Coming off a Lancaster-Lebanon League clash with Columbia in which the Crimson Tide's offensive weapons were in top form, the Pequea Valley boys' basketball team showed resilience and a very short memory the very next night, playing a non-league game at home on Thursday, January 13, against Dayspring Christian Academy.

In fact, the tenacity was on display in the second quarter of the game for Pequea as the Warriors built an early 17-13 lead only to see the Braves go on a 27-9 run over the next two periods en route to a 53-38 victory.

Nevin Stoltzfus and Colbee Davies led the Braves in scoring with 18 and 15 points, respectively, each connecting twice for three-point field goals. Myles Furlong and Jackson Neff each chipped in with six points.

The win improved Pequea Valley's record to 3-8 on the year but fell to 3-9 in a Saturday aftershock non-league loss to Susquehannock. The visitors scored 28 first-quarter points to build an insurmountable lead as Pequea fell 83-23.

Cam Beiler had a team-high seven points.

Once more the Braves bounced back from a one-sided loss to put together a winning effort. On Tuesday, January 18, they topped L-L League foe Annville-Cleona 53-46 on the road as Nevin Stoltzfus led all scorers with 17 points.

Nathan Blank made two treys on a 10-point night and Davies came away with nine points, including a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line.

In a bizarre fourth-quarter surge, Lancaster County Christian blazed ahead to beat the Braves 57-29 on Wednesday. The score was 36-24 heading into the fourth. LCC outscored PV 21-5 to win the non-league game, dropping the Braves to 4-10 on the year.

Nevin Stoltzfus finished with a team-high 10.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Winning games in your own section is always beneficial to the scope of your season. The Pequea Valley girls' basketball team, playing a dominant defense for most of the Section Five home game on Tuesday, January 18, defeated Annville-Cleona 40-35 and improved to 3-2 in the L-L League.

This low-scoring contest saw PV trailing 15-11 at the half. The Braves picked up the momentum in the third quarter offensively, outscoring the Dutchmen 18-4 until A-C broke through the tough Pequea defense in the final period with 16 points.

"We didn't hit anything in the first half," Pequea coach Jason McDonald said. "We probably shot about 10 percent.

"In the third quarter, our press started turning over more," he added. "We got some good putbacks. We started rolling after that."

Deena Stoltzfus and Shania Stoltzfus topped the scoring leaders for the Braves with Deena scoring 13 points and Shania nine. While on the theme of teammates named Stoltzfus, Katie connected twice from three-point range and finished with seven points on the night. She tied Deena for the team lead in treys.

McDonald also gave credit to the team's defense.

"Our defensive game worked as well as we expected," he said. "We forced over 30 turnovers. There were also some dead ball turnovers, so we couldn't get fast breaks on them."

Asked how crucial this win against a section rival was, McDonald replied, "At this point in the season it's good to get wins - period. We have struggled to cleanly finish games. But we are playing better overall. Even if our offense doesn't pick up, our defense is picking us up."

Pequea was coming off a close game at home Saturday, January 15 as Northern Lebanon came away with a 45-39 win.

"We played very well," commented the coach. "I wasn't displeased at all about the way we played that game."

The Vikings built a 25-22 lead at halftime and the Braves kept pace in the third quarter but were unable to catch up in the fourth.

"We missed a few open layups in the first half," McDonald noted. "You take that away and you have a much better game. We played well against a really good team."

Sarah Arment was the Braves' leading scorer in this one, with 11 points. Shania Stoltzfus finished with 10 points and Deena Stoltzfus scored eight.

On Friday, January 14, between two teams called Braves, the Pequea Valley Braves won 60-25 at Octorara as pretty much everyone contributed to the scoring.

"It took us until the second quarter to get rolling," McDonald remarked. "As soon as we started hitting shots and doing our thing defensively, everything went well."

Shania Stoltzfus and Katie Stoltzfus each nailed three treys, finishing with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Madison Clark poured in 10 points while Trinity Rosa scored seven, including hitting a three-point shot. Both Breanne Beiler and Morgan Graham chipped in with four points. Chavelle Fisher added a three-point jumper.