Eleven for the big show. Six Lancaster-Lebanon League teams and five Commonwealth Christian Athletic Conference squads have earned slots in the PIAA girls basketball playoffs. The brackets became official on Sunday. One team will go in as a District 3 champion, and that’s Linville Hill Christian in Class 1A. One squad will go in as a reigning state champ, and that’s Lancaster Catholic. Only the Crusaders are in a different bracket this time around; they won gold in 3A last year, and now they’re up in 4A. L-L champ Lebanon and league runner-up Manheim Township made the 6A bracket; Manheim Central is in the 5A field; Northern Lebanon joins Lancaster Catholic in 4A; and Pequea Valley is dancing in 3A. Class 1A has plenty of CCAC flavor, with Linville Hill, Lancaster County Christian, Veritas Christian Academy, Mount Calvary Christian and New Covenant Christian in the bracket. Class 6A : On Friday, District 3 third-place finisher Lebanon (25-4 overall) will host District 1 sixth-seed Conestoga at 7 p.m., and District 3 eighth-place finisher Manheim Township (19-10) will gas up the bus and hit the turnpike to Pittsburgh to take on WPIAL champ Upper St. Clair at 6 p.m. Class 5A : On Saturday, District 3 fourth-seed Manheim Central (17-9) will head to Luzerne County to face Crestwood — which goes 6-1, 6-0, 6-0, 5-11 in the paint — the freshly minted District 2 champ, at 2 p.m. Class 4A : On Saturday, District 3 runner-up Lancaster Catholic (22-5) will host District 12 third-seed Lansdale Catholic at 2:30 p.m., and District 3 third-seed Northern Lebanon (22-5) will play at District 4 champ Central Columbia in Bloomsburg at 1 p.m. FYI : Lansdale Catholic KO’d Lancaster Catholic in the first round three years ago. Class 3A : On Friday, District 3 runner-up Pequea Valley (22-3) will host District 12 third-seed Masterman at 7 p.m. There are no local teams in the Class 2A bracket. Class 1A : On Saturday, District 3 champ Linville Hill (24-2) will take on District 4 third-seed Benton at Garden Spot at 1:30 p.m.; District 3 fourth-seed Lancaster County Christian (16-11) will square off against District 1 champ Sacred Heart Academy at Lower Merion at 3 p.m.; District 3 sixth-seed Veritas (21-6) will play at District 4 champ Lourdes Regional at 4 p.m.; District 3 fifth-seed Mount Calvary (23-5) will play at District 5 champ Northern Bedford at 4 p.m.; and District 3 runner-up New Covenant (19-4) out of Lebanon gets District 1 runner-up Delco Christian. That site and time is listed as TBA. With a win, Lebanon could be staring at a rematch against District 1 powerhouse Perkiomen Valley in the second round. PV beat the Cedars 60-45 back on Dec. 5 in a must-see nonleague clash. With a win, Lancaster Catholic could potentially get District 6 champ Forest Hills in the second round; they’ve met in states before. The good news for the Crusaders: They’re in the lower West bracket, with heavyweights like Wyomissing, Neumann-Goretti, Scranton Prep, Allentown Central Catholic and Delone Catholic all slugging it out in the top East bracket. With wins, Linville Hill and Lancaster County Christian would meet in the second round. Ditto for Mount Calvary and New Covenant Christian. Plenty more previews and predictions coming up this week. Stay tuned. Talk about plenty of practice time. Most teams will have been off a full week — or more — before the PIAA openers on Friday and Saturday. They’ll get even more time off moving forward. Friday’s winners will play again on March 11 in the second round and then March 14 in the quarterfinals. And then, a full week off before the semifinals on March 21. And then another full week off before championship weekend in Hershey’s Giant Center. Saturday’s winners will play again on March 12 in the second round and then March 15 in the quarterfinals. And then, a full week off before the semifinals on March 22. And then another full week off before championship weekend. That’s two games in two weeks for the Final Four combatants in each bracket. That’s a long time off in basketball season. L-L League leading scorers through the District 3 playoffs: Pequea Valley’s Janae Patterson (19.8 points a game), Annville-Cleona’s Kendall Cooper (19.4), Lebanon’s Kailah Correa (19.1), Lancaster Country Day’s Sophia Sanchez (18.0), McCaskey’s Johanna Mills (17.6), Lebanon’s Liliana Harrison (15.0), Cocalico’s Kira Lehman (14.7), Elco’s Kenzie Eckhart (14.4), Lancaster Catholic’s Nevaeh Kennedy (13.7), Hempfield’s Nevaeh Ramirez (13.6), Elco’s Maddie Stout (13.5), Lancaster Country Day’s Destiny Lewis (13.4), Cedar