Lancaster Catholic’s Remarkable Turnaround Continues As Crusaders Power Past Manheim Central, Find Themselves On Precipice Of Securing League Playoff Berth Entering Final Portion Of Section Play

Written by: Andy Herr on January 16, 2026

They were 6-9 coming into the night. They began the season with a 1-5 record overall. Have you been paying attention to them? If not, you probably should. They have one heckuva story to tell.

Yes, while it is true that Lancaster Catholic was indeed a full three games under .500 coming into their Thursday night tussle inside Section Three play at home opposite of Manheim Central, the stakes and implications that hinged on the result of this game figured to be massive.

You see, even though the Crusaders were below water in 2025-26 in totality, their section record is something entirely different.

In fact, if the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs happened to begin on Thursday night, Lancaster Catholic, yes, even in possessing that modest record and all, would earn themselves a ticket to the dance by virtue of a 4-2 divisional record.

Rest assured, because the Crusaders happened to be playing some of the best basketball by anyone inside the L-L League at the moment, Catholic had rightfully the opportunity to dream of playing beyond the regular season in some form or fashion, thanks in no small part to winning four of their last five games before heading into their second date with the Barons this season on Thursday.

Not bad a guy who happened to take over the head coach gig when the season had already gotten underway.

Following the Crusaders’ first win of the season this year, a true head-turner that came in the form of a 70-58 victory over Lampeter-Strasburg back in early December, one of the best coaches in league history, Joe Klazas, a winner 353 times over while in charge of the Crusaders, good for fourth all-time in the 50+ history of the conference, decided to step aside and turn things over to his loyal assistant and former player, Cole Portz, with the 2017 Catholic High grad taking over full-time after stepping in momentarily for Klazas two years ago on an interim basis due to health reasons.

Turns out, whether he’s auditioning for the gig permanently beyond this year or not, the Crusaders might already have the right man for the job considering that Portz has not only powered Catholic to four more victories this season compared to last year already, but Portz also has his alma mater on the precipice of eclipsing the win total of the last two, three years straight up if they finish this season on their current upward trajectory.

And for a team that so desperately has their sights set on crashing the league tourney part coming down the final portion of section play, the Crusaders had the opportunity to not just remain in second place by the end of the evening, but perhaps by an entire two-game margin should they be able to reverse course on what was a 50-48 Manheim Central win in the series’ previous meeting right before Christmas at the Barons’ house.   

Problem was, Manheim had arrived here with bad intentions themselves.

Want to talk postseason? The Barons too would like a seat at that table.

In terms of leagues, Central was right there themselves coming into this game, as a win and sweep over Catholic would power the Barons right back into the muddied pack of teams looking to take the section’s second slot behind what almost certainly projects to be the division’s eventual champ, Octorara.  

Should they lose? Well, any Manheim Central dreams of playing in the league playoffs would be just about extinguished at worse, extremely precarious at best.

In terms of their District 3 playoff outlook, that was already on slippery footing by the time they boarded the bus and traveled to Lancaster Catholic late in the week. Specifically, in a 5A class that offers 16 tickets to its postseason party, the Barons were, you guessed it, sitting right there at #16, the last and final spot, with the season starting to careen into its final chunk of games.

Needless to say, whether you consider yourself a Barons’ or Crusaders’ backer, this was one of those games that one could reasonably color and shade into that coveted “must win” territory depending on whatever side of the fence you happen to find yourself on.

And whether anyone had ever yet reconciled the idea of Lancaster Catholic could potentially make it into the league playoffs this season, it’s time to come to terms and accept that notion. Past time as a matter of fact.

Even from the start on Thursday night, it was evident that the Crusaders had come to this game set out on a mission.

Sure enough, following an initial 6-0 spurt out of the gates with Catholic’s 5’9 senior guard, Colton Hegener, having a direct hand in either the scoring of assisting in all of the purple and yellow’s first handful of buckets, the Crusaders’ early lead would later swell out to a 9-2 difference following a corner trey sunk by 6’2 sophomore wing, Henry Wentz, as Wentz’s trifecta prompted Manheim Central into calling an early timeout while staring at a touchdown-sized hole before they could really break a sweat.

However, not even that brief stoppage seemed to stop the ongoing Catholic onslaught.

If the Barons’ goal of the respite was to not fall behind by an even greater margin, those dreams were put out to sea once Rowan Demarco, a budding 6’4 freshman star, finished off a pretty spin move at the cup to make it a 12-2 contest before a Tyler Humphrey bucket cashed in right before the first quarter horn sounded closed the books on an emphatic opening eight minutes submitted by the hosts considering their 16-5 lead, a margin which they obtained by limiting the Barons to all of one lone field goal throughout the duration of the first frame.

Finally though, likely sensing the ramifications that were involved, Manheim Central began to author a charge once the second act got underway.

