Page 10—SUSQUEHANNA TIMES Swish / Look out Lancaster County: Indian girls on warpath Tanya Merchant (#52, at left) and Butch Kolp (#50, at center) grab a rebound from the clutches of a Columbia girl. The Indians don’t have a lot of height, but they The Donegal girls’ bas- ketball team is so good, it’s embarassing. The Indian second string is capable of running circles around most opponents’ starters. The girls score more points in an average game than the boys’ squad scores — the girls have been averaging over 70 points per game since New Year's Day, and their opponents have averaged about 30 points. Only one team in the section has a good chance of challenging Donegal for the championship. As we go to press Tuesday even- ing, undefeated Hempfield is battling undefeated Don- egal for possession of the lead in section 3. That game will not settle the issue, since Donegal and Hempfield are slated to meet again at the end of the season. That final Hempfield-Donegal meet- ing promises to be the most exciting athletic con- test of the winter at DHS. Hempfield’s most for- midable asset is a six-foot tall center. On a girls’ team, a six-footer stands out the way Lebanon’s 6’-11"’ Sam Bowie stands out on a boys’ team. The tallest girl on the Donegal squad is 5’-8’’ Beth Keffer, a slender freshman who played on the starting team for the first time last week. In spite of her inexperience Beth moved the ball well and played hustling, aggressive defense. “We don’t have height,” says coach Bill Earhart. ‘““We have to rely on team- work.’ On set plays, the Donegal girls perform ex- pertly. The only defense they can’t penetrate is the kind of sagging zone defense which leaves plen- ty of room for outside shots. Outside shots are an Indian specialty. The girls hit the basket with amazing consistency. We don’t have any statistics on their free-throw performance, but judging by the shooting the girls displayed against Columbia last week, we wouldn’t be surprised if they are outscoring most boys’ teams from the foul line. The best shooter on the team is Pam ‘‘Butch”’ Kolp, who has been averaging twenty points a game. Play-maker Sherri Kinsey is next in line with a 12 points-per-game aver- age. In spite of the team’s overall excellence, the girls have a handful of weak points which are due to the January 18, 1978 have plenty of bounce, and they outciass most opponents under the boards. Darla Kelly (#54, at right) watches the show. fact that girls’ basketball is not stressed in the elemen- tary schools. For example: the girls are having trouble developing their fast break because most of them never learned to throw overhand. You can’t throw a long bomb downcourt by pushing the ball away from your chest with both hands, which is the way most girls have been taught to throw. The overhead throw seems instinctive to boys, who are taught the motion almost as soon as they can walk, but the Donegal girls are spending hours of practice to learn it. Generally speaking, its hard to spot any difference between the Donegal girls’ style of play and the motions of a good boys’ team. Not only is their teamwork polished; the girls individual moves are as smooth as the hardwood floor they play on. This excellence is almost incredible when you consi- der the fact that the girls’ basketball program at Don- egal is only three years old. That first year was no fun for the fans. It was pretty rough on the team, too. Sighs and snickers issued from the stands more often than applause, and photo- graphers assigned to cover the girls used to complain that it was almost impos- sible to take exciting pictures of the games, which consisted mostly of foul shots, toss-ups, penal- ty turnovers and passes that went into the stands. The team had to put up with a lot of ridicule in those days, but the girls didn’t become discouraged. “It’s incredible how hard these girls have worked at learning the game,” says coach Earhart. ‘“That’s the explanation for our success; hard work. We practice six days a week, and most of the girls practice on their own, too. Over the vacation some of them drove to the boys’ tournaments to watch the boys play, just so they could study the game. That’s real dedication, and it pays off.” With a strong bench, and plenty of underclassmen on the varsity, the girls’ winning ways promise to be the start of a Donegal tradition. “Until the end of this season,’’ says coach Earhart, ‘‘we won’t know whether Donegal or Hemp- field is going to win the section title. But the Hempfield team is mostly seniors. Next year, they shouldn’t give us any trouble.” Sharon Hershey (#24) moves the ball. This is the first year in which the Indians have consistently handled the ball well. Beth Keffer (#14) lung lap ‘down a Columbia guard’s pass. She got her hand on the ball. Beth, a freshman, started for the first time against Columbia last week. She showed plenty of graceful skill, in spite of her inexperience. With 5’-8”’ of height, she may do a lot for the Indian defense. Indian mat men defeated by Penn Manor Penn Manor wrestlers beat Donegal last week at a match in Millersville. The score was 32-13. It was the first time Penn Manor beat Donegal in four years. The teams traded victor- ies in the first two weight classes, and then Donegal lost three in a row: 112, 119, and 126. Indian Cliff Sweigart pinned his opponent, but { EW WW WE TE EWE Te a - Penn Manor came back in the next two classes with decisions. The 155-1b. match with Arlen Mummau wrestling for Donegal was exciting. Mummau reversed his point lag at the last second to win 7-4. Penn Manor won again in the 167 and 185 classes, and the heavyweight bout ended in a tie. 10d IS 2881) GND 149!) 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