Locked at 14-14 after the first quarter Thursday, Jan. 30 in Solanco, the Manheim Central boys' basketball team took it up a gear and broke the game wide open, outscoring the Golden Mules 19-5 in the second quarter en route to 60-41 victory.
Outstanding freshman Trey Grube led all scorers with 18 points, hitting two 3-pointers. Leading 33-19 at halftime, the Barons played strong defense and limited Solanco to only five points in the third quarter to put the game away early.
"Trey Grube scores consistently for us," said Barons' coach Charlie Fisher, who had eight players score in the game. "Judd Novak and Cam Eberly controlled the game for us. We had a lot of guys score."
Earlier in the week the Barons dropped a 57-44 verdict to Garden Spot on Tuesday, Jan. 28 in New Holland.
Grube was one of three Barons to score at least nine points, netting 11. Eberly added 10 and Novak nine. Matthew Siegrist hit two treys and Grube and Novak each added a 3-pointer.
The game close in the first half, as the Spartans held a 21-15 edge at intermission. Garden Spot pulled away with a big third quarter, outscoring MC 14-6. Controlling the boards was a key to this game.
The Spartans out rebounded Manheim 42-23.
"Aside from that, the game was pretty back-and-forth, but they went on a 10-2 run to open the third quarter, that hurt us," said Fisher, whose team outscored the Spartans 23-22 in the fourth quarter. "The fourth we really sped it up to close the gap and they (GS) made some foul shots down the stretch."
Manheim lost 74-47 in a non-league tilt Saturday, Feb. 1 at Northern York, one of the top teams in District Three. Wyatt Becker scored a team-high 14 points, including one 3-pointer.
The Barons trailed 25-13 at halftime and were outscored 48-34 in the second half.
GIRLS' BASKETBALL
The Lady Barons broke a two-game losing streak with a 48-30 victory over Garden Spot on Tuesday, Jan. 28 in Manheim. The Barons jumped out to a fast start and never looked back, leading 27-16 at halftime and outscoring the Spartans 12-3 in the third quarter to put the game away.
"The girls did a wonderful job playing with energy and effort for 32 minutes," Barons' coach Tyson Hayes said. "The girls did a fabulous job playing their roles and playing for one another. We also got tremendous production from everyone that played."
Super freshman Maddie Knier led all scorers with 19 points, including a 3-pointer. Kassidy Michael, Summer Bates and Rachel Nolt each chipped in seven point. Bates had two treys and Nolt added a trifecta.
This win set up a showdown in Quarryville against Solanco, as the top two girls teams in Section Three of the Lancaster-Lebanon League tangled on Thursday, Jan. 30. The Barons trailed by three points with 1:25 remaining. Solanco pulled out the 53-46 win by going 8-for-8 from the free throw line late in in the fourth quarter.
Nolt, a sophomore, was hot from three-point range, connecting on six shots from behind the arc, giving her a game-high 18 points. Michael, a senior, added 14.
Manheim finished second in the section and will play in the league playoffs, which being Friday, Feb. 7.
BOWLING
MC Bowling picked up their ninth overall win of the season with a 7-0 triumph Wednesday, Jan. 29 at home (Caine's Lanes) over ELCO with a game score of 2,667 to 2,032.
Senior Brandon Henry was Manheim's top bowler with a 589.
Outstanding performances included Austin Howard rolling games of 204 and 212. Joey Noble had a 214 game on the way to a 575 series. Jesse Hurst rolled consistent games of 163, 160 and 170 on the way to a nice 493 series. On the junior varsity side, Cole Shontz rolled a 479 series on games of 153, 164, and 162. Ethan Howard had a 171 game.
"The varsity, while not bowling as well as they did the day before (against Lampeter-Strasburg) still had two of the three games above our team average and pulled out the 7-0 win," Barons' coach Alan Sides said
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, in a snow makeup match, the Barons beat Lampeter Strasburg 7-0 on a game score of 2,853 to 1,949. Henry was the high bowler for Central with game scores of 214-216-233 for a 663 series.
Senior Joey Noble rolled a 202 game and a 585 series. Howard had a 215 game and a 585 series. And Catey Sides had a 211 game and a 552 series.
As a team, the varsity rolled its first game of more than 1,000 in more than two years at 1,008. On the JV side, Hurst rolled games of 205 and 203 on the way to a 565 series. Oren Martin had a 199.
"This was our all-around best most consistent match of the year on both varsity and JV," Sides said.
Unfortunately, the strong rolls did not continue in the Barons' next match on Friday Jan. 31 against Garden Spot at Dutch Lanes. The Spartans beat Manheim 5-2, in a match that decided which team made the league playoffs.
The Spartans' held a slight total edge 2,814 to 2,708. Henry had games of 219-237-194 for a 650 series.
RIFLE
It was, according to Barons' coach Steve Waddington, an "awesome week."
Central is firing its best shots here at the end of the season. Manheim beat Elizabethtown 499-478. They were one point away from perfection. Seniors Hunter Shoop and Gage McCabe, junior Abigail Martin and sophomore Ellie McCabe each posted 100s. Anna Haldeman, a sophomore, shot a 99.
Manheim rode the hot shooting into its next match, getting a 499 to 498 triumph against Wilson on Thursday, Jan. 30.
Gage McCabe, Shoop, Brayden Groff and Haldeman each has 100. Kami Groff notched a 99.
"Two 499s. Just one point short each night. 100s were flowing," Waddington said. "The resilience of the team has been the key. The kids haven't given up and are determined to finish the season strong. As a team, they are trying to get that perfect 500 and are encouraging to each other."
Waddington said Martin shot her first 100 in a match on Tuesday and Gage McCabe found his first 100 in a match and followed it up with a second 100 for the season on Thursday. Shoop shot 100s on both nights and now has three for the season at this point. Ellie McCabe landed her second 100 of the season on Tuesday and Brayden Groff got his second 100 on Thursday. Hopefully their resilience and determination will carry them through the rest of the season, he said.
WRESTLING
For the Baron grapplers, it is all about healing and getting ready for the post season and the individual tournaments.
The Manheim wrestlers battled Mifflin County, one of the top teams in the state, and suffered a 66-12 loss.
Manheim earned a forfeit at 106 (Jacob Hess) and a fall from Conner Zeamer at 145. Several other Baron wrestlers - Brett Barbush lost a heart-breaker 9-8 - battled but lost.
"We were definitely over-matched," said Barons' coach Billy Chamberlain, whose squad was missing four starters because of illness or injury, in addition to guys previously missing. "I like meets like this. It opens the eyes of the younger guys to see what they need to do to get better."
Maliki Rivera, a senior, got pinned, but he learned a valuable lesson that could help him in the post season. Rivera wrestled a returning state champion.
"Maliki told me he couldn't believe how well the kid hand fought," Chamberlain said. "A good hand fight can get you out of position. It is one thing for us to say it and another for our kids to see it. I think the guys realize how key positioning is. If in the wrong position, the opposition will key on it."
A brand new season begins in two weeks with Sectionals. Last year Chamberlain had a senior dominated team. He returns Will Betancourt and Zeamer who had strong district runs last year. Betancourt finished fifth in states and Zeamer lost in match that would have qualified him for states.
"Hopefully we'll be healthy by then," Chamberlain said. "I'll be honest, we're very young. We could do great or we could only qualify a few for Districts. You never know what can happen."
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