Donegal's wrestlers lost a tough 46-24 battle to South Western in a non-league match on Saturday, January 22.

The Mustangs muscled their way to a 46-6 lead thanks to four pins, a major decision and a Donegal forfeit in addition to a pair of decisions.

In the 160-pound bout, senior Andrew Small came up just short in a 7-6 loss to Luke Dewees.

Mark Overlander took his opponent down with five seconds remaining in the match, giving the Indians their first pin of the day. Benyamin Viselli pinned Mark Keating in the 126-pound bout and junior Landon Keller earned a pin 3:42 into the 132-pound bout.

In a heartbreaking defeat, the Indians fell just short on Wednesday, January 26, in a Section Two clash with Manheim Central. The Barons held on for a 33-31 victory.

Having pulled ahead to a 33-19 lead with only two weight classes remaining, the Barons could not mathematically lose the match.

However, seeing the tremendous effort by those last two Donegal wrestlers - Owen Champ and Nicholai Brotzman - one might have thought that the match was on the line.

Champ pinned Tyler Groff 1:24 into the 215-pound bout and Brotzman pinned his opponent 10 seconds in at 285, cutting the margin to 33-31 at the end.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Donegal boys' basketball team jumped out to a quick start in its Section Four contest with Garden Spot on Friday, January 21. The Indians evened their Lancaster-Lebanon League record at 4-4 with the 58-43 win at Mount Joy.

Starting five of their seniors on Senior Night, the Indians outscored the Spartans 18-5 in the opening period.

"Our defense has gotten better this year," Indians head coach Kevin Dolan remarked. "It has kept us in a lot of games."

In the second quarter, the Spartans shaved three points off that deficit to make it 32-22 at intermission. The Indians, who improved to 9-6 overall, outscored their opponent 26-21 in the second half.

Senior Khalil Madsen was the leader in points as he poured in a game-high 19 points for Donegal.

"He has been our leading scorer," Dolan pointed out.

Joseph Turbedsky, another senior, provided plenty of support, making five baskets and going 7-for-8 at the foul line for his 17-point game.

"He's been taking the ball to the basket and also getting a lot of points at the foul line," Dolan noted.

Dutch Good and Dameon White each scored five for the Indians while Brendan Weaver led the Spartans in scoring with 11 points.

"Dutch Good is probably our top defender," said Dolan. "He and Noah Rohrer draw the top assignments and do a nice job."

Donegal's next game was a non-league Saturday afternoon road game at Big Spring. The Indians rallied in the fourth quarter but came up empty in a 53-48 loss.

"We came out slow and were sluggish," Donal remarked. "We didn't play like we had been - the same intensity. We made it close though; it was only a five-point game."

The Bulldogs led the Indians 20-17 at the half but went on a 17-10 run in the third quarter.

Masden again led the Indians in scoring, finishing with 16 points, including a three-point basket. Good added nine points while Aiden Sallie led the Bulldogs with 17.

Asked about post-season prospects in terms of league and district playoffs, Dolan replied, "We talked about how our new year started the last week of December and that we were going to turn it around.

"We went into the Holiday Tournament at East Pennsboro and won that," continued the coach. "We are getting the wins that let us look at the post-season. It's one of our goals."

GIRLS' BASKEBALL

The Donegal girls suffered a league loss at Garden Spot on Friday night, January 21. The Spartans slowly pulled ahead by outscoring the Indians by six points in the second quarter and by a 12-point margin in the third. Garden Spot finished on top 60-42.

Sophia Floyd came through again with the top scoring total for Donegal. She poured in 18 points, including a pair of three-pointers.

Victoria Burton and Remy White each scored eight for the Indians, who fell to 1-6 in league play.

Taylor Soehner and Erin Gonzalez led Garden Spot with 23 and 21 points, respectively.

Donegal played on the road the very next day, visiting Conestoga Valley for a Saturday afternoon contest.

The Buckskins got off to a fast start, outscoring the Indians 22-7 in the first period and went on to post a 57-28 win.

Taylor Hehnly led CV with 13 points while Rhiannon Henry scored 10.

Floyd topped Donegal in points with eight while Burton chipped in with seven. Remy and Kara Heidlauf each added five points.

The loss dropped Donegal to 2-16 overall.