Ephrata girls roar to 7th victory in a row, stop Warwick to remain alone atop L-L League Section 2 race

Come heck, high water or a pack of aggressive defenders chasing her around, Leah Caldwell was not going to be denied.

After spending much of the second quarter on the bench because of foul issues, Ephrata’s paint enforcer and glass-attacker hit the court soaring in the third quarter Friday night.

Nobody stopped her.

Caldwell poured in 12 points — including three, get-out-of-my-way finishes at the rim and a dagger 3-pointer — and grabbed six rebounds in the third quarter alone, sparking the host Mountaineers to a 47-33 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two victory over rival Warwick in Ephrata.

Both teams were back on the court for the first time in two weeks, coming out of the holiday break.

“I never want to be in foul trouble, and having to sit there and watch my team out there. I hate that feeling,” Caldwell said. “I think that mentally prepared me to get back out there and help my team. I was definitely focused.”

It showed. In the third, Caldwell attacked with authority. She plucked multiple rebounds in traffic. She dribbled through traffic. And when left open, she knocked down a couple of long-range jumpers.

“She went on a great run there,” Ephrata coach Brian Cerullo said. “Made a shot. Made another shot. Made another shot. That was really huge. She’s a big-time player for us. And that really showed in the third quarter.”

Surging Ephrata earned its seventh win in a row. That after an un-Mounts-like 0-3 start. Ephrata (4-0 league, 7-3 overall) also remained in sole possession of first place in the section chase, and heads into the new year as the team to beat in Section Two.

“We started off the season kind of rough,” Caldwell said. “Nobody wants to be 0-3. But I think it motivated us. We came in after those losses and said that it was a fresh start. We were 0-0, and we were going to take it from there. I think we were able to get locked in and focused.”

Ephrata is the reigning section champ, and the Mounts have captured four section titles in the last five years. After a wonky start in early December, Ephrata has righted its ship.

Friday, Caldwell steered it. When Warwick simply refused to go away in the third quarter — the Warriors were within 25-22 with 1:55 to go after Paige Pusey rattled in back-to-back 3-pointers — Caldwell simply took over.

After her three spiffy dribble-drive layups — including a pretty reverse scoop bucket that wowed the crowd — her baseline jumper and a foul shot gave Ephrata a 28-22 lead.

Caldwell finished the third quarter with a flourish, swishing a wing trey with 34 seconds left for a 31-22 lead and plenty of motivation going into the fourth quarter.

“You get that confidence,” Caldwell said, “and everything starts falling.”

Ephrata punched it into overdrive with a 6-0 spree to open the final eight minutes. Emily Bender had a bucket. Marie McCracken picked off the ensuing inbound and raced in for an uncontested layup. And Caldwell capped it with another hoop in the lane, and the Mounts had a cozy 44-26 cushion.

For the record, Warwick (1-3, 1-10) scrapped and fought like crazy until the bitter end. The Warriors start two freshmen, a sophomore and a junior, and they’re going through some growing pains. But they made Ephrata earn every inch.

“We want to burst everyone’s bubble,” said Warwick coach Erica Lausch, who played her prep basketball for Ephrata. “If we’re going to go out and play, and whether you’re better than us or not, we’re going to give it everything we have. We’re going to keep going until the final buzzer goes off.”

Warwick did here Friday. But when the going got tough, Caldwell got going for Ephrata.

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