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Boys’ Lacrosse Team Improves to 8-3 Overall

BY MONA STEINHAUER

Saturday, April 24, the Comets earned a convincing 14-7 win over Conestoga Valley. Scoring four goals in each of the first three quarters, the Comets took control, extending their 8-4 halftime lead with a 6-3 second half advantage.

“It took us a bit to get going,” head coach Zack Charles stated, “but we leaned on our Hollinger brothers (Clayton 8 goals, Nick 20 saves) and Nafziger with three. Our leaders stepped up and the team followed plus our defense, led by senior JD Robinson, was awesome after the first quarter.”

Leading scorer C. Hollinger matched his season-high with eight goals. Jack Barley (1a) scored twice and Hinkle (3a) also scored.

The Comets were coming off a 12-9 loss to Manheim Township on April 22.

Tied at 2-2 after the first period, Manor gave up five second quarter goals, scored once and found themselves down 7-3 at the break. They regrouped in the second half, winning 6-5 but it wasn’t enough.

“We just could not clear the ball for a good portion of the second quarter,” said head coach Zack Charles.

The Comets got a four-goal effort from Clayton Hollinger. Chipping in with two goals each was Cole Spezialetti and Isiac Nafziger while Isaac Hostetter added one goal and Erik Hinkle, Jack Shipley and Dylan Keene each assisted once.

In goal, Nick Hollinger recorded nine saves.

Manor improved to 8-3 overall with last Tuesday’s comefrom-behind 8-4 win over Elizabethtown. The Bears led 1-0 in the first quarter but the Comets scored two or more in each of the next three frames to win. C. Hollinger racked up five goals adn two assists. Eli Warfel (1g), Barley (1g, 1a) and Nafziger (1g, 2a) also contributed.

TENNIS

After clinching their first ever Section One crown, the Comet tennis team earned a 3-2, comefrom-behind thriller over Cedar Crest in the semifinals of the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships Monday, April 26. Both teams were undefeated coming in.

With doubles losses by PJ Fahey and Nico Mann and Paul Karpouzis and Seb Bookmiller, singles needed a sweep to advance. Stefo Billis, at No. 1, Curtis Rabatin, No. 2 and Davis Maxwell, with a hard-fought 6-0/7-6 (7-2) win over Garrett Muraika locked up the victory.

“All five courts play at the same time,” noted head coach Amanda Pryzbylkowski. “Doubles struggled. They are not used to as much pressure and playing a longer format (needing to win two of three set matches) seemed to hinder their performance.

In the finals on Tuesday, the Comets met another undefeated team in Lancaster Catholic and this time came up short, 3-1 at Donegal.

Rabatin’s 6-0, 6-1 win over Miles Durrett was the only Comet victory. Davis dropped a 6-4, 6-1 match at No. 3 while Billis, at No. 1, did not finish his match as Catholic had secured the clinching point before his match ended.

VOLLEYBALL

At about the midway point of the season, the Comets have just two wins against seven losses. Two of those losses were 3-1 results. Of the 33 games they’ve played, not including tournaments, the Comets have scored 20 points or more in 22 of those games and six times they’ve reached 19 points. Their record does not indicate the competitiveness they have shown this year.

Playing twice in three days, the Comets suffered 3-0 losses to both Conestoga Valley, April 22 and Exeter on the 24th. CV worked hard to win 25-17, 25-19, 26-24 as did Exeter, taking a pair of 25-21 wins after a 25-16 opening set.

Riley Walton put down 13 kills against the Bucks but it was Sawyer Shertzer with a dominating 22 kills that spearheaded CV’s attack. Max Bushong (10 digs), Wyatt Rohrer (23 assists), Luke Thomas (2 blocks) and Walton (2 aces) led the stat sheet.

Against Exeter, Rohrer’s 24 assists led to eight Greyson Schatz kills. Isaac Hopstetter served one ace, Bushong finished with 13 digs and Walton added one block.

