By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

Photo by Preston WhitcraftWarwick sophomore Alexa Mohler (left) makes a strong inside move against Cocalico's Taylor Esterly during Monday's action.

Between them, the Warwick and Cocalico girls combined to shoot 49 foul shots Monday.

The Lady Warriors thought they should have had two more at the end of the game.

Trailing by one in the final seconds, Meredith Michel and Morgan Haines both got rebounds underneath the basket and were denied. Warwick’s coaches and players believed they were fouled, but the officials’ whistles remained silent.

And with that, the Lady Eagles’ comeback from an 11-point deficit early in the fourth quarter was complete, as they held on to beat Warwick 43-42 in a nail-biter in a Section One-Two crossover game in Lititz.

"We knew it was going to be tough coming in here. (Warwick) hadn’t won and they battled us last year," Cocalico coach Tony DiMatteo said. "We knew they wanted to win at their place and it took our girls awhile to match their intensity. That fourth quarter, we did."

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

Bob Locker

Lately, there’s been a common theme to the hiring of baseball managers.

Former catchers are the hot ticket right now.

In fact, nearly half of the skippers in Major League Baseball fit that description.

It’s also one of the characteristics of the newly-hired baseball coach at Warwick High School. Bob Locker, who played the catcher position during his prep days at Manheim Central, was approved at the Warwick School Board’s meeting Tuesday night to replace Matt Gale in the Warriors’ dugout.

It won’t be unfamiliar territory.

Locker previously coached 14 seasons in the Warriors’ baseball program, including four as an assistant under Mike Brown. Now he is hopeful that all those years of toiling behind the plate will help prepare him for the duties as Warwick’s new baseball coach.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

It was, as Manheim Central boys coach Chris Sherwood noted, a night when the stars just might have been aligned.

Prior to Monday’s game at Section Four contender Lancaster Catholic, the Barons still hadn’t lost a game.

But they were playing a Crusaders’ team had just suffered a 23-point loss to Donegal last Friday night.

So not only were the Catholic boys looking to get back in the win column, but they also had the advantage of being on their own floor for their 2012-13 home opener.

Sure enough, the Crusaders had the Barons on their heels early and Omar Lopez drained a career-high 27 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, as Catholic knocked Central from the unbeaten ranks with a 58-38 victory in a Section Three-Four crossover in Lancaster.

"We made some mistakes, there is no mistaking that," Sherwood said. "We made some mistakes and we’re going to correct those mistakes. But we’re not going to put so much stock into losing to a physical Lancaster Catholic team on their floor when they’re coming off a loss. I thought the stars were aligned (Monday) night … Hey listen, there’s going to be bumps in the road. I’m still really happy with where our guys are at."

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

Photo by Preston WhitcraftWarwick freshman 106-pounder Devin Schnupp (top) tries to score back points against Lancaster Catholic's Joe Lobeck in his varsity debut last Thursday. Schnupp's late rally propelled him to a 7-6 win.

As starts go, Warwick will take it.

Both for Devin Schnupp and for the Warriors as a team.

The freshman 106-pounder, a two-time champ at the U.S. Nationals this past summer, made his much anticipated debut last Thursday with a win and Warwick went on to crush Lancaster Catholic 56-12 in their non-league opener in Lancaster.

Of the Warriors’ 12 victories, ten came with bonus points, including five falls and a forfeit.

"Overall, we had a good opening," Warwick coach Ned Bushong said. "I wasn’t sure what the boys would be able to do and they came through. They had some good matches. There were some matches that could have gone either way and we just pulled a couple of them out at the very end."

By: CORY VAN BROOKHOVEN Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Photo by Ashley Gillman

My final story for the year takes us to 66 E. Main St. in downtown Lititz and involves a home built in 1762 by John William Werner.

This year of 2012 is a very special one as the Werner House celebrates 250 years. It was the seventh to be built on Main Street, with Werner’s profession being that of a cooper, a bleeder and a tooth drawer.

After serving the closed Moravian community well, many years passed; then, in about 1827, Rev. John Frederick Loeffler purchased the home. He passed away in 1841 and his wife continued to live there until her death in 1849. That same year, Salome Huebener moved into the home with her nine children. One of her sons, Matthias Huebener, married Mary Lichtenthaeler in 1873 and began to raise a family there. Their children were Louis, Robert and Mary. In 1962, the home was left to David and Peggy Jones. In its 250 year existence, it has only been sold twice and has had only four different owners.

We continue to gather photos for our next It’s All About You section. The theme is Holiday Traditions. Deadline for submissions is Dec. 28, and your photos will be published in our Jan. 10 edition.

Send your high-resolution jpegs to Stephen Seeber at sseeber.eph@LNPnews.com. Photos can also be dropped off at our Ephrata office or mailed to P.O. Box 527, Ephrata, PA 17522.

When submitting photos, please include all necessary identifications and your contact information (in case we have any questions). Submitted information should include names of those in the photos, your local connection, where and when the photos were taken, and identity of the photographer.

Please limit the number of submitted photos to three.

By: MRS. CLAUS Special to the Record Express, Staff Writer

Santa and I were so happy to come back to Lititz over the weekend. We didn’t get too many visits from the boys and girls this past Saturday, but those who did show up certainly were ready to meet Santa with their Christmas lists in hand!

A little after noontime, we received a telephone call from the airport where our sleigh and reindeer stay while we visit with you. It seems that Blitzen had wandered out onto the grassy area by the runway and he just simply refused to be brought back. Santa and I, unfortunately, had to go to the airport right away to retrieve our naughty reindeer. We’d like to thank everyone there for being so kind and gentle with Blitzen, as we know how he can be! And to anyone who stopped by the caboose after we were gone, we apologize but we really didn’t know what else to do in order to keep Blitzen and everyone else safe.

Rep.-elect Steven Mentzer (R-Lancaster) announced that his district office is now open in Lititz and ready to serve residents of the 97th Legislative District.

Mentzer, who was elected in November, will replace retiring Rep. John Bear, who represented the district since 2007.

Mentzer’s Lititz district office will remain in the same location as Bear’s district office at 1555 Highlands Drive, Suite 110, in Lititz. The office will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The office phone number will be 626-1776.

"We decided to use the same office location as Rep. Bear since many residents are already familiar with that location," said Mentzer. "My goal is to make the transition as seamless as possible."

Residents can visit or contact Mentzer for assistance with Pennsylvania birth and death certificates, PennDOT motor vehicle registrations, driver’s licenses, learner’s permits, renewals and disability plate/placards, child abuse history clearance applications and criminal history applications, state tax forms, senior citizen and veterans’ benefits and rights information, House and Senate legislation, and any other state-related matters.

His website is RepMentzer.com.

By: MELINDA S. ELMER Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Elizabeth Township supervisors adopted their final 2013 budget on Monday. The plan calls for almost $545,000 in spending while retaining the municipality’s long-standing tradition of no real estate tax.

Most of the township’s income is derived from earned income taxes, which amounts to $350,000. The total anticipated revenue for 2013 is $543,550, and the small deficit will be covered by reserve funds. The township has about $1.5 million in reserves. Some other points of interest in the upcoming year’s budget:

? The township’s General Fund asset total is $1,566,182.

? Highway maintenance comprises the township’s biggest expense at $164,125, and $120,000 of that is covered by state fuel taxes.

? The asset total in the Parks & Recreation Account is $19,109.

? Supervisors pay remains the same as last year. The township secretary’s salary was increased from $45,000 to $47,000.

There was little public discussion on the budget prior to approval.

In other township news: