Hempfield continued to lead Section One in Lancaster-Lebanon League girls' basketball this season, improving to 8-0 in league play.

The victories over Warwick and Lebanon were crucial as second place Penn Manor dominated Elizabethtown, improving to 6-1 in the L-L League.

The Knights (11-1 overall) take pride in their team defense, according to head coach Kendra Merrifield. The pressure defense was a key part of defeating Warwick 47-27 on the road Friday, January 14.

"I thought we did a pretty nice job of holding them to 27 points," Merrifield said. "Just overall, we were able to put pressure on their guards. We frustrated them and got some turnovers."

Hempfield outscored Warwick 16-3 in the opening period and built a 27-7 halftime advantage.

"We had a huge start," Merrifield added. "The pressure helped us get some steals and we converted them into points early on."

On offense, Sophia Ott led the Knights with 19 points, including three triples. Lauren Moffatt added 11 points while Ava Baer finished with seven, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

Sandwiched between the Warwick game and the defeat of Lebanon was a non-league game at home against Wilson. The Bulldogs held Hempfield to only four points in the third quarter, tipping the scales in their favor in what had been a 25-21 contest at halftime of this Saturday afternoon game. The Bulldogs pulled off a 47-36 victory, handing Hempfield its first loss of the season.

Baer led Hempfield in scoring with 11 points while Ott added nine.

"Coming off a loss to Wilson, we had a day of practice on Monday and got some fundamentals back in," Merrifield said.

The fundamentals helped Hempfield claim a 48-37 victory at home Tuesday in what was another fine defensive effort

"The defense was on point tonight," Merrifield said after the game. "Their point guard is very talented, and we were able to slow her down."

Merrifield was referring to Kailah Correa, who led the Cedars with 16 points.

Moffatt and Ott led with 15 and 14 points, respectively and combined for five treys.

Asked about the different cast of players showing up in the box scores, Merrifield said "That's a nice thing to have. The other team cannot hone in on one person and if they decide to hone in one, then another player can pick up the scoring - Lauren Moffatt, Sophia Ott, Autumn Cook, Ava Baer. All of them through the lineup can step up."

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SWIMMING

Freshman Ryan Taylor and sophomore Jackson Root helped the Hempfield boys' team top Penn Manor 119-44 on Tuesday, January 18. Meanwhile, the girls' squad had winning efforts by underclassmen as well as seniors Cassandra Chritoffel and Ella Root in a 121-42 defeat of Manor. Both squads improved to 4-1 on the year.

Taylor teamed up with Jase Colino, Kiran George, and Toby Marco for a winning time in the 200-meter medley relay. Marco joined Taylor, Jackson Root and Jonathan Tsang as they took the 200 freestyle relay. Will Russell, Ardan McHugh, Gavin Krawicki and Jackson Root won the boys' 400 free relay.

Taylor also helped the cause by taking the 500 freestyle while Root took both the 50- and 100-free events.

Colino earned first place in the 200 individual medley while McHugh won the 100 breaststroke.

Ella Root contributed to the 200 free relay victory, teaming up with Christoffel, Anna Koger and freshman Mia Roettger.

Koger was part of the 200 medley relay first-place finish with Caroline Schweigert, Lucy Bishop, and Avery Zodat.

Christoffel's multiple wins also included a 200 freestyle first-place finish as well as her joining Lillian Farmer, Micah Wigglesworth, and Carol Fabian to form a winning foursome in the 400 free relay.

Root came through with a win in the 100 breaststroke while Koger claimed the 100 fly.

Wigglesworth sprinted to victory in the 50 free while Farmer's backstroke was good for first place

Taking the girls' 200 IM was Kyleigh Stringe.

WRESTLING

In what began as an up-and-down battle with league rival Solanco, the Hempfield wrestlers outscored their hosts 45-3 over the final eight bouts to claim a 57-18 victory on Wednesday, January 19.

Hempfield's Jorden Williams (106) and Seamus Mack (126) had each notched a pin for the Knights' first 12 points of the match.

After a Solanco pin had given the Mules (4-2) the lead at 15-12, Clay Gainer notched a pin at 138 followed by Reagan LeFevre's pin and a major decision by Braden Edwards, who took the 152-pound bout 17-6.

The only Solanco points down the stretch was a hard-fought 7-5 double OT decision by Blaine Plastino over Hempfield junior Grant Hoover at 172. Meanwhile, Kamron Fickes pinned at 160, and Dylan Bard won by a 17-0 technical fall (189) before A.J. McAlpine and Caleb Mussmon wrapped things up with pins at the 215- and 285-pound weight classes, respectively.

The Knights reached the championship match of the Virginia Duals that took place Friday and Saturday, January 14-15 at Hampton Coliseum.

The Knights notched six pins in each of their first two matches, reaching the semifinals against Skyline. In that 40-31 victory, they came back from a 16-12 deficit thanks to a 22-8 major decision by LeFevre (145) and three consecutive pins - Edwards, Hoover, and Bard. With the score 34-31 and coming down to the final bout, Mussmon (285) pinned in only 29 seconds.

In all, the Knights registered 21 pins over four matches. They dominated Oscar Smith by a 64-6 score on Friday, won the quarterfinal over Grassfield 56-24 and took Saturday's semifinal match over Skyline 40-31 before falling to Great Bridge in a 40-25 championship match.

Williams finished with three pins and a technical fall over the weekend. Mussmon registered three pins, including one in just 29 seconds. The weekend's highlights also included two pins and two majors by LeFevre.

In the quarterfinals match, the Knights had six straight pins in one stretch. In the Skyline match, they had three in a row and five total pins.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

While fighting Cedar Crest for the top spot in the Section One standings, the Hempfield boys' hoops team came back for a big win at Lebanon on Tuesday night, January 18.

Coming off three quarters of trying to keep pace with the home team, the Knights found themselves down 37-29 heading into the fourth. They doubled up the Cedars 22-11 in the final period to take the game 51-48.

Miguel Pena was the game's leading scorer. The Hempfield junior scored 20 points, including four three-pointers. He was also a perfect 4-for-4 at the foul line.

Ben Troyer finished with 12 points. He nailed a pair of treys as did Parker Wolfe (10 pts).

The win improved the Knights' record to 11-2 (6-2 league).