMHS earlier. Therefore they would be the second place team. If Columbia wins 2 this week, the playoff game between them and LMHS would be either Wed. Or Thursday, with the loser playing Friday as part of the LL tournament. Got it? 🙂

LL playoffs…begin Friday with a boys doubleheader at Warwick. As of Feb 3rd, this is what we know…Sec 2 runner-up (Etown) will play Sec 4 runner-up (ELCO) at 6 pm. The second game will feature Section 3 runner-up Spot vs Section 5 runner up (Either Columbia, LMHS, or LCDay).

District 3 power points..We were informed that all regular games this week count towards the district power points/rankings. The LL playin/playoff games do NOT count. Finalized rankings will be out NEXT week. As usual, we have many LL teams in the mix. Check out the D3 power points here…Way tooooo many what ifs to get into the math this week. Some teams can get an unscheduled game in if they are not part of their leagues playoff structure.

Tweet me
“Back to back steal and lay ups! Red tornado lead 60-59! The place erupts!” @LancLebSports McCaskey over Exeter

“McCaskey stuns Cedar Crest with a last second shot to win it 60-58 in Lancaster Friday night” Great picts by Chris Knight @phojoknight

Video of McCaskey buzzer beater “What a comeback @McCaskeyBball @LLhoops #sctop10 buzzer beater over Cedar Crest! @LancasterSports”@mike_gingerich

LL hoops streaming…seems like we keep running into snags. This weeks game was cancelled late due to travel conditions. There are many moving pieces with the live-streaming including behind the scenes production issues. We thank everyone involved for their patience in out first campaign. We are trying to put some together for this week (with temps higher if should not depend on the weather 🙂 However, if ALL goes ok (no weather issues), we are scheduled to do the LL finals. Eric Thomas and Warren Goodling will be calling the game. We are still looking for more sponsors for this game. Email us at webmaster@llhoops.com if interested.

Enjoy a great week of Hoops—things heating up on all levels (HS- LL playoff begin, NCAA-Duke/Uva 2 and for our UNC fans- Duke UNC coming soon,  NBA- where will AD go? 🙂

~Dell Jackson

Follow LLhoops on Twitter @LLhoops