When head coach Mike Glackin, an assistant coach at Penn Manor last season, took over the Comets he knew they would be rebuilding. Four starters moved on and just one returned Izzy Kligge. Add to that the four freshmen (Joelle Kroesen, Lilly Rineer, Paityn Smith and Alayzha Twyman) who are getting quality minutes. All things considered, the Comets are growing and getting better every time they step on the court.

Over the holidays they competed in the Solanco Holiday Tournament where they went 1-1, opening with a 37-36 heartbreaker against Exeter before rebounding with a convincing 44-36 nod over the hosts. Then last Tuesday they earned a 28-22 win over Section Two's Conestoga Valley, giving them three wins to date.

Trailing Exeter 14-9 at the half, the Comets exploded for 19 third quarter points to forge ahead 28-22. Brin Groff's triple with 3:37 left in the third tied the game at 18-18. She drained a second trey with 50 ticks left, pushing the lead to 24-20 before a pair of Rineer free throws made it 28-22 with eight minutes left to play.

Back-to-back buckets by Twyman gave Manor its biggest lead of the night, 32-26. They scored just four points after that as Exeter's full court press proved to be too much for the youthful Comets. They did have possession with 12.5 seconds remaining and got off one last shot that fell short.

Groff, Twyman (6 rebounds) and Rineer all netted eight points in the loss but the Comets were just 6-of-12 from the free throw line.

"I think the big factor was getting outscored 22-12 with points in the paint," noted Glackin. "And eight of those were in the fourth quarter. Plus, we just didn't handle their press very well.

"I thought Brin played one of her best games of the year with nine rebounds and zero turnovers to go along with her eight points," he continued.

One night later the Comets zeroed in from three-point range, canning four in the first quarter, two straight by Kligge, and jumped out to a 14-4 lead over Solanco and never looked back, though Solanco did put together an impressive fourth quarter, outscoring the Comets 17-9 to keep things close.

Holding a 21-13 lead at the half, the Comets opened with a triple by Rineer and later in the quarter went on a 9-0 run for their biggest lead of the night, 33-17. B. Groff opened that run with back-to-back putbacks.

Solanco opened the fourth with a 10-0 run and got to within seven but a dismal showing from the foul line (11-of-24) prevented them from getting closer.

"They had 16 offensive rebounds, which is too many," said Glackin. "But we did have nine assists, we're averaging just five, and we shot 40% from three-point range. We did a better job of reversing the ball and attacking the hoop in order to work the ball inside out. We had more quality looks than usual and Izzy's two threes really set the tone early."

Rineer paced the attack with 14 points. Kligge and B. Groff each added seven. Smith and Carley Groff combined for 11.

"Lilly had a nice game," said Glackin. "She had eight deflections, six steals and two assists. Brin led with 11 rebounds and is starting to become a more well rounded player. Paityn played great on the ball defense and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field," he continued. "Plus it was nice to get the bench players some minutes. Jojo Bonnici scored the first two points of her varsity career."

Against CV last Tuesday the Comets used a 10-5 run through the fourth quarter to pull out the win. Smith netted all four of her points that quarter while Rineer, Kligge and Twyman chipped in.

B. Groff, with five points in the third quarter, led the way with a game-high 10.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The boys' basketball team entered the new year after suffering a string of six straight losses, including a two pointer at Elizabethtown. But that was last year. Tuesday, Jan. 3, the Comets, behind a game-high 25 points from Ethan Benne, earned a 57-49 victory at Conestoga Valley.

The Comets, with a 9-0 run to end the first quarter, lead 14-4 early. CV cut the lead to 19-17 midway through the second quarter, but Manor finished the half in front 23-17.

CV, with nine points from Griffen Rishell (24 for the game), again cut the lead to two, 32-30, late in the third frame but couldn't get over the hump. Manor led 35-31 with eight minutes remaining.

Benne sparked a 22 point fourth quarter, netting 12, and the Comets held the Bucks to 18 points to earn the road win. The Comets were 12-for-17 from the foul line in the fourth and 15-for-25 for the game.

Devin Figueroa also hit double figures with 12.

Prior to CV, the Comets competed in the Warwick Holiday tournament. They opened with a 55-40 loss against Dallastown and then dropped a disappointing 41-35 result against Lancaster Catholic.

Down just 27-23 at the half against the Wildcats, Manor struggled through the second half, falling 28-17. They were a slim 4-for-7 from the free throw line while the 'Cats, who placed three players in double figures, were 15-of-24. Benne led the Comets with 9. Aiden Mattern added 8.

"Dallastown had 20 offensive rebounds," said head coach Larry Bellew. "We had four and we committed eight more turnovers than they did. It's difficult to win games when you lose those two categories by wide margins. The fact that it was a 2-3 possession game for the first half of the fourth quarter is a credit to the perseverance of the guys."

Against the Crusaders, Manor got off to a slow start, falling behind 10-6, and finished slow, losing the fourth quarter 14-11 while winning the middle frames 18-17. They missed 12 free throws on the night in a game they lost by six.

Mattern, with ten points, was the only double-digit scorer.

"We have to value the ball, limit turnovers and focus on shot quality," Bellew said. "Our entire group, coaches, and players, need to come together and our level of play. We'll get there. It's just taking longer than we expected."

WRESTLING

Over the holidays the Comets competed in the Neil Turner Classic at Conestoga Valley and came away with four medal winners. Gavin Boland (114) earned gold with a 14-10 finals decision over Alex Reed of Shikellamy. He advanced with four wins, including a 7-6 nod over Carden Wagner, Montgomery Area, in the semis.

"Gavin came away with another first place finish," noted head coach Brandon Vernalli. "His last two matches were tough. He seems to be making a great transition here at Penn Manor."

Travis Clawson (121) earned a second silver medal finish at the Classic, suffering a 1:45 fall to Brant Harer, Montgomery Area, in the finals. Clawson posted a fall, a major decision and a tech fall to get to the finals.

"Travis didn't have much of a challenge until he got to the finals," noted Vernalli.

At 189, Teagan Rogers settled for third place, defeating Hershey's Tristan Bingeman 5-0. He went 5-1 on the weekend. "Teagan wrestled a great tournament and showed some great heart battling back for a third-place finish in a tough bracket," said Vernalli.

Riley Evans, at 107, finished in seventh place. He secured a 3:32 fall over Russel Lloyd (St. Georges Tech) to place. "Riley wrestled tough," Vernalli said. "We saw some good things that we hope can transpire into the remainder of the season."