The Pequea Valley girls' team wrapped up its season with a home game against non-league foe Oley Valley on Friday, February 27. A dominant third quarter lifted Oley Valley to a 43-34 victory. The visitors outscored the Braves 11-4 in the third to increase their slim one-point halftime lead.

Rebecca Cox scored a game-high 18 for the Braves. Sarah Arment finished with seven points.

The Braves' record was 6-10. They went 5-5 in league games.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

When you look at the schedules of almost every sport in the Lancaster-Lebanon League this school year, you'll notice the postponements, the revised playoff formats, the delayed starts to various seasons and other anomalies. One such team that experienced all of the above was the Pequea Valley boys' basketball team.

The Braves somehow made it to the District Three Class 3A playoffs in a season that began with four games in five nights and later had Pequea playing three games in as many nights shortly after three postponements due to COVID-related issues.

"I told these kids I'm very proud of them," head coach Thad Rittenhouse emphasized. "We've been through more challenges with this team than any of the other teams in the league. I've even been told by a few of the other coaches."

Rittenhouse's reason for pride extended into Tuesday night's district playoff opener at Columbia. The Crimson Tide improved to 15-4 on the year with a 63-49 victory which ended Pequea's season. However, it was a contest much closer than the 14-point margin of victory indicated.

"We were actually playing very well," Rittenhouse said. "We fought for every single thing.

"The kids knew they would have to play with a lot of heart in this game," continued the coach. "They had beaten us twice during the regular season. So, we knew going in that it was going to be a tough fight to stay with them.

"The last time we played them, we had one game or two right before and one game right after," Rittenhouse noted, referring to the February 12 loss that was sandwiched between games on the 11th and 13th. "We came out in this game and fought for every possession. We were in the game even in the beginning of the fourth quarter. Every loose ball, every rebound - we were fighting for every single possession.

"Our defense and our rebounding helped keep us in the game," continued the coach. "It was not our best shooting performance."

The Tide opened the fourth quarter with three three-point field goals. They were leading the Braves 39-34 after three quarters. Devon Colyer, who finished with a team high 14 points, swooshed in a three-pointer to cut the Tide's lead to five.

Colyer, a senior, will be one of the players who'll be tough to replace.

"With Devon Colyer and Tony Lazar, we're saying good-bye to the best offensive and defensive players, respectively, on the team," Rittenhouse said. "They are going to be difficult to replace, especially Devon's points per game average."

Colyer finished with 1,127 career points.

Lazar scored 10 points on the night. Josh Jarvis and Luke Peifer each scored eight.

"Luke had our best three-point average," Rittenhouse noted. "Josh and Luke are unsung heroes. Josh is one of the hardest workers; he is relentless. He took over the point guard duties for the first time in his career and he had an outstanding season."

The Braves are good on a handful of juniors returning next year.

"Nevin Stoltzfus is going to be a good leader on the team," Rittenhouse said. "We have a number of individuals coming back next year and we need them to step up and work hard in the off season."

WRESTLING

Three Pequea wrestlers competed in the District Three Class-AA East Regionals on Saturday, February 27. Nate Miller, Jace Beegle and Liam McGinley all finished fifth in their respective weight classes as the Braves finished 15th with 28 team points.

McGinley pinned Gabe Erbe of Tamaqua in the fifth-place match of the 106-pound weight class. He battled back after an 11-3 loss to Mason McClendon of Susquenita and then pinned Connor McGuigan of Archbishop Ryan with only four ticks of the clock remaining in the second period of the consolation match. A fall to Conwell-Egan's Steven Harris subjected McGinley to wrestle for fifth place.

Beegle, who was 6-0 in the post-season, suffered a tough 5-2 setback in the first bout of the 126-pound class. He pinned Joe O'Rourke of Faith Christian Academy to begin his wrestlebacks. Another tough loss - this one a 6-4 overtime defeat - sent him to the fifth-place match, which he claimed in a 7-2 defeat of Lehighton's Luke Ferguson.

Miller registered two pins in the 285-pound brackets. Suffering a pin himself in the first round, Miller made up for it with two pins, including Derek Hunter of Jim Thorpe in the fifth-place match.