The Manheim Central girls' basketball team was upset by Ephrata, 36-33, on Feb. 12 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League tournament quarterfinal at Doe Run Elementary School.

Central (17-4), the Section Three co-champions faced off against the Section Two co-champs, winners of eight of their last nine games heading into the contest.

Ephrata kept Maddie Knier in check, holding her to 14 points and only two points in the second half, well off her 22.5 per game average. Her only points in the fourth quarter put the Barons ahead 33-31 with about two minutes to play. Ephrata responded with a 3-pointer by Kamyrn Andes with 1:32 to go.

Central led 12-11 after the first quarter and teams were tied at 20-20 at halftime. In the third quarter, both teams combined for just nine points, as Manheim clung to a one-point lead.

Rachel Nolt added 12 points for the Barons. Central will face New Oxford in the first round of the District Three Class 5A playoffs.

SWIMMING

It was a successful weekend for the Barons at the Lancaster-Lebanon swim meet at the Roy G. Snyder Natatorium on the Wilson High School campus on Feb. 11-12.

This year Manheim earned an eighth-place finish (2:03.31) in the boys 200 medley relay. Bryce Garber, Colton Faulhaber, Anderson Pilsner, and Ryan Moreno garnered medals on Feb. 11.

"We swam good at Leagues," coach Heather Fittery said. "(I am) hoping to get some entries into Districts Class AA."

Though they did not medal, Fittery said there were some individuals that had personal best times. They included Makenna Enck (50 freestyle and 100 backstroke), Olivia Faulhaber, 100 free; Anderson Pilsner, 100 backstroke; Bryce Garber, 100 free; Colton Faulhaber and Cayden Schwebel both in 100 breaststroke; the boys 200 free relay team of Anderson, Bryce, Ryan, and Caleb Bower; and the girls 200 free relay team of Makenna Enck, Chloe Enck, Olivia Faulhaber, and Gabby Fittery.

BOWLING

Holly Hunt finished 22nd out of 34 bowlers in the L-L League bowling singles championship. Hailey Kowalski placed 25th.

RIFLE

The Barons fell two points short of the L-L League title, being edged by Elizabethtown 993-991 on Feb. 12 at the league rifle championship at Conestoga Valley HS.

Freshman Kyria Martin finished fourth overall (199, three centers) and Ellie McCabe, a senior, was fifth (199, three centers). Nate Sauder was sixth (199, two centers). Two-time league champion Anne Haldeman shot a 199, zero centers and finished ninth.

"I was very pleased to see Kyria Martin come through like she did," coach Steve Waddington said. "I knew she could. She is a very strong shooter. All in all, I was very pleased with how we did as a team. I would have liked to have seen Trevor Frey shoot much higher. He had an off day. We could have won the tournament but fell two points short of E-Town."

On the positive side, the Barons took four of the top ten spots and had three shooters make All-Stars for the season.

The All-Stars, based on the highest average when considering 12 of 14 matches, were Haldeman, who came in third place with a 99.5; Ellie, who took 8th (98.83); and Nate Sauder placed 10th, averaging 98.75.

Second place out of eight teams is still something to be proud of, Waddington said.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Central rallied to win their last two games in the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs. The latest win was a 62-57 victory over Manheim Township, which led by one at halftime on Feb. 14.

The Barons outscored the Streaks 23-7 in third quarter to take a 15-point lead entering the fourth. Township cut the Barons lead to four with 1:07 to play, but Trey Grube, who had 19 points and Judd Novak, who had 16, connected on six of their free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

They advanced to the semifinals, opposite undefeated Lampeter-Strasburg, who prevailed 75-68 at Conestoga Valley on Feb. 16. Central led 19-18 after the first quarter. L-S led 32-20 at halftime. The Barons gave them a battle, as it was only the second time this season that Pioneers won by a single-digit margin.

The tourney run started with the Manheim coming back from a 15-point deficit to beat Lancaster Mennonite in the league's first round at CV on Feb. 11. The Blazers hit six 3-pointers in the first half. LMH started the second quarter with a 15-4 run. Camdon Hurst (team-high 18 points) drained a 3-pointer to put LMH on top 32-17.

The Barons chipped away, cutting the lead to 11 at halftime after baskets by Collin Noiles and Novak. Those baskets gave the Barons hope and a slight momentum swing.

Though losing at the time, Barons' coach Charlie Fisher was encouraged with how his team battled back.

"It wasn't any rah, rah halftime speech," Fisher said. "I went into the locker room, and I said, 'I am more proud of you now than I've ever been, and that was because we did not give up. We went down 15 and it could have turned to 20. We're thinking we're going to be out of timeouts by halftime. Then we got a good bucket, then got a stop and a good bucket and then we got stop and it was 11 at halftime. That was the difference."

In the second half the difference was defense. Manheim came out in a 1-2-2 full court defense and mixed it up in the half court with four different defensive looks. The Blazers turned the ball over seven times in the third quarter and 19 times in the game.

Grube, who struggled to find his shot early, got hot, scoring 11 of his 20 points in the second half, including eight straight points - two consecutive treys to start the fourth, cutting LMH's lead to 41-40 with 5:35 to go.

Novak's free throws tied and put the Barons ahead 47-46 with 1:13 to play. Hurst's drive and free throw for a conventional 3-point play tied it at 49-49 with 26 second left.

In overtime, Jackson Tracy scored his only points in the game nailing a huge 3-pointer to put the Barons on top 52-51. They never trailed again. Novak had 22 of his career-high 28 points after halftime.

"It's a credit to our guys; they were unbelievable," Fisher said. "We've been talking about it all year. (Give) 32 minutes. Tonight, we needed 36, and we did it. It was awesome."