Interviews done

Interviews were completed yesterday at Columbia High School for its vacant football  coaching position.

The next step is expected to be to take the name of the successor to Jason Shoff to the school board's extra-cirrucular committee meeting.

That committee meets Wednesday night. The following week, the Columbia School Board will hold its Committee of the Whole meeting.

Current CHS assistant Michael Burke III is considered the front runner.

Fire damages building in township

Fire caused $600,000 in damage to the Columbia Pattern and Machine Company, 4604 Klinesville Road around 4 a.m. this morning in West Hempfield Township.

PSP Fire Marshal Brian Herr said there was $100,000 damage done to the builing and $500,000 to its contents.

Fire officials said a passing motorist spotted the blaze. When firefighters arrived smoke was coming from the roof with an orange glow. Damage was contained to computer controlled machines, equipment and the roof.

The fire was brought under control around 6 a.m.

Assisting at the the West Hempfield Fire Department on the scene were the Susquehanna and Consolidated Fire Departments from Columbia, Mountville, Fire Department Mount Joy (yes that is correct), Maytown-East Donegal, Rheems, Marietta, Washington Boro and Wrightsville. Many were tankers.

Season ends

They played twice this year. Each won a game on the others' home court.

Wednesday, Annville-Cleona and Columbia met for the third time this season in boys' basketball. Unlike the two league games, one held about 10 before on the Tide's home floor, this one had a lot at stake. Win and you advance in the District Three Class AA playoffs. Lose and its the end of the season and high schoo, careers for many.

At Hershey High School, the two evenly matched foes from Section 4 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, battled in the first round of the District Three playoffs. To the winner went a Saturday meeting against third seeded Hanover.

And it was Annville-Cleona who is moving on following a 42-41win over the Crimson Tide. Columbia's sesason ends with a 7-16 record.

The story of the game was the play of Annville-Cleona guard Trey Blanding. He scored 24 of his team's 42 points, including the first 11. On the other end of the court, Tide senior Brandon Arnold scored all six of his team's first quarter points. After eight minutes, it was Blanding 7, Arnold 6.

A-C continued to led the game in the second quarter. A big basket was a three-pointer from A-C's Tyler Napierala,, which gave the eventual winners a six-point lead. The Tide bounced back, tying the game at 14-14, before falling behind 16-14 at the half.

The Tide took their first lead of the game to open the second half  by Arnold (13 points), but A-C got a couple of three-pointers in the third quarter, including one by Josh Henning to go up as many as five points in the third quarter. A-C still owned a three-point, 28-25 lead entering the final eight minutes.

The Little Dutchmen increased their lead to 32-25 early in the fourth quarter, before the Tide got back into the game outscoring A-C 8-1 over a three minute span to tie the game at 33-33 on a basket by Tre Simms.

Back in the game, the Tide turned the ball over four straight times and A-C took advantage, taking control of the game, leading 40-35 with under two minutes left. Blanding hit 4-of-4 from the foul line to ice the game for A-C. A three-pointer by Nate Wall (11 points) at the buzzer made it a one point game.

District Three picks

Here are the basketball picks.
Boys 4-A: Hempfield over Penn Manor in a close one; Red Land over York; Wilson easily over Warwick and Reading shoots down Daniel Boone.
Boys 3-A: Eastern over Susquehanna Township; West York over East Pennsboro; Hershey melts Lancaster Catholic and the Rollers falll to York Suburban.
Boys 2-A: Trinity over Upper Dauphin; Delone over McDevitt; Trinity over York Catholic and Hanover easily over Annville-Cleona.
Boys 1-A: Central Catholic rolls over Antietan; Millersburg tops Living Word; Greenwood goes "green" over Canp Hill and Lebanon Catholic has some hope against New Hope.
Girls 4-A: CD upsets Red Lion; Reading tops Hershey; Mifflin beats Harrisburg and Mechanicsburg moves on over CD East.
Girls 3-A: West York over Daniel Boone; Shippensburg over Oley Valley; Trinity rolls over Manheim Central and Lancaster Catholic uphends Palmyra.
Girls 2-A: York Catholic over Holy Name; Wyomissing over Kutztown; Mennonite over Biglerville and Delone overe Brandywine Heights.
Girls 1-A: Steel-High over Central Catholic; Lancaster Country Day over Bible Baptist; Lebanon Catholic over Camp Hill and Greenwood over Conestoga Christian.

