After winning eight of their last nine games, and clinching the Section Three crown, the L-S boys' basketball team embarked on the post-season. That part of the season, however, has not been kind.

After suffering a 52-50 loss to Warwick in the opening round of the L-L League playoffs back on February 13, and after a ten-day layoff, including an opening round bye in the District Three Class 5A championships, the No. 2 seed Pioneers suffered a 35-26 upset loss against Hershey (No. 7) Thursday, February 23 at home, and then dropped a 65-40 result to No. 6 Milton Hershey four days later.

"I don't have an answer," said head coach Ed Berryman. "We were getting the shots we needed, they just weren't falling. And we're running into teams a little bit bigger, stronger, and faster."

The shots finally started falling again last Wednesday when the Pioneers hosted Warwick in the District 5A seventh place game. The 70 points scored was only the second time this season L-S hit that total. The first time was back in December when the Pioneers poured in 74 points in a victory over Elizabethtown. The defense held the Warriors to 55.

In a first quarter that featured three ties, Warwick's Tyree Hughes scored on a putback before Trent Wagner buried a trey just before the buzzer, leaving Warwick in front, 20-19.

That lead, however, was short-lived. L-S scored the first eight points of the second quarter, including five by Chase Smucker to take a 27-20 lead. They never looked back. The Pioneers finished with 17 points in the quarter, held the visitors to nine, and led 36-29 at the half.

Dean Herr converted a pair of steals into easy layups to start the second half and Luke Hines scored in the paint for Lampeter's biggest lead of the night, 42-29. They finished that frame with a 14-10 advantage and outscored the Warriors 20-16 over the final eight minutes to finish seventh.

"The first time we played them Luke was in foul trouble the whole game," recalled Berryman. "That didn't happen this time and we finally started making shots. Plus we took better care of the basketball and limited the turnovers."

Hines, a senior, playing his last home game along with Tim Holmes and Ben Wert, who just recently underwent knee surgery, poured in a career-high 28 points, including 17 in the first half. Herr finished with 18 points and hit a pair of second half treys while Smucker rounded out the double figure scorers with 10. He also knocked down a pair of three-pointers. Yasin Abdi (7), Trent Wagner (3), Justin Glick (2) and Brady Grau (2) rounded out the scoring.

Against Milton Hershey on Monday, the Pioneers managed just one two-point basket in the entire first half but did manage to knock down four triples before falling behind 29-15. They managed ten more points in the second half but gave up 36 in a lopsided loss.

The Spartans' Adam Rosa, who poured in seven three-pointers, and led all scorers with 26 points. Herr and Wagner each hit two treys and Smucker led the way with nine points.

Thursday's, February 23 loss to Hershey again saw L-S struggle on the offensive end but they did manage to hold a 19-12 lead at halftime. And, despite being outscored 11-7 in the third, still held a 26-23 advantage. But then the wheels fell off. Hershey poured in 12 points over the final eight minutes, denied the hosts a single point and pulled out a 35-26 come-from-behind win despite a dismal 2-for-14 showing from the free throw line.

Hines netted a game-high 15 points and was Lampeter's only double-digit scorer.

Next up for the Pioneers is the PIAA tournament which gets underway Friday, March 17.

WRESTLING

Jaiden Newton and Trey Spahr were the last Pioneers standing this season. They qualified for the District Three/Southcentral Regional championships at Spring Grove High School, February 24-25, with the chance to secure a spot in the PIAA Championships. Both wrestlers, however, fell short in extending their season.

Spahr, wrestling at heavyweight, settled for fifth place, just one place shy of advancing. He opened the tournament with an 8-3 decision over Garden Spot's Mason Musser. After a scoreless first, Spahr worked a reversal in the second period and then took control with three third period takedowns.

In the quarterfinals, Spahr, a senior, made short work of Spring Grove's Michael Hershey, pinning the junior in 1:02 to set up a semifinals bout opposite Layton Schmick, of Carlisle. Schmick, the eventual gold medalist, pinned in 1:34, dropping Spahr to the consolation semis. There he fell behind 6-0 before getting pinned in 1:49 by Avery Kuhns, of Chambersburg, the fourth-place finisher. Spahr finished fifth when Twin Valley's Ean Winchester forfeited.

Spahr finishes his season at 26-10.

At 172, Newton, a senior, got off to a slow start, suffering an 11-5 opening round loss to Cocalico's Jonathan Rathman, who had pinned Newton during the regular season. Rathman went on to finish in fifth place.

Newton (31-14) shook off that loss and worked an 8-1 lead over Spring Grove's Connor Grubb before posting a 2:04 fall. That momentum was cut short when Collin Neal, of Boiling Springs, used a third period escape and takedown to extend a tight 5-3 lead after two periods. He was the sixth-place finisher.

BOWLING

Lampeter's Katie Pope represented the Pioneers in the District Three Bowling championships held at Clearview Lanes in Mt. Joy on Saturday, February 25. In a field of 40 vying for the top six places, Pope rolled a 141, 118, 210, 148 and 191 for an 808 series, leaving her in 24th place. The sixth and final cutoff series was a 973.

"Katie improved a ton from last year, where she finished near the bottom," said head coach John Achille. "That third game was awesome. She's a competitor and has continued to improve this entire season. She is a joy to coach."

INDOOR TRACK

A handful of Pioneers, gearing up for spring track and field, capped their winter season at the PA Track and Field Coaches Association's Indoor State Championships held at Penn State on Sunday, February 26.

Colin Whitaker was among the top finishers, placing third in the 3000 meters with a new school record time of 8:30.92, breaking his previous record of 8:35.27.

The distance medley relay (1200, 400, 800, 1600) team of Parker Stoner, Eric Doutrich, Luke Smith, and Ben Devine placed ninth with a time of 10:44 and Maggie Swarr added an 11th place finish in the shot put with a 34-11.75.