The Garden Spot girls' basketball team visited Manheim Central in a Lancaster-Lebanon League contest Tuesday night, February 1. Going into the contest, Spartan's head coach Kevin Gensemer did not need a Pennsylvania groundhog's shadow to know it would be a tough battle.

"We played them tough the first time," said Gensemer, referring to a December meeting that the Barons won at Garden Spot.

The Barons hosted Tuesday's game and managed to fend off a determined Garden Spot squad in a 42-30 final. The loss dropped the Spartans to 9-10 (5-5 in the L-L League)

"Coming into the game, we were down one starter," Gensemer explained. "We knew we would be going to our bench, bringing in players who hadn't seen much varsity experience."

Manheim's Maddie Knier led all scorers with 24 points.

"Maddie Knier is their top scorer and the best scorer in the league," he commented. "She had 24 points against us the first time we played them. They also have a couple of good three-point shooters," continued the coach. "You have to focus on defense to beat them."

The Barons managed only four treys on the night.

Taylor Soehner led the Spartans with 12 points while Morgan Pavelick scored eight.

The Spartans were coming off a 37-24 setback at Cocalico on Thursday, January 27. It was actually 16-11 in Garden Spot's favor at the half.

"We came out in the second half and only scored eight points," he noted. "We just couldn't put the ball in the basket."

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Ryan Conrad poured in a game-high 16 points, leading the Spartans over Cocalico in a Friday night Section Three clash at New Holland.

The senior guard put up eight baskets and freshman Jace Conrad added 12, including a pair of treys, leading the Spartans to a 54-43 win on January 28.

Conrad and fellow senior Brendan Weaver, who finished with eight points, were part of a group that received plenty of support in Garden Spot's gym.

"It was Senior Night," head coach Nate Musselman explained. "It is always special for the kids and a great atmosphere. Everyone was cheering, especially for the seniors.

"Our kids responded to all that great energy and played a great game," he added.

A pair of juniors contributed to the victory. Michael Heisley drilled a pair of three-pointers and finished with eight points. Dylan Nolt contributed with a great defensive effort.

"The biggest thing for us was to limit Trey Rios," said Musselman, referring to the Eagles' top scorer. "We limited him to only nine points - under his scoring average.

"We challenged our kids to not let him beat us. Dylan Nolt usually gets the assignment of the other team's best player. It was a great defensive effort overall."

The Spartans held a six-point lead at halftime and gained momentum late in the third quarter.

"We had a 9-0 spurt at the start of the fourth quarter," Musselman pointed out.

Garden Spot stayed at home and remained on a roll for its next game.

The Spartans overcame an early 11-2 deficit to overtake Manheim Central in a crucial section game on Tuesday, February 1, by a 56-51 margin.

While Heisley sized up four triples for his 12 points, Brendan Weaver led the team with 15. Ryan Conrad was solid, scoring 11. Nolt and Luke Steiner scored nine and seven points, respectively.

WRESTLING

Garrett Gehr had a second-place finish and Mason Musser finished third in his weight class at the L-L League Championships, held at Manheim Township on Friday and Saturday, January 28-29.

Gehr earned the silver medal at 138, recording two pins early on and making it to the quarterfinals where he won on a 17-2 technical fall over Elizabethtown's Nick Smith. Gehr majored Columbia's Soudamire Campbell 17-5 but came up short in a close 4-2 decision in the title bout against Aliazer Alicea of Township.

Musser (285) pinned Jonathan Frederick of McCaskey in the third-place match.

He opened with a pin that took only 23 seconds. He pinned his next opponent before losing to Caleb Mussmon of Hempfield - the eventual champ at 285 - in the quarterfinals.

The Spot junior wrestled his way back through the consolations with three straight pins, including Tom Hershey of Lebanon in the consi semis. He downed Frederick six seconds into the second period of the third-place match.

Garden Spot finished ninth in the team standings. Hempfield was first and Northern Lebanon finished second.

Placing seventh in the L-L's was Diego Portales. The sophomore pinned Wyatt Fritz of Cocalico in the second round but lost to Seamus Mack of Hempfield, the eventual runner-up at 126, in a quarterfinal match.

Portales pinned Bryce Bowman of CV but a tough 2-0 loss to Owen Heffner of Warwick derailed Portale's quest for a higher finish.

In the seventh-place match, he pinned Oliver Carey of A-C late in the second period.

Jevon Martin had a 12-6 victory in his first consolation match at 172. He notched a pin in 47 seconds at the next round of the consolations before losing to Joel Bitner of L-S in the fourth round.

Blake Weaver (189) opened with a pin but suffered a 5-3 loss to Turk Baum of Cocalico and an even close (4-3) loss to Rocco Daugherty of Central.

After a bye in the opening round, Josiah Smucker (120) lost a 12-5 decision, but came back for a strong 9-0 major over Liam Pulaski of Annville-Cleona in the third round of the consolations. He bowed out after a pin in the fourth round.

Tyler Hurst (215) also went 1-2, including a second period fall over Ryan Hottenstein of Elizabethtown.

AIR RIFLE

Leksi Bender and Curtis Nolt both shot 100's as the Spartans topped Ephrata 496-490 on Thursday, January 27 at home in L-L League air rifle competition. Sarah Babb and Magdalene Martin finished with 99's. Matt Sauder added a 98.

On Tuesday, February 1, Bender's score of 100 wasn't enough to help Spot out-shoot Elizabethtown. The Bears' top shooters included four with scores of 100. Emily Bonsall shot a 99 as E-town topped the Spartans 499-489.

Sauder again finished at 98 while Nolt, Trevor Jones and Jack Werner all shot 97's.

BOWLING

The Spartans raised their record to 33-30 with a victory over Lancaster Catholic at Dutch Lanes Friday, January 28. In a close game, the Spartans edged the Crusaders 4-3 with Christofer Torres bowling 520 on the day.

On February 1, Spot suffered a 7-0 loss to Cocalico at Dutch Lanes. Lacey McCalicher led the Spartans with a 546, averaging 182 on the day.