District Three scores, prediction results

Here are the scores from Wednesday's District 3 playoff games:
Boys AAAA: Hempfield 71, Central Dauphin 40; Penn Manor 63, Harrisburg 61; York 71, L-S 38; Red Land 45, Red Lion 36; Wilson 61, McCaskey 33; Warwick 61, Solanco 41; Reading 63, Exeter 48; Daniel Boone 49, Central York 41.
Boys AA: Upper Dauphin 59, Holy Name 55 (2OT); McDevitt 53, Pequea Valley 41; York Catholic 60, Tulpehocken 42.
Girls AAA: Lancaster Catholic 52, Muhlenberg 45; Palmyra 49, Twin Valley 28; Manheim Central 43, Boiling Springs 41; Trinity 48, Elco 35; Shippensburg 61, Northern Lebanon 45; Oley Valley 42, Susquenita 28; Daniel Boone 63, Kennard-Dale 44; West York 49, Eastern 46.
Girls A: Steel-High 77, York Country Day 9; Reading Central Catholic 58, Millersburg 20; Lancaster Country Day 28, Living Word 12; Bible Baptist 56, Harrisburg Academy 54; Lebanon Catholic 61, Antietam 20; Camp Hill 51, Harrisburg Christian 10; Greenwood 69. Lititz Christian 24 and Conestoga Christian 32, Christian School of York 30.
Boys Record for 4-A and 2-A: 9-3 -- overall 22-5.
Girls Record for 3-A and 1-A: 15-1-- overall 22-7
Two-Day Total: 44-12.

First round scores, prediction results

Okay, the first round is over in four of the eight classes in the PIAA playoffs. As I told you, Solanco probably would have a hangover in Girls 4-A from their big week in the L-L League playoffs last week and Cedar Crest needed to guard against a letdown from winning the L-L League. I still picked them, but...
In Boys' 3-A, I picked seven of the eight games right -- losing only when I picked Middletown over East Pennsboro.
In Boys A, I had five of the six first round games correct, losing out when Camp Hill beat out Lancaster Country Day.
I took a bath in girls' basketball.
In 4-A, I lost one of my finalists in Lebanon took a bath last night. In 3-A, I went 4-4, while in 2-A, I went 3-2. There are no L-L League teams left in those two classes.
Here are the scores:
Boys 3-A: Eastern 71, Wyomissing 48; Susquehanna Township 57, Boiling Springs 41; West York 70, Big Spring 36; Hershey 56, Lancaster Catholic 34; York Suburban 60, Muhlenberg 34; Steel-Highh 52, Oley Valley 34.
Boys 1-A: Millersburg 69, Lancaster Christian 34;  Living Word 41, Harrisburg Christian 34; Greenwood 75,  Dayspring Christian 34; Camp Hill 47, Lancaster Country Day 41; New Hope 50,  Mount Calvary 34 and Lebanon Catholic 72, Christian School of York 39.
Girls 4-A: Red Lion 46, Cumberland Valley 36; Central Dauphin 59, Solanco 34; Hershey 50, Cedar Crest 39; Reading 57, Spring Grove 42; Harrisburg 44, Cedar Crest 34; Governor Mifflin 54, Manheim Township 52 (OT); Mechanicsburg 42, New Oxford 23; CD East 43, Lower Dauphin 41.
Girls 2-A: Holy Name 45, Upper Dauphin 28; Wyomissing 54, Hanover 9;  Kutztown 54, Fairfield 29; Biglerville 40, Annville-Cleona 24; Brandywine Heights 36, Tulpehocken 17.

Parent's Club announces event

The Columbia Elementary Parents Club will host a Quarter Auction on Sunday, March 28 at the Columbia No. 1 Fire Company.
Doors open at 1 p.m. and the auction starts at 2 p.m.
The cost is $3.

