Despite a recent 1-2 stretch the boys' basketball team sits comfortably inside the 16-team District 3-5A bracket, their 11-9 overall mark has them seventh in the power rankings.

On January 28, the boys won 62-47 over Conestoga Valley. Elizabethtown controlled all four quarters with the heavy lifting coming during a 14-5 second quarter spurt. That turned a one-point affair into a 10-point cushion that the Bears extended to 15-points over the second half. Four players made it to double digits, led by Braden Cummings and his 17-points. Matthew Gilhool (16-points), Techeal Gonquoi (14-points) and Patrick Gilhool (12-points) followed with Nathan Johnson tacking on the final three points.

Saturday the 29th Elizabethtown hosted the Pioneers and finished with a 55-42 loss. Lampeter-Strasburg controlled all but the second quarter where E-town's 8-2 edge made it 20-19 at the break. Matthew Gilhool netted 15 and Cummings added 10-points.

February 1st the Cedars left E-town with a 40-37 victory thanks to a buzzer beating three-pointer. Patrick Gilhool (16-points) and Matthew Gilhool (11-points) paced Elizabethtown in the loss.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Momentum can be a fickle thing. One minute you have it, the next you don't. Take the girls' basketball team, on January 28th the Lady Bears cruised to a 12-point win over Conestoga Valley only to stumble and drop their February 1st encounter with Lebanon by seven. Add it up and you get E-town's 8-10 overall record.

Elizabethtown held a 9-7 edge after the first quarter. The Lady Bears kicked into high gear for the second quarter, outscoring the Buckskins 18-3 for a 27-10 lead into intermission. CV cut it to 12 with a 26-21 edge in the second half. Jade Love-Morris dropped 24-points in the win.

Against the Lady Cedars, E-town put four players in double figures but suffered the 61-54 loss. Ainsley Raybold and Kallee Locker both tallied a team high 14-points with Taryn Hummer adding 13 and Love-Morris 10-points. Maggie Clouser tacked on the final three.

SWIMMING

Over the last few seasons, the final week of January has been a big one for the E-town swimming teams. The reason, a late season meet with Ephrata that more often than not has decided the Section Two champion. This year was no different. The Mountaineers posted dual 95-75 victories on January 27th, securing the section for Ephrata and forcing Elizabethtown to settle for second.

"It was a tough loss, but we knew going in that Ephrata would win a lot of races," said head coach Chad Houck. "We have a ton of depth, and I'm really proud of the way both teams competed." Houck made sure to congratulate Ephrata but did add that he looks forward to swimming them soon again at the league championships.

As for the dual meet, E-town managed just one victory, but their depth accounted for 11 second place finishes. Everett Rachael was the lone victor, taking the 50-free, adding a second in the 100-backstroke. Dalton Fink (200-free), Mitchell Garber (100-fly), Carter Ketchum (500-free) and Wyatt Rachael (100-breaststroke) added to the second-place haul. The Lady Bears collected six second place finishes in their loss, two each by Morgan Conway (200 IM, 100-backstroke), Tessa Cronin (50- and 100-free) and Genevieve McDonald (100-fly, 100-breaststroke).

Elizabethtown finished their regular season on the 31st, blowing by Cocalico, 120-49 on the boy's side and 115-52 on the girl's side. E-town dropped just four races, two on each side.

For the Bears it was Wyatt and Everett Rachael posting two solo and two relay wins. Wyatt won the 50-free and 100-breaststroke while Everett claimed the 200-free and 100-fly. They teamed with Riley Runnels and Nathan Yohn to take the 200-freestyle relay with Wyatt, Runnels, and Yohn tagging in Jared Louie for a 200-medley relay win. Louie then joined Everett, Ethan Hall, and Fink for a 400-free relay victory. Hall (100-backstroke) and Ketchum (200 IM) also added wins.

For the girls, Ali Fink won the 100-butterfly and 200 IM. Fink also helped in the 200-medley relay win along with McDonald, Morgan Conway, and Sierra Kapcsos. Kapcsos, McDonald and Conway also enjoyed a 200-freestyle relay win with help from Cronin. E-town finished out the relay sweep with Stephanie Hall, Rene Oltmans, Lilly Rutkowski and Cronin taking the 400-freestyle relay. E-town just missed a freestyle sweep with Conway taking the 100-free, Hall the 200-free and Julia Garber the 500-free. Rutkowski won the 100-backstroke.

BOWLING

The bowling team continues to roll, knocking off Hempfield and Lampeter-Strasburg by the same 5-2 final, putting the Bears at 88-10 on the season. E-town went with the traditional five kegler line-up against Hempfield on January 28th with Derek Deardorff posting the high series with games of 255, 217 and 248. Ayden Pope added a 699, Alaina Telenko followed with a 657, Zach Wentzel added a 639 while Daniel Eberle finished with a 631.

The Bears enjoyed their "Senior Night" win over Lampeter-Strasburg on February 1st, using 14 total bowlers. Hannah Griffie was the lone player to take part in two games, rolling a 153 and 149. Pope posted the top score with a 258 while Dylan Malone (220) and Mason Flowers (211) also passed the 200-pin count.

WRESTLING

The wrestling team may have missed out on the district team tournament but that did not stop the Bears from toppling Ephrata on January 26th. Elizabethtown claimed seven of the 13 bouts, five with bonus points, to secure the 33-28 win. Ryan Findlay (126) picked up the lone fall, Nathan Thomas (132) the lone tech fall and Aiden Robinson (152) the lone major decision. Add in decisions by Jake Rudy (160) and Wyatt Mummau (113) and you get a victory.

The Bears opened their postseason on January 28th and 29th with a trip to Manheim Township for the L-L Championships. E-town put seven wrestlers on the podium, slotting them 12th in the team standings.

Thomas led the charge, taking bronze at 132. Rudy (160) snagged fifth place with both Haver (189) and Findlay (126) finishing sixth. Robinson (152) and Best (106) added a pair of seventh place finishes while Nick Smith (138) settled for eighth place.

RIFLE

The rifle team inched closer to a perfect regular season, moving to 11-0 with wins over Manheim Central and Garden Spot. Elizabethtown was nearly perfect in both, topping Central 499-494 and Spot 499-489. Kyle Llyod and Brandan Rain posted 100 in both matches with Daniel Reigner and Emily Bonsall joining the club against Manheim on the 27th. Kylie Mummau finished with a 99. February 1st had Rachel Broomell and Luke Turner join the 100 club with Bonsall adding a 99.