Despite Making Strides, Lancaster Catholic Suffers Identical Fate As Crusaders Fall To Wyomissing In Opening Round York Catholic Tip-Off Tournament For Second Straight Season, Draw Date With Linville Hill In Friday’s Consolation Game
Written by: Andy Herr on December 5, 2025
Coming into this season, it’d be fair to suggest that Lancaster Catholic was most certainly looking forward to the idea and overall promise that came part in parcel with a new year getting set to commence. And frankly, how could they not?
As far as the record books will tell you, the Crusaders’ 2024-25 season was the worst the program had endured during the Lancaster-Lebanon League era from within the win column when citing Catholic’s final 2-20 record from a season ago. In fact, the next closest instance to Lancaster Catholic ending a season with that few amount wins traces all the way back to 1993-94 when the purple and gold ended that year with just four wins next to their name.
That’s the bad news. The good news? At a place at Lancaster Catholic, where success on the hardwood is typically as common as the day is long, years when the Crusaders are seen struggling are most certainly in short supply and stick out like a sore thumb. In reality, that’s a testament to the bedrock that the program still resides upon, not the least is directly correlated to the leadership of head man, Joe Klazas, now entering his 21st season in charge of his alma mater, while also being the school’s all-time winningest coach when looking at his staggering 352 wins achieved coming into this campaign.
And here, after an offseason while left in the proverbial lab to tinker with things and adjust while hoping that 2025-26 ends up a far cry away from the struggles of 2024-25, what better way to test that mettle out than by circling all the way back to the start from a year ago — same opponent, same venue — to measure just how far the forward steps have been?
For Catholic, that meant a return trip to York Catholic to participate in the Irish’s annual tip-off tournament while pitted against Wyomissing in the event’s opening game. Last year, the end-result was a Spartans’ 61-58 triumph over the Crusaders.
And this year, while the eventual verdict would yield the same in terms of Wyomissing advancing onto the championship tilt after dispatching Lancaster Catholic out of the gate, don’t let this year’s 53-45 final score be the ultimate measure of potential progress made. Yes, while it was true that the Spartans never trailed from opening tip to final gun on Thursday evening, Catholic made this anything but a Wyomissing waltz into the title fight on Friday night.
Then again, it’s not as if the forthcoming drama seemed to be rather plentiful considering just how fast Wyomissing began the proceedings in this one.
Specifically speaking, Wyo’s senior wing, Danny Fleischood, couldn’t have started off much hotter than had he returned back from a trip to the sun as the Fleischood exploded out of the gates to lead the Spartans’ charge, netting the team’s first seven points of the contest, all while he and his teammates had yet to allow a Crusaders’ point offensively. In truth, the first Wyo points by someone not named Fleischood would finally come courtesy of a pair of Dominic Arguelles freebies at the charity stripe, making it a 9-1 Spartans’ cushion, with 3:47 left standing in the opening frame as the Crusaders were already thrown into a sizable early hole.
Finally, certainly not a moment too soon for what the Crusaders’ contingent had to be thinking, would Lancaster Catholic finally tally their first field goal of the evening thanks to the handiwork of promising freshman big man found down inside, Rowan Demarco, as Demarco’s offensive rebound and stick-back clipped the Spartans’ lead down to a half dozen, 9-3, the next trip down the floor following the aforementioned Arguelles free throws.
Suffice to say, while not tallying a field goal throughout the first portion of the first frame is typically a recipe for trouble and turbulence, that notion bore fruit as Wyomissing maintained a somewhat commanding 16-6 buffer over Catholic come the conclusion of the first quarter.
Steadily though, Lancaster Catholic just kept pursuing and chasing.
Certainly helps though when you have the services of a First-Team LLHoops.com Section Three player back from a year ago, Colton Hegener, at your services if you’re a Catholic-backer, no doubt.
Fittingly, the Crusaders’ senior floor general responded in kind to the task assigned by knocking down a triple before a take to the cup not long afterwards, all of which helped to get Catholic back within shouting distance somewhat, 19-11, with five minutes and change remaining before halftime.
