It was a showdown between the two best teams in Section Two and last Tuesday's game between first place Warwick (9-2, 14-4) and second place Elizabethtown (7-3, 13-6) did not disappoint. At one point leading by 20 points in the third quarter, Warwick withstood a furious come back bid by the Bears, which only ended in the final seconds, and came away with the 70-66 victory.
Draining 10 shots from three-point range, and led by Conor Adams' game high 24 points, Warwick led 57-41 heading into the fourth quarter before the Bears began turning up the pressure. With Ryan Parise scoring 13 of his 20 total points in that final frame, it was Ethan Minnich's two clutch free throws with only six ticks on the clock that finally sealed the deal.
Not finding any space in the paint through much of the first half, Warwick continually hit from long range as Chase Yarberough drained three on the night, Joey McCracken, Minnich, and Kai Cipalla, each made two and Adams added one. Warwick's defense in the second quarter played a key role in the slim victory as the Warriors held Elizabethtown to only six points and led 34-23 at halftime while the Bears ended by outscoring the home team 25-13 in the fourth.
The Warriors solidified their hold on first place with a decisive 75-28 victory over Ephrata Friday on the road. Joey McCracken put up 22 points and drained three shots from long range as they continued where they left off against the Bears, this time dropping 11 three pointers as a team.
Jumping out to a 19-6 lead in the first quarter, Warwick continued to pour it on as they outscored the Mounts 20-1 in the second to lead 39-7 at the break. While the hosts woke up in the third and scored 13, Warwick still held a 35-21 advantage through the second half. Tate Landis (12), Cipalla (10), and Chase Krall (10) helped lead the Warwick charge.
GIRLS' BASKETBALL
Playing three games last week, the lady Warriors attempted to hold onto second place in Section Two, but Elizabethtown (6-4, 13-6) had other plans. They downed Warwick (5-6, 8-9) 51-36 last Tuesday before first place Ephrata (8-2, 14-5) came calling and handed them the second defeat of the week, 45-32. Warwick did pick up a 45-37 victory over Schuylkill Valley in a non-league matchup on Saturday.
Lauren Pyle scored 10 points for the ladies on the road versus the Bears who trailed Warwick 12-10 at the end of the first quarter, but a strong defensive effort in the second kept them to only seven as Warwick fell behind 23-19 at the break. Warwick continued to struggle offensively in the third, and despite scoring 14 in the fourth, were outpointed 28-17 in the half.
Friday's matchup with Ephrata, while closer than Tuesday's game, still ended with the same result as Warwick's renewed efforts were not enough to overcome the section leaders. Pyle once again led the team, scoring 13 along with two three pointers, in a game where the ladies only trailed by three at halftime. The deciding factor came in the fourth quarter where, after equaling Ephrata's output in the third at seven, Warwick was outscored 14-4.
BOWLING
Tied with Elizabethtown (49-21) at the top of the standings in Section Two, Warwick (49-21), which is coming off a 5-2 loss at the hands of state champions Cedar Crest on Friday, is still in a position to claim the title. "The section championship is likely to come down to our final match of the season versus Penn Manor," commented head coach Neal Vital. "We are currently tied with Elizabethtown with three matches remaining for both schools."
In a situation where the two teams remain tied at the end of the season, a neutral site would be chosen as the location of a three-game tiebreaker with the total pinfall determining which school would claim the crown.
Facing the team that bested them in last year's state championship match, the Warrior's Tyler Miller turned in the second highest series of the match rolling a 178, 248, and 228 for a 654 while Cedar Crest's Darren Zombro claimed the top spot with a 299, 227, and 200 for a 706.
While the Falcons won two of the three games rolled by scores of 1058-868 and 1132-1043, the Warriors' effort in the third game which they won 1051-882 was not lost on their coach.
"Despite the 5- 2 final score, winning game three by 169 pins against the defending state champs is a testament to how far my young team has come," Vital stated.
SWIMMING
Picking up their first Section win of the season, the Warriors topped McCaskey on Thursday 77-54 to up their record to 1-4. The boys won six of eight individual events and swept the relays as Brendan Stuhltrager, Theo Lance, and James Moll all emerged as multiple winners.
Swimming to a 1:51.19 finish, Moll, Ethan Hershey, Rob Sabol, and Ryan Horner took the 200 medley relay while Moll, Sabol, Stuhltrager, and Theo Lance (1:41.73) won the 200 freestyle and Lance, Sabol, Hershey, and Stuhltrager (3:06.37) completed the sweep in the 400 freestyle.
Meanwhile, in the individuals, Stuhltrager won both the 50 and 100 freestyle in 25.13 and 52.38, respectively, Lance took the 200 freestyle (1:50.07) and the 500 freestyle (5:14.61), and Moll picked up wins in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.62) and 200 IM (2:17.38).
