The Braves competed in the L-L League Wrestling Championships on Friday and Saturday, January 27-28 at Manheim Township. Pequea Valley came away with nine team points in the two-day tournament.

Senior Zach Hollenbaugh represented the Braves nicely with two pins in the consolation brackets of the 189-pound weight class.

Hollenbaugh suffered a tough loss to McCaskey's Bryson Cantrell in a 6-3 decision. In the consis, however, he posted a pin 4:31 into the match against Dominick Nell of Columbia. He then pinned Rolan Firestone of Lebanon before a loss to Ephrata's Sam McCracken ended Hollenbaugh's tournament.

Fellow senior Jovanni Candelario went 1-2 in the tournament, grappling in the 152-pound weight class.

After a loss to Warwick's Andrew McClune, Candelario rebounded with an impressive victory, pinning Hempfield's Dom Angelo in 30 seconds. His next consolations bout, however, ended 16 seconds into the second period as Manheim Central's Logan Forrest maneuvered a pin against Candelario.

Lincoln Houck wrestled at 114 and drew the eventual champ in Manheim Township's Kaedyn Williams, resulting in a first-round defeat.

In the consolations, Houck came up empty against Elijah Myers of Lampeter-Strasburg. Myers turned away the Pequea sophomore 7-0.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The Pequea Valley girls' basketball team scored 60 points in consecutive games as the Braves extended their win streak to four games.

The 60-point games came against Lancaster-Lebanon League opponents with Pequea improving to 8-2 in league play (17-2 overall).

The defense was already coming off an anomaly of sorts, having given up only 11 total points in the Braves' two previous wins. On Thursday, January 26, the offense charged out to a 26-11 halftime lead at Lancaster Mennonite. The 22-point output in the third quarter helped pace Pequea to a 60-23 victory.

Speaking of an anomaly, the Blazers' Jayla Rivera scored 20 of her team's 23 points. She made seven baskets, including a three-pointer, and went 5-for-6 at the free throw line.

Shania Stoltzfus and Janae Patterson both scored 12 points to lead Pequea. Katie Stoltzfus scored eight.

Patterson led the team in scoring on Tuesday, January 31 at Lancaster Country Day. She had 17 points to go with five rebounds, five steals and three assists.

The Braves topped the Cougars 60-35.

"Our defense held Lancaster Country Day's leading scorer, Genesis Meadows, to only eight points," said Braves' head coach Jason McDonald. "That's 17 points below her average."

Brooke Graham grabbed four rebounds and was second in scoring with 10 points. Katie Stoltzfus and Bre Beiler each put up eight points. Shania Stoltzfus scored seven and pulled down five boards.

"We shared the ball well on offense and hit open shots," McDonald said. "We need to stay sharp so we can hold on to the third seed for districts."

Lancaster Catholic, with its 18-1 record, holds the top spot in the District Three Class AAA rankings. The Columbia Crimson Tide, who have given the Braves their only two setbacks of the season, is ranked second.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Braves kept pace with the Blazers in a Section Four road game on Thursday, January 26. Mennonite blazed ahead in the fourth quarter, however, with a 23-10 run to overtake the Braves in a 47-39 victory.

Pequea was leading in this game 29-24 after three.

Jackson Neff led all scorers with 18 points. The Pequea junior hit four three-point buckets on the night. Cam Beiler and Joerick Irizarry each scored seven. Chase Hurts led Mennonite with 17 points.

The loss dropped the Braves to 0-5 in league play and 3-15 overall. The Blazers improved to 12-7 (6-1 league).

With a 25-8 halftime edge, Lancaster Country Day held on to top the Braves at Pequea Valley on Tuesday, January 31. The Braves outscored the Cougars 23-22 in the second half, but that wasn't enough as LCD came away on top 47-31.

Irizarry had a 15-point performance for PV while Luke Rogers tallied six points.

Country Day's Jake Kumah equaled Irizarry for the game's top scoring honors. He scored 12 of those points off three-point baskets.