PAGE 16—SUSQUEHARNNA TIMES
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the trophy case.
Following hot on
featured the first
This winter promises to
be the most exciting season
in history for local sports
fans. If all goes well, the
administration of Donegal
High School may have to
reinforce the floor under
the
heels of an autumn which
unde-
feated football team in
DHS history, comes a
winter in which DHS teams
may win section champion-
ships in each of the major
high school spectator
sports.
That’s right, folks; the
basketball team, the wrest-
ling team, and the girls’
basketball team are all
likely to win first place
trophies this year.
3 championship teams?
It is a bit early to
announce victory, of
course. Some formidable
opposition stands between
the Indian athletes and this
incredible three-way
sweep. The intoxicating
possibility exists, however,
and it should create plenty
of excitement as the season
progresses.
Wrestlers win
The wrestling team is, as
always, a top contender for
the section championship
this year. An unusually
brutal football season left
quite a few Indian
wrestlers with nagging
aches and pains, which
may hurt the team early in
the season. But time and
the schedule are on the
Girls win
In spite of the fact that
playmaker Sherri Kinsey is
sitting on the bench,
nursing a badly sprained
ankle, the girls’ basketball
team appears to be headed
for a section championship
this year.
After losing the first
game which Kinsey was
forced to sit out, the team
seems to have adjusted to
its loss, and has begun
winning handily over tough
opposition.
Last week, in the league
opener, the girls totally
outclassed a formidable
Columbia team. Sharon
Hershey led the Indians in
scoring. In addition to her
shooting accuracy, Hershey
makes some incredibly
good moves on offense and
is an aggressive rebounder.
She gets a lot of help
under the boards from
Tanya Merchant and Beth
Keffer, a graceful 5’-10”
junior, who shoots well
from the outside in addition
to using her height under
the boards.
Sherry Derr is gaining
confidence in Miss
Kinsey's slot; she is good
at bringing the ball up-
court, and she passes well
when she arrives with it.
The team's most notice-
able defect is a slaggish
defense. Bad judgni. nt and
slow reactions left some
gaping holes in Donegal’s
aggressive zone defense in
the game against Colum-
bia. Experience and the
return of the fleet-footed
Kinsey (which happy event
should occur sometime
after the holidays) ought to
solve that problem.
Most of this year’s
starters are veterans of the
surprisingly successful '77-
'78 team, which lost the
section title to Hempfield
tangle at 8:15.
Indians’ side. The kids are
healing fast, and the
toughest opponent on the
schedule—Columbia—is
also the last.
Last Saturday, the Indi-
ans crushed a formidable
Lancaster Catholic team
29-22. Now that Catholic is
out of the way, the
remaining section con-
tenders appear to be
after a hard-fought and
emotional playoff game.
Sharon Hershey, the Indian Annie Oakley, sinks a
Cocalico and Penn Manor,
as well as Columbia’s
mighty Tide.
The win over Lancaster
Catholic was a result of
pins by Greiner and
(K.) Sweigart, plus
decisions won by Davis,
Bell, both Mummaus
(Leonard and Arlen) and
Hershey.
This year, the Indians
should go all the way.
jumper for Donegal while faked-out Columbia defenders
watch flat-footed. The other white jersey in the photo
belongs to Tanya Merchant, another top-notch athlete.
DHS basketball tournament
The winners will battle for the championship at 8:15, Weds. A consolation game
will be held at 6:15 for the losers.
The annual basketball tournament gets underway on Tues., Dec. 26 at 6:30, when
Manheim Central takes on Manheim Township at DHS. Eastern and Donegal will
Basketball team wins
The section 3 basketball
championship is expected
to revolve around a battle
between Garden Spot and
Donegal. Right now, Done-
gal has the lead.
In spite of a disap-
pointing turnout in the
home-court stands at Don-
egal, the Indians squeezed
a 46-44 victory from the
Spartans in the first league
game of the season last
Friday.
As has happened before
in preliminary, non-league
games, the Indians raced to
a commanding 17-6 lead in
the first period, then began
to lose control of the
ballgame. The Spartans
outscored the Indians 13-8
in the third period, and the
lead bounced around like a
loose ball until the final
seconds of the game, when
Keith Persun connected
with an outside jump shot
to put the Indians on top.
‘““We haven't been able
to keep up our intensity for
a whole game,” admitted
coach Emil Swift.
Swift introduced a brand
new? starting lineup for the
game, plus a surprising set
of tactics. Gone are the
man-to-man defenses and
fast-breaking offense which
were once almost synony-
mous with Donegal basket-
ball.
This year’s Indians are
slower than the ’'75-'76
championship team. They
rely on a more formal
brand of teamwork, with
carefully rehearsed game
plans, to put the ball where
it belongs.
“I think we lost the team
concept for a while last
Friday,” Swift said, ‘‘and
that’s where we got into
trouble.”
The trouble began when
the Spartans unleashed a 4
fierce full-court press on
the Indians, making it
tougher for Donegal to set
up plays, and providing
plenty of tempting oppor-
tunities for individual
moves. ‘‘Our kids started
playing one-on-one basket-
ball,”” said Swift. ‘‘They
were thinking, ‘If only I
can make this shot, we'll
be all right. Of course, it
didn’t work. But the team
didn’t fold. They played
the right defense, and they
took instruction well. I
think the game proved that
Merchants
Local merchants can
make an important contri-
buttion to the basketball
team’s success by posting
team schedules in their
windows.
Considering the fact that
Donegal has the best boy's
basketball team since the
'75-'76 championship
season, the turnout in the
stands for last week’s
the team knows how to
cope with pressure.”
Although Donegal and
Garden Spot are the best
looking teams in the sec-
tion, the Indians may not
be able to walk away with
the rest of the schedule.
Lebanon Catholic and Ann-
ville Cleona may provide
some tough competition,
especially on their home
territory. As for traditional
rival Elizabethtown, Swift
says, ‘‘When Donegal
plays E-town, the record
book goes out the
’
window.’
Tim Roaten [#40] fires a lay-up past a Spartan defender.
December 20, 1978
Donegal’s big men did
most of the scoring last
Friday. Mitch Johnsom
(6’-4’’) led the team with
13 points. Tim Roaten
(6’-S’’) followed with 12.
Craig Zink tallied 7 and
Keith Persun scored 6.
Playmaking guard Jim
Shrum sank a couple of
field goals from the out-
side. He also set up a lot of
plays with his accurate
passing and, considering
his height (5’-6’’) did an
amazing job on rebounds.
Brian Becker and Terry
Frey added 2 points each.
Roaten scored 12 points in the game. Mitch Johnson,
the other big inside man, scored 13.
crucial game with Garden
Spot was pretty disappoint-
ing. There is no doubt that
a big, noisy crowd im-
proves a team’s perform-
ance, and posting the
schedules should help
make the fans aware of
what they are missing.
The team has printed
some big (22'’X28'") post-
ers advertising the
schedule. The posters,
can help basketball team
which feature a big picture
of the team, cost a. lot to
print. The team is asking
for a $7.50 (tax-deductible)
donation to cover their
costs.
Any merchant who is
interested in buying one of
these posters should con-
tact a team member or
cheerleader, or call coach
Emil Swift at the high
school.
OTHER ATHLETIC CONTESTS scheduled next week include a road game for the
girl’s basketball team (Fri., at L-S), a home meet for the wrestlers against Cedar
Crest (Thurs., Dec. 21, varsity starts 8PM), plus a non-league contest at Manheim
Central (Sat., Dec. 23). The boys’ basketball team takes on Norlebco on Fri., Dec.
22 at 8 PM (JV; 6:30) at DHS.