Elizabethtown edged Warwick 41-38 in girls basketball on a January night in 2016, as the Warriors came up a few points short after a promising start on their home court in Lititz.
A strong start
Warwick led 14-13 after the first quarter, matching the Bears basket for basket in an energetic opening period.
The second-quarter drought
The game turned in the second quarter. Warwick managed just a single point, while Elizabethtown’s leading scorer put up nine of her team’s 15 points in the period. The Bears took a comfortable lead into halftime, and the hole proved too deep.
Clawing back
Warwick came out of the locker room determined. One Warrior scored six points in the third quarter as Warwick outscored E-town 10-6 to trim the deficit.
In the fourth, another Warwick guard caught fire, scoring nine points as the Warriors outscored the Bears 13-7. But the rally fell just short when the final buzzer sounded.
Warwick won the second half 23-13; the one-point second quarter was the difference.
E-town’s standout
Elizabethtown’s top scorer was the story of the night, finishing with 22 points, more than half of her team’s total. A teammate added six, and three other players scored four points each.
JV result
In the junior varsity game, Elizabethtown won 25-22.
Lessons from a close loss
Close losses are a familiar part of Lancaster-Lebanon League basketball, where section schedules pit teams of similar size and skill against each other twice a season. For Warwick, the takeaways were clear: the team’s defense held a strong opponent to 41 points, and its second-half push showed it could score in bunches. Avoiding scoring droughts like the second quarter would be key in the rematch and the rest of the section schedule.
Coaches often emphasize that a single bad quarter can undo a strong overall effort, and this game was a textbook example. Warwick won three of the four quarters.
The rivalry
Warwick and Elizabethtown, both Lancaster County districts, have long been section rivals across sports. Their meetings draw strong crowds of students and families, and their girls basketball games are frequently decided in the final minutes.
Girls basketball at Warwick
Warwick’s girls program plays its home games in the high school gymnasium on West Orange Street in Lititz. The Warriors compete in the Lancaster-Lebanon League, chasing berths in the league and District Three playoffs each winter.
Next up
With much of the section schedule still ahead, Warwick had time to regroup and build on its second-half effort. The final three quarters offered a blueprint: steady defense, balanced scoring and a willingness to push the pace.
Learning from close losses
Coaches often say a close loss to a strong opponent can teach a young team more than a lopsided win. Games decided in the final minutes test free-throw shooting, ball security and late-game decision-making, the skills that matter most in the postseason.
For the Warriors, a second half in which they outscored a quality opponent showed what the team could do when its defense and shot selection came together. Building on that over a full 32 minutes became the goal for the rest of the season.
League competition
Lancaster-Lebanon League girls basketball is among the more competitive leagues in the state, with several programs that regularly make deep runs in the District Three and PIAA tournaments. Every section game carries weight in the standings and in playoff seeding, and rivalries with nearby schools such as Elizabethtown draw strong crowds.
Support from the stands
Families, classmates and alumni regularly fill the Warwick gym for girls basketball, and road games often bring a traveling contingent from Lititz.
This article was originally published in January 2016.