Basketball can be a funny game, one day shots are falling, and you are winning by 20 points. The next day you find yourself on the opposite side of things and take a 15-point loss.

Such was the case for the Elizabethtown boys' basketball team last week. The Bears blew by Conestoga Valley 56-33 on January 14th with first year skipper Lee Eckert saying, "we played Thursday against CV and got a great win. In the locker room after the game, the athletic director was like hey, by the way you aren't practicing again, you play Tuesday.

"So, going into last night's game," continued Eckert, "without one practice was just like, alright. We're happy the kids get to play and have the opportunity, but it's not ideal for the old game plan, coaching strategy."

Before the four-day COVID pause that put the Bears in less-than-ideal circumstances that helped cause a 54-39 loss to Lebanon, Elizabethtown enjoyed the other side of the coin with a comfy 23-point win over Conestoga Valley. E-town controlled throughout posting a scoring edge in all four quarters, helped by a stingy defense that kept the Buckskins in single digits in three of those frames.

Elizabethtown had four players hit double digits with three of them accounting for E-town's 12-5 run through the opening eight. Techeal Gonquoi picked up three of his game high 12 in the opening frame while Patrick Gilhool (four points) and Matthew Gilhool (five points) covered the remaining nine points, on their way to matching 10-point affairs. Braden Cummings completed the quartet of double-digit scorers, netting eight of his 11 in the second frame.

Cummings's second quarter spurt led to a 21-14 run into the break and gave E-town a 33-19 cushion. The Bears outscored CV 23-14 in the second half, holding the Buckskins to single digits in both quarters, and locking up the 56-33 win.

After a long four-day layoff, the Bears welcomed Lebanon to town only to see the Cedars leave with that 54-39 win. Patrick Gilhool was the lone Bear to hit double digits, finishing with 14 points. Gilhool did the bulk of his work in the opening half, scoring nine of his team high tally during Lebanon's 23-13 first half run. The Cedars put the game away coming out of the break, outscoring Elizabethtown 22-10 in the third to open a 22-point lead before coasting to the finishing line.

SWIMMING

It is not often when a broom is needed in a natatorium while a high school swimming meet is taking place, but the boy's swimming team broke out their sweeping brooms during a 140-24 victory over Manheim Central on January 19th.

The Bears claimed victory in every single event, including all three relays but the real sweeping came with top three finishes in all eight individual events. Ben Azzalina and Riley Runnels were the big contributors with two solo wins to go with two relay wins. The pair teamed up with Trevor Nolen and Sam Azzalina to take the 200-medley relay before joining forces with Sam Azzalina and Andrew Donahue for a 200-freestyle relay win. Donahue, Ethan Hall, Nathan Yohn and Jake Rudy closed out the meet with a 400-freestyle relay victory.

Runnels did his solo work in the 100-freestyle and the 100-breaststroke while Ben Azzalina claimed the 50-freestyle and the 100-backstroke. Hall and Donahue also enjoyed solo success with Hall fronting the 200-freestyle sweep and Donahue the 200 IM sweep. Owen Gensemer and Nevin Rutherford finished with wins in the 500-freestyle and 100-butterfly, respectively.

On the Lady Bear side of the pool, the girls were not able to sweep their way to victory but did manage a lopsided 113-39 win that included two top three sweeps to go along with two relay wins. A trio of Lady Bears enjoyed a two solo win night with all three taking part in relay wins as well.

Brooke Heisey was part of that trio and one of her individual wins came as part of an E-town sweep in the 200-freestyle while the other came in the 500-freestyle. Morgan Conway was member number two of the trio with her victory in the 200 IM leading E-town's other sweep while her second win came in the 100-breaststoke. Genevieve McDonald completed the trio with solo wins in the 50-freestyle and the 100-butterfly. Gabby Walsh (100-backstroke) and Gabi Dabbs (100-freestyle) finished the individual wins. Elizabethtown claimed both the freestyle relays with Conway, Dabbs, McDonald, and Megan Handshew taking the 200-freestyle and Dabbs, Walsh, Heisey and Lilly Rutkowski taking the 400-freestyle relay.

BOWLING

The bowling team has been busy of late, suffering a 5-2 setback to Hempfield between 7-0 wins over Lebanon and Warwick.

In the January 19th loss to Hempfield, E-town used eight different keglers with Derek Deardorff the lone Bear to bowl all three games, finishing with a 595 series. Adam Baker, Eric Barnes, Connor Alleman, Gabe Berrier and Mason Flowers took part in two games while Billy Dougherty and Ally Evans finished the action.

The Bears bounced right back, topping Warwick 7-0 just one night later. This time Elizabethtown went with just five keglers leading to wins of 1033-953, 1078-994 and 965-952. Zach Wentzel led the pack with a 643 series while Alaina Telenko (630), Eryn Moore (628) and Daniel Eberle (621) were not far behind. Zach Deardorff added a 554 series.

Elizabethtown's other 7-0 sweep took place on the 14th with nine Bears lending a hand. Moore and Zach Deardorff were the only two three game rollers with Deardorff leading the way with a 657 series. Moore broke the 600-pin plateau with games of 210, 203 and 194. Only Eberle and Telenko were two game participants while Wentzel, Derek Deardorff, Berrier, Ayden Pope and Cole Kettering were single game players.

RIFLE

The E-town rifle team, like the rest of the high school sports world, finds itself in the middle of a "stupid year," according to head coach Dave Reinfried. COVID-19 restrictions combined with limited space due to construction at the middle school have limited where the Bears can practice. The result is a 2-2 mark after a pair of losses to Manheim Township on January 19th.

The first of those matches was a 780-779 setback that required scoring to go to the eighth shooter while the second was a traditional five shooter loss, 491-489. No Bear was able hit the perfect 100 mark in either match but Nizaly Ortiz-Kreiner, Aivery Shuck and Emily Bonsall came close with scores of 99. Bonsall picked up one of four 98s in the other match, joining Kyle Lloyd, Emma Kreiser and Allison Lowell. Luke Turner joined Ortiz-Kreiner, Lloyd and Lowell with scores of 97 while Turner added a 95 in the second match with Ben Pietsch rounding things out with a 96.

Before the double-header loss to Manheim Township, the Bears moved to 2-0 with a 491-484 win over Conestoga Valley on January 14th. Elizabethtown got a perfect score from Bonsall while Ortiz-Kreiner just missed with her 99. Turner and Kreiser posted a matching pair of 97s while Shuck came in one shot better with a 98.