Northern Lebanon, Cocalico girls set for showdown

Northern Lebanon-Cocalico II is at hand. And it looks like both of the combatants are ready.

The two top girls basketball teams in Section Three remained on a collision course for their showdown later this week with a pair of key victories on Tuesday night.

In Fredericksburg, Northern Lebanon (17-1, 11-1) kept its grip on the top spot with a 42-32 win over Donegal, while at the same time in Denver Cocalico held off Elco, 50-44 to stay a game back of the Vikings heading into Thursday night's battle at Northern Lebanon. Originally slated for Friday, the contest was moved to Thursday because of the impending snowstorm.

The Vikings did their part by racing to a 23-8 halftime lead and cruising home from there. Megan Brandt paced a balanced attack with 16 points, Liz Voight added 15, and Zoe Zerman contributed 11 points to the win.

For Cocalico, now 14-2 and 10-2, Lyndsay Engle's 12 points led a balanced effort that offset 18 points and six 3-pointers from Elco's Taylor Bossert and ended the Raiders' five-game losing streak.

Elco fell to 10-6 overall and 7-5 in Section Three.

Conestoga Valley 50, Lebanon 36: In Witmer, the Cedars had another rough night at the office, dropping their ninth straight to fall to 4-13 overall and 3-9 in Section Two.

Jasmine Turner led Lebanon in defeat with 10 points.

Palmyra 31, Mechanicsburg 22: In Mechanicsburg, the Cougars won a low-scoring affair with smothering defense and help from Molly Gundermann's 11 points.

Palmyra (9-7, 5-5 Mid-Penn Keystone) outscored the home team 19-10 in the second half after battling to a 12-12 halftime tie.