The Hempfield boys' basketball team had gone through the regular season without losing to a Lancaster-Lebanon League opponent.

The Black Knights' 10-0 league record earned them the Section One title and advanced them into the league playoffs where they promptly eliminated Lancaster Mennonite and Warwick, earning a ticket to the league championship match on Friday, February 17, at Manheim Township.

Though the Barons got out to a 7-0 start, the Knights (22-2) eventually took the lead in the second quarter, holding on for a 57-46 victory. It was a significant win for a team that had lost last year's championship game in the final seconds.

Hempfield shot 70.6% from the floor. Miguel Pena led the Knights with a game-high 21 points, sinking four three-point baskets on the night. Kamyn Lawrence and Ben Troyer each put up 11 points to help hold off the Barons.

Trey Grube (19 pts) and Zachary Benner (10 pts, 2 treys) led the Barons, who fell to 20-5 on the year.

WRESTLING

"We knew coming in that we had a good team," said Shane Mack, the Hempfield wrestling coach.

This good team finished strong at the District Three Class 3A Section 2 tournament on Saturday, February 18 at Hempfield High School.

Along with junior Seamus Mack claiming the gold medal at the 127-pound weight class, the Black Knights featured three second-place finishers, a solid third-place finish by J.J. Plaza at the 189-pound weight class, plus a fifth-place finish by Zy McCain-Murray.

Central Dauphin dominated much of the tournament, earning three firsts and three second-place spots en route to finishing atop the team standings with 226 points. Manheim Central was second with 131.5 team points while Hempfield (125) and McCaskey (123.5) were bunched in at third and fourth, respectively. Palmyra (104.5 pts) rounded out the top-five.

"Seamus just put it together at the right time," said the Hempfield coach. "Overall, he knows what position he needs to be in."

Mack pinned Tanner Breault of Warwick in merely 37 seconds to earn his first win of the day. He continued with a semifinals round pin, victimizing Barrett Keiffer of Central. In the title match, he blanked Liam Flanagan of Central Dauphin 7-0.

"He faced a really good kid who was a state qualifier last year," Mack said.

Kam Fickes and Braden Edwards claimed silver medals at their respective weight classes - 139 and 145. Caleb Mussman came up short in the title match at 285, settling for second place there as well.

"Kam wrestled well and made it to the finals," Mack said. "He had a very close match in the finals."

After a first-period pin and a 15-0 technical fall, Fickes faced Gavin Reynolds of Central Dauphin in the finale. Reynolds triumphed 5-1.

"Kam has the wrestling pedigree," added the coach. "This was a very good sign for us."

Edwards also began in dominant fashion, winning on a 19-4 technical fall and advancing to the semifinals. He majored Warwick's Bryn Hess 13-4 to make the championship.

The opponent was the top seed, Matt Repos of CD. Edwards came up empty in a 7-0 decision.

"He was in the match," Mack commented. "A couple of positions where you do things a little differently and get on the scoreboard.

"He had a great tournament overall," Mack continued.

The 285 bout was a rematch of the L-L League finals where Mussmon faced Donegal's Nicholai Brotzman. In that classic battle, Brotzman had earned a 3-2 win.

On Saturday, Mussmon made his way to the finale through Chocolatetown. He pinned David Isidro of Milton Hershey followed by a 9-33 decision of Hershey's Cory Schaffer.

In the final, Brotzman out-dueled Mussmon 6-2.

"It was their third meeting," Mack pointed out. "Nicholai adapted his tactics a little bit. If we see him again, we'll have to change things a bit too.

"If neither guy is going to open up and score points, one scramble could be the difference maker," Mack said of the heavyweight chess match. "Nicholai came out and decided he was going to be more aggressive. We weren't prepared for it."

Plaza, at 189, posted an 8-4 victory over Central Dauphin's Eli Poyer in the opening round. Following a close 1-2 setback to Hershey's Tristan Bigeman, Plaza not only won a 6-1 consolation match, but faced Poyer a second time, on this occasion taking the third-place match by a 6-2 count.

"He has had a huge turnaround from last year," Mack commented. "We are very proud of his work ethic and to see him succeed."

McCain-Murray (133) pinned and got pinned in the first two bouts. He placed Ethan Farmer of Penn Manor on the mat only to be pinned by eventual champ Jarred Fulton of Solanco.

McCain-Murray's next match was an intense one as it went into overtime, netting a 3-1 victory for Nate Thomas of Elizabethtown.

The Hempfield wrestler battled back as he faced Farmer a second time. He won the fifth-place match 12-4.

Vincent Hernandez finished sixth at 152. His 5-1 victory in the first round was followed by a fall that routed him through the consolations. He posted another 5-1 win, edging Mitchell Swarr of Lampeter-Strasburg. Hernandez suffered a 12-5 defeat in the fifth-place match.

"Vincent has wrestled up for us all year," Mack explained. "He is back at the weight that's best for him. We are happy to see him finish well."

Charlie Williams went 1-2 on the day, wrestling at 107. Sutton Schoff (121) also went 1-2, recording a pin against Hershey's Sebastian Weader in the consis before falling to eventual sixth-place finisher Nate Foltz of Palmyra.

Nicky Bruno's losses at 215 were to fifth-place finisher Noah Templin of Manheim Central - a 5-2 decision - and to fourth-place finisher Brad Candy of E-town.

"He's in the matches," Mack said of Bruno. "We're working to get a little more offense going - that's an area where a few more leg attacks can generate some points."