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Nolan Kutney leads defensive charge in Montoursville’s 65-23 win over Muncy

Nolan Kutney scored his first points this season Thursday night. Make no mistake, the Montoursville junior is working hard offensively, but he also is not losing sleep if his scoring is limited.

Kutney is becoming quite skilled at not letting others score and that is mighty valuable, too.

The offense was in good hands Thursday with Montoursville exhibiting its traditional unselfish movement and balance. Kutney led the defensive charge, holding dynamic Muncy guard Max Rymsza without a point when guarding him. Offense and defense came together and Montoursville produced an impressive 65-23 win against the visiting Indians.

“That’s my job on this team,” Kutney said. “We play good defense and we rotated really nice and had a good time out there slowing them down.”

Kutney is one of two new starters joining three-year starting guards Josh Burger, Peyton Mussina and Dillon Young. All three are dangerous scorers as is emerging forward Landon Reeder, who scored a game-high 16 points. Mussina produced 11 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists; Young scored 12 points and Burger added three assists and three steals.

So Kutney has little trouble seeing them get the majority of the scoring opportunities. He knows his role and Thursday he played it exceptionally well.

Rymsza averaged 18 points per game during Muncy’s 2-0 start, but Kutney effectively denied him the ball and then stuck with him like glue when he did gain possession. Kutney helped limit Rymza to four shots through the first three quarters and was instrumental to Montoursville allowing just four points during a 15-minute span as it turned a one-point deficit into a 38-9 third-quarter lead.

“I love playing defense. I love going hard every single day,” Kutney said. “That is what my goal is, to play hard and regret nothing and try and push some people around.”

“He’s really good at doing whatever we need him to do. He understands that his offense still needs to improve and he works on it all the time and we have those other weapons out there,” Montoursville coach Mike Mussina said. “He’s not going to get as many shots as the other guys are so he does all those all those little things that help us, getting loose balls and rebounding and playing tough defense.”

That defensive intensity permeated throughout the entire roster. The Warriors (2-1) shook off a heart-breaking, last-second loss to Shamokin and surrendered just eight field goals. Muncy (2-1) did miss some shots it typically makes, but Montoursville also made it work hard for every shot.

After Muncy took a 5-4 lead three minutes into the game, Montoursville formed a defensive vise which squeezed the life from an offense which produced 129 points its first two games. The Warriors forced seven second-quarter turnovers and built a 26-point halftime lead. Montoursville inflicted the new 30-point mercy rule early in the third quarter and Mussina received steady contributions from every player he used.

“We played a below average game the other day at Shamokin. We just had a different intensity about us (Thursday),” Mussina said. “We wanted to play better. We wanted to play hard. We wanted to play like we’re supposed to be playing and that’s all it was. We knew who their scorers were and we just made sure we did the best we could to make sure other people did the scoring. I was pleased with our intensity and pleased with our bench.”

Obviously, Muncy was hoping for a better performance, but it scheduled this game against the defending District 4 Class AAAA champions with an eye toward the postseason. The Indians are a serious AA title contender, have several capable scorers and returned all but one players from last season.

Muncy was disappointed, but the defeat could provide a boost as this season progresses.

“That’s the best team we’re going to see until playoffs and maybe beyond that. It may be the best team we see all year,” Muncy coach Jason Gresh said. “Now we go back to the drawing board and look at the things we need to do and things that we can get away with some teams that we can’t get away with against these teams.”

Connor Sassano scored eight points for Muncy and Ross Eyer added eight rebounds. All five starters have scored at least eight points in a game and Muncy defeated Millville for the first time in more than five years a night earlier.

“This team is excited,” Gresh said. “This is just a bump in the road and now we’re ready try and smooth it out.”

Montoursville looked smooth all night, efficiently running its offense, kicking the ball out on double teams and getting quality shots inside and outside. The Warriors had 19 assists on their 26 field goals, made nine 3-pointers and never let Muncy think about coming back by making four treys int the third-quarter’s first four minutes.

Reeder reached double figures for a third straight game and made 7 of 8 shots. He scored six straight points to erase Muncy’s brief first-quarter lead and heated up again in the third quarter when he scored eight quick points.

All but one Warrior scored and seven players had scored by halftime as Montoursville developed some depth. That could become crucial in a season which features teams playing NBA-like schedules..

“We moved pretty well and did some good things. I’m glad we had that much opportunity to get those kids in the game,” Mussina said. “They got a ton of minutes and made the most of them. That’s a good day for a team to see everyone contribute like that.”

MUNCY (23)

Branson Eyer 1 0-0 3, Ross Eyer 2 0-0 4, Max Rymsza 1 0-0 3, Connor Sassano 2 2-2 8, Giovanni Persun 0 0-0 0, Loudon Boring 0 0-0 0, Joe Edkin 2 1-2 5. Totals 8 3-4 23.

MONTOURSVILLE (65)

Dillon Young 4 2-2 12, Peyton Mussina 4 0-0 11, Josh Burger 3 0-0 7, Landon Reeder 7 0-1 16, Nolan Kutney 1 0-0 2, Josh Schneider 1 0-0 3, Isaiah Fenner 1 2-2 4, Luke Ebbert 2 0-0 4, Heath Jones 1 0-0 2, Kayden Cline 1 0-0 2, Bryce Eberhart 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 4-5 65.

Muncy 5 4 5 9-23

Montoursville 15 20 20 10-65

3-point goals: Muncy 4 (Sassano 2, B. Eyer, Rymsza); Montoursville 9 (Mussina 3, Young 2, Reeder 2, Burger Schneider).

JV score: Montoursville, 61-26.

Records: Montoursville (2-1), Muncy (2-1).

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