The boys' basketball team opened its three games in four days run with a 51-49 thriller over Garden Spot at home Saturday, February 13. It was their first win of the season.

"It was a great first win and had a ton of plays that were huge down the stretch," said head coach Dave Long. "Colesen Sheaffer hit a big shot with 1:17 left to give us the lead and 20 seconds later, Ayden Maggs took a great charge to get us the ball back. Ultimately, Spot got the ball back and tried to post up Ayden for the win, but he played the best post defense I have seen and challenged the shot without fouling."

The Mules led by as many as 11 points, 27-16, late in the second quarter on a jumper by Zed Baker. Spot closed the lead to seven at the half then canned a pair of threes early in the third to regain the lead, 34-32. It was nip-and-tuck from there with neither team leading by more than three points.

"We had great contributions from all of our seniors (Ethan Clary, Sheaffer, Martin Grawe, Baker, Ryan Smith and Jared Poole) as well as junior Trent McDowell who came in and helped rebound and defend," added Long.

Game-high honors went to Baker with 12 points. Tyler Burger added 11 and Smith finished with 10.

Monday the Mules traveled to Manheim Central where a 28-2 run by the Barons was the difference in a lopsided 70-34 final.

Burger was the only double-digit scorer, netting 15.

One night later, back at home, they were looking for an upset win over the second-place team in Section Three, Cocalico. The Eagles, who defeated the Mules 54-32 in their first meeting, had a tougher go this time around. Solanco erased a 13-8 first quarter deficit with an 11-6 second quarter and tied the game at 19-19 by halftime. The visitors, however, used a 17-9 third period to propel them to a 45-36 win.

Cocalico nailed a key 11-of-18 free throws to help their cause.

Clary sparked Solanco's offense with nine points. Burger and Maggs combined for 11.

WRESTLING

The Lancaster-Lebanon League Wrestling Championships were held Saturday, February 13 at Manheim Township High School and, due to Covid-19 concerns, included just eight wrestlers per weight class. At the end of the day, Solanco finished solidly in third place with 72 points. Township (125.5) was the overall winner and Hempfield (115) slipped in for second place.

"We finished where we were expected to finish," said head coach Tony Mendez. "We won the matches we were supposed to win. We had to wrestle well to finish at our seed, but we didn't knock anyone off. You're always hoping for a bit extra," he added, "but I was not disappointed."

Solanco had seven wrestlers qualify and two advanced to the finals. Two-time champ Dom Flatt at 106 and Jared Fulton, a finalist last year, at 126. Both finished in second place.

"Dom was a No. 2 seed and lost again to Township's freshman standout Kaedyn Williams 5-1," said Mendez.

Flatt (14-2) opened the tournament with a 13 second fall over Central's Gabe Thomas and then pinned N. Lebanon's Owen Lehman in 1:27 to get to the finals.

J. Fulton (13-3) also opened with a fall, decking Cedar Crest's Taylor Gehman in 2:52 and then working a 7-3 decision over Garden Spot's Mason Casey. He faced Township junior Alicea in the finals and lost 4-0.

Wrestling at 138, Ronnie Fulton came away with a third-place medal. Like Flatt and J. Fulton, R. Fulton pinned in his opening bout, topping Hempfield's Kamron Fickes with just 25 seconds left. He faced CV's Keaton Fischer in the semis and fell short, 7-5 but in the consis worked a second fall, this time over Tanner McCracken, of Ephrata. R. Fulton secured his third fall of the tourney with a 3:32 result against Elco's Trenton Brubaker to earn bronze.

Weston Bare settled for fourth place. He too got off to a quick start, pinning N. Lebanon's Julian Zaragoza in 1:05. In the semis, however, Township's Josh Hillard earned a 5:04 fall. Bare came back with a 2:59 fall over Octorara's Tyler Walton before dropping a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Hempfield's Seamus Mack.

"Weston was up 2-0 with 40 seconds to go and gave up an escape and a takedown," Mendez recalled. "He lost to Mack earlier this year but this time he was in control for five of the six minutes of the match."

Also finishing in fourth place was Jackson Houghton. At 132, Houghton got past Cocalico's Aiden Swann with a 3-2 decision but dropped a 7-3 result in the semis to Garrett Gehr of Garden Spot. The senior rebounded with a 12-0 major over Columbia's Stoudamire Campbell in the consi-semis but couldn't get past Lampeter's Arik Harnish who took the bronze with a 2-0 decision.

"Jackson gives you everything he has in every match," noted Mendez.

Also competing for the Mules was 7th seed Steven Williams and 8th seed Wade Adams. "They both had tough draws to start with but gave a good effort," Mendez said.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

In more back-to-back action, the girls' basketball team earned a Friday night win over Donegal, 55-27 before being upended by the last place team in Section Three, Garden Spot, 49-42 less than 24 hours later.

On a night Solanco celebrated four seniors, the home team led from start to finish and cruised to their sixth win of the season, a lopsided final against Donegal. Seniors Jade Eshleman, Sammi Jackson, Paige Phillips and Nikki Trout all contributed as Solanco pushed to a commanding 11-2 first quarter advantage and never looked back.

Phillips led all scorers with 18 points. Eshleman hauled in seven boards and added 12 points while Trout also netted a dozen.

"Everyone contributed and to get three girls in double digit scoring was a huge part of our success," said head coach Chad McDowell.

"The seniors have been a huge part of this programs success over the years," he continued. "They have accomplished being two-time section champs, were part of three consecutive years qualifying for the district playoffs and were a part of two state qualifying teams. It was a good team win and a special night for our seniors."

One day later in New Holland, the Spartans used a 33-22 run through the second half to erase Solanco's 20-16 first half lead and split the series with a 49-42 win.

This one came down to free throws. Solanco was a solid 16-for-25 but the hosts netted 21-of-30 attempts, including 13-of-19 in the fourth quarter to help pull away.

"An early day game after an emotional senior night took some toll on us," explained McDowell.

Eshleman and Trout combined for 23 points and Olivia Lasko led with eight rebounds.

Feb. 16 and 17 saw the Mares on the road again. Tuesday Solanco battled perennial powerhouse Lancaster Catholic and, despite cutting the lead to 28-20 early in the third quarter, dropped a 51-26 result. Trout's 12 points tied for game-high honors with Catholic's Mary Bolesky.

One night later the team earned its seventh win of the season with an impressive second half. Tied 26-26 at the break, the visitors went on a 27-10 run that included holding CV to zero fourth quarter points in a 53-36 victory.

"We played better defense in the second half, got some easy shots and played as a team," said McDowell of the win.

Eshleman's 15 points were a game high. Trout added a dozen and Seiberlich's 10 rounded out the top scorers.