Shania Stoltzfus and Janae Peterson helped lead Pequea Valley to a 44-30 victory over Annville-Cleona on the road Monday night, February 6. With the win, the Pequea girls' basketball team secured second place in Section Four, thus earning a spot in the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs.

The Braves raised their record to 20-2 (10-2 league) while the Dutchmen fell to 14-7 and 7-4.

"We knew going into this game that it would be a tough test," Jason McDonald, the Pequea Valley head coach, said. "There was a playoff atmosphere with a great crowd."

Stoltzfus scored 12 points and Peterson put up 10. Coming out of the locker room for the second half, the Braves outscored the Dutchmen 16-9 in the third quarter. The Braves' defense then held Annville to five points in the final period.

"Shania Stoltzfus and Sarah Arment played great defense and our team defense was great overall," McDonald added. "Shania also hit some big shots for us."

Katie Stoltzfus and Breanne Beiler each scored seven for the Braves. Ava Hoover led the Dutchmen with 13 points.

"Katie Stoltzfus sealed the game with a three-pointer and went 4-for-4 from the foul line down the stretch," McDonald said. "This was an important win for keeping the number three seed in districts and clinching a league playoff spot."

Pequea Valley was coming off another one of its dominant wins from the previous Friday. In a Section Four game at home, the PV Braves defeated the visiting Octorara Braves 46-6.

Nine of Patterson's game-high 11 points came from three-point range. Jana Cotxa-Riubrugent scored seven points and pulled down four rebounds. Brooke Graham scored six.

"This was a good game for senior night," said McDonald. "Our team shared the ball extremely well. We played with energy throughout the night."

Patterson also pulled down four rebounds while Arment led the team in that category with six. Garment and Morgan Graham each had three steals.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Pequea Valley boys' basketball team put together two great games to close out the 2022-23 season. The Braves downed Upper Dauphin in a non-league home game on Monday night, February 6. Two nights later, they closed out the season by defeating Section Four rival Annville-Cleona 44-43.

With the victory over Annville-Cleona, the Braves finished the year 5-17 earning their first league victory against seven previous defeats.

Pequea went on a 16-6 run in the third quarter and managed to hold the Dutchmen off as the dam was close to bursting in the final stanza.

Joerick Irizarry led everyone in scoring with 15. Braves teammate Jackson Neff poured in 11, hitting a pair of treys. Luke Rogers added nine points.

Sam Slabach led the Dutchmen with 14 points.

In the Upper Dauphin contest, the two teams were tied 20-20 at halftime. The Braves gained command with a 25-point third quarter en route to the 57-42 win.

Neff sparked the offense with a 25-point night, including five three-point buckets. Irizarry (15 pts) and Cam Beiler, who scored nine, provided more offensive support. Rogers finished with eight points.

Four days prior to the Upper Dauphin game, the Braves were in another contest where the score was tied at halftime and one side played a dominant third stanza. This time, however, it was Columbia that took charge, outscoring the PV side 22-9 in the Groundhog Day battle at Kinzers. The Crimson Tide went on to win 72-50. The teams were tied at 31-31 heading into the second half.

Irizarry paced Pequea with 18 points on the night while Neff notched 11 points, including six points off three-pointers. Columbia's Jordan Poole led all scorers with 22 points.