The Garden Spot boys' basketball team faced league rival Donegal Friday, Jan. 21. The Indians came out on their Senior Night with a mission and took a commanding early lead that the Spartans, despite keeping pace nearly point-for-point, were unable to overcome.

"Donegal came out with a lot of energy, and we didn't match that early on," said head coach Nate Musselman whose team fell to 5-10 overall following Friday's 58-43 loss.

"We did a good job of righting the ship," continued the coach, referring to the Spartans overcoming an 18-5 deficit which they faced after the first period. "They have a pretty good team this year."

Khalil Madsen and Joseph Turbedsky led Donegal in scoring with 19 and 17 points, respectively.

Brendan Weaver led the Spartans in scoring with 11 points. Jace Conrade and Michael Heisley both finished with nine points.

"Brendan is a senior, and he's going to play basketball at York College next year," Musselman noted. "He enjoys being counted on. This year he's leading us in rebounding and doing a great job."

A high-scoring Lebanon team visited New Holland on Monday, January 24. The Cedars also used a big opening period to hold back the Spartans in a 74-57 final. Lebanon outscored Garden Spot 21-10 in the opening period. Over the next three periods, however, they would only outscore the Spartans by six points.

Marquis Ferreira led all scorers with 21 points.

Garden Spot's leading scorer again was Weaver. He and Heisley (7 pts) each had a three-point basket.

"Michael Heisley and Brendan Weaver have been doing most of the scoring for us," Musselman said. "Our kids don't give up. We tell them that they get a couple more wins and we're right back in this thing - not to put pressure on them, but that it's a wonderful opportunity," Musselman added.

One of those wins came on Tuesday, January 25. The defense helped Garden Spot earn a 42-28victory at Solanco, improving to 4-5 in the league.

"Sometimes we'll hold a team to only 35 or 40 points, but we struggle in our shooting and don't outscore them," Musselman said. "On the road, some of the no-scoring shows it's ugly head. But we had a great outing against Solanco."

Heisley and Weaver each finished with 10 points. Luke Steiner added nine points and Ryan Conrade added seven.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The Garden Spot girls' team made it four wins in its last five games, beating Solanco 45-36 on Wednesday at New Holland. The Spartans improved to 9-8 (5-4 league).

With the defense holding Solanco to only four points in the second quarter, the Spartans carried a 17-14 lead into the locker room at halftime. They made it a four-point game heading into the final period.

Garden Spot junior Taylor Soehner led all scorers with 14 points. Morgan Pavelik and Erin Gonzalez each scored nine while Syanna Duval finished with seven points.

The night before, the Cedars' defense stymied the Spartans in a 51-20 win at Lebanon. Garden Spot was held to single digits in each period while the Cedars' Kailah Correa had a tremendous night, pouring in 26 points. Soehner led the Spartans with 11 points.

Soehner and Gonzalez lit up the scoreboard at New Holland three days earlier in a league match with Donegal. Soehner led all scorers with 23 while Gonzalez scored 21 in the 60-42 victory.

AIR RIFLE

Garden Spot's Leksi Bender shot a perfect 100 while teammate Matthew Sauder shot a 99 in Wednesday's air rifle competition at Manheim Township. The Spartans edged the Streaks 491-488, improving to 7-3 on the year.

Curtis Nolt recorded a score of 98 for Garden Spot while both Evan Graham and Magadalene Martin shot 97's.

On Thursday January 20, the Spartans lost a close one at Manheim Central. The Barons had four shooters finish at 99 and despite Nolt and Bender both hitting the 100-point mark, the Barons won the match 494-492.

Jack Werner scored a 98 for the Spartans while Graham and Sauder each shot a 97.

WRESTLING

The Garden Spot wrestling team had two decisive victories, including a 59-15 win at the Denver Duals at Cocalico, which took place on Saturday, January 22.

Two days earlier, the Spartans won a non-league match at Reading, defeating the Red Knights 62-9. Outside of the four forfeits by the Knights, the Spartans put up points on five pins, a technical fall as well as a 9-2 decision by Diego Portales at 126.

Garrett Gehr had Garden Spot's first pin of the match, earning it in the second period of the 145-pound match. Jayden Redcay's 16-0 technical fall at 160 gave Spot a 17-3 lead at that juncture.

Also earning pins were Jevon Martin (172), Blake Weaver (189), Tyler Hurst (215) and Mason Musser (285).

The victory over Kennard-Dale at the Denver Duals was sandwiched between two tough defeats.

Portales pinned his opponent in the 126-pound match while Brice Brady (145) and Jeremy Schilling (152) did their pins back-to-back. Gehr gained five team points with his 17-1 tech fall.

Redcay suffered a tough 7-4 loss at 160.

Of their two tough losses at Cocalico, the closer finish was against Waynesboro. The Spartans finished on the short end of a 36-30 final.

The Spartans wrestled back from a 36-6 deficit to make it so close. Up until gaining momentum, the only Spartan victories were the 9-2 decision by Josiah Smucker (126) and Gehr's close 7-6 win at 138.

Hurst handled Isaac Bautista in only 12 seconds for a pin at 215. Musser pinned in the heavyweight followed by a Waynesboro forfeit and Hahn's first-period pin at 113.

Wilson won 40-27 in Garden Spot's other loss at the Denver Duals. Musser again registered a pin at 285 while Matt Casey pinned at 106.

Hahn won a 4-1 decision (120) and Potales (132) blanked Kamron Koch 6-0. Gehr finished on top in a 9-4 victory at 138.

Sophomore Dominick Griffy earned a first-period pin at 189.

Overlander had the only other Donegal pin, registering in at 120 pounds. Ian Brown (152) won an 8-3 decision while Landen Baughman (138) won a 10-2 major.

Garden Spot topped Lampeter-Strasburg, who forfeited five bouts, 54-13 on Wednesday night at home.

Hahn came away with a 7-1 decision at 113 and Schilling won a 7-6 decision at 152.

Portales (126) pinned in the second period. Weaver won on a pin at 189 and Hurst pinned 26 seconds into the heavyweight bout.