Dell’s Column: Jan 2, 2018
Written by: Dell Jackson on January 2, 2018
Happy New Years!
As we enter 2018, the leagues get into full swing. With a few Saturday games, mixed in, we will pretty much be on the Tuesday/Friday schedule. LLhoops will try to post up the next weeks schedule on Sunday. With weather issues, we’ll try to update as soon as we find out cancelations and make-ups.
The week ahead..
Section 2 and 3…have 2 games on Tuesday. Andy is heading to MCentral to check out Cocalico and Manhiem Central (both a bit surprising at this point in the season).
Wed.: features LS @ LMHS in a NON-league game.
Friday is a full slate of LL games. Highlight games include : Hempfield @ Crest, M< Central at LS, and Northern Lebanon @ Lancaster Cath.
Saturday= games galore. Check out the schedules for times. Basically, the Battle of the Roses (Games at M. Central and W. York) involves LL teams vs. York County teams. Lebanon Valley host 3 of the LL teams (AC, Crest, and Lebanon) on Saturday as well.
Holiday Tournaments…past tense
Andy and I saw a bunch of games this past week. Andy wrote wraps (Andys Take) on all the games he saw. I (Dell’s column) took some pictures and re-capped some of the games on the podcasts part of LLhoops.com.
Double winners this weekend: Crest, Columbia, Ephrata, Hempfield, LMHS, Penn Manor, Lancaster Cath. and CV.
Thoughts on LL teams so far…
Section 1…
Hempfield is rolling. The team is like a big old snake (anaconda ?) in that they seem to slowly but surely take the air out of you. The exception being the fast pace win vs. TWP on Dec 20th (67-36)
Crest and TWP are tied for 2nd and both teams looking for more consistency in order to challenge Hempfield.
McCaskey is sitting one game out of the playoff race at this point.
CV is making a charge as they have won 3 in a row.
With Lebanon and Penn Manor having good showings this past week, there should be some hotly contested games in the near future for Section 1.
Section 2…
Who’s in first? Well, that would be Manhiem Central at 2-0 🙂 Most of the Section teams have 4 games at this point. MC had one re-schedule (Solanco) and are playing Jan 2 vs Cocalico. The Barons are led by Connor Hostettler (6’2″ sn 21ppg)
All of the teams in this section have something to offer. LS is 3-1 (lone loss to Etown) and Cocalico is lurking at 2-1 as well.
There will be interesting games in this section for the rest of the year. It looks to be the most balanced Section in the LL.
Section 3..
Who’s in first? Well that would be the Northern Lebanon Vikings (4-0) ..and Lancaster Cath (4-0)..and LMHS (3-0). We got some input on the Vikes earlier in the year when posting players to watch. NL features one of the best scoring tantum guards in the LL (Alex Yeager, 5’11” sn 17 ppg and Caleb Light 5’11” sn 16 ppg)
Lancaster Cath. does what it does: play great def and scores when and by whom the opportunities present itself. RJ Van Tash (6’2” sn), David Kamwanga (6’6” soph) and Johnny Besecker (5’11” jn) are all in low double figures.
Lancaster Mennonite is led by all everything John Gillespie (6’1” sn, 14 ppg)…
Rank me!
Jerry Shenk shares his expertise with LLhoops this season as he produces his LLhoops District 3 rankings. All teams are included regardless of classification. The LL has 4 teams in this weeks top 15 : Hempfield, LS, Crest, and Lancaster Catholic.
Mike Bullock covers the entire PIAA. Check it out here.
PIAA District 3 has their power points updated as well.
LL trivia
Last weeks
LL trivia: McCaskey has the most wins (785) since the LL started in 1972. Can you name the next TWO programs with the most W’s?
That answer would be Hempfield (732) and Lanc Cath. (706) coming into this season.
Zero, none, nada folks got that right.
Seems we need to give prizes out? : )..perhaps LLhoops lanyards? Twitter polls? A, B, C questions 🙂 ?
Trivia #3… tied to the New Year 🙂
Which boys’ team has the most LL championships in the 2010 decade?
Tweet(s) of the week
From Betty Crespo “The coolest thing about this extreme cold weather, is this snowflake stuck on our screen.”
From Falcon Nation 2018 “Shout out to @LLhoops for the sick key chains!!! He knows who is the best student section in the LL! #FalconNation #BirdGang”
Motivation quote of the week
From @sportsmotto
“Don’t worry about being cool. Worry about being the best. – Jeff Van Gundy”
Shout out to all followers, coaches, players, and advertisers (Horace Mann –Scott Lucas, Nationwide – Steve Lewis, John Lichty CPA, H & L Sports, PJ Whelihan’s, Liberty Belle Drones, Iron Valley Tubing, Kirk Neidermyer Photography). Please thank our advertisers when you use their services…and feel free to contact us if you want to help the cause 🙂
Enjoy the week!
~Dell Jackson
Follow LLhoops on Twitter @LLhoops
