The opening stretch of 2022 has not been kind to the Lady Bears basketball team. The first game of the new year sent Elizabethtown to Landisville to face Section One leader, Hempfield. The next game was a road trip to Quarryville. The results were a pair of losses.

The Lady Knights stretched their lead from five points after the first quarter to 14-points at the break to a 54-36 final. Sophia Ott paced the Knights with a game high 24 points. Ainsley Raybold led E-town with 13 points while Taryn Hummer checked in with 12 points.

The Lady Bears remained on the road for their January 10th clash with Solanco and returned home on a two-game slide thanks to a 41-22 Solanco victory. Raybold netted a game high 15-points, but no other Lady Bear scored more than Olivia Marin's three points. Add in two points apiece from Jadyn Lloyd and Hummer and you get E-town's 22-point total. The Golden Mares, looking for their first win, outscored Elizabethtown in all but the third quarter where the two sides played to a 7-7 draw.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Sometimes there really is no place like home. That was the case for the boys' basketball team as they cruised by Solanco 73-54 on January 10th thanks to Patrick Gilhool's 31-points. Gilhool netted the final 11 of his game and career-high 31-points in the fourth but the Bears did their heavy lifting in the opening half. That is where E-town outscored the visiting Golden Mules 21-14 and 22-5 to take a comfortable 43-19 lead into the locker rooms. Solanco managed to chip five points off E-town's cushion in the second half but that still left the Bears with a 19-point win. Techeal Gonquoi added 20 points and Matthew Gilhool chipped in with 12 points in the win.

BOWLING

With COVID wreaking havoc on high school sports schedules, the E-town bowling team had just one match on tap, a 7-0 win over McCaskey on January 10th. The Bears used seven total keglers with just three going the full series but still posted wins of 1052-795, 1070-762 and 1023-775 with the sweep coming thanks to Elizabethtown's 3145-2332 overall pin count edge.

Ayden Pope led that trio with a 724 series thanks to a match high 270 in game two. He bookended that 270 with a 208 and 246 for his 724. Zach Wentzel started slow with a 195 but added games of 239 and 248 for a 682 series while Derek Deardorff started strong with a 224 but faded to a 203 and 192 for his 619 series.

RIFLE

The rifle team continues to strive for perfection and nearly hit it with their 498-486 win over Garden Spot on January 6th. The Bears enjoyed perfect scores from Rachell Broomell, Kylie Mummau and Kyle Lloyd with Kate Kruft and Branden Rain just missing with their 99s.

The Bears were a bit off target in their January 11th clash with Wilson but still posted a 490-487 win to remain undefeated on the season at 6-0. Broomell and Kruft rounded out the top five with their scores of 97 with Luke Turner and Rain taking the top spot with matching 99s. Stuck in the middle was Parker Bryant and his 98.

WRESTLING

Elizabethtown's wrestling team has kept busy as 2022 has moved along. The Bears enjoyed a regular dual meet win over Lebanon on January 6th before posting a 5-0 mark in their own Grizzly Duals to take that crown. The result is a sparkling 11-1 record with just a few weeks remaining in the regular season.

Against Lebanon, E-town claimed eight of the 10 bouts that were contested with no matches held at 132, 172 and 215. The Bears opened with three straight wins but only Wyatt Mummau had to work for his win, picking up six team points with a first period pinfall at 120. Samuel Yoder (113) and Ryan Findlay (126) each enjoyed forfeit wins. The Bears followed with back-to-back-to-back pinfall wins starting with Nathan Thomas at 138. Nick Smith (145) and Aiden Robinson (152) followed with second period falls before Lebanon picked up their first win at 160. Hayden Haver picked up another second period fall at 189 while Hayden Best finished the match with a 51-second fall at 106.

Two days later the Bears welcomed Wyomissing, Palmyra, Muhlenberg, York Tech and Waynesboro for the 2022 edition of the Grizzly Duals. E-town cruised to wins over York Tech, 64-9, and Wyomissing, 54-18, while their 43-28 win.

"It was a great team effort," praised head coach Mike Sernoffsky

Findlay, Thomas, Robinson, and Jake Rudy were a perfect 5-0 during the championship run while Haver was just off that pace with a perfect 4-0 mark. Best and Mummau also enjoyed four wins, but both missed perfection with one loss. Ian Brosey also suffered just one loss but did collect three wins on the day.