For that, the Barons relied on their leading scorer on the season, Chase Book, as the Central senior once again led his team in points on Thursday evening against Lancaster Catholic in a 14-point showing, a performance which included a pair of buckets inside the initial stages of the second quarter which had clipped the Crusaders’ lead down to five, 16-11, with the visitors finally enjoying their first real taste of momentum at any one point.

Even still, Catholic continued to remain a thorn in the Barons’ collective side by later doubling that margin back up to ten, 22-12, following a Euro-step bucket at the cup that finished off by way of Wentz with 4:10 left showing on the first half clock.

Regardless, the Barons continued to press the issue.

After successfully cutting the difference back down to five at 22-17 while in the aftermath of a Mason Olinger 3-ball before a Jayvior Morales bucket at the cup followed suit to finish off the Manheim Central senior-led charge that got the Barons back within reach, Morales would then put the finishing touches on his solid second quarter performance by tallying one more bucket inside final 20 seconds, making it a 22-21 Lancaster Catholic lead at the intermission, the closest margin of separation seen between these two since the game’s opening tipoff.

Needless to say, for a team that had bucketed a single field goal in one of the first two quarters, while on the road in a “gotta have it” game for that matter, the current situation for the Manheim Central contingent probably didn’t feel all that terrible once they returned to the floor to start the second half.

And in sensing what felt like the inevitability of it all considering their strong charge back into the fight, Chase Book would be the one to hand Central their first lead of the night by way of a bucket inside off a baseline out-of-bounds play, making it a 24-22 Barons’ lead with 2:30 having elapsed off the third quarter timer before another Book bucket would up the gap to a 26-22 count roughly one minute later.

Here though, even despite falling victim to what had become an impromptu 19-7 Manheim Central salvo since the conclusion of the first quarter, Lancaster Catholic wasn’t about to let a little in-game adversity get the better of them. Not here. Not with this crew. Not now.

With that in mind, seeing the Crusaders slice any sort of comfortable Manheim Central back down to size, say a one-point difference, wasn’t all that farfetched. Case in point, Catholic themselves offering a 5-2 rebuke over the course of the next two minutes that was capped off with a Jarrett Schmitt bucket at the cup, effectively making it a slim 28-27 Barons’ lead following the senior’s bunny inside.

Oddly enough if you recall, the first game between these two divisional foes resulted in a two-point game. In this game, the second edition, all those same cards appeared to be out on the table once again considering how Manheim Central would find themselves leading by a modest three-point buffer, 30-27, heading into what figured to be a final quarter just as frenetic and intense as the triumvirate that had just preceded it.

And while the intensity certainly wasn’t lacking, the pace and overall scoring largely were.

In fact, it would take Rowan Demarco going 2-2 at the foul line to award what were the third and fourth points tallied by either team through the first 3:35 of the fourth quarter, an exchange which made it a 31-30 Catholic lead.

Turns out, you could just as easily call those the “game winning” free throws as fate would have it.

Shortly following those same Demarco freebies, Catholic’s Colton Hegener, largely kept under wraps up until that time on Thursday evening, stepped up massively as the game-changing player he has consistently proven himself to be when his team needed it most.

For that submit, Hegener would submit a pair of buckets at the tin in quick succession, the last of which was finished through contact after stealing an errant Manheim Central pass and taking off with it, a key rally which not helped not only to propel Hegener capturing game-high scoring honors by virtue of his 15-point outing once the night was over with, but it more critically upped the Catholic margin out to a two-possession difference, 35-30, with 3:11 then left to play.

It would become a hill which proved too steep for the Barons to try and climb over the final three minutes and change.

As if the aspect of seeing their playoff chances – league most especially – wasn’t already difficult to come to grips with, the Barons then having to bear witness to a Tyler Humphrey finish off a second-chance hoop from point-blank range following a Lancaster Catholic offensive rebound off a Crusaders’ miss at the charity stripe most certainly figured to pour salt into that open Central wound with time winding down.

Gradually, without needing the flair for any extra dramatics, not only would Lancaster Catholic keep Manheim Central at bay from there on out, but the Crusaders would actually build upon their lead, seeing it grow back up to double figures at 43-33 following another successful pair of Demarco free throws, all but closing the curtain on what would crystalize into Lancaster Catholic’s most important win of this incredible, turnaround season yet to date.

And once it did, 45-36 final score emblazoned on the scoreboard and all, a clear message was sent not to just those residing in L-L Section Three, but the entire league in general. That being, go ahead and snicker and sneer at the Crusaders’ record all you want, still two games under water even with Thursday’s win over Manheim Central added in mind you, but go ahead and ask anyone – Do you really want to play Lancaster Catholic right now? Don’t worry. Their section foes can answer that for you based on these last couple of games. Rest assured, that answer would be a most emphatic, N-O. They too would probably add the capital letters.

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