The Garden Spot boys' hoops team played on consecutive nights, facing Manheim Township on Monday, January 10, and Section Three rival Lancaster Catholic Tuesday night.

Luke Steiner was one of the offensive weapons for the Spartans as they topped both Township and Catholic, improving to 3-1 in Lancaster-Lebanon League play (5-6 overall).

Steiner scored a team-leading 19 points in the Catholic contest and scored 17 against Township. He was hitting from three-point range in both games, converting three attempts in the Township game and five against Lancaster Catholic.

The Spartans' 59-55 victory over Township was a scoring anomaly. After holding the Blue Streaks to only four points in the first quarter, the Streaks charged back to outscore the Spartans 22-17 in the second period. In the back-and-forth second half, the Streaks had a one-point advantage but ended up short.

Michael Heisley led Garden Spot in scoring Monday, netting 22. His scoring included a pair of three-pointers. Steiner, in addition to nailing three treys, went 6-for-6 at the foul line. Brendan Weaver and Dylan Nolt each scored six points.

Weaver poured in 16 points in Tuesday's game - a 64-58 defeat of the Crusaders. Jack Engle scored 25 to lead the Crusaders, who outscored Spot 40-35 in the second half.

Nolt and Heisley finished with 10 points each while Ryan Conrad scored nine points.

AIR RIFLE

Garden Spot came into Tuesday's air rifle competition at home against Governor Mifflin, carrying a 3-2 record. The Spartans were coming off a 498-486 loss at Elizabethtown the previous week as the Bears featured three shooters who reached the 100-point mark.

On Tuesday, Garden Spot's Leksi Bender and Curtis Nolt hit the century mark as they led the Spartans over Mifflin 496-491. The high-scoring match also featured 99's by both Veronica Fox and Jack Werner as well as a 98 by Matthew Sauder.

The Mustangs were led by Emily Hammer and James Gossert, both of whom shot 99's.

Bender and Nolt both shot 98's in the loss at Elizabethtown. The E-town sharpshooters who finished with 100 points each were Kyle Lloyd, Kylie Mummau and Rachel Broomell.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Garden Spot faced a dominant Lancaster Catholic team on the road Tuesday night in a Section Three girls' basketball game. The Crusaders (8-3) played a stingy defense as they improved to 5-0 in the L-L League with their 62-22 win.

Nicole Zeiset led the Spartans with eight points while Taylor Soehner finished with six. The loss evens the Spartans record at 2-2 in the L-L League and 5-5 overall.

Topping all scorers on the night was Catholic's Rylee Kraft, who scored 19.

WRESTLING

Garden Spot earned its third straight victory in L-L League wrestling defeating Donegal in a close 33-24 victory at home on Wednesday, January 12. The Spartans (4-1) were coming off a 51-24 victory over Cedar Crest the previous week.

Tyler Hurst's pin at the 215-pound weight class clinched the close match. Hurst and Donegal senior Owen Champ stepped onto the mat with Spot leading 27-24 following Blake Weaver's 11-1 major decision at 189, which had given Garden Spot the edge.

Hurst registered a pin 3:14 into the final contest of the night, grabbing Garden Spot's second pin of the evening - the other coming at the 106-pound bout when Matthew Casey pinned Nathan Rothstein in the second period.

The match began with Donegal senior Nicholai Brotzman claiming a 7-1 decision over Maston Musser.

Following Casey's pin, the Indians (4-1) earned two close decisions as Noah Hinkel and Mark Overlander narrowly escaped with 6-4, and 4-2 decisions, respectively, in the 113- and 120-pound bouts.

Following 12 uncontested points for the Spartans, Garrett Gehr's technical fall by a 17-2 count helped the Spartans build a 23-9 lead. It was all Donegal for the following four weight classes until Weaver's major helped Garden Spot regain the lead.

In the Cedar Crest match, the Spartans were aided by three forfeits by the Falcons. Josiah Smucker and Diego Portales had back-to-back pins at the 120- and 126-pound bouts - both in the first period of their contests. Brice Brady also came away with a pin for the Spartans at 145 as did Weaver at 189 while Jevon Martin battled to a 9-7 decision over Erik McLaughlin at 172.