Breaking News
Late Sports

Eyer reaches 1,000 career points and helps Muncy defeat Warrior Run

By Chris Masse 7 min read

TURBOTVILLE–The first time Ross Eyer located the 1,000-point banner, he knew he wanted his name there. His mother Sherry told her young son it was possible if he paid the price.

Monday night at Warrior Run, the dream became reality and Eyer reaped the benefits, joining the 1,000-point club while helping Muncy defeat the vastly improved Defenders, 65-56. But the best part for Eyer was not actually reaching that milestone. The special moment came seconds later when he climbed the bleachers, hugged his mom and presented her flowers.

Every day his mother, fighting health issues for three decades, inspires her son. She attends nearly every one of Ross’s and younger son Stiles’ events no matter her situation. What Ross did Monday was more of a tribute to his mother than him joining an exclusive fraternity.

“I don’t even know how to explain it. Ever since I walked into the old gym and saw the banner up there, I thought, ‘I want to be up there someday.'” I always told my mom that and my mom told me ‘You can do it, you just have to work hard for it,'” Eyer said. “I could not have done any of it without my mom. She pushed me every single day to become better.”

She has pushed him into becoming one of Muncy’s all-time best players, too. Monday’s latest achievement highlighted that fact.

Eyer needed three points to become Muncy’s first 1,000-point scorer since Jeff Fry seven years ago. He earned a spot on that coveted banner with a free throw late in the first half before collecting his 29th straight double-double. After becoming the program’s first, first team all-state selection last year, Eyer built on his resume, scoring 17 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and dealing seven assists as Muncy held off Warrior Run after it trimmed an 18-point third quarter deficit to four in the fourth.

“All that work is paying off,” Muncy coach Jason Gresh said. “With his maturation as a player, scoring is not necessarily his top priority at this point. Winning is much more important, and you can see that.”

Eyer learned perspective at a young age. His mother needs a kidney and is on dialysis, but she has never asked why? She has simply forged forward, worked, focused on the positives in her life and brilliantly raised her family. In doing so, she has become her Childrens’ hero as well as a community-wide role model.

Usually, when players score their 1,000th point it is they who receive the gifts. This time it was Ross handing out the present, a moment he likely will remember even more than hitting the clinching foul shot.

That moment came with 48.5 seconds remaining in the half. At that point, Eyer already had five assists and he drew a foul while attacking the basket. He missed the first foul shot, but refocused and drained the second. Eyer pumped his first before Gresh and jubilant teammates swarmed and embraced him. Eyer then located his mother, hurried up the steps, gave her the flowers and the two shared a long hug.

“Nothing felt better than hugging my mom afterward and giving her flowers,” Eyer said. “Not a lot of kids have to grow up with mothers who may not wake up the next morning. It’s just how it is in our house. My mom has been sick for 30 years and she hasn’t gotten better. It was very important to me that she saw it and that she saw all the hard work she put into me is finally paying off.”

Truthfully, that hard work always had paid off long ago. Eyer has made a huge impact at Muncy in three sports since reaching high school. He soon likely will be a three-time all-state football selection and has helped the basketball team improve each season there. Hard-working and unselfish, Eyer has produced impressive statistics, but he is an even better teammate and leader.

Those qualities were on display again Monday as Eyer facilitated the offense early, rather than focusing in on attacking 1,000 points. That helped Muncy never trail and revealed itself in four players reaching double figures as Muncy (4-0) remained undefeated.

“You can preach and preach it and preach it, but to have someone actually do it is different. He’s a different type of player,” Gresh said. “We’ve had 1,000-point scorers and they were all good basketball players, but he just takes it to the next level this year with his assists. It wasn’t about him saying I have to put the ball in the hoop to make it happen.”

Everyone on the roster shares that mentality and that is a major reason Muncy is 4-0 despite two tough tests on the road and a home game against fellow league title contender South Williamsport. Warrior Run (2-3) pushed Muncy hard, but the Indians efficiently and unselfishly moved the basketball, setting each other up for good shots inside and outside, while scoring 57 points over the final three quarters.

Mike Fry scored a game-high 19 points and helped Muncy clinch the win late in the fourth quarter. After Warrior Run pulled within 59-54, Fry made four consecutive 1-and-1 free throws before feeding Noah Confer for a layup. Branson Eyer produced 13 points, four rebounds and four steals, while Confer grabbed 10 rebounds.

Eli Weikle scored 13 points and dealt five assists. Weikle set the first half tone, helping the Indians take a 28-17 halftime lead. Brady Ryder also played well, giving Muncy good minutes off the bench.

“That’s what we do. We know coming in they are going to key on me and Branson. I know if I’m the point guard on our team, I have to facilitate; I have to dish the ball and get people open,” Eyer said. “That’s part of the point guard’s job.”

“The balanced scoring tonight was awesome,” Gresh said. “This is 10 years coming together. This is 10 years of watching this development. Their chemistry is unreal.”

Warrior Run has made massive strides early this season and showed again why it is a program on the rise. The Defenders already have surpassed last year’s win total and gave Muncy a scare two nights after doing the same against District 4 Class AAAA title contender Mifflinburg. Warrior Run remains one of the district’s younger teams but is growing up fast and never buckled after Muncy built a 47-29 lead late in the third quarter.

“We battled them. It was good to see the fight,” Warrior Run coach Eric Wertman said. “We have the makings of a team that can be really good; hopefully sooner rather than later.”

Mason Sheesley continued his strong start and scored 16 points, while adding three assists. Freshman Aiden McKee looks like a potential force inside and scored eight points, grabbed nine rebounds and added four assists. Sheesley also had a hand in 12 fourth quarter points when Warrior Run rallied.

The big surprise, though, came in the fourth quarter when freshman Landon Polcyn started looking like a young Steph Curry. After playing well in the JV game, Polcyn provided Warrior Run a jolt and drained two straight 3-pointers which quickly made it a nine-point game. He then made a steal, and converted a layup and foul shot, pulling Warrior Run within 53-49 midway through the fourth quarter. Polcyn scored all 12 of his points in those final eight minutes and his final 3-pointer made it 59-54 with 2:28 remaining before Fry helped Muncy seal the hard-fought win.

“We’ve been talking as a coaching staff that Landon has been playing better and better every day in JV and it’s all about confidence with him,” Wertman said. “We thought he was ready tonight and it showed. He was pretty good.”

MUNCY (65)

Ross Eyer 7 1-2 17, Branson Eyer 5 2-5 13, Mike Fry 7 4-4 19, Noah Confer 1 0-0 2, Eli Weikle 6 0-3 13, Brady Ryder 0 1-2 1. Totals 26 8-16 65.

WARRIOR RUN (56)

Mason Sheesley 6 0-0 16, Aiden McKee 4 0-0 8, Nate Axtman 1 0-0 3, Ryan Newton 3 0-0 6, Gavin Gorton 2 0-0 4, Chase Beachel 0 0-0 0, Cooper Wilkins 1 1-2 3, Griffen Harrington 2 0-0 4, Bryce Cieslukuski 0 0-0 0, Landon Polcyn 4 1-1 12, Carter Marr 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 2-3 56.

Muncy 8 20 20 17-65

Warrior Run 3 14 16 23-56

3-pointers: Muncy 5 (R. Eyer 2, B. Eyer, Fry, Weikle); Warrior Run 8 (Sheesley 4, Polcyn 3, Axtman).

Records: Muncy 4-0. Warrior Run 2-3.

Starting at /week.