BY JEFF FALK

ANNVILLE – Pretty sure Jerry Reed was referring to his concept of physical attraction, climate-related weather changes or some dice game in a back alley, and not basketball. But what he was crooning about in 1971 could’ve certainly applied to last night’s Lancaster-Lebanon Section Three-Four crossover clash between the Northern Lebanon and Annville-Cleona girls’ basketball teams.

‘When you’re hot, you’re hot. And when you’re not, you’re not.”

On Monday night at A-CHS, the Vikings shot the ball very well and made a high percentage of their attempts, especially in the first half, and their offensive efficiency and proficiency propelled them to a 54-20 triumph. For the Little Dutchmen, well, not so much.

Northern Lebanon’s hot shooting was as much a result of offensive execution as it was taking its fundamantal time, squaring shoulders, stroking the basketball and following through. On the defensive end, the Vikings’ man-to-man made Annville-Cleona shooters feel uncomfortable, and at times, rushed.

And while the Vikings certainly cooled off in the second half,  when the outcome was in hand, A-C never ever heated up.

Speaking of hot, the victory was Northern Lebanon’s fourth straight and moved it to 11-4 overall and 6-3 in Section Three. Annville-Cleona slid to 3-10 on the season and 2-7 in Section Four of the L-L.

As part of the Little Dutchmen’s Christmas Tournament, the Vikings had beaten the Little Dutchmen 42-31 on December 30 of last year.

“We shot it excellent,” said Northern Lebanon head coach Kenny Battistelli. “A lot of it had to do with the fact that we were patient, and took our shots in rhythm. When we shoot some of the same shots we shoot in practice, they seem to go in.

“I think for the most part, when you’re shooting the ball well, it’s because you’re running your offense like you do in practice,” continued Battistelli. “We moved the (A-C) zone enough to get our shot. When we pass it on time and shoot it on time, they (his players) could almost make it blindfolded.”

The Vikings seemingly made everything they attempted during a first quarter in which they scored 18 points. Sophomore point guard Zoe Zerman and senior sniper Morgan Phillips each drained a trey and knocked down a pair of free throws during a session that ended with their side up 12.

But Northern Lebanon’s defense wasn’t bad either, as it held Annville-Cleona to a mere two points over the final 5:38 of the opening period, turning a 6-4 edge into an 18-6 bulge.

“I thought on the offensive end, we did a nice job of executing,” said Battistelli. “Our focus was where it needed to be. We talked about playing at our rhythm, at our speed.

“When we want to go fast, we need to go fast,” added Battistelli. “When we want to be patient, we need to be patient. Sometimes we start a first half by scoring two points in 12 minutes. I like the fact that we didn’t do that and we played the whole game.”

It was more of the same for Northern Lebanon in the second quarter.

Phillips and Marissa Yingst nailed treys to open the period, and extend the Vikings’ advantage to 24-6. Then Northern Lebanon ended the half on a 10-2 spurt – courtesy of six points from Hannah Reese, a Phillips jumper and two charity tosses from Zerman – to take a 34-10 cushion to the locker room.

“Actually, we don’t know them all that well,” said Battistelli of the Little Dutchmen. “We scouted them and played them at the Christmas tournament, but Coach (Roger) Hayes is new. With him, you don’t know what kind of wrinkles he has for us, what he’s got in his bag of tricks. We didn’t know how they would do things like defend our screens.

“I told our kids I’m proud of them,” Battistelli added. “Our focus was where it needed to be. We came here and took care of things.”

Playing without active inside presence Megan Brandt, who was nursing a bum ankle, Northern Lebanon got 16 points from Zerman, 14 from Phillips and ten from Reese. The Vikings made good on 14 of their 17 free throw attempts, outscored the Little Dutchmen 12-3 from distance and surrendered only eight field goals and a mere five foul shots.

The 20 points that Northern Lebanon surrendered tied a season-low.

“There’s plenty of credit to go around,” said Battistelli. “Everybody has stepped up. And Zoe (Zerman) has played better on an almost game-to-game basis. When she’s calm and cool, it’s easy to get the offense flowing. She was calm and cool tonight.

“For not having Brandt, we did a nice job defensively,” Battistelli continued. “People don’t realize how much she means to our defense. We had some breakdowns. We gave up some offensive rebounds. But we expect to play good defense. If we don’t, it’s pretty glaring.”

Northern Lebanon reserve Jenna Wentling used a lay-in to play ‘beat the buzze’ at the end of the third quarter. And when Phillips drained a couple of charity tosses to open the final stanza, the Vikings had stretched their lead to 48-18.

“I think we’re improving,” said Battistelli. “I thought tonight, from my perspective, it was an extremely important important game. We did lose Brandt, and we could’ve been tentative, we could’ve been sloppy. I think this team is learning to be consistent. We’re starting to take care of things, instead of hoping for things.”