Crest’s Kaila Francis (13.2), Northern Lebanon’s Olivia Shutter (13.2), Manheim Township’s Brooke Weaver (13.0). L-L League leading 3-point shooters through the District 3 playoffs: Lebanon’s Kailah Correa (62), Lebanon’s Olive Brandt (55), Lancaster Country Day’s Sophia Sanchez (54), Manheim Central’s Gianna Walters (52), Cocalico’s Corrine Fair (51), Pequea Valley’s Katie Stoltzfus (48), Lampeter-Strasburg’s Anna Horner (45), Manheim Township’s Ciniya Robinson (43), Elco’s Maddie Stout (42), Pequea Valley’s Janae Patterson (40), Northern Lebanon’s Olivia Shutter (40). L-L League active career scoring leaders heading into the PIAA playoffs: Lebanon senior Kailah Correa (2,144 points — No. 7 in L-L history), Northern Lebanon senior Olivia Shutter (1,309), Pequea Valley junior Janae Patterson (1,199), Lebanon senior Liliana Harrison (1,148), Lebanon junior Olive Brandt (901), Manheim Township senior Brooke Weaver (812), Lancaster Catholic senior Carleigh Anderson (747). … Three L-L League coaches that will steer their squads into the state playoffs recently hit milestone win numbers: Lancaster Catholic’s Charlie Detz (277) and Northern Lebanon’s Ken Battistelli (275) are in the 275-win club, and Lebanon’s Jaime Walborn (104) is in triple-digits while guiding the Cedars. * Lebanon is 17-1 in its last 18 games, dating back to Jan. 4. That loss was a gut-punch 37-35 setback at Dallastown in the D3-6A semifinals. It’s the third year in a row the Wildcats KO’d Lebanon in the D3 winner’s bracket. … The Cedars bounced back with a 56-50 win over Central Dauphin in the third-place game. That other loss before the 17-game W tear? CD, 54-50, in Harrisburg, back in early January. So the Cedars got some revenge in that one. … Lebanon has 33 3-pointers in seven postseason games — 14 by Kailah Correa , who is at 15.9 points a game over that clip. … Lebanon’s four losses (Perkiomen Valley, Cardinal O’Hara, Central Dauphin, Dallastown) are against state qualifiers. * Manheim Township heads into states on a 3-game slide, with setbacks against Lebanon (in the D3-6A quarterfinals) and then to Wilson and Central York in the consolation bracket. … The Blue Streaks (19-10) and Lebanon (25-4) have both played 29 games — the most by any L-L League team through districts. … In seven postseason games by Township’s Brooke Weaver : 11.3 points with nine 3-pointers. * Manheim Central had its 6-game winning streak snapped by Middletown in the D3-5A semifinals, and then the Barons fell to West York in the third-place game by a 56-50 count in OT. … In four postseason games, Central’s Maddie Gehman is at 11.5 points with four treys, and sophomore sniper Gianna Walters is up to 102 career 3-pointers — on pace for 200-plus treys in her career. Only two L-L girls players have ever reached that mark. We’ll monitor. * Lancaster Catholic is 6-2 in its last eight games heading into states. In those eight games, Nevaeh Kennedy is at 20.6 points with five treys. Not sure where the Crusaders would be without her, with three kids out with ACL tears — which is mind-boggling — and another in dry dock in concussion protocol. … Catholic’s five losses (Central Dauphin, Manheim Central, Wyomissing, twice to Lebanon) are against state qualifiers. * Northern Lebanon’s five losses are against PIAA qualifiers: Wyomissing, Manheim Township, Lebanon and twice vs. Lancaster Catholic in Section 3 tilts. … Vikings’ vets Kasey Weimer (692) and Hayley Sheroky (640) are both closing in on 700 career points; they’re both juniors. * Pequea Valley is 1-2 in its last three games, but the Braves went to the Giant Center for a district title-game for the first time in program history, and they’re heading back to states. … PV will play its final game in the school’s on-campus gym on Friday vs. Masterman. The Braves will play in their new facility across the way in the new middle school complex next season. … Two of PV’s three losses (Manheim Township, Trinity) are against state qualifiers. * Linville Hill, Lancaster County Christian, Veritas and Mount Calvary are all making return trips to states … Last March, Linville Hill beat Southern Fulton and Lourdes Regional before falling to Greenwood in the quarterfinals. … Lancaster County Christian fell to Mountain View in the first round. Mountain View then KO’d Veritas in the second round, after Veritas picked up its first PIAA victory with a win over Montgomery Christian. … Mount Calvary received a first-round forfeit win before falling to St. John Neumann in the second round.
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