With a looming matchup against first place Manheim Township (4-0, 8-0), the second place lady Warriors (3-1, 7-1) did what they had to do to stay in the hunt when they defeated McCaskey 103-59 on Thursday night. While they won only one relay, with the team of Izzy Miller, Isabella Velez, Audrey Hovan, and Gionna Altenderfer taking the 200 medley in 2:10.05, the lady Warriors went 6-2 in the individuals.
Morgan Stuhltrager stood as the lone, two event winner for Warwick as she finished tops in both the 200 freestyle (2:09.22) and 100 backstroke (1:07.25) while Velez (28.79) won the 50 freestyle, Katie Jeanes (59.10) took the 100 freestyle, Kendall Eby (1:14.39) was the victor in the 100 breaststroke and Melanie Hahn (1:04.54) won the 100 butterfly.
WRESTLING
Looking to gain some momentum heading into the L-L League Championship this past weekend, the Warriors (2-5, 5-10) traveled to Landisville where they took on the Black Knights of Hempfield (7-0, 9-3). Unfortunately, the Section One champions did not allow Warwick to gain any traction as they handily won the match, 42-18.
With the first bout of the night coming at 106 pounds, Hempfield reeled off five straight victories before David Woolley's 5-2 decision over Grant Hoover at 138 put Warwick on the board at 25-3. Haydn Shreiner (152) then squeezed in a 4-3 decision between Hempfield victories at 145 and 160 to make it 32-6.
Dylan Bard's pin at 170 lengthened the Black Knights' lead to 38-6, but a decision victory from David Hnasko (182), a pin by Matt Woolley (195), and a Hayden Benner (285) decision finalized the 42-18 defeat.
Manheim Township High School was the site of the 2020 League Championship beginning Friday night and concluding Saturday where six Warwick wrestlers made the trip to the podium. Shreiner was the highest decorated Warrior placing second at 152 pounds while Hnasko (182) placed third, Benner (285) was fourth, David Woolley (138) captured fifth, Owen Heffner (113) came in sixth, and Johnathon Hackett (126) took home eighth.
Shreiner began his journey to the championship bout on fire as he opened with an 18-1 technical fall over Franklin Liriano Sena from Lebanon in the first period of their preliminary bout and then pinned Manheim's Bryce Dombach in 1:22 of the opening round to advance into the quarterfinals. Matching up with Tayler Sheaffer of Conestoga Valley, Shreiner earned a trip to Saturday's semifinals with a 7-3 decision.
The Warrior worked another decision over Northern Lebanon's Nicholas Winters, winning 6-4 and punching his ticket to the finals where he met up with number one seed Colt Barley of Penn Manor. Barley's impressive trip to the championship bout included three major decisions and a fall and he never let up on the gas as the Comet grappler bested Shreiner 11-0.
Racking up three consecutive pins on his way to the semifinals, Hnasko ran into a wall against eventual 182-pound champion Nick Baker who sent him into the consolation bracket with a 10-1 major decision. Once there, Hnasko got back on track with a 13-4 win over McCaskey's Jose Garcia to reach the third-place bout where he recorded his fourth fall of the weekend over Logan Davidson of Lampeter-Strasburg in 4:04 to claim the bronze.
Utilizing a similar tactic at 285, Benner recorded a 40 second fall over David Crespo of McCaskey and then decked Manheim Township's Sam Crist in the quarterfinals before a 6-2 tiebreaker loss to Cocalico's Brock Gingrich pitted him against Donegal's Connor Ruhl in the wrestle backs. There, he got a 5-1 decision and then lost 3-1 to Zachary Shelley of L-S in the third-place bout.
Woolley's road to the fifth-place spot at 138 included an exciting quarterfinal matchup with Penn Manor's Owen Rohrer in which he found himself trailing 2-1 after the first period. In the second he controlled the top position the entire period and began the third on the bottom where he hit a switch reverse to go ahead 3-2 before riding out the rest of the bout.
Woolley then lost 9-0 in the semifinals to eventual champ Ronald Fulton of Solanco, was decisioned by ELCO's Keegan Donmoyer in the consolation bracket and earned a 7-0 decision over Kayden Clark of Northern Lebanon in the fifth-place bout.
At 113 pounds, Heffner lost his opening round matchup with Matthew Imman from Annville-Cleona and racked up a consolation win over Donegal's Jansen Flohr before losing to Solanco's Weston Bare and Manheim's Connor Beck in the fifth-place match.
Representing the final medal winner of the weekend, Johnathan Hackett found himself in the wrestle backs early after losing to Conestoga Valley's Keaton Fischer in the opening round. From there he defeated Wade Funck from Annville-Cleona and Ephrata's Allen Swofford before landing in the seventh-place bout following a loss to Hempfield's Clay Gainer where he lost to Dylan Demasky from Octorara.
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