From wide-eyed freshman to key contributor as a sophomore. What lies ahead is team leader and go-to-girl.

It should be very interesting to see how the rest of Zara Zerman’s scholastic career unfolds.

This week, Zerman’s development as a player and leader continued, and it was one of the main factors in helping the Northern Lebanon girls’ basketball team reaching the state playoffs for a third straight year.

On Tuesday evening at Hershey High School, during a District Three Class AAAA play-in game, Zerman and the Vikings defeated West Perry 51-38. In that contest, the sophomore guard poured in a game-high 20 points, on two three-pointers and six-for-ten free throwing.

Then two nights later at Cumberland Valley High School, during a seeding game for the state playoffs, Zerman led Northern Lebanon to a 35-22 triumph over Kennard-Dale. She posted 19 points, courtesy of a three-pointer and two-for-two foul shooting.

To date, it has been a spectacular sophomore campaign for Zerman. She is averaging 15 points per outing, has drilled more than 30 three-point field goals and is shooting 77 percent from the free throw line.

– Jeff Falk