February 17 was a good day. For the ninth time in 17 years, Penn Manor's bowling team, winners of 10 Section One titles, won the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championship, defeating both Elizabethtown and N. Lebanon at Rocky Springs.

The Comets fought from behind in both matches. Section 2 champ E-town took the first semifinals game 1012-914 for early momentum but Manor pulled out the next two, 931-909 and 899-887 to get to the finals.

"Etown is always razor sharp with their games," said head coach Chris Vital. "That first game did not surprise me. They led the whole second game as well. At least until the 10th frame. I think four of their five bowlers had an open frame in the 10th.

"We were even down in the third game before Delaney Reitnauer came through in the 10th," he continued. "That first strike she threw in the 10th sewed it up. We probably missed 12 spares in the match and they maybe missed one. We got the strikes when we needed them."

Reitnauer, coming off a first place finish at the PJBT Tournament in Red Lion on Feb. 14, rolled a 567 series with a 208 in the second game. Derek Warfel's 550 was second and a consistent Lacey Slaymaker added a 534. Eva Brubaker (314), Josh Stock (380) and Charlie Hull (399) also contributed, bowling two games each.

"Charlie came up big in the third game for us, rolling a 220," Vital pointed out.

Next up was Section 4 champ N. Lebanon who advanced to the finals by beating Cocalico by nine pins in the last game. The Vikings kept that momentum and held off the Comets in game one, 869-838. Manor, realizing what was on the line, battled back, taking game two (937-835) and game three (909-793) to grab gold.

"That first game and a half was the worst we've bowled in a while," Vital stated. "But then we got hot late in the second game and pulled away from there.

Warfel was tops in this one with a 576 series, Reitnauer, with a 210 in the final game, followed at 565. Hull, with a 202 in game three, settled for a 542. Slaymaker was close to 500 with a 498.

Stock added a two game 325 total with Zach Carroll adding a 178 to round out the scoring.

"No one on our team has a 200 average and won leagues," Vital noted. "Leisure Lanes are tough. We battle there every day. It makes us better."

In their last league match of the season, the Comets recognized seniors Ariana Cuba, Matt Hammaker and Delaney Reitnauer and then went on to blank McCaskey 7-0 at home February 16.

Reitnauer, who opened with a 224, tied with Slaymaker for a team-high 583 series.

Warfel's 248 was the highest game of the day. He rolled two games and Brubaker finished out their 616 series. Cuba chipped in with a 518 and Hammaker rounded out the scoring with a 394.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

When someone says teams either live or die by the three-point line they're usually talking about the team taking those three pointers. That was not exactly the case in Penn Manor's hard-fought losses to CV (68-59 on Feb. 11) and Cocalico (53-46 on Feb. 13).

The Comets out-pointed the Bucks from two-point range 38-22 but the hosts rained down 11 treys and also went 13-for-22 from the foul line.

CV held a 17-16 edge in both the first and third quarters and led 18-17 in the fourth. They held their biggest advantage with a 16-10 second quarter that led to a 33-26 halftime lead.

Not overshadowed by CV's long range accuracy, Brayde Erb led all scorers with 21 points. Jack Shipley, with 14 points, and Kamrin Carroll, with 11, were also double-digit scorers.

Saturday afternoon, the Comets got off to a strong start, extending a 15-11 first quarter lead to 19-11 early in the second quarter. The Eagles, however, went on a 16-6 run, including a buzzer beating three to take a 27-25 lead at the break.

The third quarter was tied three times and featured a combined eight made threes. Manor led 37-34 before Cocalico ran off four straight treys, interrupted only when Hunter Sipel hit from downtown to knot the score at 40-40. The visitors' buzzer beater gave them a 46-40 lead they never relinquished.

Once again, Manor held an advantage in made field goals, 13-8, but the Eagles doubled up the hosts from three-point range, 10-5, and were able to pull away.

Carroll led a balanced attack with 12 points. Reed Lawrence followed with 11 and Shipley added 10.

At home Wednesday, Feb. 17, the Comets matched McCaskey point-for-point in the first and third quarters but it wasn't enough. The visitors outscored the Comets 19-9 in the second and 29-17 in the fourth for a 78-56 road win.

Erb, with 13 points, and Shipley, with 10, were the double-digit scorers for the Comets. McCaskey got 21 points from both Kevin Bell and Hasan Williams.

WRESTLING

Penn Manor qualified just two wrestlers to the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships held Saturday, Feb. 13 at Manheim Township High School and came away with a pair of top two medals. Two-time champion Colt Barley grabbed a gold medal at 189 and Dylan Coleman finished second at 160.

"Colt looked good throughout the tournament," said head coach Brandon Vernalli," gaining bonus points against all three opponents."

Barley opened the action with a 12-3 major decision over Cocalico's Benjamin Bearinger and the secured a 13-0 major over Brett Barbush, of Manheim Central, to get to the finals. He earned his third major decision of the day with a 9-0 result against Manheim Township's Cade Clancy.

Coleman got off to a strong start, putting McCaskey's Xavier Gates to his back in just 1:33. His semifinals matchup was against Cocalico's Jonathan Rathman, who advanced with a 6-5 decision over Octorara's Ryan Kernan. Coleman reached the finals with a hard-fought 4-2 decision.

His finals match against Hempfield junior Dylan Bard was just as tough. Bard prevailed with a 3-2 result.

"Coleman wrestled very well," said Vernalli. "He got some payback against Rathman who he had just lost to. He wrestled an entirely different match this time around and controlled the match for all six minutes.

"In the finals, Dylan gave up two quick backs that decided the match. Other than that, he wrestled heads up."

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

With a 19-2 run through the first quarter, the Lady Comets set the tone early and took care of business, notching a convincing 58-30 win over visiting Conestoga Valley, Thursday, Feb. 11.

Morgan Miller bucketed nine points in that pivotal quarter and helped Manor extend their halftime lead to 34-10 with ten second quarter points. She finished with 24 points, including three triples.

With head coach Megan Collins mixing up the rotations through the second half, the scoring was a bit closer but the Comets, holding CV to single digits in three of the four quarters, remained in control, outscoring the Bucks 24-20.

Sydney Shepos knocked down 12 points, including all six of Manor's fourth quarter points and Kamia Goodley rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, scoring seven in the third quarter.

Wednesday, Feb. 17, the Comets erased a 19-6 first quarter deficit by outscoring McCaskey in each of the next three quarters and pulled out a 55-45 win.

Down 23-20 at the half, and 37-36 after three, the Comets reversed that sluggish first quarter with a 19-8 effort to secure their second league win.

Miller dropped in 20 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, Shepos followed with 14 and Goodley added 12 in a balanced effort.