Last Tuesday the Comets slipped against Hempfield. The Knights won 25-17, 25-11, 25-15.

BASEBALL

After a 9-8 thriller over Ephrata, the Comets won for the second time in a row Monday, April 30 when they hung an 8-3 loss on Solanco in Quarryville. It was their fourth win of the season.

Manor held a slim 2-1 lead after two innings but then started to pull away, plating four runs in the third and two in the fourth. The Mules did rally in the seventh, scoring two but it wasn’t enough.

Jamison Ford went 3-4 while Reed Lawrence and Hunter Sipel (2RBI) chipped in with two hits each. Noah Beach also finished with two RBIs.

On the hill, Sipel struck out 12, walked one and scattered six hits in six innings of work. Dalton Green gave up two hits in the final inning and struck out two as well.

That momentum, however, did not carry over to Wednesday’s outing against Hempfield. Tied at 1-1 in the first, Hempfield pulled away with six runs in the third and seven in the sixth to win 18-2.

TRACK

Monday Penn Manor’s Graham Thomas set a new school record in the 3200, posting a winning time of 9:22.93 and breaking Dave Henry’s record of 9:26 set in 1982. And Kyle Murr remained undefeated on the year in both the long and triple jumps, leading the Comets to an 86-65 victory over Warwick in Lititz Monday, April 26.

“It was cool to see Graham break that record and it was most impressive that he ran the whole race all by himself,” said head coach Ben Shober. “No competition to push him.”

Murr finished ahead of teammate Hunter Hoffman in both the long (21-.25) and triple (43-2.5) and was second in the high.

“And the 4x400 relay (Best, Wentzel, Hetrick) won a comefrom-behind battle with Leo Medvedkin closing the gap and winning,” noted Shober.

The Comets were also strong in the throws with Jaryd Kleinhaus and Evan Jurgenson going 1-2 in the shot and Aaron Eaby (second in the javelin) and Brayden Clow doing the same in the discus.

Manor also got a first from Drew Lebo in the pole vault (9-0).

The girls team, also 2-3, had a tougher time, dropping a 101-50 final but not without some highlights. Jordan Schucker (111-5), Cassidy McCollum and Alyssa Heagy swept the javelin, Gertrude Moenga won the shot, and Eden Crisman was tops in the pole vault.

“The javelin girls each threw personal records,” noted Shober. “And Jasmine Miller ventured into the field events, taking second in the long with only one day of practice.”

Anne Bibus recorded a second place PR in the mile, Alyssa Heagy was second in the high jump and Jayln Clow was second in the discus.

SOFTBALL

Manor’s disappointing 2-1 loss to Elizabethtown on April 22 dropped the Comets overall record to 12-2. Both teams recorded six hits but the Bears were able to break a 1-1 tie with a run in the bottom of the seventh to pull off the upset.

“It was 45 degrees and their pitching was slower than we were used to,” said head coach Dave Stokes. “We just didn’t get the hit when we needed it. And an error led to the winning run.”

The Comets got back on track with Wednesday’s 3-0 win at Hempfield, leaving them tied with Warwick as the leaders of Section One.

Kaelin Gabel’s base hit plated Emily Riggs who reached with a single and advanced on a sac bunt. A two out Kylie Goss base hit made it 2-0 in the second.

Bella Peters opened the seventh with a base hit and courtesy runner Kira Green scored on sac bunt by Bria Booth and a two base throwing error.

Photo by Cheri Sine

Comet goalie Nick Hollinger makes one of his 20 saves in Penn Manor’s 14-7, nonleague win at Conestoga Valley on April 24.

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R070371 Photo by Cheri Sine

Penn Manor’s Isiac Nafziger drives past Conestoga Valley’s Cooper McCloud during the Comets’ 14-7, nonleague win over the host Buckskins on April 24.

Photo by Cheri Sine

Issac Hostetter takes a shot for the Comets during their 14-7, nonleague win at Conestoga Valley on April 24.