Conestoga Valley’s boys’ swim team (all five of them) finished second in the state last week. Here’s one last look at the Buckskins’ super accomplishment …
Imagine finishing in second place in the baseball playoffs with just five guys on the diamond.
 
OK, now imagine finishing in second place in the football playoffs with just five guys […]

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UNIVERSITY PARK — Wow, what a finish to a great opening day of the PIAA basketball championships. It took four games, but the West finally picked up a win, when General McLane edged Greencastle-Antrim 57-55 on Drew Astorino’s jumper with 2.4 seconds to go. It was a thriller. It also capped Day 1, which featured […]

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UNIVERSITY PARK — Good evening from the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center, where the evening session of the first day of the PIAA basketball championships has got off to a roaring start. In the girls’ Quad-A game, Cheltenham, which knocked off Hempfield in the state quarterfinals, raced past Council Rock North 68-54 to win its […]

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UNIVERSITY PARK – Greetings again from the floor in the Bryce Jordan Center, where District 3 made it 2-for-2 in the first two games of the state championships, as District 3 champ Reading Central Catholic drilled District 9 fourth-place finisher 58-33 in the Single-A boys’ finale. This is RCC’s second state title (1985). Another double-dip tonight: Quad-A girls […]

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UNIVERSITY PARK – The first state championship game just ended, and York Catholic capped its undefeated season with a 58-44 win over Villa Maria here at the Bryce Jordan Center (I got a sweet seat, by the way — front row, down by the one basket). That’s 35-0 for York Catholic, which also won its 44th […]

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Be sure to pick up Friday’s New Era for my story on the L-L League’s girls’ Coach of the Year: L-S rookie Matt Wieand. If you can’t get a copy, here’s my story. Enjoy. And congrats to Matt.
The predictions hit the streets on Nov. 29.

Manheim Central
Lebanon
Elco
Lampeter-Strasburg

L-S fourth?
 
 
That might have had something to do with the […]

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Kindly check Friday’s New Era for the L-L League Coaches’ All-Stars. If you can’t pick up a copy, here is my story: 

Five gamers. 
Five team leaders. 
Five winners.
They are the five players who make up the New Era/Lancaster-Lebanon League Coaches’ All-Star Team. And what a fab five this group is. 
Seniors Allison Smith from Cedar Crest, Amy Pickard from […]

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Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 and Section 4 girls’ basketball seasons in review are in the works. Just a smidge busy the last few days, but they are coming along. Headed to Penn State on Friday to cover the first day of the state basketball championships. Check Saturday’s New Era for my report. Anxious to see […]

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CEDAR CREST Eagles 
Coach: Gretchen Hall (Just completed her 1st season and is 28-5 overall).
League: 15-2 (1st place in Section 1).
Overall: 28-5 (Defeated McCaskey 44-43 in a one-game playoff for the section championship; defeated Lebanon Catholic 60-22 in a league quarterfinal; defeated Lebanon 38-33 in a league semifinal; defeated McCaskey 50-44 in the league championship; defeated […]

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A very, very big tip of the cap to Hempfield senior Joe Kinderwater and Conestoga Valley senior Chase Caruso, who took home individual gold medals from the PIAA Quad-A Meet last weekend.
Kinderwater won the 500-yard freestyle and Caruso defended his title in the 50 free.
Kinderwater and Caruso will both continue their swimming careers at major Division […]

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It was an awesome ride – a ride some people thought was unexpected.
 
“Can’t and shouldn’t are words a lot of people have used to describe us this season,” Hempfield girls’ basketball coach Lenny Groft told me Saturday night.
 
But there was Groft and his team in the PIAA Quad-A Elite Eight in Reading High’s Geigle Complex.
 
The […]

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Conestoga Valley’s boys’ swim team finished second in the state championship. Congrats to the Buckskins, who also took home a pair of gold medals from Bucknell: senior Chase Caruso, an Indiana University recruit, won the 50-yard freestyle for the second year in a row, and the 400 free relay team brought home the gold. So […]

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I’m a HUGE Duke fan … even took a trip to Tobacco Road one time (thanks, Dell) and had a press-row seat in Cameron Indoor.
If you’re a basketball fan, you must go there.
I was sorry to see the Dookies go down in the first round against (gulp) Virginia Commonwealth.
But this photo certainly grabbed my attention […]

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The fourth annual Lancaster-Lebanon League Senior Girls’ Basketball Showcase was contested Thursday night at Warwick. A good time was had by all.
A very big THANK YOU to the L-L League coaches, who gave me a very nice plaque at halftime.
Turns out I won the Media Award, and I was touched and honored to accept the […]

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Weather permitting, Hempfield is set to clash with Cheltenham in a PIAA Quad-A quarterfinal Friday at Reading High’s Geigle Complex. Here’s a preview …
THE GAME: District 3 sixth-place finisher Hempfield (23-6) vs. District 1 fifth-place finisher Cheltenham (24-6), Friday at Reading High School’s Geigle Complex, 6 p.m.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Hempfield upset District 6 champ Altoona […]

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Don’t look now, but Hempfield is in the Elite Eight. Congrats to the Black Knights, who continued to work their postseason magic with a second-round victory over University City on Tuesday night. Here is my story from Wednesday’s New Era.
COATESVILLE – So you’re sifting through your brackets, looking for that Cinderella team.
No, no. Not those […]

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Still trying to figure out who to pick in the Butler-Old Dominion game? Yeah, me too.
Then download the latest Lancaster Newspapers’ Podcast (Bracket Breakdown 2007) featuring New Era sports editor Keith Schweigert, Sunday News sports writer Mike Gross, New Era on-line journalist Corey Clayton and, oh yeah, me.
You can find the Podcast here.
Hope you get […]

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The fourth annual Lancaster-Lebanon League Girls’ Basketball Senior Showcase and 3-point Shootout Contest is set for Thursday at 7 p.m. at Warwick.
 
Twenty-four of the league’s top seniors will take the court one final time.
 
The first team, coached by Solanco’s Tom McDonald and Elizabethtown’s Mike Pericci, includes:
 
E-town’s Liz Bard (12.0 points a game, 12 3-pointers this […]

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If you’re headed to Bucknell, sorry I missed you. But if you’re still checking my blog for a state swimming preview, you’re in luck. Here’s my story from Tuesday’s New Era, previewing Lancaster County’s best bets to mine some medals in the PIAA Meet. I’ll post updates on the meet here over the next few days. So check […]

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Hempfield recently had a signing ceremony, where six student-athletes accepted scholarship offers from the colleges of their choice: Jillian Fletcher (field hockey, Philadelphia University), Kristen Brooks (field hockey, Shippensburg), Sara Bernhardt (soccer, Temple), Casey Fry (field hockey, St. Joe’s), Tyler Swezey (football, East Stroudsburg), Steve Hohenwarter (football, Shippensburg).
Here is a photo from their signing ceremony. Congrats!
JEFFREY […]

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