Columbia Public Library events for March

The Columbia Public Library has released its schedule of events for March.
Tuesday, March 2nd, at 1 PM - Census Testing - must have prior appointment (367-9306)

Wednesday, March 3rd, at 6 PM - Family Film Night - “The Rookie”
Saturday, March 6th, at 10 AM - Saturday Morning Storytime with Mrs. Dottie Johnson. “Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!”
Saturday, March 6th, at 10 AM - Census Testing - must have prior appointment (367-9306)
Tuesday, March 9th, at 1 PM - Census Testing - must have prior appointment (367-9306)
Wednesday, March 10th, at 6 PM - Family Film Night - “The Aristocats”
Thursday, March 11th, at 7 PM - Columbia Public Library Board of Directors Meeting. Public is welcome.
Saturday, March 13th, at 10 AM - Saturday Morning Storytime with Mrs. Dottie Johnson. “Are You Wearing Green?”
Saturday, March 13th, at 10 AM - Census Testing - must have prior appointment (367-9306)
Tuesday, March 16th, at 1 PM - Census Testing - must have prior appointment (367-9306)
Wednesday, March 17th, at 6 PM - Family Film Night - “Darby O'Gill and the Little People”
Saturday, March 20th, at 10 AM - Saturday Morning Storytime with Mrs. Dottie Johnson. “Welcome, Spring!”
Saturday, March 20th, at 10 AM - Census Testing - must have prior appointment (367-9306)
Tuesday, March 23rd, at 1 PM - Census Testing - must have prior appointment (367-9306)
Wednesday, March 24th, at 6 PM - Family Film Night - “Angels In the Outfield”
Saturday, March 27th, at 10 AM - Saturday Morning Storytime with Miss Lisa. “Hooray For Easter!”
Saturday, March 27th, at 10 AM - Census Testing - must have prior appointment (367-9306)
Tuesday, March 30th, at 1 PM - Census Testing - must have prior appointment (367-9306)
Wednesday, March 31st, at 6 PM - Family Film Night - “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Mystery of the Easter Chipmunk”
Friday, April 2nd and Saturday, April 3rd - Library Closed for Easter Break
Saturday, April 10th at 10 AM - Saturday Morning Storytime with special guest appearance by Peter Rabbit!
The Census Questionnaire Assistance Center will be open Monday through Thursday from 10 AM to 1 PM beginning March 15. If you did not receive a Census form via the postal service for whatever reason (address unknown, temporary resident, no permanent address, etc.), please stop in between 10 AM and 1 PM Monday through Thursday beginning March 15. It is very important that all citizens be counted for the census!
Our webmaster Samuel Edmond is ready and willing to help you with your income taxes! An appointment must be made in advance - please call 684-2255 to set one up. We have most federal tax forms here at the library and can print out any specialized ones you may need from the IRS website. No charge for forms or assistantance.
Webmaster Samuel Edmond is also taking registrations for his one-on-one computer classes now! Please call 717-435-2039 to register throughout the month

District Three girls' picks

In each of the last two years, there have been two teams from District Three playoffs in the PIAA finals at the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State. Two years ago, it was Central Dauphin and York Catholic. Last year, it was York Catholic and Lampeter-Strasburg.
So what teams will make the trip to the state finals out of District 3? There are a couple of candidates, but over the next month, it will take a lot of luck, lack of injuries and getting a win when a team doesn't play their best to move on.
So, with that in mind, here are my first round picks and teams that could meet in the finals at the Giant Center next week.
AAAA: Red Lion over Cumberland Valley; Central Dauphin over Solanco, only because the Mares/Mules might still be drained from an unbelieveable schedule from last week, but it could be a toss up; Cedar Crest over Hershey, but the Falcons must avoid a first round letdown after winning the L-L championship; Lebanon over Harrisburg; Township over Governor Mifflin; Mechanicsburg over New Oxford and Lower Dauphin over C.D. East.
Probable finalists: Red Lion over Lebanon.
AAA: West York over Eastern (if this were a boys' game, wow); Daniel Boone over New Oxford; Oley Valley over Susquenita; Shippensburg over Northern Lebanon;. Trinity over Elco. Manheim Central over Boiling Springs; Palmyra over Twin Valley and Lancaster Catholic over Muhlenberg.
Probable finalists: West York over Trinity.
AA: Holy Name over Upper Dauphin; Hanover over Wyomissing; Biglerville over Annville-Cleona and Tulpehocken over Brandywine.
Probable finalists: Lancaster Mennonite over York Catholic.
A: Steel-High over York Country Day; Reading Central Catholic over Millersburg; Lancaster Country Day over Living Word; Bible Baptist over Harrisburg Academy; Lebanon Catholic over Antietam; Camp Hill over Harrisburg Christian; Greenwood over Lititz Christian and Christian School of York over Conestoga Christian.
Probable finalists: Lebanon Catholic over Steel-High.

