Lady Mounts into Quarter Finals

Two games. Two spots in the Lancaster-Lebanon League girls basketball quarterfinals up for grabs. And a couple of really solid matchups that weren’t settled until the fourth quarter.

The league’s play-in games were contested Thursday night at Warwick, with Section Two co-champ Ephrata and Section Three cochamp Lampeter- Strasburg picking up hard-fought victories.

The Mountaineers broke away late from Section Four runner-up Elco for a 46-38 win in Thursday’s opener.

The Raiders were within two points with 4:32 to play, but the Mountaineers (14-9) iced the game at the foul line, going 11-for-13 from the stripe in the fourth quarter to fend off Elco.

Jasmine Griffin was Ephrata’s hero. The junior floor general poured in 27 points, including 7 of 9 at the foul line down the stretch. She also beat the second-quarter buzzer with a layup for a 25-18 halftime lead, and she beat the third-quarter horn with another driving bucket for a 35-29 lead.

Both teams were in win-and-advance mode Thursday; with the loss, Elco saw its season come to a close at 10-13 overall, as the Raiders will not make the District Three Class 4A bracket.

Ephrata, which is on the outside looking in at a 6A invite, salvaged its season, and will play Saturday at 7 p.m. at Section Three cochamp Manheim Central in the quarterfinals.

“It’s really nice to win a playoff game,” said Griffin, who is up to 986 career points. “Anything can happen in the playoffs, and we’re going to give everyone our best shot.”

Kailey Eckhart scored 17 points for Elco. The senior finished her career with 964 points for the Raiders.

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