The Comets hosted Solanco's matmen Thursday, Jan. 6 in a Section One clash in Millersville. The result was a 66-12 victory for the Mules as the Comets forfeited six bouts in addition to giving up five falls.

"We went in giving up 30 points in forfeits," said head coach Brandon Vernalli. "That's a tough hole to climb out of. Travis Clawson (113) looked good and finished with a second period fall and Ty Grassel (160) picked up a first period fall to account for our scoring.

"Teagen Rodgers has been doing a nice job and was in control over Baine Plastino (172) before getting caught and pinned," the coach continued. "He lost to Plastino by one point at our tournament, so we were hoping for him to turn that around.

"Riley Evans had a similar situation. He pinned Solanco's Caden Rutt at our tournament but tonight gave up the fall."

Last Wednesday in Neffsville Grassel won 6-1 over Juan Colon, Rogers added a 14-0 major decision over Jason Tu and Clawson earned forfeit points in Manor's 54-15 loss to Township.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Comets hosted the Section Two Warriors (8-2) on Friday, Jan. 7 but fell short in securing a win. The visitors poured in 62 points and held the Comets to their lowest point total of the season at 28.

The visitors knocked down eight treys on the night and five of them came in the first quarter as they bolted to an 18-2 lead before finishing the quarter up 23-5.

Manor hung in over the next two frames falling short 22-20 but a 17-3 fourth quarter run by the Warriors put the game out of reach.

Kamrin Carroll scored all six of his points in the second quarter while Randy Short added a game-high eight.

Less than 24 hours later, the Comets hosted Dallastown where a cold shooting spell in the fourth quarter led to a 52-50 heartbreaker.

Five points each from Dhamir Wesley and Carroll sparked the Comets to a 17-10 first quarter lead. The visitors outscored Manor 15-8 in the second to knot the score at 25-25 by halftime.

In a nip-and-tuck third, Manor pulled ahead 38-36 and led by as many as seven, 50-43, in the fourth before the Wildcats ran off nine straight points for the come-from-behind win.

Sophomore Ethan Benne exploded for a season and game-high 18 points and Wesley chipped in with 11.

Playing their third straight home game, the Comets posted a 64-43 loss against Conestoga Valley last Tuesday.

The Buckskins used a 37-13 run through the second half to fight off Manor's 30-27 first half lead. CV netted ten treys and had two players score 20 or more in the win. Benne's 14 points were tops for the Comets. For more photos see townlively.com

BOWLING

At Palmyra Bowling Center Thursday, Jan. 6, the Comets posted their second shutout of the season to keep pace with Hempfield as both teams sit at the top of the Section One standings at 25-10.

Crest's Connor Firestone had the top game of the day with a 267, and the top series with a 666 but it wasn't enough. The Comets finished with a 2979 pin total to Crests' 2522.

Eva Brubaker's 642 series was high for the Comets. She also rolled a 257 as their top individual game.

Willow Hee followed with a 615 series and Derek Warfel added a 610.

"We got off to a slow start," said head coach Chris Vital, "winning the first game by just 17 pins. But we picked it up after that. Eva is averaging about 220 right now and Willow, a senior, has stepped to the plate and has been solid the last couple of matches."

Charlie Hull rolled three 200 plus games last Tuesday, carrying the Comets to a 7-0 shutout over CV. He finished with a 646 series while Brubaker's 235 in game one was the high single game of the day. She followed with a 602. Zach Carroll's 559, Derek Warfel's 536 and Corinne Smith's 506 rounded out the scoring.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

With a 16-point fourth quarter and a 16-point effort from Morgan Miller, the Comets earned a 38-25 Section One win at Warwick Friday, Jan. 7 for their third straight victory. Holding the Warriors to eight points in the first half, Manor led by five at the break, gained three points in the third quarter and then added some breathing room with a 16-11 fourth quarter effort.

"We played well defensively in the first half but couldn't get the shots to drop," said head coach Megan Collins. "We knew we needed to come out strong in the third quarter and pull away, so Warwick didn't feel like they still had a chance."

Miller canned three treys and hit two in the fourth when she scored eight of her game-high 16. Sydney Shepos added double figures with 10, including six of Manor's nine in the third.

On the road again Saturday, the Comets watched a significant lead slip away as Dallastown rallied down the stretch to pull out a 42-39 win.

"We had a nine-point lead in the third quarter and by the start of the fourth it dwindled to one, 25-24," said Collins. "We just didn't do what we needed to at the end to secure the win.

Sugra finished with a game-high 23-points.

The Comets improved to 5-1 in league play with a 60-34 win at CV last Tuesday. A 37-14 run through the middle quarters extended Manor's 13-10 first quarter advantage and provided enough points to secure the win without starter Morgan Miller (injury).

Sugra (19), Kamia Goodley (14) and Izzy Kligge (10) led the Comets.

Manor capped its four games in six days marathon with a tightly contested 53-50 loss at Manheim Central. Down 47-39 after three, the Comets rallied down the stretch, cutting the lead to 51-50 with 1:10 left but couldn't score after that.

Shepos pumped in a season-high 18 points (12 in the first half) and Sugra netted 10 of her 18 in the second half. Maddie Knier tallied 31 for the Barons.

The JV Comets won their first game of the year topping Manheim 32-26. Keira Green and Brin Groff combined for 24 points.

SWIMMING

At home last Tuesday, the Comets used a strong second half to erase a five-point deficit and pulled away with a 75-61 win over McCaskey.

"Calean Spitko-Lind had the meet of the season," pointed out head coach Eric Urban. "He dropped three seconds in the 100 breaststroke and his 400 free relay split was his fastest by three seconds even with the back-to-back events.

"This was our best meet this season," he added. "The majority of our swimmers had season or personal bests."

Spitko-Lind anchored the winning 200 medley relay with Barry Spencer, Jayden Sanchez and Colton Garber opening the action. He also claimed the 100 breaststroke and joined with Colton Garber, Noah Reen and Sanchez to take the 4x400 relay.

Noah Reen commanded the 200 IM (2:33.75 PR) and the 100 backstroke, Spencer was tops in the 50 free, and Sanchez took the 100 butterfly and 500 free. Spencer also led the way in the 200 free relay with Derek Thomas, Reen and Spitko-Lind chipping in.

The girls fell to 1-5 with a 91-64 loss to McCaskey despite winning the opening 200 medley relay with Avery Groff, Kari Anderson, Catherine Repkoe and Grace Bresch.

Groff went on to win the 200 free and the 100 butterfly, Grace Bresch took the 50 free and swam the opening leg of the winning 200 free relay with Kari Anderson, Catherine Repko and Groff following. Anderson went on to win the 100 breaststroke.