This year's group of Pioneer hoopsters did what last year's dream team could not do; they won a PIAA Class 5A opening round game, becoming just the third team in L-S history to do so. That win, a 64-56 result at Central Mountain, came on Saturday, March 11.

Luke Hines was all but unstoppable, bucketing a career-high 29 points to spark the win.

"He was a stat sheet stuffer," lauded head coach Ed Berryman. "He was 4-4 from three-point range, 6-12 from two, hit five of six free throws, and picked up eight rebounds, two steals, one block and dished out five assists against a single turnover. He was incredible."

And his supporting cast also provided solid play. Justin Glick knocked down 18 points and grabbed four rebounds all while face guarding the Wildcat's top player, Hayden Paredo.

"Pardo did have 19 points but six of them were free throws," noted Berryman. "Justin had a big game.

"Our game plan was to stop their top two guys, Hanna, and Pardoe, and see if the others could beat us. We used our reverse triangle and two and got a lot of sagging help from everyone. They were frustrated."

This one was close through the first three quarters. L-S, after falling behind 8-2, ran off 11 straight points and held a 13-8 lead in the first quarter but fell off pace a bit in the second. Pardo (9 pts) and Hanna (7 pts) rallied CM for an 18-13 quarter advantage and knotted the score at 26 all on a three-ball with 41 ticks left in the half.

Hines knocked down back-to-back three's to start the third quarter. He finished with 10 of Lampeter's 13 points and the Pioneers held a 39-36 lead with eight minutes remaining.

L-S nailed three treys (Hines, Glick, and Chase Smucker) in the fourth to help open a 52-39 advantage. CM cut the lead to six, 56-50 on four straight points by Pardo with 1:45 remaining but could get no closer. Smucker went 4-5 from the free throw line over the final 22 seconds to help preserve the win.

"Chase did a great job handling their pressure," Berryman said. "He had five assists and just one turnover."

Smucker finished with 11 points, and Yasin Abdi added six. Dean Herr helped Smucker in the ball-handling department while Tim Holmes and Trent Wagner provided defensive help in reserve roles.

Unfortunately, at this point of the season, only one team finishes with a win. Lampeter's quest for a PIAA crown came to a halt in their second-round game in Altoona Tuesday, March 14. In a battle between two evenly matched teams, the Pioneers fell short 58-56 to Peters Township.

Down 58-54 with 11 seconds remaining, a bucket by Smucker cut it to two. L-S then forced a turnover to regain possession. They managed two shots over the final seven seconds but couldn't get one to drop.

"We didn't have a timeout left at that point," said Berryman. "We ran a play that got Chase a decent 15-footer. Yasin somehow came up with the rebound and threw it out to Dean whose three-pointer rimmed out. Gosh we were right there. And considering Luke was in foul trouble the entire game and played maybe 15 minutes, the guys really stepped up," he added. "I definitely didn't agree with the calls against Luke but what can you do?"

L-S turned the ball over five times in the first four minutes against Peters defensive pressure. Peter's, on the other hand, a typically solid 3-point shooting team missed its first four long range shots and canned just one of 14 in the first quarter. All that noted, the Indians held a slim 11-10 edge at the end of the first quarter.

"We only turned the ball over six times after that first quarter," noted Berryman. "We did a better job as the game went on."

The Pioneers struggled offensively to start the second quarter and fell behind 19-10 before a Trent Wagner free throw added to the L-S tally. Down 25-15 with 1:30 left in the quarter, L-S dug deep. Abdi opened a 7-0 run with a shot in the paint and Herr followed with a trey and converted a give-and-go to cut the lead to 25-22.

A Herr trey early in the third tied the game at 30-30 and Smucker's traditional three-point play one minute later put L-S in front 34-33. A big bucket by Holmes and a trey by Wagner kept L-S in front 39-36 but only briefly as Peters finished the frame on a 7-2 run to take a 43-41 lead.

The fourth quarter proved to be the closest. Peters opened with a trey for the largest lead of the quarter. L-S again fought back. Herr hit the first of two free throws, but Holmes rebounded the miss and dished to Herr who knocked down another three, tying the game at 49-49 with 3:56 left to play.

Abdi's jumper knotted the score at 51-51. Glick's bucket with 31 ticks remaining cut the lead to 56-54 while Smucker's slashing layup made it 58-56 and capped Lampeter's scoring.

Free throws proved critical in this one. The Pioneers went 12-20 with Smucker going 5-5. Peters hit 19 of 27 and 6-8 in the fourth quarter.

Herr paced the scoring for L-S with 16 points and Smucker added 13. Abdi followed with nine. Hines and Glick, also plagued by fouls, each had six points. Wagner (4) and Holmes (2) also contributed.

The loss leaves the Pioneers with a 20-8 record. Peters Township, who advanced with a 60-53 first round win over Milton Hershey, improved to 24-4.

"Who would have thought we would make the second round of states after Ben Wert went down," said Berryman. "I'm incredibly proud of this group. It was a great season. Obviously, a disappointing finish but we have four of our five starters back so we're looking forward to next year."

BOWLING

The bowling team celebrated a successful season at their end-of-the-year banquet on Thursday, March 9th where head coach John Achille, voted Coach of the Year, pointed out their achievements.

"This was an amazing three-year turnaround," said Achille. "We went from 17-67 to 41-50 to 88-24 this year. We're looking forward to defending our Section 3 championship next year with everyone back!"

Lampeter's 88 wins were the most by any team in the league. They qualified for the L-L playoffs but lost to Elizabethtown in the opening round. Individually, Ethan Snyder, Maddux Harsh, Nick Bukowski and Peter Mecouch also qualified, as did Kaite Pope who received an eighth-place medal.

Pope was also a regional and district qualifier.

Bukowski also received a medal for the Section 3 season-high series, a 708.

Snyder was a Section 3 all-star and the team's Most Valuable Player.

BASKETBALL ALL-STARS

As voted on by the Lancaster-Lebanon League coaches, a handful of Pioneer hoopsters were recognized for their efforts on the hardwoods. Luke Hines, Chase Smucker, Ben Wert and Katie Ranck all received first team recognition with head coach Ed Berryman voted as Coach of the Year.

Ranck was also voted as a defensive all-star and an academic all-star.

Anna Horner was a second team all-star.