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4- ADVERTISER - Solanco Edition - January 25, 2023 SPORTS Conestoga Valley • Donegal • Elizabethtown Garden Spot • Hempfield Lampeter-Strasburg • Manheim Central Penn Manor • Pequea Valley • Solanco MORE SPORTS PICTURES and other high school sports news at

Janssen’s 13 Points Lead Solanco Past Donegal

BY MONA STEINHAUER

In a game they expected to win, Solanco bolted out to a 22-0 lead, broke up a threegame losing streak, and sailed past visiting Donegal 47-33.

The hosts, with some effective trapping defense and steals that turned into layups, led 180 in the first quarter, and added two straight buckets in the second for that 22-0 lead. Donegal hit a pair of threes later that quarter but Solanco was in control, leading 31-8 at the break.

“That first quarter was our best this year,” stated interim head coach Jeff McCardell. “We scored 21 points off of turnovers, which was huge, and scored 34 points in the paint, including 13 second chance points.”

Solanco scored the first six points of the third quarter before Donegal regrouped, putting together an 8-0 run to close the lead to 37-16. But it wasn’t near enough. Solanco, despite 30 turnovers in the game, led 41-20 heading into the final quarter and picked up its fourth win of the season. Those 47 points scored match a season high.

Josie Jansen netted a seasonhigh 13 points and grabbed six steals to fuel the attack. Jenna Ehlers finished with nine and hauled in a team-high eight rebounds. Kara Peace (4 points) followed with seven rebounds. Arianna Seiberlich (6 pts), Sarah Landis (5), Frances Northern (4), Paige Althoff, Abby Landis, and Emily Sims (2 each) also reached the scoring column.

“Having nine players score was nice and was also a season high,” pointed out McCardell.

“We did rush more in the second half against their full court pressure,” he added, “which caused us to have 20 turnovers in the half, but we did not press in that second half either. With back-to-back games we were trying to be a little more conservative on defense to save energy for Tuesday (Penn Manor).”

In that Tuesday game against the visiting Comets, Solanco was looking to avenge their holiday tournament loss. Penn Manor, however, fresh off a mercy rule loss to Manheim Township, outscored the hosts, just barely, in every quarter to finish on top 43-31.

Manor drilled seven treys on the night, including three in the third quarter, to highlight their offense. Solanco had the opportunity to keep things even closer but struggled from the free throw line, sinking just 7-of-17 attempts, including 2-of-9 in the second half.

Althoff netted a seasonhigh 10 points as Solanco dropped to 4-11 overall.

Also, over the last week, Solanco dropped a 35-31 result at Garden Spot on Friday, Jan. 13.

This one was neck-and-neck the whole way. Spot held a 9-7 first quarter edge before Solanco flipped the result in the second frame, knotting the score at 16-16 at the break. Both teams tallied three third quarter points leaving the outcome to the final minutes. The Spartans knocked down four field goals, including a triple and went 7for-15 at the stripe. Solanco also drilled a trey (Seiberlich) and added three two pointers, two by Northern, but went 3-for-6 from the charity stripe, missing the front end of a pair of oneand-ones, to fall behind.

Neither team had a doubledigit scorer. Seiberlich netted five of her seven in the fourth while Northern and Althoff both settled for six points. Peace added four and Janssen and Sims each hit from beyond the arc with Landis adding two.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

In a battle to stay out of the basement of the Section Two standings, Solanco hosted Garden Spot on an unlucky Friday the 13th. With point guard Ty Burger still out of the lineup (concussion) the Mules dropped another close one, 48-38.

“Not having Ty has rattled us a bit,” said head coach Anthony Hall. “We were standing around too much and we struggled to find the open man.”

Down 10-8 in the first quarter, Elijah Cunningham scored six of his eight and six of his team’s 11 to keep the Mules in striking distance, 2219 at the break. The Spartans, however, gained some distance in the third, outscoring the hosts 14-7. Both teams knocked down ten fourth quarter points with Noah Bailey hitting a pair of treys.

“Defensively we struggled switching on ball screens,” said Hall. “There was a lack of communication and again, finding the open man.

“ We finished with 18 turnovers in the game, which is too many,” the coach continued. “The silver lining is that we’re not getting blown out. We’ve been competitive and have been in just about every game we have lost. I felt this was a winnable game.”

With three treys on the night, Jadon Yoder netted a team-high 11. Bailey added 10 as the only double figure scorers. Spot’s Bryce Weaver dropped a game high 13.

“ We were down 15 with 2:30 left and we made some changes in the lineup, scored three straight buckets and got it under ten with 30 seconds left,” Hall said. “The younger kids are starting to get it. Chase Soto defended well, grabbed a couple of rebounds, and took a charge. His energy off the bench was a big plus.”

On the road Tuesday the Mules crossed over with Section One foe Penn Manor (8-8 overall) but couldn’t match the Comets in size or speed and suffered its first 20-point loss of the season, 57-37.

A bucket by Gavin Cox with 2:15 left in the first quarter tied the game at 9-9 but the hosts went on a 10-3 run that included back-to-back 3’s by Ethan Benne (12 points), to lead 1912. They never looked back.

Benne (6’4”) along with Dhamir Wesley and Nate Schmidtke, both 6’5”, controlled the boards and sparked Manor’s transition game with quick passes up the floor.

“We’re down 27-16 at the half and gave up four offensive rebounds that they converted,” noted Hall. “That changes the game. They have a lot of size.”

Austin Wenger’s jumper early in the third cut the lead to ten, 30-20, but Solanco never got closer.

The Comets placed four players in double figures, three with 11. Noah Baber netted nine for the Mules. Manny Himes came off the bench with seven and Osborne and Bailey added six each to lead the visitors.

WRESTLING

Ten falls, a pair of forfeits and one decision made for a quick wrestling match last Wednesday, January 18 in Quarryville. The visiting Knights of Hempfield claimed six falls and both of those forfeits to extend a 30-27 advantage to a 48-27 road win.

“ We knew it would be a tough match,” said head coach Tony Mendez. “They’re undefeated and we’re forfeiting two weight classes. We had a couple of unfortunate matchups but, overall, we’re moving in the right direction. We wrestled a competitive match.”

The match was back-andforth early. Caden Rutt pinned Charlie Williams in 38 seconds for the fastest fall of the night. Hempfield pinned at 114 before Nathan Smith flattened Sutton Schopf (121) in 50 seconds. The Knights answered with back-to-back falls to take the lead for good.

Jared Fulton’s 3-1 decision at 139 cut the lead to 18-15.

The next four bouts featured pins with each squad getting two. Justin McCauley (152) and Blaine Plastino pinned for the Mules, cutting the lead to 30-27. The Knights wrapped up the action with those two forfeits and a fall.

INDOOR TRACK

Katie Urbine and Tucker Kylar were among 25 Solanco athletes that competed in Franklin and Marshall’s Indoor Track Meet Saturday, Jan. 14. Urbine cleared 12-7 to win the pole vault while Kylar grabbed second in both the high (6-0) and triple (378.5) jumps.

“Tucker is the top freshman high jumper in the state,” said head coach Jen McDowell. “We had several top ten finishes. It was a good day.”

photo by Mona Steinhauer

Frances Northern dishes a pass into the post in Solanco’s 47-33 victory over visiting Donegal, Monday, January 16.

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