From there, even while Wyomissing would proceed to double-up Catholic at 22-11 following a layup in transition by way of sophomore guard, Brady Eisenhower, Hegener kept at it for Catholic, including with a pullup jumper just outside the two-minute mark which had suddenly sliced that Spartans’ cushion down to a modest five-point difference, 22-17.
And if that wasn’t already enough, Hegener’s stellar second stanza was punctuated in successive fashion by first coming away with a charge taken defensively, proceeded directly afterwards by sinking another trifecta, this time effectively vaulting Catholic into the locker room with major mojo behind them even though they still trailed by a 24-22 count at the game’s recess.
Coming out the break though, Wyomissing didn’t seem all that eager to let Lancaster Catholic continue to hang around with them.
In fact, following a pair of deuces inside by way of Wyomissing junior, Ayden Knowles, would Lancaster Catholic be staring right back down the barrel of a 31-22 deficit while also having to burn an early timeout to try and stem the headwinds working against them with all of 1:26 having been played in the third quarter by that point.
Later still, that Wyomissing advantage would climb back upwards into double figures yet again following a nifty Euro-step through Catholic traffic by way of Dominic Arguelles, Wyo’s leading scorer on the night who tossed in a 21-point outing, with this bucket here upping the Spartans’ lead out to a dozen, 35-23, with 3:10 left in the period now with Catholic’s third quarter shooting from the field having gone as cold as the weather outside.
And while Lancaster Catholic would do their best to continue trimming that lead down to size as evidenced by a nice offensive rebound and putback tallied by 6’2 sophomore big, Henry Wentz, making it a 35-28 ballgame, Wyomissing still was in control of the game’s proceedings upon entering the final act considering their 40-31 lead seen after three.
Steadily though, Lancaster Catholic had one last run left in the tank.
In fact, what was once a double figure Wyomissing lead mere minutes earlier had just as quickly been reduced to all of five points at 43-38 following a tough take to the rack by Catholic senior guard, Anthony Brody, before a Colton Hegener trey, en route to his team-high 16-point day at the office, whittled the gap down to a 45-41 margin with three minutes and change still left to go and momentum clearly residing on the Crusaders’ bench.
However, that would be just about the last and final instance that Lancaster Catholic would have when it came to making a final push at trying to take what would have been their first lead of the entire contest with time now running thin.
If there was a proverbial dagger to be found in this affair, it likely could be traced directly back to a Danny Fleischood layup at the cup with exactly 60 seconds remaining that made it a 49-45 Wyomissing lead, a fitting occurrence given that Fleischood had remained rather quiet up until that point following his absolutely torrid stretch following the initial jump ball, a stretch of play which the Crusaders could never truly get on top of as the game wore along.
From there, the Spartans maturely put this one on ice via the foul line inside of the final minute as Arguelles and Daniel Moyer, both key seniors in Wyo’s rotation, totaled a 4-4 shooting display at the stripe with the game hanging in the balance before the final score of Wyomissing prevailing by a 53-45 difference over Lancaster Catholic is what will forever show in the record books once time expired.
Again, while it’s not the result that Lancaster Catholic was looking for to start the season, this is a team that has obviously made some leaps. In truth, the Crusaders should easily exceed that two-win total of a year ago, perhaps even sooner rather than later. And with remarkably solid bookends when talking about senior Colton Hegener at guard that can pair nicely alongside freshman Rowan Demarco inside, the surrounding pieces in the Crusaders’ lineup can certainly add their unique punch to the mix as well, as was exemplified throughout Thursday’s season opener. From here, the Crusaders get another wonderful litmus test kinda game on Friday night when they draw a defending state champion, 2A’s Linville Hill, in the consolation matchup over at York Catholic.
Lancaster Catholic appears to be back on the come up no matter what happens here at York Catholic for the remainder of the weekend. For that, Crusaders’ fans – and the conference – should be excited at that prospect.
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