Congratulations Comets!
It was 47 years in the making but Penn Manor finally earned another section crown. Their second in school history came Saturday, February 5, with a solid 52-43 victory at Manheim Township.
After a 55-51 setback against West York, the Comets strung together five straight wins to grab the Section One title outright with a 12-1 league mark.
"This is a special group for sure," said head coach Megan Collins. "They have played together through the years and their love for the game is evident."
The visitors used a balanced attack for an early 13-7 lead. Morgan Miller dropped a pair of threes, Izzy Kligge added a trey and both Sydney Shepos (10) and Lily Sugra added buckets.
In a low scoring second frame, Sugra was strong in the paint. She netted seven of Manor's nine points and pushed the halftime lead to 22-13.
The Comets dominated early in the third quarter. Emily Riggs netted the first bucket of the half, Kligge and Miller each hit from downtown and Shepos scored back-to-back jumpers for the biggest lead of the day, 33-19.
Not to be out done, the hosts responded with a 10-0 rally that cut the lead to 33-29 with 2:36 left. Miller's trey with 29 seconds left made it 36-29 with eight minutes remaining.
Manor went 6-for-6 from the free throw line early in the fourth quarter, extending their advantage to 44-33. The Streaks did not respond this time and the Comets held on to the victory.
"We had a few good runs throughout the game which helped us secure the victory," said Collins. "We did enough of what was needed in the end."
Sugra, who was 9-for-11 from the free throw line, knocked down a game-high 19 points. Miller, with a trio of triples, added 13, Shepos settled for 10, Kligge added eight and Riggs put up two as the Comets improved to 15-7 overall. They are, as of Feb. 9, ranked 8th in the District Three 6A power rankings. The top 12 advance.
BOWLING
At Leisure Lanes Thursday, Feb. 3, the Comets took one step closer to at least sharing the Section One crown with Hempfield, as they put together their second straight shutout, dispatching Cedar Crest 7-0.
Eva Brubaker put together a 703 series, including a 251 in the third game, and finished just three pins shy of a game high. Crest's ace, Darren Zomoro's 706 took that honor. Derek Warfel rolled a team-high 258, also in the third game, and settled for a 686. A consistent Zach Carroll followed with a 649 while Willow Hee was close behind with a 638. Charlie Hull, with a 234 in the opening round, wrapped up the action with a 567.
In non-league action last Monday, the Comets fell short, 4-3, against Dallastown.
"I used some subs in this one to test some bowlers out under pressure," said head coach Chris Vital. "The scores didn't count for leagues, so it was a good opportunity."
Josh Stock (620 and a match-high 236), Willow Hee (612) and Corinne Smith (585) were the only Comets to roll all three games. Joe Hull (317) and Billy Green (313) added two game totals while Zach Carroll (220) and Derek Warfel (159) each bowled once.
In a key matchup last Wednesday, the Comets traveled to Elizabethtown needing a sweep to catch Hempfield for first place in the Section One standings. The Bears prevailed, 5-2 and Penn Manor settled for second place.
Stock led with a 707 series, but it wasn't enough to catch E-town's top gun, Ayden Pope, who dominated with a 763. Carroll was second for the Comets, rolling a 658 with Charlie Hull close behind at 630. Warfel added a 662 and Eva Brubaker (181) and Chris Hull (428 for two games) rounded out the counters.
Manor took just the second game with an 1140-1108 advantage.
BOYS' BASKETBALL
The Comets recognized seniors Kamrin Carroll, Noe Perez, Cameron Sholl and Randy Short on their last home game of the season, a Saturday afternoon outing against Manheim Township, Feb. 5.
"I have been impressed with their commitment to working at practice and getting better," said head coach Larry Bellew. "They've given all they have; it just hasn't resulted in many wins."
And that was the case Saturday as the Comets suffered a 54-38 loss to the Streaks. Tied at 8-8 early in the first quarter, the visitors went on a 10-2 run to take the lead for good. Manor, with five points from Ethan Benne, outscored the Streaks 7-4 in the second quarter, closing the gap to 22-17 but could get no closer. Township took the second half 32-21 to pull away.
The Streaks doubled Manor's field goal output 17-8 but both teams knocked down six treys each.
"We just have not been shooting the ball well," said head Bellew, "which is frustrating because we spent more time this off-season shooting the ball. We shot 14-for-50 for the game. We were 8-for-20 from two and 6-for-30 from three. Thirty threes are a little excessive, but we took ten in the fourth quarter in an attempt to come back," he continued. "We also had to press, and we aren't a pressing team, so we gave up some lay-ups late.
"Cameron Scholl played a solid game with 10 points, including a pair of threes," Bellew said.
Benne finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Carroll added nine points, Short had three and DeShawn Stanley finished with two.
At Hershey last Tuesday, Feb. 8, the Comets gave up their third highest point total of the season in a 74-55 non-league loss, dropping their record to 2-19 overall.
The Comets fell behind early, managing just eight points in the first quarter while the hosts piled up 22 and never looked back. Hershey led 39-20 at the break and that proved to be the difference as both teams played dead even over the final 16 minutes.
Carroll's 16 points were tops for the Comets. Benne and Dhamir Wesley, who netted 11 in the third quarter, added 13 points each.
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