BY JEFF FALK

LEBANON – Attention to details.

It’s what separates mature teams from young teams. It’s what separates good teams from bad teams. And in the playoffs, it’s what separates winners from losers.

On Tuesday night, in the quarterfinals of the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs,what is normally a strength for the Lebanon girls’ basketball team became a weakness, and ultimately led to its demise. Playing on the their home floor for the final time this season, the Cedars were beaten to loose balls, gave up way too many offensive rebounds and were guilty of turnovers at key moments, during a 40-39 loss to Cocalico.

In a game which neither team led by more than six points,Cocalico took the lead for good, at 37-36, with 1:25 remaining. Lebanon still  had a chance to win it, but gave up, not one, but two offensive rebounds out of missed one-and-one Eagle free throws and lost the handle on a dribble, all with less than 46 seconds to go.

Cocalico’s resulting 40-36 lead made Cedar Maddy Hartman’s banked desperation three-pointer with a second remaining almost irrelevant.

The loss eliminated the now 17-6, L-L Section Two champion Cedars. Lebanon High’s next action will come on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Red Lion, in the opening round of the District Three Class AAAA tournament.

Cocalico, the runner-up out of Section Three and now 17-7, will meet Cedar Crest, a 68-62 winner over Lancaster Catholic,  in Thursday’s semifinal round of the Lancaster-Lebanon playoffs, at 7 p.m. at Warwick High School.

“I might have fouled early,” said Lebanon head coach Ben Brewer of the tense final moments. “But we weren’t stopping them. I was fine with them making one foul shot, but when they get the rebound, that’s huge. And then it happened again.

“But I go back to the beginning of the game,” continued Brewer. “We had eight or nine turnovers in the first half. I don’t care how bad we’re shooting the ball, take away half of those turnovers and we’re going to get points somewhere.”

After the Eagles had carried a 31-25 advantage into the final stanza, Lebanon held them scoreless for the first 3:26 of the period and pulled to within a point of the lead on three points from senior Brittany Ulrich and a pair of charity tosses from freshman Alexis Hill. Two minutes later, the Cedars took a 34-33 edge on a Jayden Shellehamer drive, and then a 36-35 margin on a Hill stick back.

“It was a great basketball game,” said Brewer. “You want to be part of a great game, no matter what. I thought both teams played their hearts out. The little things cost us – rebounds, free throws, turnovers. We lost by one and didn’t make any shots.

“It’s disappointing that in the second half, on the defensive end, they out worked us,” Brewer continued. “They out worked us a little bit to get some rebounds. They out worked us a little bit to get some loose balls.”

Down two at the break, the Cedars received baskets from Hill and senior Alicia Haitos out of the locker room, and when Ulrich nailed a trey from the top of the key 2:39 into the second half, Lebanon had itself a 23-20 lead. But Lebanon suffered through a scoring drought over the final 3:06 of the third period, and Cocalico recorded the final six points.

“I pulled Brittany (Ulrich) and Alicia (Haitos) aside before the game and told them, ‘You’re going to have great memories of  playing here’,” said Brewer. “‘You could have a better one by walking away with a win’. I wanted them leaving here with a fond memory.

“Our offensive struggles, they were big,” added Brewer. “We created the shots we wanted. Brittany got into the lane a bunch of times. And the ‘threes’… Some games you’re not going to make them. That was fun, though. That was the game I expected it to be, just not the result I wanted.”

With a dozen points, Ulrich was the only Lebanon scorer to reach double digits. Eagle inside player Emily White led all scorers with 17 points.

The Cedars made good on only four of nine free throw attempts.

“In our first game this year, Brittany got a technical,” said Brewer. “That kid has more fire in her than anyone I’ve ever coached. She’s learned to channel that in a positive direction. She’s pretty stoic, whether it’s good or bad.”

In the middle of the second quarter, Lebanon scored six points in less than a minute – on two drives from Ulrich and a jumper from Jasmine Turner – to grab a 14-13 lead.

“I knew a lot about them,” said Brewer of the former Section Two foe. “Up until this year, we played them twice every season. I knew they were going to come in with a chip on their shoulder. They wanted to pay us back. We knew they were going to bring it, and they brought it. Our girls played their hearts out, like they always do.”

Haitos used her left hand to beat the first-quarter buzzer and forge an eight-all tie. But the Cedars went without a point for the first 4:04 of the second period.

“We wanted to contain penetration on the perimeter,” said Brewer. “They (the Eagles) do a great job of interior passing. I thought we did a good job of doing that, until the last four or five possessions.”

Cocalico (40)

Lebanon (39)