The Lady Comets kept their post-season run alive with a win-or-go home victory over visiting Wilson Monday, February 21. The sixth seed Comets handled No. 9 Wilson (17-7) 44-29 to get a District Three 6A quarterfinals matchup opposite top seed Cedar Cliff.
Wilson had a bit of a size advantage and a good scouting report. They clogged the lane and doubled up Manor's leading scorer, Lily Sugra, at every opportunity. Sugra used her strength in the paint to get to the free throw line, canning 10-of-12 attempts and finished with a dozen. Point-guard Izzy Kligge complimented Sugra, going 3-for-3 from three-point range in the first half and also netting 12 points.
Manor's biggest spark of the game was early in the first quarter. After an Emily Riggs (4 pts) putback and a Sugra drive on the baseline, Morgan Miller (6 pts) and Kamia Goodley (8 pts) drained back-to-back treys for a 10-4 lead. Kligge followed that with back-to-back triples of her own, pushing the lead to 16-4 with 2:10 left in the first.
Despite Wilson trying to lob the ball to their bigs (Gia Borelli and Keira Lovengood, 12 pts each), the Comets pushed that 18-7 first quarter lead to 27-14 at the break.
"I was concerned with their size, so we didn't go with a man-to-man defense," said head coach Megan Collins. "We did a nice job defensively with our zones. Our defense has been pretty consistent."
The action slowed in the third quarter with both teams managing just five points each and Manor finished in front with a 12-10 fourth quarter effort.
"It was nice to get another district win," said Collins. "Four or five years ago we were the underdog going to Gov. Mifflin and came from behind for the upset victory."
The Comets hope to do the same against undefeated Cedar Cliff.
WRESTLING
Manor's Travis Clawson and Ty Grassel qualified for the District Three/Southcentral Regional with their bronze medal efforts at the District Three 3A Section 2 wrestling tournament held Friday, February 19 at Hempfield High School.
"Both Travis and Ty had great weekends," said head coach Brandon Vernalli. "We were hoping to get one more through but fell short. Now they look to punch their ticket to the state tournament with a successful district showing."
Clawson, wrestling at 113, got off to a strong start, dominating Central Dauphin's CJ Ferree with an 11-1 quarterfinals major decision. In the semifinals, Clawson faced Warwick's Nico Tocci, the eventual champ. Up 6-5 after two periods, Tocci scored an early takedown and then gave up an escape with 50 seconds left, surviving Clawson with an 8-6 decision.
"This was the second time Travis wrestled Tocci," noted head coach Brandon Vernalli. "They met in the league meet. This matchup was closer."
Clawson wrestled his way back, posting a 13-0 major over Lampeter-Strasburg's Connor Erb before beating Ferree a second time, 14-6 for the bronze medal.
Grassel, seeded fourth at 160, scored an escape just before the final buzzer to hold of Hempfield's Grant Hoover, 3-2, for third place. Grassel pinned Milton Hershey's Marcus Rodriguez in the quarterfinals before falling short 17-2 against eventual champ Ryan Garvick (Central Dauphin) in the semifinals. He wrestled back with a 9-1 major over E-town's Jake Rudy before edging Hoover for the medal.
"Ty dropped a close 7-5 decision to Hoover in our dual," said Vernalli. "This matchup was one of the more exciting matches."
Also competing was Teagen Rogers (170) who opened with a 9-2 decision over Warwick's Jack Koons but dropped to the consolations after a quarterfinals fall to Central's Brett Barbush, the eventual second place finisher. Rogers rebounded with a 6-1 decision over Milton Hershey's Jose Ramirez but fell short 2-0 to Solanco's Blaine Plastino (3rd place).
BOWLING
Penn Manor, the defending champs, finished second to Hempfield in the Lancaster-Lebanon League team bowling championships held at Cain's Lanes on February 15. Despite holding a 60-pin lead midway through the final game, the Comets fell short, 881-872.
"They got the strikes they needed down the stretch," said head coach Chris Vital. "They earned it."
The Knights took the first game 962-926 only to see the Comets dominate the second game, winning 952-820. Corrine Smith led the way with a 200 and Willow Hee was six pins back.
"All five of our bowlers were over 182," said Vital. "We were consistent and had the momentum."
Derek Warfel's 236, rolled in the first game, was the highest score for the Comets on the day. Josh Stock followed with a 214 in the third game and rolled a 204 in the first. "Josh and Derek were consistent all day," Vital added.
The Comets opened with two wins over Cocalico (833-825, 840-749).
"That first game was too close," said Vital. "Lacey Slaymaker's 202 in that second game carried us. Josh added a 179. Derek's 196 was high in the first game."
The semifinals pitted Penn Manor against Warwick. This one went three games. Manor opened with an 837-814 first game while the Warriors dominated game two, 909-828. Stock stepped up in the third game with a 210 and Warfel added a 193 as Manor won 860-799.
"They had a couple of 200 games to win that second game," said Vital.
One day later, Slaymaker, Eva Brubaker and Hee competed in the L-L League individual championships, along with 31 other girls, at Clearview Lanes. After bowling six qualifying games, Brubaker was in fifth place, Slaymaker in seventh and Hee, 10th.
Hee lost her first-round game against E-town's Alaina Telenko 177-169 and Slaymaker climbed to fourth place after topping Allison Evans (172-163) and Telenko (166-164).
Julie Getz, of McCaskey defeated Brubaker 142-130 to get to Slaymaker. That game was tied at 214 after a split in the 10th frame.
"That was the first time we've ever had a tie," said Vital. "The girls rolled two additional frames and Getz came out on top."
FOOTBALL ACADEMIC ALL-STARS
PAFootballNews.com recently announced the All-Academic teams for the 2021 season.
Penn Manor's Gold team members (4.0 GPA and up) include Adam Ditmer, Mike Evans, and Peyton Witmer. Silver team members (3.5 - 3.9 GPA) were Jordan Martin, Kyle Sullenberger, McCabe Kreider, Quay Hanna, Sebastian Rivera, Spencer Stuart, Tyler Keller, and Jonathon Osman while Dylan Keene, Erik Hinkle, Ethan Adelman, Ty Grassel, James Keck, and William Stover qualified for the Bronze team (3.0 - 3.4).
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