The game of basketball can be entertaining, exciting and sometimes frustrating.

Running up the court and executing a play that ultimately leads to a shot from 20 feet away or a guard will weave her way through traffic for a layup. You can create excitement by hitting a three-point shot while your team already has its collective foot pressing the accelerator. And yes, the same exciting, fun game can prove perfidious when the spherical orange object refuses to smoothly swoosh its way through the netting that hangs from the circular rim.

The latter scenario was the case for the Donegal girls' basketball team on Friday, January 28 at home, hosting Section Four rival Elco.

The Raiders started the second half with the same momentum they had carried into intermission, going on to post a 55-34 victory at Donegal.

"We started off really well," said Matthew Warner, the Indians' head coach, whose young squad fell to 2-18 and 1-8 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League. "I think midway through the second quarter we were tied 14-14.

"It followed the same pattern as the first time we played them," he added, referring to a close 55-46 loss at Elco on December 17. "They went on a run right before the half. They led by six at the half, but we struggled offensively - could not get on a run of our own to make it closer."

The Raiders (8-10, 4-4 league) doubled Donegal's point production in the third quarter by a 16-8 count. They held back the Indians' comeback bid in the final period.

"We ran into some foul trouble too in the second quarter," Warner noted. "That helped turn the tide. We didn't get our heads into the game after that."

Warner was asked about the rebuilding year for a team with only two seniors and over half a dozen freshmen.

"We knew coming in - after losing three seniors and having had a rough year last year - that we were going to have growing pains," Warner replied. "We've had some highs and lows.

"But when you end up losing by single digits to tough competition, then you're giving a good effort," continued the coach. "We ask ourselves what effort have we been putting in, what is our energy level. Those young girls are gaining experience and improving."

Kara Heidlauf led the Indians in scoring with 11 points. Fellow junior Sophia Floyd also hit double figures, finishing with 10 points while Victoria Burton - one of the two seniors on the roster - scored eight.

"Victoria had a stretch where she was scoring in the 20's per game," Warner noted.

"Kara Heidlauf had a great game," Warner said. "She had a great off season. We had high hopes for her coming into the season. Her outside shot is another testament to her hard work."

Burton has been the team's leading scorer through the first 20 games, averaging 12.3 points per game (246 points) while Floyd has averaged 8.9 ppg.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Donegal boys' team had back-to-back close contests against L-L League opponents. In a Friday night game at Elco, the Indians fell short 49-45. They rebounded by defeating Octorara on Tuesday, February 1 at Donegal.

The Elco game was a story of momentum shifts. The Raiders took a huge 13-point lead into the second quarter only to see Donegal come back and tie the score at 21-21 by halftime.

Elco's 17-10 run in the third stanza helped give the home team a cushion against Donegal's fierce comeback in the fourth.

Noah Rohrer, with two treys, and Khalil Masden both finished with 14 points for Donegal.

Elco's Rheece Shuey led all scorers with 21 points.

With the 61-55 defeat of Octorara, the Indians improved to 10-9 on the year (5-6 league).

The Octorara Braves, led by Elijah Hamilton's 18-point performance, outscored the Indians 34-25 in the second half, to make it a close contest. Zachary Kirk scored 17 for the Braves.

Masden scored a game-leading 21 points while Joseph Turbedsky and Dameon White finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Rohrer added seven points, including a three-point bucket, and James Turbedsky scored four for Donegal. Dutch Good and Cole Hunt each scored three.

WRESTLING

Nicholai Brotzman was the runner up at the 285-pound weight class in the L-L League Wrestling Championships. The two-day event was held at Manheim Township High School on Friday and Saturday, January 28-29.

Two other Donegal wrestlers placed in the top eight as the Indians finished 16th overall.

Hempfield finished on top of the standings.

Noah Hinkel finished seventh in the 113-pound class while Mark Overlander took eighth at 120.

Hinkel won by a fall in the first round and lost by a fall to Lampeter-Strasburg's Conner Erb in the second round.

In the consolations, he majored against Ephrata's Noah Tlumach, winning 10-2. He then won an 8-2 decision to reach the consolation's fifth round where he lost a tough 4-3 loss at the hands of Braxton Keiffer of Manheim Central.

In the seventh-place match, Hinkel bounced back for a 6-2 defeat of Zane Trostle from Elco.

Overlander opened with an 8-7 win in the second round only to lose in the quarterfinals to unbeaten (28-0) Eric Howe of Lancaster Catholic on a fall.

He bounced back with an 8-3 victory. But a 4-2 overtime loss to Steven Rosado of Elco put him into the seventh-place match where another very close contest went in favor of his opponent - Mario Hummel of Warwick winning 3-2.

Brontzman's dominant championships began with four consecutive pins with victims being Warwick's Tyler Pepo, whom Brontzman pinned in 19 seconds, Cole Harris of Solanco (0:49) and Jonathan Frederick of McCaskey in the quarterfinals. He then pinned Thomas Hershey of Lebanon in the semis.

Caleb Mussmon of Hempfield got into a classic battle with Brontzman, finally edging the Donegal junior 1-0.