The Pequea Valley girls' basketball team allowed a total of 11 points in a two-game stretch, defeating Octorara and Linden Hall in Lancaster-Lebanon League games on the road, January 19 and 24.

Coming off a loss to Section Four foe Columbia on Tuesday, January 17, the Braves rebounded in a dominant fashion, defeating the Octorara Braves 46-5 two days later.

"Our defense has been fantastic," Jason McDonald, the Pequea Valley head coach, remarked. "We need to keep relying on the defensive side of the ball to get our transition game going."

Pequea improved its record to 14-2 (5-2 league) with the win.

The top scoring for the Pequea Braves was shared between Janae Patterson, who scored 12 points, Brooke Graham (10 pts) and Ellie Rishel (8 pts). Both Patterson and Graham scored a pair of three-point baskets.

Jana Cota-Riubrugent, Sarah Arment and Carly Anderson each chipped in with four points. Peyton Henshaw went 2-for-2 at the foul line for her two points and Katie Stoltzfus put up one bucket for two more points.

Pequea, after having blanked Octorara for the second half of that contest, didn't allow a point in the second quarter and the fourth quarter of the Linden Hall game.

Patterson again led the team with 12 points, scoring half of those from three-point range. She also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out two assists. Henshaw also drilled a trey and finished with seven points. Ellie Rishel scored six and grabbed four rebounds. Katie Stoltzfus and Brooke Graham each had five points, one rebound and one steal.

"We have been playing well as a team," McDonald said. "We've been moving the ball extremely well. Hopefully, we can continue to do so."

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Pequea Valley boys played a couple of tough games against strong opponents. They suffered a 43-33 defeat at Annville-Cleona on Friday, January 20 in a Section Four clash. Early Saturday afternoon the Braves were back on the court, playing host to Oley Valley in a non-league game. Despite a strong third-quarter by the Braves, Oley Valley prevailed 43-37 in that game.

In that third quarter, the Braves outscored the Lynx 18-8.

"They were beating us 20-5 at the half," head coach Thad Rittenhouse stated. "We came back and scored 32 points in the second half. Luke Rogers had his best game offensively all year."

Rogers led the Braves with 12 points.

"We started going to Luke in the second half," Rittenhouse said.

But it was the defense that deserved a great deal of credit in the Oley Valley game.

"We kept them to a season low - 43 points," he pointed out. "Oley Valley is a very good team.

"We switched up a little bit against them," continued the coach. "We went to a 1-3-1 defense and they had difficulty with that. If we're not making our shots, we need to keep other teams close."

Rittenhouse explained that offensive consistency is something that's coming along for Pequea. For example, the Braves got out to a nice early lead against the A-C Little Dutchmen in Friday's game. The Braves took a commanding 17-5 lead into the second stanza.

"We got out to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter but struggled in the second quarter," he explained. "We have struggled at the start of some games, so it was nice to get off to a good start.

The two sides were tied after three quarters. The Dutchmen went on an 18-8 run in the final period.

Annville's Elisha Slabach led all scorers with 16. Joerick Irizarry tallied eight points for the Braves while Rogers and Jackson Neff each finished with seven.

"Offensively we have struggled making shots," said Rittenhouse. "Our decision making needs to improve. That comes with experience. The guys are starting to do a better job of that.

"I see us playing better as a team at this point, but there is a lot of work to do to get into the same level as some of these teams we play," he added.