If the Lebanon boys' basketball team manages to qualify for the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs, it can look to Josh Spaulding's heroics Tuesday night as the turning point.

In a crucial Section Two contest between the Cedars and Cocalico - teams that were in a tie for second place in the section entering the night - Spaulding hit a layup at the buzzer to propel Lebanon to a dramatic 56-55 victory on the Cedars' home floor. The win puts Lebanon (10-9 overall, 7-7 Section Two) in the driver's seat for an L-L League playoff berth over Cocalico (10-10, 6-8), which beat Lebanon by five earlier in the season in Denver.

The Cedars, who have now won five straight games, were down 55-54 in the closing seconds when they inbounded the ball on the sideline and got it to Spaulding (15 points) in the paint. Spaulding drove to the basket and put up a contested shot in traffic that bounced off the rim before coming down through the basket for the winning points as the buzzer sounded.

Drey Murray and Evan Zimmerman (three 3-pointers) both scored 11 points for Lebanon, while Cocalico got seven 3-pointers and 25 points out of Tucker Lescoe.

Elsewhere Tuesday night:

Boys'

basketball

roundup

  • Northern Lebanon 69, Elco 52: In Myerstown, Sam Light continued his torrid scoring pace and inched closer to the 1,000-point plateau, amassing 29 points to lead the Vikings past the Raiders. NL (15-5 overall, 10-4 L-L) remained tied for second
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    place in Section Three with Lampeter-Strasburg, which easily disposed of Manheim Central on Tuesday night.

    Isaac Ray added 15 points and Richard Iwuagwu contributed 13 for the Vikings, while Cameron Paul scored 18 for Elco (4-16, 1-13), and Austen Davis netted 11. Light needs 25 points to reach 1,000 for his career.

  • Susquehanna Township 63, Palmyra 53: In Harrisburg, the Cougars nearly knocked off the powerful Indians again, but Susquehanna's 18-4 game-ending run ruined Palmyra's night. The Cougars (14-6 overall, 9-5 Keystone Division), who beat the Indians (19-1, 13-1) earlier in the month, 65-57, for their only loss to date, led 49-45 after three quarters but couldn't hold on down the stretch.

    Logan Stovall hit for a game-high 20 points for Palmyra, which also got 13 points from Adam Newhard and 10 from Chris Lynn.

  • Lancaster Mennonite 72, Annville-Cleona 50: In Lancaster, the Blazers clinched second place in Section Four and the L-L League playoff berth that goes with it with the win over the Little Dutchmen. Mennonite ran out to a 20-10 first-quarter lead and increased it to 41-22 by halftime.

    A-C (4-16, 2-12 L-L) put seven players in the scoring column, a list that was led by 12 points from both Paxson Hayes and Derrick Sanders.

  • Columbia 67, Lebanon Catholic 64: In Columbia, the Crimson Tide officially ended the Beavers' L-L League playoff hopes with this upset win. Catholic, which fell to 7-7 in Section Four and 13-7 overall, did get a monster game from Anthony Pletz, who drained eight 3-pointers and finished with 32 points.

    At the other end, Nick Noble scored 33 points for Columbia (9-11, 6-8).