District Three boys' basketball

The District Three playoffs, otherwise known as the first step in the “Road to Happy Valley” and a trip to the state finals at Penn State and the PIAA finals begins tonight.


Games will be played in Boys Class AAA and A and Girls AAAA and AA tonight and the remaining classes tomorrow night.

So what teams will have the opportunity to play on the big floor at the Giant Center at the end of next week for a district title?

Well, after reading all of the previews, following all the scores for the season and the various league playoffs, I would be surprised in there is a team from the L-L League playing for a district title in boys’ basketball, but it is more likely in girls’ basketball.

Not wait, aren’t two teams from the L-L League top seeds in their respective classes – Hempfield and Lancaster Mennonite? Yes, but while I don’t see neither team making the finals, one of them could and it won’t be Hempfield.

Locally, there is a team that should play for a district title and one that should get into the second round. And the surprise, which I already mentioned is that Hempfield won’t be playing for gold despite their unbeaten record. But I do see the Black Knights playing in the PIAA playoffs because half of the field makes the state tournament in Class AAAA and Class AAA.

First the local team that should be playing for a district title and deep into March are the Golden Knights from Eastern. They have two of the best players in the Class AAA field in guard Austin Tillotson and big man Andrew Nicholas. They also have a solid nucleus of other players.

The Knights meet Wyomissing in their opener tonight and probably will see an athletic Susquehanna Township team on the big floor at the Giant Center on Friday. Their semi-final game should be a battle with YAIAA foe West York and a meeting with either second seed Hershey, the Mid-Penn champion or York Suburban in the finals.

It will be a different story in the state playoffs, because the Knights, if they are in the East will have to run the gauntlet of District 12 schools, which are among the top three ranked teams in the state.

Now let’s talk about the Class AA field and the first round rematch between Columbia and Annville-Cleona at 7:30 p.m., tomorrow night at Hershey High School. Saw both of them play and they are about equal and it depends which Columbia team shows upm who wins. The winner gets third seeded Hanover in the quarter-finals.

Here’s something to think about – with Hanover, the Tide and A-C in the bottom of the bracket, there will be a public school in the semi-finals. The other three teams in the semi-finals, barring any major upsets, which I don’t see will be Catholic or a private school.

So in this class, I’ll take defending champ Trinity.

Next for Boys AAAA, Hempfield is the top seed and unbeaten, but hasn’t had a lot of success in the playoffs recently and has to go through a land mine of a bracket to get to the finals. After tomorrow’s game with a pesky Central Dauphin, the Black Knights will have to face either Penn Manor or Harrisburg, then either YAIAA runner-up York or Mid-Penn runner-up Red Land.

That’s why I don’t see the Black Knights making the finals, but they will make the PIAA playoffs.

Take Reading and Red Land in the finals.

In Boys’ Class A, the Private and Catholic School Invitational, there’s no doubt Reading Central Catholic is the “cream of the crop,” but also watched this private school New Hope Academy from York, who played an independent schedule this year and it made up of castoffs from a number of York area teams.

Here are the first round predictions

Boys A: Antietam over Harrisburg Academy; Millersburg over Lancaster Christian; Greenwood over Day Spring Academy; Lancaster Country Day over Camp Hill; New Hope over Mount Calvary and Lebanon Catholic over the Christian School of York.

Boys AA: Holy Name over Upper Dauphin; McDevitt over Pequea Valley; York Catholic over Tulpehocken and Columbia over Annville-Cleona.

