Mounts, Eagles suffer Tuesday losses

Both the Ephrata and Cocalico boys basketball teams came up short Tuesday night in Section Two action.

At Lebanon, the Mounts hung around for most of the way before the Cedars pulled away late for a 71-61 victory. Lebanon led 49-45 after three quarters but out-scored the Mounts 22-16 down the stretch to earn the victory.

Josh Lopez scored a game-high 24 points to pace the Cedars. Ephrata (2-11 section, 3-15 overall) had three players finish in double figures, led by Jeremy Franck’s 13. Matt Herbener and Roman Heckstall each added 11 in the loss.

Meanwhile in Elizabethtown, the host Bears outscored Cocalico 36-19 in the middle two periods to key a 60-46 victory over the Eagles. Kasey Koser led a trio of double figure scorers for E-town, scoring 15 in the win.

Christian Graybill took high scoring honors for Cocalico (3-10 section, 6-13 overall) with 14 points while Oliver Denlinger added 10.

Friday night at home, Ephrata exploded offensively and it carried the Mounts to their third victory over the season in an 80-66 verdict over visiting Solanco.

Despite missing leading-scorer Brian Neff, who is still nursing an injury, the Mounts got career-high scoring performances from three players to key the victory.

Herbener exploded for a game-high 22 points while Evan Radcliffe chipped in with 21 as the Mounts built a 14-point halftime cushion (38-24) before putting away the Mules in the second half. Franck added 17 and Heckstall chipped in with 10 for the winners.

Evan Belczyk led the Mules with 18 points on the night.

It was a different story for the Mounts last Wednesday at Warwick as points were hard to come by in a 55-35 loss to the Warriors in Section One-Two crossover action.

The host Warriors out-scored Ephrata, 24-11 in the middle two periods to take control of this one. Derrick Shields scored a game-high 23 points to pace Warwick.

Ephrata didn’t have any scorers in double figures as Herbener was its top scorer with eight on the night.

Cocalico, meanwhile, dropped a pair of games last Wednesday and Friday in league play.

Friday night at home vs. Lebanon, the visiting Cedars took an early lead and gradually pulled away to earn a 52-42 victory over the Eagles.

Ben Leibig led the way for the Cedars, scoring a game-high 19 points. Graybill was the lone Eagle in double figures, finishing with 10 points in the loss.

Last Wednesday at Penn Manor, the host Comets trailed by two (23-21) at the half before taking control in the third. PM outscored Cocalico 18-8 in the pivotal third to key the eventual 59-48 victory.

Marc Summy scored 21 points to lead the Comets. Oliver Denlinger was the scoring star for Cocalico, dropping in a game-high 22 in the setback.