Solanco wrapped up the dual meet portion of their schedule on Saturday, February 6 with a home meet against Donegal. The Mules won eight bouts, collected five falls and a major decision en route to a solid 40-26 victory.

"We knew it would be a tough match because they beat Cocalico by two points," said head coach Tony Mendez. "And we beat Cocalico by one. We wrestled them straight up. The guys just go out and give six minutes of everything they have."

Solanco set the tone early in this one. Jackson Houghton (132) and Ronnie Fulton (138) spent less than a minute on the mat, recording two falls in a combined 1:38.

Justin McCauley added to the score with the most exciting bout of the morning, a 6-4 sudden victory over Silas Mumper (145) and extending the lead to 15-0. Steve Williams (152) added to Solanco's early outbreak when he turned a 15-2 second period lead into a fall over Andrew Small.

"Those were the standout bouts," said Mendez. "Justin's win was huge and Steve all but had a technical fall when he turned the kid and got the pin."

Not to be out done, Donegal mounted a comeback, winning four of the next five bouts, earning a tech fall, a decision and two pins, and cutting the lead to 24-20. Robert Castagna (189) interrupted that run with a 7-3 decision over Ethan Halbleib and Dom Flatt (106) halted Donegal's momentum with a 32 second fall over Nathan Smith, giving the Mules a ten-point lead.

With three bouts left, Solanco forfeited at 113 and Weston Bare (120) and Jared Fulton (126) earned bonus points to wrap up the team win. Bare put Landon Keller to his back in 1:17 and Fulton earned a 10-0 major over Taj Younger.

"Our work in the room is paying off," Mendez stated. "We're starting to take over in the third period. I feel our conditioning is better," he added. "Plus, our emphasis is to always be on the attack."

SWIMMING

Addie Scott is a Solanco field hockey player. She is also Solanco's one woman swim team. The sophomore, who swims for the Jennersville YMCA team, represented the black and gold Friday, February 5 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships held at Wilson High School.

She was the top seed in both the 200 and 100 freestyle events and lived up to the billing, grabbing gold in both events with a 1:55.13 and a 54.33, respectively.

"This was my first big meet," said Scott who set PR's in both events. "Because of covid we've had a couple of virtual meets but nothing like this."

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

While the boys' basketball team was in quarantine, the girls were faced with a marathon schedule playing five games in seven days and picking up three wins along the way.

Wednesday, Feb. 10, behind a career-high 29 points from Paige Phillips, Solanco ran past visiting York High 63-38. It was a season-high point total for Solanco who held the visitors to 12 first half points while pouring in 30. York took the third quarter 14-13 before Solanco blew the game open with a 20 effort over the final eight minutes.

Phillips drained seven triples on the night to lead all scorers. Jade Eshleman (12 points) and Sammi Jackson (11 points) also finished with double digits.

On Monday, Feb. 8, playing their fourth game in five days, Solanco managed just single digit scoring in all four quarters and was dealt a 33-15 loss at Hershey.

"I thought we had our legs, but we lost some focus mentally and, with the long bus ride, we never really found our rhythm," said head coach Chad McDowell. "We just could not buy a basket. But we did hold them to 33 points, the second lowest we have allowed this year. When you hold a good team to 33 points you have a shot at winning. It was just not our night."

Hannah Wood was the top scorer with four points.

Prior to Hershey, the girls played three straight games. They knocked off Manheim Central 35-33 in overtime Thursday, Feb. 4, suffered a 44-31 defeat at Cocalico on Friday and picked up a 57-46 thriller over Lancaster Mennonite Saturday.

After suffering a five-point loss to the Barons on Jan. 25, Solanco was determined to split the series. Down 7-4 in the first quarter and 16-11 at the break, the hosts rallied down the stretch to earn their second section win of the season.

Back-to-back threes by Phillips late in the third gave Solanco their second lead of the night, 23-20. But that was short-lived as Central forged ahead. Sammi Jackson and Nikki Trout scored key buckets in the final minute to send the game into overtime.

Free throws were the difference in the extra period. Solanco hit four-of-six to pull out the win. But it was the Barons with the last look. Their transition bucket in the paint was off the mark, leaving Solanco in front.

"Jade had a solid game with some big rebounds and Paige hit those two big three in the third," McDowell said. "We still had too many turnovers but at the end of the game we executed when we needed to."

Trout and Eshleman (11 rebounds) both scored nine points with Phillips adding eight in a balanced attack.

In Denver Friday night, Solanco held the section leading Eagles to 12 first half points but gave up 32 after halftime and suffered the 13-point loss.

The Eagles dropped in six threes and were 14-of-18 from the foul line. Solanco managed one three-pointer and two free throws.

"They got hot from the three-point line and their experience wore us down," said McDowell.

Jackson and Trout tied for a team-high eight points. Arianna Seiberlich added seven and dished out five assists.

Section Four leader Lancaster Mennonite (8-0, 9-4 overall) traveled to Quarryville on Saturday and was dealt a 57-46 loss. Solanco led from start to finish in this one. They extended their 7-0 start to 30-17 at the half. That proved to be the difference as the Blazers, using eight treys to get back in the game, outscored the hosts 29-27 after the break.

"They cut the lead to one in the fourth, but we rebounded well (47-23 for the game) and made 12-of-17 free throws in the fourth quarter to stay in front," said McDowell. "We played two first place teams within a 16-hour period. That's tough. I'm proud of my team."

Eshleman led all scorers with 17 points and Phillips added a dozen. Olivia Lasko was tops with 10 rebounds and added six points.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Back on the floor after being quarantined since January 28, the Mules traveled to Octorara for a non-league contest. The result, a 62-45 loss, still leaves the Mules searching for that first win. A 21-10 fourth quarter run by Octorara broke open a close 41-35 home team advantage.

With Ryan Smith and Tyler Burger scoring six point each, Solanco enjoyed a 12-10 first quarter lead but was down 24-19 at the break. A nip-and-tuck third saw the Braves settle for a slim 17-16 edge, thus setting the stage for that high scoring fourth.

The Braves were 18-for-24 from the free throw line. Solanco managed three of ten attempts. They outscored the hosts from 3-point range, 6-2, but it wasn't enough to make up the difference.

Burger tallied 11 in the loss with Smith chipping in 10 as the double figure scorers.