Boys AAA: Eastern over Wyomissing; Susquehanna Township over Boiling Springs; West York over Big Spring; Middletown over East Pennsboro; Hershey over Milton Hershey (that game was moved to Cedar Crest. It was originally scheduled for Milton Hershey); Catholic over Greencastle; Suburban over Muhlenberg and Steel-High over Oley Valley.

Boys AAAA: Hempfield over Central Dauphin; Penn Manor over Hempfield; York over L-S; Red Land over Red Lion; Wilson over McCaskey; Solanco over Warwick; Reading over Exeter and Daniel Boone over Central York.

District 3 wrestling pairings

Here are the first round pairings, schools and record of the opponents of the Columbia seven, who will compete for a district title, starting Friday at the old Hersheypark Arena.

119: Derek Zercher (16-20) vs. Tim Renninger, Annville-Cleona (23-11).
130: John Markley (27-11) vs. Kyle Christianson, Kutztown (10-11).
135: Joe Ronca (32-6) vs. Bryan Wiedenhammere, Hamburg (17-21).
140: Jordon Halter (29-10) vs. Zeb Sheman, Tulpehocken (11-11).
160: Nathan Warner (28-9) vs Mitch Ball, Pequea Vallley (26-10).
215: Brandon Felus (25-6) vs. Dylan Powell, Juniata (14-8).
285: Jacob Sentz (22-15) vs. Malcolm White, Wyomissing (7-15).

Wrestlers advance 7

The first step in the mythical “Road to Hershey” was a successful one for the Columbia Crimson Tide wrestling team on Saturday.


Coach Scott Rupp and his staff took 14 wrestlers to the Class AA sectional tournament at Bermudian Springs High School and seven of those 14 advanced to this week’s District Three championships at the old Hersheypark Arena.

Leading the way for the Tide wrestlers were Joe Ronca and Nate Warner, who placed second at their respective weight classes, 135 and 160 pounds. Both lost in the finals.

Ronca, who moved down a weight class for the post-season, entered the sectional tournament needing three wins for 100 for his career. He fell one short when he lost in the finals 10-7 to Noah Blascone of Bermudian Springs.

At 160, Warner, a sophomore, was also a top seed. He lost in the finals to Tyler Fitzkee of Bermudian Springs, 10-0.

Placing third for the Tide were Jake Sentz (285), Jordon Halter (140) and John Markley (130).

Placing fourth for the Tide were Derek Zercher (119) and Brandon Felus (215).

Others participating from Columbia and not advancing were Tony Barton (103), Phil Stark (112), Alan Foehlinger (125), Todd Lingafelt (145), Derrick Brooks (171) and Marcus Fischer (189).

District 3 scores

Here are the scores from the pig-tail round of the District Three playoffs. Games were played Friday and Saturday.
The "official" tournament starts Tuesday. Working a preview of all the classifications, telling you who to watch and who might not end up in Hershey.

Boys Class AAAA

Central Dauphin 64, Dover 40
L-S 47, Carlisle 43
Red Lion 69, Governor Mifflin 52
McCaskey 69, Cocalico 56
Warwick 61, Mechanicsburg 46
Exeter 57, Chambersburg 50

Central York 56, Dallastown 49

Boys Class AAA

Wyomissing 60, Donegal 38
Big Spring 48, Schuykill Valley 47
Milton Hershey 57, Shippensburg 52
Muhlenberg 53, Kennard-Dale 52

Girls Class AAAA

Cumberland Valley 43, Carlisle 37
Hershey 37, South Western 26
Spring Grove 36, Wilson 33
Harrisburg 49, Hempfield 32
New Oxford 49, Dallastown 45
CD East 56, Penn Manor 39

Girls Class AAA

Eastern 45, Schuylkill Valley 37
Susquenita 48, Big Spring 42
Northern Lebanon 37, West Perry 30
Elco 50, Bermudian Springs 44
Twin Valley 37, East Pennsboro 31

League champs

Here is a list of various league basketball champions around District 3

Lancaster-Lebanon

Boys: Hempfield 44, Cocalico 35
Girls: Cedar Crest 53, Solanco 45

York-Adams

Boys: Eastern 62, York High 55
Girls: Red Lion 36, West York 33

Mid-Penn

Boys: Hershey 58, Red Land 45
Girls: Central Dauphin 49, Trinity 31

Berks County

Boys: Reading 64, Daniel Boone 55
Girls: Reaading 40, Wilson 39

Pequea Valley 61, Columbia 59

Photos by Pat Kreider

The Columbia boys' basketball team closed its regular season with a disappointing 61-59 loss to Pequea Valley.

