The Lady Barons lost to Cocalico 50-44 on Feb. 4. Maddie Knier had a game-high 30 points (one point off her career high), including two 3-pointers. Summer Bates added six points for the Barons, who trailed 26-24 at halftime and led 32-30 after three quarters.

Manheim lost a nail-biter to Solanco, 35-33 in overtime. Knier paced the Barons with 15 points and Rachel Nolt added seven, including a trey. MC led 7-4 after the first, 16-11 at intermission and 25-23 after three.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Barons gained a 62-27 victory over Northern Lebanon Feb. 10. Taking a 10-point lead into halftime, Manheim blew the game open in the third quarter, getting in the lane and kicking the ball out for easy shots. They also did a good job defensively, Barons' coach Charlie Fisher said.

Trey Grube paced the Barons with 21 points. Fisher said Griffin DiFrancesco, getting rebounds, contesting shots and scoring inside, had a big contribution in the first half and played a key role in the win.

"We played well tonight," Fisher said. "We were ready to go. With five games left we need to run off some wins and get into districts. We need to put the close loses behind us."

The Barons had a close loss against Cocalico, 50-44, on Feb. 8. Cam Eberly led MC with 15 points. Manheim led 24-23 at the break and trailed 32-31 after three quarters.

"They (Cocalico) scored early in the second half and it just felt like they were in control," Fisher said. "We needed to go on a 45 second stretch with good possessions on offense and defense to gain control."

RIFLE

Manheim marksmen won two out of three matches last week. Behind Trevor Frey's 99, the Barons fired a 491 to outdo Conestoga Valley's 487 on Feb. 4. Anna Haldeman, Ellie McCabe, Riley Sauder and Gabby Fittery all shot 98 for MC.

"Trevor is a good shooter and capable of shooting well," said Barons' coach Steve Waddington, who missed last week being quarantined (he is healthy). "He was out for a week in the end of January and just needed to some time to get his scores going again. I really give my captains and assistant coaches, Elizabeth Hess and Claire McClain, the credit. They keep things rolling during my absence."

Manheim beat Wilson behind an outstanding 498-487 score (500 is a perfect score). Haldeman, Frey and Kami Groff all fired perfect scores of 100. Nate Sauder and Eric Kreider were close behind at 99.

"I was thrilled to see the team shoot the 498 against Wilson," Waddington said. "I am seeing some of the younger shooters improving nicely and helping improve the team."

After a season-ending 491-487 loss to Manheim Township Feb. 9, the Barons finished with a 10-4 record, good for second place in the Lancaster-Lebanon League. McCabe and Natalia Winkler each posted 98. Fittery, Sauder and Kreider all fired 97.

Waddington believes with another year of experience his young team will start getting their scores up a little more and be more consistent. He is also grateful for the cooperation of his squad.

"For a team as young as they are, they are doing very well," he said. "I truly feel blessed to have the group of kids I have this year. Everyone has been very supportive to each other and to me."

BOWLING

The Barons defeated Elco Feb. 4. The win against the Raiders was a 7-0 triumph on game scores of 774-663, 848-647 and 796-701 for a three-game total of 2418-2011. Ethan Howard led the way with a 188-160-201 for 549 triple. Freshman Landen Statts was only six pins behind Howard with a156-205-182 for a 543 series. They were followed by Jesse Hurst 158-179-166 for 503, Catey Sides 146-165-141 for 452 and Hailey Kowalski who rounds out the top five with a 126-139-106 for a 371 triple. Other notable scores: on Junior Varsity, Cole Shontz, who has bowled varsity most of the season, had a 184-101-170 for 455 and Josh Shaw rolled a 157-97-147 for 401.

"It was very satisfying," Barons' coach Alan Sides said about the win, which improved Manheim's record to 4-3 league and 4-7 overall. "We beat them the first match of the year, 5-2. This time we stayed very consistent. And if someone had a bad game, someone else stepped up. Landon has actually been a surprise. As a freshman, I had never seen him before this season. He has made great progress His average went from 144 to 147 with just one match."

The Barons lost to Garden Spot Feb. 8 on a three-game total of 2554 to 2424. Hurst, who holds a 180 average, paced MC with a 173-193-186 for a 552 triple.

WRESTLING

The Barons lost to Lampeter-Strasburg 51-21Tuesday night in Lampeter. Manheim had three falls and four wins. Earning pins were Gabe Thomas (106 pounds), Dakoda Thomas (152) and Brett Barbush (189). Uriah Warner earned an 8-6 decision at 138 pounds.

Being aggressive, a few Manheim wrestlers got caught in moves and were pinned. Barons' coach Billy Chamberlain didn't fault the effort or aggressiveness.

"I don't think the score was indicative of how the kids wrestled," said Chamberlain, whose team finished with an 8-8 record. "They went down swinging."

The Barons battled. Logan Forrest was down 7-1 and fought back to lose 10-9. Chamberlain said he wanted to make sure everyone got a match and had fun in the last match of the season.

SWIMMING

Manheim ended its season on a high note Feb. 9, gaining a convincing win on the girls' side (75-24) against Lancaster Catholic. Several girls had multiple first-place finishes on the night, including MaKenna Enck, Chloe Enck, Raegan Nissley, Gabby Fittery, Olivia Faulhaber, Bode Sipel and Bryce Fawber. Four of these athletes are ninth graders, including MaKenna Enck (two relays and the 100 Backstroke), the meet's biggest Baron winner overall.

Makenna Enck, Nissley, Chloe Enck and Faulhaber won the 200 Medley Relay at 2:16.55. Fittery won the 200 Free (2:38.10). Nissley, besides winning the 100 breaststroke (1:26.93), was part of the winning 200 free relay with team (1:58.86) with Chloe Enck, MaKenna Enck and Faulhaber.

Fittery, Nevins, Alexa Galbreath and Samara Bucher won the 400-free relay (5:26.36).

Despite only having five boys swimming, the meet was close for the Barons, having lost by just five points, 53-49. Manheim coach Heather Fittery said Body Sipel, Paetyn Knepp, Owen Kupres and Bryce Fawber all did a great job on their last meet. Kneep won the 200 IM (2:34.65), Kupres the 100 free (1:06.45), Sipel won the 100 backstroke (1:09.28) and Fawber raced to the win in the 100 breaststroke (1:29.22). Sipel, Fawber, Colton Faulhaber and Kupres placed first in the 200 free (1:53.24).

Though it was a challenging season with Covid-19, Fittery said this was an opportunity for normalcy.

"It was a fast, short, season," she said. "The swimmers didn't have the conditioning time they needed to accomplish personal bests. They learned that this season was just about having the chance to be in the pool and not be too hard on themselves with how times and meets turned out."