 

Northern Lebanon (54)

Annville-Cleona (20)

• Team	1	2	3	4	Final
  Northern Lebanon	18	16	12	8	54
  Annville-Cleona	6	4	8	2	20

 Lancaster-Lebanon League

 Section Three Standings

 

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
Donegal	9-0	12-2
Cocalico	7-2	9-4
Northern Lebanon	6-3	11-4
Lampeter-Strasburg	6-3	8-6
Elco	3-6	4-9
Manheim Central	3-6	4-9

Lancaster-Lebanon League

 Section Four Standings 

 

TEAM	LEAGUE	OVERALL
Lancaster Catholic	9-0	10-2
Lebanon Catholic	4-5	9-6
Pequea Valley	4-5	7-8
Annville-Cleona	2-7	3-10
Columbia	1-8	1-14
Lancaster Mennonite	0-9	0-12

 

Northern Lebanon 2014-15 Results

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	RESULT
12/05	Pine Grove	7:00 PM	W 41-30
12/06	Palmyra	7:00 PM	L 26-64
12/10	Tulpehocken	7:30 PM	W 39-27
12/12 *	Pequea Valley	7:30 PM	W 43-20
12/15 *	@Lebanon Catholic	7:30 PM	W 50-33
12/17 *	Lancaster Mennonite	7:30 PM	W 54-38
12/19 *	@Donegal	7:30 PM	L 26-47
12/23 *	Cocalico	7:30 PM	L 38-53
12/29 #	Halifax	4:00 PM	W 61-50
12/30 #	@Annville-Cleona	6:00 PM	W 42-31
01/02 *	@Lampeter-Strasburg	7:30 PM	L 36-48
01/03	Hamburg	4:30 PM	W 44-29
01/06 *	Elco	7:30 PM	W 38-32
01/09 *	@Manheim Central	7:30 PM	W 41-25
01/12 *	@Annville-Cleona	7:30 PM	W 54-20

 

Annville-Cleona 2014-15 Results

 

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	RESULT
12/05	Tri-Valley	4:00 PM	L 28-37
12/06	@Hamburg	4:00 PM	L 40-45
12/12 *	@Cocalico	7:30 PM	L 31-57
12/15 *	Lampeter-Strasburg	7:30 PM	L 40-56
12/17 *	@Donegal	7:30 PM	L 26-59
12/19 *	Lebanon Catholic	7:30 PM	L 43-53
12/23 *	@Pequea Valley	7:30 PM	L 40-54
12/29 #	Littlestown	6:00 PM	W 33-32
12/30 #	Northern Lebanon	6:00 PM	L 31-42
01/02 *	Columbia	7:30 PM	W 61-43
01/06 *	Lancaster Mennonite	7:30 PM	W 43-29
01/09 *	@Lancaster Catholic	7:30 PM	L 11-57
01/12 *	Northern Lebanon	7:30 PM	L 20-54

 

District Three

Class AAA Power Rankings

AAA School W L T Rating

1 West York Area 9 0 0 .806937
2 West Perry 11 0 0 .794125
3 Berks Catholic 8 2 0 .738458
4 Greencastle Antrim 10 1 0 .737322
5 Bishop McDevitt 5 3 0 .723172
6 Fleetwood Area 7 2 0 .714856
7 Donegal 9 2 0 .686644
8 Middletown Area 8 4 0 .681903
9 Conrad Weiser 8 3 0 .681373
10 Northeastern 7 3 0 .664122
11 York Suburban 7 3 0 .663951
12 Lancaster Catholic 7 2 0 .662415
13 Lampeter Strasburg 7 4 0 .648447
14 Susquenita 7 2 0 .626787
15 Northern Lebanon 8 4 0 .616804
16 East Pennsboro 5 5 0 .590140
17 Eastern York 5 5 0 .586916
18 Boiling Springs 6 5 0 .575624
19 James Buchanan 6 5 0 .566258
20 Dover Area 4 6 0 .540645
21 Eastern Lebanon County 4 6 0 .478358
22 Pequea Valley 5 6 0 .465541
23 Susquehannock 3 8 0 .459605
24 Schuylkill Valley 3 6 0 .437954
25 Big Spring 2 6 0 .435123
26 Milton Hershey 2 5 0 .433053
27 Manheim Central 3 7 0 .424926
28 Kennard Dale 3 8 0 .420769
29 Susquehanna Township 1 10 0 .419069
30 Gettysburg Area 2 9 0 .417039
31 Bermudian Springs 3 7 0 .392744
32 Northern York 2 8 0 .368905
33 Hamburg Area 3 8 0 .360631
34 Littlestown 2 9 0 .336624
35 Twin Valley 1 9 0 .306144

 

District Three

 Class AA Power Rankings

AA School W L T Rating
1 York Catholic 10 2 0 .687508
2 Delone Catholic 11 2 0 .685817
3 Camp Hill 8 3 0 .637080
4 Trinity 6 6 0 .615622
5 Biglerville 10 3 0 .614418
6 Wyomissing Area 7 6 0 .491904
7 Oley Valley 6 6 0 .489378
8 Tulpehocken 7 5 0 .487894
9 Brandywine Heights Area 6 5 0 .476094
10 Hanover 4 7 0 .440802
11 Steelton Highspire 3 9 0 .425292
12 Linden Hall 4 3 0 .388148
13 Upper Dauphin Area 6 6 0 .386460
14 Annville Cleona 3 9 0 .348401
15 Fairfield 2 8 0 .316093
16 Columbia 1 14 0 .275947
17 Kutztown Area 1 10 0 .259062
18 Lancaster Mennonite 0 11 0 .215256