Both teams were using the game as a tune-up for this week's District 3 playoffs, which begin Wednesday.

The Tide will travel the Hershey Highway for a 7:30 p.m. game with Section 4 foe Annville-Cleona. PV takes on Bishop McDevitt. (There is an earlier post on the playoff game).

Columbia had trouble most of the game guarding PV's leading scorer. He ripped the Tide for 29 points and hit 7 of 10 from the foul line.

The Tide jumped out quick against the Braves, leading 22-14 after one quarter and looked well on the way to a win. But has been so often the case this season, the Tide struggled in the second quarter, scoring just four points. They trailed 31-26 at the half.

The second half wasn't much better for the home team as they fell behind by eight points, before putting ona furious rally, only to fall short when a three-pointer at the buzzer rimed out.

Tre Simms led the Tide with 21 points, followed by Nate Wall with 12.

Wrestling update

Just got a phone call from coach Scott Rupp at Bermudian Springs High School -- site of the Section 1 sectional.
Columbia has two wrestlers -- Joe Ronca (135) and Nate Warner (160) going for sectional titles tonight.
Five others -- Derek Zercher (119), John Markley (130, Jordan Halter (140), Brandon Felus (215) and Jake Sentz (285) going for third and fourth.
All seven advance to the District Three championships next Friday and Saturday at the ancient Hersheypark Arena.

As a side note, if Ronca wins his championship bout tonight, it should give him 100 wins for his CHS career.

Trivia question

Okay Columbia basketball fans -- since Harriton High School in Lower Merion is in the news for some computer spying on students. Anyone recall the year Columbia played Harriton in the state basketball playoffs? What was the year? Where was the game at? Who was the famous baseball player who had a son playing on Harriton?

Attention Columbia High School seniors!

Here's a challenge for seniors at Columbia High School. President Obama is looking for a high school in the United States to deliver a commencement address.

The web site is www.whitehouse.gov/commencement.
It gives you the details on how to get the President, who visited the Columbia Market House (see picture) during the campaign in September 2008, to consider a school for a commencement address.

There is a form to fill out and the principal must sign off on it. It's worth a shot and would bring positive publicity to our great scshool and community.

Library fines to increase

Public libraries in Lancaster County will increase fines on certain overdue materials effective on April 1. Increases will apply to adult and juvenile materials as follows: fines on the late return of adult and YA materials will increase from 20 cents per day to 30 cents per day and from 10 per day to 20 per day for children’s materials. Fines for videos and DVDs, which is $1 per item per day, will remain the same.


Public Libraries have experienced reduced state and county funding for 2010, which factored into the decision to increase extended use fees at Lancaster County’s public libraries. The increases come at a critical time when local funding for library services remains flat and state funding was reduced, impacting all public library budgets, while demand for library services continues to rise.

The public can easily avoid these charges by keeping their library account up to date and renewing checked out items either by phone 394-1721 or online at http://catalog.lancasterlibraries.org. Please note that not all library materials are subject to renewal. If a patron’s account includes an email address, an email reminder is sent out before materials are due.

For more information, please contact your local public library. For a complete list of Lancaster County’s public libraries, go to www.lancasterlibraries.org and select Your Local Library.

The Road to Hershey begins

For the Columbia wrestling team, the mythical “Road to Hershey” begins Saturday with their participation in a Class AA sectional tournament at Bermudian Springs High School.

The one-day tournament features not only the Crimson Tide but also Lancaster Catholic from the L-L League, but also eight teams from the York-Adams League including Eastern.

Coach Scott Rupp’s team drew two top seeds for the first link in the “Road to Hershey” in senior Joe Ronca (30-5) at 135 and sophomore Nathan Warner (26-8) at 160. Number two seeds for the Tide are John Markley (130) and Brandon Felus (215). Third seeds are Jordan Halter (140) and Jake Sentz (285), while Johnny Vazquez (152) is a fourth seed.

