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Young helps propel Warriors over Dragons

As Brandon Good cut toward the basket, Dillon Young crossed halfcourt. Young faced a tough passing angle as a defender approached, but he made a spectcular one-bounce, cross-court pass that produced Good’s layup.

Young’s smart and highlight-type play tied the game late in the third quarter Tuesday at Montoursville, but also sent a message. Young was ready to take over. And for a second straight game that is exactly what the Montoursville guard did.

Young had a hand in 12 of Montoursville’s next 18 points and Josh Burger hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with four minutes remaining as Montoursville erased a four-point fourth-quarter deficit and defeated Lewisburg, 50-44. Four nights after scoring a career-high 19 points in a dramatic comeback win at Central Columbia, Young again was at his best when the pressure was highest, scoring 11 of his 14 points in the final nine minutes and grabbing six rebounds as Montoursville (3-1, 2-0 HAC-II) won its home opener.

“I haven’t gotten to experience this yet and I’ve been playing basketball with these guys for a long time, so it’s really fun to play with them at a high level,” Young said. “It’s the encouragement from my teammates. They really help me, especially the guys on the bench. They help me with staying calm and getting through the game.”

Young has not made a varsity start yet and is still playing JV basketball as well as coach Mike Mussina figures out his team’s rotations a season after the defending District 4 Class AAAA champions lost four starters. But when Montoursville has needed big plays and the margin for error has been slim the last two games, Young has been at his best.

Make no mistake, Montoursville put together a balanced performance last night. Austin Loe (14 points, eight rebounds) made a run at a double-double, Hunter Shearer dealt five assists, Jake Simms hit some timely free throws, Burger shined off the bench and Peyton Mussina made a late third-quarter steal and assist that started swinging momentum Montoursville’s way. Still, Young found a way to stand out and again provide his team a major boost.

“The last two games when crunch time has come around he’s been one of the guys I’ve had out there and he’s athletic and does a lot of things really well,” Mussina said. “Sometimes he tries to do too much, but he’s still a kid. He got a ton of varsity teime playing football and he feels very comfortable playing basketball. I’m really impressed with the way he’s been able to step up for us.”

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better than when I started the year and I’ve done a lot better than I thought I would,” Young said. “That’s what we do. We’re a scrappy basketball team. We just like to get after it in those tough situations.”

That has been evident the last two games. Montoursville is still growing and learning but it is showing the toughness and resiliency that last year’s district champion so often did. The Warriors were hardly at their best last night and maybe that is why the win was especially impressive. They won with tenacity as much as talent, erasing a seven-point second-quarter deficit and never flinching when Lewisburg opened a 37-33 advantage early in the fourth quarter.

Seven players scored and Young delivered four straight points that tied it at 37 before scoring off a putback that made it 39-39. Lewisburg took its final lead seconds later, but Loe fed Burger for a 3-pointer from the wing and Montoursville never trailed again. Young and Burger went 4 for 4 from the foul line in the last three minutes, Shearer made two big steals late and helped clinch the win with two foul shots at the 17-second mark. Good and Burger each grabbed five rebounds, Loe blocked three shots and Montoursville found a way to gut out a key win.

“We had to convince them that we have to find a way to win ugly or any way we can because you could tell early in the game it wasn’t going to be one of those smooth, everything goes the way it’s supposed to go games,” Mussina said. “There’s still a lot to work on but it’s a young group and you lose four starters off a district championship team, it’s a lot to ask to put a new group out there and look just as good as that group did last year. We have a ways to go but we’re working toward it.”

Lewisburg is working hard, too. The Green Dragons (1-4, 0-2) have lost four straight, but played their best game since a season-opening win against Mahanoy Area. Lewisburg received solid performances from both starters and reserves and showed its upside.

The Dragons are learning as they go, but look like a team that could be dangerous as the season continues. Two players scored in double figures, three grabbed at least seven rebounds and Lewisburg repeatedly responded when Montoursville threatened to take over in the third quarter.

“As we get going we’re not going to really have a guy that leads the team in scoring every night. You never know who is going to spark us with some points which is a great asset,” first-year Lewisburg coach Matt Salsman said. “We’re still trying find some consistency from everybody, coaches included.”

Nick Shedleski scored 13 points, pulled down seven rebounds and added four assists. Romale Brown had a team-high seven rebounds and Coleman Witherite scored all 11 of his points in a seven-minute span between the third and fourth quarters. Witherite tied the game entering the fourth with a last-second jumper, then converted a steal and layup that put Lewisburg ahead early in that quarter.

“I love all the guys on the team. I love coaching them and I think there’s a ton of potential that we’re growing toward,” Salsman said. “We just have to keep growing every day and it’s a long process because a lot of things are new. We have a lot of real good guys and they want to learn. We’re going to win, we just have to keep working.”

Montoursville 50,

Lewisburg 44

LEWISBURG (44)

Nick Shedleski 6 1-2 13, Ben Liscum 2 2-2 6, Coleman Witherite 5 0-0 11, CJ Mabry 0 0-0 0, Peter Lantz 1 0-0 3, Romale Brown 2 0-0 5, Brock Noone 1 1-4 4, Ethan Spaulding 1 0-1 2. Totals 18 4-9 44.

MONTOURSVILLE (50)

Dylan Bower 2 0-0 4, Austin Loe 6 1-4 14, Hunter Shearer 2 2-4 8, Dillon Young 4 5-6 14, Eddie Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, Jake Simms 0 3-4 3, Brandon Good 1 0-2 2, Josh Burger 1 2-2 5, Peyton Mussina 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Nettling 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 13-22 50.

Lewisburg 11 8 14 11–44

Montoursville 7 12 14 17–50

3-point goals: Lewisburg 4 (Witherite 1, Lantz 1, Brown 1, Noone 1); Montoursville 5 (Shearer 2, Loe 1, Young 1, Burger 1).

JV score: Lewisburg 47-39.

Records: Montoursville (3-1, 2-0 HAC-II), Lewisburg (1-4, 0-2).

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