After going 4-2 through the first three weeks of December, the Pioneers kept sharp between the holidays, holding off Solanco 46-43 and then topping Exeter to claim the Solanco Holiday Tournament championship on December 29.

Against Solanco in the opener, the Pioneers fell behind 13-9 in the first quarter, overcame three ties in the second quarter and took and 24-21 lead on a putback by Katie Ranck, the tournament MVP, at the halftime buzzer.

In a nip-and-tuck third quarter, L-S led by as many as seven (31-24) on another bucket by Ranck but Solanco went on a 9-2 run and regained the lead on a triple by Emily Sims before Ava Vaughn's trey with .4 left knotted the score once again, 37-37.

The fourth quarter was just as close with four lead changes and neither team leading by more than two. Vaughn canned her second trey of the game with 25 seconds remaining and Ranck tipped Solanco's last attempt to preserve the three-point win.

Ranck, hounded by Solanco's Sarah Landis and despite foul trouble, tied for game-high honors with Solanco's Kara Peace with 12 points each. Anna Horner (8), Ava Leonard (7), Kelsey McTaggart (7), Leigha Sauerbaugh (6) and Vaughn (6) rounded out a balanced effort.

One night later the Pioneers used a 16-11 second quarter to pull out a 29-21 halftime lead over Exeter and won the second half 28-23 to claim the championship. They canned 15-of-20 free throws, including 8-of-10 in the second quarter, to help secure the win.

Ranck knocked down a team-high 16 points with Leonard (13) and Horner (11) also hitting double figures.

"Katie needed to work for every bucket she scored on both nights," stated head coach Steven Villlbrandt. "Ava Vaughn shot well and hit some key 3s. McTaggart was asked to guard the best player in both games and did a great job. Ava Leonard crashes the boards hard, ran the game plan perfectly and was able to finish around the rim," he continued. "Leigha Sauerbaugh flies all over the floor and is often the glue that keeps us together, and Horner was great at penetrating and passing to shooters and locking up the shooting guards on defense. These were overall team wins and that's what we were looking for."

Back in Section Three play Tuesday, the second place Pioneers (6-3) hosted the undefeated Crusaders and fell short of the upset, 61-41.

While the final score was lopsided, the Pioneers did battle early on and outscored the visitors 14-6 over the final eight minutes. The middle frames, however, belonged to the Crusaders. Their press and fastbreaks resulted in a 39-17 advantage.

"I thought we played really well," said Villbrandt. "Only having six girls created minutes of exhaustion that they capitalized on. Plus Kelsey had back spasms and sat the entire second half."

Ranck's 13 points were high for the home team. Horner added 11.

WRESTLING

The Pioneer grapplers entered the new year with an 0-3 record having suffered losses to Elizabethtown (56-12), Ephrata (45-21), and Manheim Central (44-24) in December.

On January 4 they hosted Donegal. Each team forfeited three weight classes, leaving seven bouts to be wrestled. The Indians finished on top, 49-21.

L-S led 18-0 after Donegal forfeited the first three bouts. L-S forfeited at 127 and the Indians won the first bout actually wrestled, 133. A second L-S forfeit closed the lead to 18-16.

Donegal won each of the next three bouts with a pair of falls and a 5-4 thriller at 145. Jaiden Newton's 5-1 decision at 172 closed the gap to 31-21 but two falls and a forfeit went Donegal's way and capped the scoring.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

After splitting games at the Red Tornado Holiday tournament, the Pioneers improved to 3-0 in Section Three when they handed Lancaster Catholic a 64-55 home loss last Tuesday. Luke Hines poured in a career-high 24 points, Ben Wert added 18, including 9-of-10 free throws, and Chase Smucker added 13 as the Pioneers built a 50-34 lead after three quarters. Hines was recently voted to the Class 4A Second Team PFN Coaches Select all state football team as defensive end.

"He had a monster game," said head coach Ed Berryman. "In addition to a career high, he had seven rebounds, three steals and four assists. He did a bit of everything.

"It's an accomplishment to win at Catholic," he added. "It's never easy there."

The Crusaders hit four treys down the stretch to keep within striking distance but then had to resort to fouling. L-S canned 12-of-15 freebies in that final quarter to wrap up the road win.

Holding a 16-14 lead in the first quarter, L-S went on a 13-2 run in the second after switching to a half-court trapping defense. They finished the half on a 7-0 run and led 35-25 at the horn.

Hines, netting nine of Lampeter's first 11 points of the third frame, pushed the lead to 46-34 with less than two minutes showing. A pair of Trent Wagner free throws and a Smucker jumper capped the quarter and left L-S with a 16 point advantage with eight minutes remaining.

"We were without Dean Herr so Trent got his first varsity start and was productive at both ends of the floor," Berryman stated. "Tim Holmes did a nice job as well. He does a lot of little things that don't show up in the scorebook."

The visitors drained an impressive 22-of-27 free throws for the game.

"I expected us to be competitive this year," said Berryman, "but I don't think I expected us to be 8-2 at this point. The kids are working hard and everyone's doing what is best for the team."

Between the holidays L-S competed in the Red Tornado Holiday tournament where they posted mixed results, dropping a 59-55 result against York High before rebounding with a 67-58 victory over Harrisburg on Dec. 29.

Tied at 18-18 in the first half and leading 32-30 after three quarters against York High, the Pioneers stumbled a bit down the stretch. They were outscored 29-23 over the final eight minutes and suffered the loss.

L-S canned 11 three-pointers on the night, five each by Wert (24 points) and Smucker (18 points) but only hit six two point shots and were 10-of-15 from the free throw line.

One night later they fought off a 16-9 first quarter deficit and outscored Harrisburg in each of the next three quarters, including a convincing 23-11 third quarter run that pushed their lead to 49-42. They took the fourth quarter 18-16 to seal Harrisburg's fate.