Wrestlers have to finish in the top four at their respective weight class to make it to next weekend’s District Three Class AA championships at the old (I mean old) Hersheypark Arena.

One of the things to watch this weekend is Ronca’s quest for his 100th career win, which could happen this weekend, or early next weekend, if he gets that far.

Ronca, who dropped a weight class, will meet 4-11 John Vu of York Suburban High School in the first round.

The Tide’s other top seed, Warner, will meet the winner of the Colin Butler (Lancaster Catholic, 7-15)/Derek Dick (Fairfield, 7-8) in the first round.

Here is a weight class by weight class rundown of who each Tide wrestler will face in the first round.

103: Tony Barton (10-21) will face top-seeded Brad Farley (25-0) of Bermudian Springs in the first round.

112: Phillip Stark (9-19) will face fourth-seeded Evan Goshert (9-14) of Eastern York.

119: Derek Zercher (14-18) will face Biglerville’s Nick Leiphart (21-7).

125: Alan Foehlinger (6-18) will face Matt Galetti (2-14) in a pig tail match. Galetti is from York Suburban.

130: Markley, the number two seed will put his 24-11 record on the line in the first round against the winner of a pig tail match between Damon Becker (18-12) of Bermudian and Matt Flick (3-12) of Lancaster Catholic.

140: Halter will move up a weight class with a 26-9 record and a number three seed and battle Fairfield’s Andrew Blinn (8-14).

145: Todd Lingafelt (15-18) will meet Lancaster Catholic’s Aaron Law (15-9).

152: Vazquez (13-13) will meet Kevin Nichols (12-13) of Biglerville.

171: Derrick Brooks (7-12) will meet Robert Aaron Mackley of Eastern (21-3).

189: Despite a 20-win season, Marcus Fischer (20-14) has to wrestle a pig tail match against Troy Hewitt (4-17) of Fairfield. The winner gets Bermudian’s Matt Wolf.

215: Felus (23-4) will face Jordan Brooks (8-11) of Biglerville.

285: Sentz (20-14) will face Jacob Higgins (7-8) of Eastern.

The Tide completed its regular season with a trip to Gettysburg last Monday for an invitational on President’s Day, where they placed second as a team. Ronca, Warner, Fischer and Felus lost in the championship finals, while Stark was second. In round four of the round robin event, Halter and Sentz were winners, while Lingafelt lost in that round.

Fastnacht Time!

Got my fastnachts from Holy Trinity this morning. They were still a little warm. It's the first time in two years I had any.

Here is the link

http://www.district3.piaa.org/

For updates on the District Three basketball playoffs and wrestling sectionals, etc.

Columbia football update

The Columbia School Board will meet Thursday night.


Columbia High School has been without a football coach since the first of the year.

Fifteen people have applied to replace Jason Shoff, who resigned after six years as head coach. As of the weekend, no interviews had been scheduled, that’s because at least one school official at Columbia has an in-house candidate that stands heads and shoulders above those from the outside and wants to give it to that coach, while other “powers to be” want to interview for the position.

It is not known as of today if there will or has been an interview for the coaching position or if the school board will have a name to approve at its meeting on Thursday.

Columbia is one of two schools in the L-L League without a football coach is McCaskey, who doesn’t appear to be close to hiring a replacement.

The other L-L school who had a coaching opening was Northern Lebanon and that was filled last week when Millersburg coach Ray Wall was hired to replace Jack Beidler, who got run out of the position. Millersburg won the District 3 Class A title this past season, beating the two-time defending state chap Steel-High in the process.

Refer to an earlier post to see who the favorite is for the Columbia position.

Columbia in the playoffs

Here are two things to note when it comes to the District 3 Class AA playoffs, which begin next Wednesday.


It’s been a long while since a public school won a Class AA title (Columbia) and a long time since a public school got to the finals. That could happen this year in the bottom half of the Class AA field. Three of the teams that could reach the semi-finals are public schools – Columbia, Annville-Cleona and Hanover. Of course, one of the three will have to go through Trinity to get to the finals. But at least one of the three has that chance to reach the semi-finals.

