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4- PENNYSAVER - Garden Spot 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

Spot Wrestlers Battle Section Two Barons

BY ARA GRIGORIAN `

On Wednesday, January 18, in a battle with Section Two rival Manheim Central, Musser recorded a pin 1:49 into the 285-pound match. Two matches earlier, Weaver was on the short end of a tough 6-5 decision with Central’s Rocco Daugherty coming out as the winner.

The Barons used seven pins, a technical fall, and a major decision to top Spot 636. Garden Spot fell to 2-4 in the L-L League.

The Spartans defeated Lancaster Catholic and York Tech on Saturday, January 14, at the Patriot Duals. Garden Spot came back from a 29-18 deficit to win the final five weight classes of its battle with the Crusaders, claiming a 48-29 win. The Spartans used four consecutive pins in one stretch as they earned a decisive victory over York Tech, 57-13.

Diego Portales, Matt Casey, Blake Weaver, and Mason Musser each had a pin in both of these matches.

In the Catholic match, Masey pinned at the 114pound weight class and Portales at 127. Following a swap of two weight classes midway through the match - a forfeit by Lancaster Catholic followed by the Crusaders earning a pin - the Spartans won five straight. Three Catholic forfeits aided the Spartans, who also got pins by Weaver and Musser down the stretch.

Portales, Josiah Smucker’s pin at 139, Justin Eberly notching a pin with one second remaining in the first period of the 145-pound bout and Sean Kelch pin at 152 gave Garden Spot a commanding lead versus York. Albert Vega earned a 6-2 decision at 172. Weaver’s pin at 189 and Tyler Hurst’s pin at 215 helped maintain the momentum as Musser (285) and Casey (106) wrapped things up

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

The Garden Spot boys’ basketball team improved to 5-8 on the year with a solid 48-38 victory at Solanco. The 13th of the January falling on a Friday did not confirm any old superstitions for the Spartans in this LancasterLebanon League clash.

“ We played well and defended well,” head coach Nate Musselman said. “We moved the ball really well.

“When we share the ball, we’re a good team,” added the coach. “We kind of controlled the whole game.”

Leading by a slim margin of 22-19 at halftime, the Spartans went on a 14-4 run in the fourth quarter and held off the Mules’ final kick in the fourth.

Bryce Weaver finished with a game-high 13 points.

“He played one of his best games,” Musselman said of Weaver. “He distributed the ball for us and had a lot of assists too.”

Jeff St. Jean and Gabe Smeltz scored nine and eight points, respectively. Dylan Nolt added seven.

“Dylan is the glue of our team,” said Musselman. “He is always in the right spots - the intangibles that aren’t on the stat sheet. He had 10 rebounds for us.”

Garden Spot fell to 2-4 in league play after a 51-35 loss at Conestoga Valley on Tuesday, January 17.

“The game was the opposite of how well we played last week against Solanco,” Musselman said. “Give them [Buckskins] credit. They made their shots and just beat us.”

Jace Conrad had an impressive night, leading the Spartans with 17 points, including three three-point buckets. Griffen Rishell scored 17 as well to lead Conestoga Valley.

AIR RIFLE

Garden Spot continued to dominate the L-L League air rifle competition, improving to 6-1 with a defeat of Conestoga Valley on Thursday, January 12.

The Spartans’ 494-489 defeat of the Buckskins included Jack Werner’s perfect 100 in the match. Leksi Bender and Matt Sauder finished with 99’s while Magadalene Martin and Colton Watkins both shot 98’s.

The Spartans have been involved in several close matches this year. One of those took place on Tuesday, January 17 - a marathon match at Manheim Central.

The Barons edged the Spartans 691-690 as the seventh best shooter had to be factored in for the team result.

Bender and Sauder both shot 100’s while Martin finished with a 99. The Barons on the other hand, had six shooters finish with 99’s while Natalia Winkler and Gabby Fittery both shot 98.

On the Garden Spot side, Werner, Watkins, and Evan Brace scored 98. Trevor Jones finished at 97.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

On Friday the 13th, the Spartans came into some good fortune, holding on to defeat Solanco 35-31 at New Holland. It was the first L-L League win of the year for the Garden Spot girls’ basketball squad.

In the low-scoring contest, the Spartans (2-13 overall, 14 league) found themselves tied with Solanco 19-19 heading into the fourth quarter. They outscored the Mules 1612 in the final stanza.

It was a true team effort for the scoring leaders. Both A.J. McClain and Nikki Zeiset finished with seven points, each connecting once from threepoint range. Meredith Horst and Gwen Varley each chipped in with six points while Morgan Pavelik scored five.

Conestoga Valley played a tough first half in Tuesday’s league game at Garden Spot. The Buckskins’ 29-17 halftime lead helped them hold off the Spartans in a 54-40 win. They only outscored Spot by two points in the second half.

Pavelik led all scorers with 13 points. Zeiset also reached double figures (11 pts) while Varley scored seven. Syanna Duval made three baskets to notch six points in the game.

BOWLING

In a tough 4-3 Section Three triumph over Lampeter-Strasburg on Wednesday afternoon at Dutch Lanes, the Garden Spot bowling team raised its record to 30-26.

Gavin Courtney was Garden Spot’s leading bowler, rolling a 269 in the second game and finishing with a 731 points total. Katie Pope knocked them down at a 643 clip for L-S.

Garden Spot was coming off a 7-0 defeat of Elco the previous Friday at Berks Lanes. Courtney rolled a 731 in this game as well, including a 259 in his third game.

Photo by Cheri Sine

Garden Spot’s Diego Portales hooks a leg to take down the Barons’ Barrett Keiffer during the 127-pound bout in the Spartans’ 63-6, Section Two loss in Manheim last Wednesday.