Playing their first game in three weeks, the Pioneers were back on the hardwood for their biggest game of the season Friday, Feb. 19, a chance to win the Section 3 title. In a game that was tied five times in the first three quarters, it was Cocalico that pulled away down the stretch for a 49-43 win.

"After three weeks off, it was a tough situation to be in," said head coach Ed Berryman. "But those were the cards we were dealt in this crazy world right now. I was proud of our efforts."

Ty Burton led all scorers with 19 points and Sean McTaggart added a season-high 12 with nine coming in the first half.

Less than 24 hours later, the Pioneers survived a scare in New Holland and hung on for a 54-53 thriller. McTaggert's bucket in the paint with 1:35 left put L-S in front, 54-47. It was the last bucket L-S scored as Garden Spot rallied and gave themselves an opportunity to win. Their open three just before the buzzer was off the mark, leaving L-S with the "W".

"We got lucky," said Berryman. "It's always tough to play at Garden Spot."

L-S erased a 20-9 first quarter deficit with a 20-9 second quarter effort, tying the game at halftime. Spot inched ahead by four after three and L-S finished strong, outscoring the hosts 18-13 to get the win.

"Ty had nine of his 14 in the fourth and Berkley Wagner had 11 with two big threes in the fourth," noted Berryman. "But Hunter Hildebrand, in his first varsity action, was a spark. I put him in in a tough situation and he stepped up, hitting a three and finishing with five points all in the second quarter."

Tuesday, Feb. 23 the Pioneers held Daniel Boone to 14 points through three quarters, built a 24-point lead and settled for a 54-36 road win.

Burton finished with a game-high 22 points. Luka Vranich and Isaiah Parido followed with seven each.

WRESTLING

On the mats Saturday, Feb. 20 at Hempfield High School, the Pioneers earned four top four finishes in the District 3 Class 3A wrestling championships and finished in fifth place.

Zac Shelley, wrestling at 285, was Lampeter's only gold medal winner. He made short work of the tournament, barely breaking a sweat as he pinned all three of his opponents in a combined 3:22. He decked Solanco's John Sankus in the quarterfinals, Ryland Fittery, of Manheim Central, in the semifinals and Hempfield's Caleb Mussmon to grab gold.

"Zac is starting to hit his stride and is peaking at the right time," said head coach Brad Heeter.

Teammate Arik Harnish had a more difficult challenge settling for a silver medal finish at 132. Harnish opened with a 1:09 fall against Palmyra's Mason Bucks and then built a 4-0 lead over Hempfield's Clay Gainer before earning a semifinals fall in 3:43.

In the finals, Harnish faced Solanco's Jackson Houghton. The two were meeting for the third time with momentum not in favor of Houghton. Harnish defeated the Solanco senior 5-3 in an ultimate tiebreaker in dual meet action and then 2-0 for third at the League Tournament.

Third time around, Harnish quickly took charge, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the opening period. Houghton, who avoided the early fall, came back with a pair of takedowns against a Harnish escape, cutting the lead to 6-4 and then pulled away with an eight-point third period and a 12-6 final.

"Arik had a tough match," said Heeter. "Houghton wrestled a great match. It just wasn't Arik's day. He made a couple mental mistakes. I suspect if they meet again, Arik will be ready."

The Pioneers also earned a pair of fourth place medals with Parker Owens (215) and Joel Bitler (168).

Owens pulled out a 4-3 quarterfinals decision over Hempfield's Gordy Hoover with an escape and takedown in the last 38 seconds but fell short in the semifinals when Donegal's Garrett Blake recorded a 3:00 fall. In the consis, Owens pinned Township's Michael O'Hara in 2:07 and settled for fourth when he suffered a 4-1 decision against Nathaniel Mosey, of Central Dauphin.

Bitler's path to fourth was a bit different. The junior dropped a 5-0 decision in the quarterfinals but regrouped for a pair of thrillers, breaking a 2-2 tie with a 2:56 fall over McCaskey's Xavier Gates and then, down 6-5, turned Penn Manor's Dylan Coleman, a returning section champ, for a fall in 4:33.

Bitler's battle for third place ended with a 12-3 loss to Donegal's Mason Ober.

"It was a huge win to knockoff Coleman, a state qualifier," Heeter noted. "Joel had a great season. He works really hard and got better every time he wrestled."

Six other Pioneers competed in the sectional tournament with four going 1-2 on the day. Conner Erb, at 120, earned a 37 second fall over Donegal's Landon Keller. At 113, Austin Reiff picked up a 6-0 quarterfinals decision over E-town's Wyatt Mummau. Logan Erb took a 7-3 decision over E-town's Nathan Thomas at 126, and Blaine Plastino secured a 3-1 win over Hershey's Andrew Burd.

Josh Heisey (138) and Alex Cardwell (145) also represented the Pioneers.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

In back-to-back action Monday and Tuesday Feb. 22 and 23, the Lady Pioneers took care of business and bettered their district seed with wins over Donegal (67-34) and Conrad Weiser (43-24).

The Pioneers recognized seniors Megan Manion, Jada Willard, Hailey Leaman, and Emma Drouillard on Monday. The hosts poured in a season-high 67 points, leading from start to finish. Up 23-12 in the first, L-S held the Indians to single digits in the second and fourth quarters.

Drouillard popped in a season-high 21 points, including eight in the third quarter. Visniski, with seven in the first eight minutes, added nine and grabbed 12 rebounds. Leaman and Manion both dropped in a pair of threes and finished with eight and six points respectively. Katie Ranck came off the bench with 13 points.

One day later, L-S set the tone early, racing to a 32-12 first half lead over Conrad-Weiser and surviving a fourth quarter rally for a convincing 46-31 win.

Leaman netted three treys in that dominating first half and finished with nine points, along with Visniski. Daveler added a game-high 10 points with a pair of threes.

The Pioneers were an impressive 11-of-13 from the foul line with Droulliard going 6-for-6.

Saturday, Feb. 20, the Pioneers hosted Elco, but a home court advantage wasn't in the cards. The Raiders won their third straight game, outscoring L-S in three quarters for a 53-42 final.

"We missed four uncontested layups and three semi-contested layups," head coach Tony Fink pointed out. "You can't win games like that. Give Elco credit. To go 23-for-27 at the line is out of this world. If not for that, the game is going to the wire."

Down 21-17 at the break, L-S looked to regroup with a 12-11 third quarter but Elco, with three players in double figures, connected on 15-of-19 free throws in the fourth quarter to pull away. The hosts were a 9-for-13.

Drouillard's nine points were tops for L-S. Kiersten Hostetter added seven and Maggie Swarr came off the bench for seven.