Twin Valley girls clinch state berth with district-opening win

Natali Foster and the Twin Valley Raiders had two reasons to celebrate Tuesday: A 43-38 win over visiting Spring Grove in their District 3 Class 5A opener and a trip to the state tournament.

The eighth-seeded Raiders (15-8) advanced to a quarterfinal match-up against top-seeded Mechanicsburg and also qualified for the PIAA Tournament in the process. The top eight teams from District 3 in Class 5A qualify for states.

Foster had 18 points and Anna Kaplan matched her career-high with 16 to spark the Raiders, who led 25-14 at the half.

The ninth-seeded Rockets (9-12) rallied in the fourth quarter behind Leah Kale, who scored 10 of her game-high 22 points in the final quarter.

Spring Grove mounted its comeback from the foul line, where it made 18-of-22 free throws overall, including 15-of-18 in the second half. Kale was good on 9-of-10 from the line.

The Raiders entered district playoff coming off back-to-back losses to Ephrata and Wilson, games which saw them combine for just 39 points.

Mechanicsburg (19-4) advanced with a 50-32 win over No. 16 Northeastern.