The Pioneer sports teams were full steam ahead over the last week competing in the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs. Unfortunately, all fell short in their quest for the gold.

BOWLING

The bowling team competed at Rocky Springs on Wednesday, February 8 and were ousted in the opening round by eventual champ Elizabethtown. The Section Three champs were consistent, bowling two games at 776 but the Bears, who finished second in Section Two were stronger. They rolled a 954 in the first game and a 921 to advance.

"We, as well as many other teams, struggled with the pattern that was put down for the match," said head coach John Achille. "We just couldn't get anything going, and we weren't consistent making spares.

"Katie Pope was solid, with games of 203 and 185," he continued, "well above her average for the season."

Pope led with a 388 series. Ethan Snyder (314), Maddux Harsh (290), Peter Mecouch (284), and Nick Bukowski (276) also contributed.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The girls' basketball team got their post-season rolling with a Saturday, February 11 trip to Manheim Central to take on the undefeated Section Two champs. L-S battled the Barons just one week earlier and suffered a 40-17 defeat in Lampeter. That game started with Manheim going on a 13-0 first quarter blitz.

This time around it was a tight 9-6 first quarter but the Barons picked up the scoring after that, posting double figures in each of the next three quarters while holding L-S to single digits in a lopsided 56-22 final.

Maddie Knier, who is closing in on Manheim's all-time scoring record, played all but 85 seconds and racked up 28 points, including 13 in the second quarter when the hosts built a 26-12 lead by halftime.

"What can you say," said head coach Steve Villbrandt. "Maddie Knier is a Division One athlete in not one, but three sports. She's the real deal. And we've been struggling at the offensive end."

With Katie Ranck saddled with foul trouble, Leigh Saurbaugh tried to pick up the scoring slack and finished with a team-high 12 points. She was Lampeter's only double-figure scorer.

The Pioneers were coming off a 42-32 victory over Cocalico that snapped a five-game losing streak and ended the regular season.

"We needed that win," said Villbrandt. "It was a confidence booster."

The Pioneers got off to a strong start in this one, dropping three first quarter treys, two by Anna Horner who finished with three and a game-high 15 points, en route to a 14-4 advantage after eight minutes. That proved to be the difference as the score over the final three quarters resulted in a 28-28 tie.

Ranck finished with 13 points, seven coming in the fourth quarter, and went 3-for-3 at the stripe. Saurbaugh followed with eight.

SWIMMING

The Pioneer swimmers traveled to the Roy G. Snyder Natatorium in West Lawn for their Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships. The two-day tournament got underway Friday, February 10 and saw the girls' team finish in sixth place while the boys were 11th.

"We had a fantastic two days of competition," praised head coach Kylie Hearn. "This was the best showing I've ever had, in regards to personal times and swims. The League is very competitive," she continued. "We had 16 swimmers qualify and two school records were close to being broken, which only fires up the swimmers even more for districts (March 3-4)."

Making a trip to the medal stand was Zara Paisley, not only once, but three times. The junior posted a season best 25.14 in the 50 free and finished in fourth place on Friday and then clocked a season best 54.85 on Saturday, taking third in the 100 free. She also anchored the 400 free relay team with Ashley Prouse, Madelyn Juba and Kylie Gerhardt combining for a fifth place finish.

"Their 3:49.50 is a personal record and 2.5 seconds off a school record," noted Hearn.

Other top eight medal winners included Gerhardt who claimed eighth place with a PR in the 200 IM on Friday and came back to take sixth in the 100 back with a five second drop in time and the boys' 200 medley relay. The team of Ryan Smecker, Kyle Spaulding, Matthew Rota and Christian Rota settled for sixth place with a season best 1:48.83.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The opening round of the L-L League boys' basketball playoffs proved to be an evenly matched affair. Warwick, the Section Two runner-up, made the trip to Lampeter last Monday, February 13 to take on the defending L-L champs and, in a wildly entertaining finish, pulled out a 52-50 thriller.

"I thought we played pretty well overall," said head coach Ed Berryman. "We just fell a little short. I still can't believe that last shot didn't fall."

Warwick's Caleb Johnson made one of two free throws with 1:00 left to play and putting Warwick in front 52-50. L-S missed, then fouled. Warwick had a chance to extend the lead with 17.7 showing and a one-and-one opportunity. The shot rolled off the rim, giving L-S another chance. Dean Herr got off a three-point attempt that was blocked by Carter Horst. Horst saved the ball from going out of bounds but L-S intercepted and missed a short jumper that seemed to slowly roll around the rim before falling out and denying L-S an opportunity to advance.

"Our team stats were pretty even," noted Berryman. "We were both scoring 57 ppg and giving up 48. It didn't help that Luke Hines was in foul trouble, but I thought everyone stepped up. The boys play as a team, and I was proud of their effort."

In pretty typical L-S fashion, Justin Glick knocked down a three-ball to kick off the home team side of the scoring. L-S led 13-7 when Herr nailed a trey with .8 on the first quarter clock.

Herr canned a second trey that pushed the lead to 18-9 before Warwick rallied with eight straight points, cutting the lead to one, 18-17. A layup by Yasin Abdi made it 20-17 but Hines was whistled for his third foul and Warwick, controlling the boards, scored four straight and took a 21-20 lead to the locker room.

Hines started the third quarter but less than two minutes in drew a charge for his fourth foul. Warwick took advantage and put together a 7-0 run and a 28-20 lead before a pair of free throws by Abdi and a triple by Herr cut the lead to three. Glick and Chase Smucker, who finished with ten points each, scored Lampeter's last nine points of the frame, closing the gap to 35-34.

The fourth quarter proved to be a tug-of-war. Trent Wagner came off the bench and hit a jumper that put L-S in front, briefly. Both teams traded threes, and jumpers and free throws as the lead changed six times over the course of the quarter.

Wagner came up big late in the quarter, scoring seven straight for L-S to keep them in front 50-49. Those points, however, were the last scored by the Pioneers.

"We had a lot of big plays by different players," said Berryman. "Trent scored all nine of his points, and nine of our 16 in the fourth, and Tim Holmes took a couple of charges at key times. And Yasin had eight of his six in the first half.

"Warwick did control the boards," he continued, "probably by plus ten. There was absolutely a lot of contact in the paint, but we have to adjust.

"Playing in a L-L playoff game was a new experience for this group. Ben was our most experienced player and he's out injured. So, we'll learn from this experience and prepare for districts."

Glick and Smucker each scored ten points.