And usually when you are talking playoffs, you usually don’t get an opponent that you are too familiar with.

Well, for the Columbia boys’ basketball team, that won’t happen this year. Their first round opponent will be Section 4 foe Annville-Cleona, who they lost to on Saturday by a 45-28 score. They also beat A-C this year, 54-50.

Both teams are evenly matched. A-C led by Tyler Blanding with his 16 PPG average likes the three-pointer as they drained 108 treys for the year led by Alec Wizar with 33. That’s how they broke Saturday’s game open, hitting eight from behind the arc in the first half.

Columbia will look for scoring from seniors Brandon Arnold and Nate Wall and junior Tre’ Simms, along with the steady ball handling of freshman Nick Nobile. The play of sophomores Michael Burke and Seth Lefever will be key.

This game at best can be described as a toss up game, depending if A-C is hot from the outside and what Columbia team shows up.

If Columbia wins next Wednesday’s game at Hershey High School (7:30 p.m. tip), they will face third-seeded Hanover on Saturday at high noon at Northern High School near Dillsburg, York County. The Nighthawks, who are in the York-Adams League playoffs, are 16-4. Had Columbia beat Delone Catholic in the season opener, the two would have played in the finals of the Hanover Tip-Off Tournament.

Lancaster Mennonite from Section 4 of the L-L League is the top seed in the Class AA field and they will meet the winner of the Holy Name/Upper Dauphin game in the quarter-finals. The HN/UDA game is the lid lifter next Wednesday at Hershey High School.

The fourth seed is Delone, who will meet the winner of the Bishop McDevitt/Pequea Valley game.

Second seed Trinity, probably the best team in the Class AA field will meet the winner of the York Catholic/Tulpehocken game in the quarter-finals.

The top three teams in the Class AA field make the PIAA playoffs.

Girls' season in review

The 2009-10 basketball season at Columbia High School has been over for the Tide girls for more than a week now.

The Tide girls won’t play their final two games against Pequea Valley and Annville-Cleona and will finish 0-20.

So let’s get the unpleasant stuff out of the way first. This will be first time since I think the early 1980s that Columbia won’t participate in the District 3 playoffs, where they haven’t advanced past the first round since Rick Bentley left as coach since I think it was after the 2000 season. It’s also the first time since the early 1980s or even before that the Tide failed to win a game in girls’ basketball.

Now, let’s move on.

The Tide program has dropped from the top of the L-L League since Bentley left as coach to the bottom. In came new coach/old coach Gary Sutton, who guided the Tide boys to a state championship back in 1987. With his arrival came a whole new way of playing basketball for the girls. There were multiple offenses, defenses and other characteristics that the girls hadn’t seen in years. The entire season, learning a new system was a learning experience on both sides. Despite a youthful roster, the Tide girls played hard every game. They just didn’t have the varsity experience yet,

For me, you saw 12 of their 20 games, there were several bright spots.

The first was the play was senior guard Emily Nobile, who I always felt should have played more varsity before this year, relished in the role of a leader and a point guard. She led the Tide in scoring with an average of around 12 points a game. She was deadly from the foul line and one of the best three-point shooters in the section.

The other thing I saw that I liked. For the most part, the Tide was able to adjust on the fly to a new style. There were moments when it looked ugly, but that can be expected.

There’s a good future here. There are four/five starters coming back and a number of players moving up from the junior high, which had a .500 season that will help with numbers and the re-establishment of the junior varsity team,

The other four/five starters back – juniors Becca Kuhn and Jenna Geesey, sophomore Paige Herchelroath and freshmen Jenna Plastino and Ashlyn Phillips all got a taste of varsity life this year and will be better next season.

I thought going in, the Tide’s schedule was brutal – L-S played for a state title last season (Columbia played them twice), Mennonite just missed out on a state tile appearance ans there was the two Catholics – Lancaster Catholic and Lebanon Catholic. Had to that Hempfield and you got a rough schedule for such a young team.

The schedule next season, other than the league schedule will not nearly be that tough, so winning following a good off-season, will be in order for the Tide.