In their last regular season match of the year on Monday, February 6, the Pioneers swept Lancaster Mennonite with their ninth shutout and capped a 69-15 section leading record.

Katie Pope rose to the top of the scoring ladder with a 611 series that included a 237 third game. Nick Bukowski opened with a 259 and finished at 599. He was followed by Ethan Snyder's 595. Other contributors included Maddux Harsh (194), Scott Armstrong (186), Jack Ross (139), Ethan Weaver (155), Andrew Commero (124) and Adam Miller (131).

"Katie had a strong finish and Nick had a great first game," said head coach John Achille. "All the varsity players were able to bowl at least one game."

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The girls' basketball team locked up second place in Section Three, thus qualifying for the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs, but has hit a rough patch as the regular season winds down. Over the last week, the Pioneers suffered a 53-22 loss at Ephrata on Thursday, Feb. 2 before hosting Section Two leader Manheim Central on Saturday. That game went to the Barons 40-17 and was Lampeter's fourth straight loss.

"The goal was to get to the dance," said head coach Steve Villbrandt. "We did that, qualifying for both leagues and districts, but now we have to flip our mindset. We're struggling right now with our confidence."

The Mounts opened with a 17-7 run through the first quarter and never looked back. They led 25-11 at the break and held L-S to two third quarter points, a field goal by Katie Ranck, while pulling away with 15. L-S had its biggest scoring quarter in the fourth, finishing with nine, but it wasn't enough.

Ranck finished with eight points and Ava Leonard followed with six. Leigha Saurbaugh and Kelsey McTaggart combined for eight.

"We're really melting down at the offensive end," said Villbrandt. "We shot 21% and at one point, we had 11 straight turnovers. But I will say this, the girls work hard and play to the end, diving for loose balls with just seconds left in the game. They don't give up."

The struggles continued on Saturday when the Barons came to town. Central, or more specifically Maddie Knier, handled the Pioneers. Knier netted 11 of her team's 13 first quarter points and held the hosts scoreless over the first eight minutes.

"Take away that first quarter and it's a ten-point game over the final three quarters, 27-17," noted Villbrandt.

Manheim led 23-5 at the half and both teams played even in the third. The Barons pulled away with a 9-4 fourth quarter and went 17-for-20 from the free throw line for the game. Knier scored a tad over half of her team's points with 21. Horner, with a pair of threes, scored eight for the home team.

Unfortunately, the girls suffered their fifth straight loss Tuesday, a 51-39 final against visiting N. Lebanon. The Pioneers held a seven point lead at the half before the Vikings closed with an 18-2 run.

Horner (16 points) and Ranck (14 points) paced the scoring.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

With wins over Octorara and N. Lebanon over the last week, the boys' basketball team continues to take care of business. A win over Cocalico will clinch the section title outright.

"The guys are working hard and working together," said head coach Ed Berryman. "And someone always steps up when we need it."

The boys dropped their first meeting with Octorara on Jan. 10, 56-45. It was also the game Ben Wert suffered a season-ending injury. Feb. 3 the Pioneers survived a back-and-forth battle, erasing a 48-44 third quarter deficit with a convincing 15-4 fourth quarter.

"We had a different game plan this time," said Berryman. "We used a different defense to help stop Zack Kirk and Elijah Hamilton, their top scorers. We held them to eight less than they normally score."

LS came out strong, winning the first quarter 23-12 before Octorara fought back, closing the lead to 34-28 at the break. They looked to take control with a 20-10 third quarter only to see the hosts fight back for the win.

"We were down 52-50 and Trent Wagner grabbed an offensive board, took one dribble, and scored to tie the game. That was a big two points. He also played great defense on Kirk."

The Braves did not score after that.

Chase Smucker went 8-for-8 at the foul line and knocked down a game-high 20 points. Luke Hines (9 rebounds), who was 6-for-8 from the stripe in the third and 9-for-13 overall, settled for 17 while Yasin Abdi notched a career-high 10. The Pioneers were a solid 23-for-27 at the stripe with Dean Herr (8 points) and Justin Glick (4 points), along with Abdi, going 2-for-2.

At N. Lebanon last Monday, four players finished in double figures for just the second time this season and L-S broke open a 23-15 halftime lead with a 22-8 third quarter to post a 58-35 win over the Vikings.

"It's a long haul up there," said Berryman. "Finally in the third quarter we just started making shots."

Herr canned three triples, Hines went 3-4 from the stripe, and Smucker, all finished with 13 points with Glick adding an even dozen.

SWIMMING

The Pioneer swimmers wrapped up their regular season against a tough Ephrata squad. The boys lost 114-42 while the girls' result was similar, a 119-48 loss to the undefeated Mountaineers.

"We focused on preparing for the L-L League Championships," said head coach Kylie Hearn. "We continued to have personal and season best times despite the team losses."

Kyle Spaulding was the only Pioneer swimmer to claim first place. He was tops in the 200 IM with a 2:16.24. L-S did manage a handful of seconds with Christian Rota placing in the 100 back and 50 free, Matt Rota in the 100 breaststroke and Ryan Smecker in the 200 free. Third place winners included Adam Zook in the 100 free and Karim Kurdi in the 500 free.

Second place point-getters for the girls included Zara Paisley in the 50 free and Ashley Prouse in the 100 free while Krista Lambert (100 free), Grace Schonour (100 back) and Kylie Gerhardt (200 IM) placed third in their respective events.

WRESTLING

Fifteen teams converged at Cedar Crest High School for the Falcon Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 4. The Pioneer matmen came away with five medals and an 8th place team finish.

Riley Bonholtzer (121) advanced to the finals with a pair of falls but came away with a silver medal, suffering a 2:56 fall to Palmyra's Nathaniel Foltz.

At 145, Josh Heisey settled for third place with his 3-1 decision over McCaskey's Jessiah Jimenez. He advanced with a pair of major decision shutouts against an 8-4 loss.

Jaiden Newton finished fourth at 172. He dropped a 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker thriller against Abington's Dylan Kiesling for the chance for bronze.

Also placing for the Pioneers was Connor Erb (5th at 127) and Elijah Myers (6th at 114). Erb won his final bout of the day via a 10-2 major over Mechanicsburg's Cole Sweitzer.

In Millersville Wednesday, Feb. 8, the Pioneers won three actual bouts wrestled and came away with a 42-23 victory in a match that featured forfeits in seven weight classes. Erb recorded a fall at 126, Heisey earned a 9-3 decision at 145 and Spahr picked up a 6-1 decision at heavyweight to cap the scoring.