Coming out of the locker room for the second half of Tuesday night's Section One game at McCaskey, the Black Knights used a full-court press to throw the Red Tornado off their game. The result was a 14-2 run in the third quarter, leading Hempfield (6-7, 1-3 league) to a 49-36 triumph.

"It was our defense in the second half," said head coach Kendra Merrifield. "We had a couple of people in foul trouble, so we pulled back.

"It was definitely being able to use our full-court press," added the coach. "I think we forced them into quick shots. They were able to make some buckets in the first half with the half-court press. Our full court stymied what they wanted to do offensively."

Sophia Ott led all scorers with 16 points. Autumn Cook poured in 13 points.

"Autumn has been running the point," Merrifield explained. "She is fulfilling expectations, being the vocal leader and leading the charge. She is usually on the other team's best guard."

Fellow senior Lauren Moffatt also reached double figures, scoring 10 points.

"The three of them are coming into the season with the most varsity experience," Merrifield said of Cook, Moffatt, and Ott. "Coming into this year we had kids who hadn't played on the varsity court. We're working on executing better.

"We're improving on rebounding," she added. "We do allow one too many second-chance opportunities, but we're working on that in practice."

Penn Manor inched ahead in the fourth quarter of the Section One game at Hempfield on Friday, January 6, claiming a 48-40 victory. With Hempfield trailing by only three points heading into the final period, the Comets, led by Izzy Kligge's 16-point effort, went on a 21-16 run.

Ott, with three triples, and Moffatt led Hempfield with 13 points each. Nevaeh Ramirezz scored seven.

SWIMMING

The boys' and girls' swim teams both posted a victory over Cedar Crest on Tuesday, January 9 as both squads improved to 5-0 in L-L League meets. The girls' team won 119-51 while the boys posted a 127-43 victory.

"It's the point in the season where teams start to hit their stride," Hempfield head coach Casey Lear said. "We had some good swims from both teams.

"We have a good super deep team with speed and good coverage in all of our events," Lear said of the girls' squad. "We have 22 girls and just about every one of them has a place they fit perfectly. They will score in just about all of their events."

Helping with the scoring were the likes of Lillian Farmer, Anna Koger, Maya Trowbridge, and Isabelle Heisey who not only teamed up for a first-place finish in 2:01.40 for the 200-yard medley relay, but Koger and Heisey went 1-2 in the 50 freestyle while Koger claimed the 100 butterfly at 1:04.43.

Winning both the 200- and 500-free events was Carol Fabian with respective times of 2:05.62 and 5:37.88. Lucy Bishop, who took second in the 100 fly (1:08.29) was second in the 500 free (6:05.77).

Carol Fabian's 2:05.62 was tops in the 200 free as was her time of 5:37.88 in the 500 free.

Returning junior Micah Wigleworth won the 100 free (57.92) with Heisey (1:02.59) placing second. Emily Taylor (2:24.09) won the 200 IM with Caroline Schweigert (2:25.82) a close second.

Schweigert, Bishop, Taylor and Mayer claimed the 200 free relay (1:52.55) whereas 100 backstroke winner Farmer (1:02.44) Koger, Wiglesworth and Fabian put together a winning time of 4:01.84 in the 400 free relay. Taylor took second (1:14.94) in the 100 breaststroke.

In the boys' relays, Toby Marco, Ryan Taylor, Andrew Gates, and Jack Root won the 200 free relay in 1:34.52 while Marco, Gates and Root teamed up with Kiran George for a first-place time of 1:44.12 in the 200 medley relay.

"Kiran George has really stepped it up this year," said Lear. "Every single one of them has.

"They just keep getting better and better," continued the coach. "Toby Marco swam really well. He is usually in the 100 fly, and I put him in the 100 free. Second in both the 100 free and 50 free. He had really good swims and dropped time."

Taylor, who also claimed the 200 free (1:54.89) won the 100 free in 50.77 seconds while Root won the 50 free in 22.72 and placed second (1:03.68) in the 100 breaststroke.

Taylor anchored teammates Ivan Vitko, Will Russell and Ardan McHugh for a top spot at 3:30.35 in the 400 relay. McHugh took second (5:25.74) in the 500 free while Russell took third in the 200 IM (2:12.91) behind second-place finisher Jace Colino (2:09.59).

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Hempfield came out of the locker room for a strong second half in the Section One contest at Penn Manor on Friday, January 6. The Black Knights (8-2, 3-0 league) outscored the Comets 19-12 in the third quarter on their way to a 48-40 triumph.

The offense was evenly distributed. Aside from Michael Hester leading the team with 12 points, Miguel Pena, Ben Troyer, Kamryn Lawrence, and Chase Calabretta all scored eight points each.

Manor's Ethan Benne led all scorers with 15 points while Aide Mattern poured in 12.

In a non-league Saturday afternoon road game, the Knights let one get away as York poured in 18 fourth-quarter points, leading to a 58-47 victory. Hempfield had a 32-20 halftime lead only to see York go on a 20-9 run in the third quarter to pull within one point.

Pena sized up four of his three-point attempts perfectly, scoring 12 of his game-high 18 points from beyond the arc. Lawrence poured in 17. Calabretta (11 pts) and Troyer (10 pts) also hit double digits.

The Hempfield squad outscored McCaskey a combined 46-18 in the first and fourth quarters of the Section One game at Landisville on Tuesday, January 10. The Knights survived a wild back-and-forth game the rest of the way for an 81-55 win.

Troyer and McCaskey's Jonathan Byrd tied for the game's top scoring honors - 26 points each. Calabretta hit a pair of treys on a 17-point night while Hester drained three treys and finished with 13. Lawrence and Pena both scored eight points.

WRESTLING

Hempfield improved to 4-0 in league competition with a 40-27 defeat of visiting Conestoga Valley on Wednesday, January 11. The Knights (7-1 overall) pinned the Buckskins' first league loss of the year.

Zy McCain-Murray pinned Bryce Bowman in the final seconds of the second period in the 133-pound bout. The 8-4 decision for Kamron Fickes at 139 made it 9-0 Knights.

The Buckskins staged a comeback with pins by Braden Edwards (145) and J.J. Plaza (189). Zander Rider eked out a 1-0 decision over Knights' junior Nicky Bruno at 215, helping CV pull even at 21-21.

With the Buckskins leading 27-24, Michael Karpathios registered a pin at 114 to bump up the Knights by a 30-27 count. Sutton Schopf's pin at 121 and Seamus Mack's 11-3 major decision at 127 gave the Knights the margin of victory.

BOWLING

Hempfield improved to 36-20 with victories over Manheim Central and Manheim Township. On January 6 against Central at Cain's Lanes, the Knights rolled to a 7-0 victory.

The following Monday at Leisure Lanes, Priest McKenzie led Hempfield to a 5-2 win, compiling a 747 series. McKenzie's biggest game was a 269.

Derick Keller and Xander Green finished with 672 and 667, respectively.