FREDERICKSBURG -- Leading throughout the entire second half, though not by much, Manheim Central nudged Northern Lebanon 64-62 Thursday night in a Lancaster-Lebanon Section 3 showdown at Northern Lebanon High School.
It was the 10th straight win for Chris Sherwood's first-place Barons (13-2, 10-1) and finished a regular-season sweep of the Vikings (12-5, 6-5), whom they beat 59-58 back on Dec. 20.
Dan Wiederrecht matched a career-high with 19 points, leading four Barons in double figures. Sam Light scored a career-high 38 for Northern Lebanon, which saw an end to its three-game winning streak.
Leading by just one, 61-60, in the final minute, Manheim Central used two free throws by Steve Young (11 points off the bench) with 22 seconds left and another by Wiederrecht with 14 seconds left to extend the advantage to four.
Light scored the last of his 14 field goals in the closing seconds. The Vikings quickly fouled Matt Walsh (11 points), who missed his free throw, but there wasn't enough time for Northern Lebanon to attempt a final shot.
PIVOTAL SEQUENCES
Light began the night on fire and never really cooled off. He scored his team's first nine points, and the Vikings led 11-5 in the first, 14-12 after one, and 21-18 midway through the second quarter.
But the Barons closed the half on an 8-2 run to take a lead it would keep. Wiederrecht used glass on back-to-back runners to give Central a 22-21 lead. Young's drive just before halftime gave the Barons a 26-23 advantage.
That lead stretched to 10 points, 35-25, early in the third quarter, before Gary Bouchette's Vikings mounted a rally that would get them as close as one point in the final minute.
Isaac Ray (10 points) nailed two 3-pointers in the fourth -- the last with 31 seconds left -- as Northern Lebanon crept within 61-60 before Central used the free-throw line to pull away.
Wiederrecht's steal off a Vikings' in-bounds play and subsequent free throw made it a two-possession game with 14 seconds left.
STAT FRENZY
Wiederrecht (19), freshman Taylor Funk (15), Walsh (11) and Young (11) were Central's double-digit scorers. Wiederrecht scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter. Funk nailed four 3-pointers before fouling out in the fourth. ... Light, whose previous career high of 37 came earlier this season against Middletown, finished 14-for-29 from the field. He scored 12 each in the first and 12 quarters. ... Ray scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter. ...
Christian Morales, despite being several inches smaller than Central's front-court players, grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for the Vikings. Northern Lebanon actually dominated the glass by a 41-27 advantage, including 22 offensive rebounds. Light grabbed eight rebounds. Funk led Central with seven. ... Walsh dished out a game-high eight assists for the Barons; the Vikings managed only six assists on their 23 field goals, with a team-high three from Richard Iwuagwu. ... Daymon Long and Walsh were called for double technical fouls with 4:58 left, with Long fouling out on the play for the Vikings. ... Central finished 26-for-53 from the floor, 4-for-16 from deep and 8-for-10 from the line; Northern Lebanon was 23-for-61 from the floor, 6-for-16 from the arc and 10-for-11 from the stripe.
More from this game, including a video interview with Wiederrecht, comments from both coaches, and a Player of the Game poll, coming in a separate post to PennLive Thursday night.