The End of the Historical Covid Winter Sports Season

The highs and lows of the winter season were experienced this past week with the end of the winter season. After a statewide shutdown in December and a season that no one could have ever imagined, the Blue Mountain High School winter sports’ teams are beginning to end their seasons. After the wrestling team finished their season at the District XI 3A tournament, the basketball teams hit the hardwood and the swim team took to the pool for their respective District XI tournaments. On Wednesday, March 3rd, the Blue Mountain boys’ and girls’ basketball teams kicked off a busy end to the madness of the winter season. The boys and girls were matched up with Southern Lehigh in the District XI 5A playoffs. The boys were the fourth seed host to the Spartans, while the sixth seeded girls took a trip down I-78 to take on third seeded Southern Lehigh.

The girls’ team used a stout defensive effort and a balanced scoring attack from juniors Lindsay Kutz and Abby Beam to upset Southern Lehigh 28-23. A key 10-0 shutout of the second quarter by the Lady Eagles was huge to their victory. While that game was being played, the boys’ team was playing in front of a decent sized crowd for the first time all year at home.

Blue Mountain, playing shorthanded without a starter, was very undersized compared to their Colonial League counterpart. The Eagles tallest starter was only 6’2, while the Spartans had three starter 6’5 or taller. By the eye test, it seemed as though the Spartans were ready for a blowout victory after the Spartans sped out to a 7-0 lead.

With the new Covid-19 restrictions being loosened, Blue Mountain students were allowed to attend the game, and they made an impact on the game. The Eagles fought back from a seven point deficit in the fourth quarter to take the lead at 51-49 with over a minute to go. Senior standout Darryl Coleman came down and hit a dagger three to put the Spartans ahead 52-51. Blue Mountain called a timeout and planned to run the clock down to get a good shot, only being down one point.

Kade Henninger drove the paint and kicked the ball to Branson Devitt in the corner, who with no thoughts let the ball fly, where it hit nothing but nylon and the roof almost lifted off of the Eagles’ Nest. The Eagles would force three more turnovers in the final minutes and the Spartans were forced to foul and put Kade Henninger on the line. As the final horn sounded, the student body flooded the court to congratulate the Eagles, who finally defeated the Spartans after two losses in the past two District XI semifinals to them.

The victories of the basketball teams matched them up with two very powerful opponents, as the boys were matched with the top seeded Slaters from Bangor, while the girls had to travel to Bethlehem to take on the Golden Hawks of Becahi.

The girls game tipped off at 1 o’clock and the underdog Lady Eagles stayed close in the game until the end of the third quarter, when the Golden Hawks stretched their lead to eight. Despite a valiant effort, the Lady Eagles finished their season with a 52-38 defeat at the hands of the eventual District XI Champ.

The boys team made the hour and a half trek to Bangor to face off against the top seeded Slaters. Led by All Colonial League first team selection, CJ Miles (26.1 ppg), the Slaters looked to be one of the toughest challenges the Eagles would face. Once again, despite being outsized, the Eagles’ heart and toughness came out, as they led after each of the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter though, Bangor connected on four three point shots and stretched their lead to six at one point with two minutes to go. The Eagles fought back though and got the deficit to two points with the ball, but they were called for an offensive foul with 24 seconds left.

After exchanges of foul shots went by, the Slaters pulled out a 64-60 victory. The Eagles ended their season with an 11-6 record, with two of their defeats coming at the hands of the Colonial and Schuylkill League champs, two more to the Schuylkill League runner-up, and one more to 6A power Governor Mifflin.

The Blue Mountain swim teams ended an upsetting Saturday with a victorious Sunday, as both the girls and boys teams won the District XI 2A gold. Individually, sophomore Hannah Magdeburg captured two golds in the 50 and 100 freestyle, winning her the most outstanding swimmer award.

Also capturing a gold was junior Katherine Sarnes in the 500 freestyle. The girls’ team also was victorious in the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay. Magdeburg, the anchor of both relays, finished the day with five gold medals including the team victory. The boys’ team was victorious in the 200 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay. The key to their team victory was twelve top four place winners. Moving onto states for the girls will be Magdeburg, Sarnes, Morgan Yuengling, Paige Bensinger , and Maria Lopez. For the boys, Derrick Yuengling, Sean Sopko, Miko Barbe, Taber Perry, and Matheson Bair will compete at the state meet held at Cumberland Valley High School. This is the third year in a row that both the boys’ and girls’ teams took home District gold.

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