Coming down that proverbial "home stretch" of the season, Hempfield did what they needed to do, which was to win every game.

When the Lancaster-Lebanon League season ended, Hempfield was the girls' basketball Section One champ with a 7-1 league mark (12-4 overall). Cedar Crest - a team with whom the Knights had split the regular season series - finished at 6-2. The Falcons' lone loss of the year had been to Hempfield until a February 9 setback to Manheim Township.

"Our girls took care of business beating Penn Manor, Township and McCaskey," Hempfield head coach Kendra Merrifield noted. "We also got a little help with Township beating Cedar Crest."

Hempfield won its final two regular season games on the road, beating Lebanon 61-37 on Friday, February 19, and winning by an almost identical score at Conestoga Valley on Monday, 62-37.

Orianna Edmond poured in 15 points to lead the Knights at Lebanon. Hempfield began pulling away in the second quarter. Leading by only two points, the Knights outscored the Cedars 16-4 in that second stanza. They increased the lead to 22 points heading into the fourth quarter.

Jess Weinoldt and Kira Mattes both reached double figures - 10 points each. Lauren Moffatt and Bryne Axe each had a three-point basket and tallied eight points each.

Moffatt was the game's top scorer against CV, pouring in 18 points. Ava Baer finished with 11 points - including three treys.

"Ava has come up big for us - offensively and defensively," Merrifield remarked.

"I think that's the greatest thing about our team - it's a true team," Merrifield said. "You have teams with a girl who's averaging 25 points and a couple others averaging maybe eight per game. There are three or four girls on our team with nine points per game which, in my opinion, is harder to defend."

Hempfield took a 31-19 lead into intermission but broke the game wide open in the fourth quarter on an 18-6 run.

Weinoldt (10 pts) Axe (9 pts) and Mattes (8 pts).

Merrifield was asked about a season goal in what was a challenging year throughout the league due to COVID-related scheduling changes and postponements.

"Having won the section last year, you want to get back there and do more," she said. "Things, the way they were, we took it one game at a time this year."

The format of the L-L playoffs is different this year with only section champs making the postseason.

"You take care of business the first game and you're in the championship game," Merrifield explained.

WRESTLING

The District Three Class AAA Section 2 sectionals were held at Hempfield on February 20.

The Black Knights had four second-place finishers, a gutsy third-place finish by sophomore Braden Edwards, a fourth-place outcome for Russ Hanes at the 189-pound weight class and a first-place finish by Dylan Bard, who claimed the championship at 160.

Bard, who entered as the L-L League champ, pinned his first-round opponent in just under three minutes (2:57) when he downed Solanco's Wade Adams. He battled past a familiar foe in Penn Manor's Dylan Coleman in an 8-3 decision and earned a 3-2 victory over Central Dauphin's Wade McClune.

Reagan Lefevre pinned Manheim Central's Logan Forrest in only 40 seconds to start his quest at 145. He then pinned Aiden Robinson of Elizabethtown before coming up short in a 7-4 decision against top-seeded Ryan Garvick of Central Dauphin in the title bout.

Seamus Mack took second at 120 with a 9-4 loss in the championship bout against Manheim Township's Josh Hillard - the top seed.

Mack reached the title match by registering a pin in only 52 seconds against Nathan Fletcher of CD and outlasting Solanco's Weston Bare in a 3-2 decision.

Gio Luciano took second at 113, losing to another top-seeded Township wrestler - Kamdyn Williams via fall.

Luciano opened with a 10-1 major decision and improved his record to 24-2 with a 5-2 decision against Nico Tocci of Warwick before his championship match defeat.

Caleb Mussmon came through the first two rounds of the heavyweight brackets against opponents who were L-L League rivals during the regular season - Justin Pacheco of McCaskey and Tyrese Washington of Manheim Township. He won via fall in the first round and claimed the semifinal 4-2 over Washington.

L-L League champ Zac Shelley of Lampeter-Strasburg won this title match also, recording a first-period pin against Mussmon.

Edwards had to battle back to earn third place, making the most of his consolation opportunities. Following a 13-3 loss to Solanco's Jared Fulton, Edwards downed Donegal's Taj Younger 10-5 and dominated Logan Erb of L-S in a 21-5 technical fall. He faced Fulton again in the third-place match, this time getting the better of him in an early second-period pin.

Hanes had feast or famine in the tournament. With a pin 1:06 into the first round, he dispensed with Manheim Central's Brett Barbush. Eventual 189-pound champ Colt Barley of Manor earned a technical fall, but Hanes bounced back against Robert Castagna of Solanco, registering a pin 5:00 into the consolation semis.

In a tough 2-1 decision, he lost the third-place match to Tim Smith of Central Dauphin.

For junior Clay Gainer (132), the day began with a victory over Michael Beers of CD and ended with a close 4-3 loss to Beers. Gainer pinned Beers in 2:19 before Arik Harnish of L-S posted his second straight pin of the day. Gainer then majored Braden Schuyler of Township 9-0 before the heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Beers in the third-place match.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

There was plenty of drama for the boys' Section One championship. Both Hempfield and McCaskey finished the regular season with 6-2 records, prompting a one-game tiebreaker game on Tuesday, February 23.

The Knights (11-3 overall) opened up some space in the fourth quarter of a close game that was played at Manheim Township as the neutral site. Leading 43-40 heading into the final period, the Knights outscored the Red Tornado 19-11 for a 62-51 victory.

Hempfield's Ryan Hilton had a game-high 24 points while Michael Hester added 12 points - nine of which came on three treys.

The previous night, the Knights' offense had poured it on against Conestoga Valley in a non-league game, passing the 80-point mark in an 81-63 win at home.

The game was already 24-22 heading into the second stanza with Hempfield increasing its lead to seven by halftime.

Cole Overbaugh scored a game-high 30 points to lead the Knights. Hilton poured in 18 points, including four treys while Miguel Pena added 10 points.

Overbaugh was the game's top scorer the previous Friday against Lebanon with 15 as the Knights turned away the Cedars 65-26, allowing single digit scoring in each quarter.

Daivon Edmond-Greene added 11 points. Hilton and Pena scored nine and eight points, respectively. Brandon Hagel nailed a pair of treys and also finished with eight.