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Loyalsock catches fire in third quarter and pulls away to defeat rival Montoursville

By Chris Masse 6 min read

The latest Montoursville-Loyalsock rivalry game produced several twists and turns. But just one minute out of those 32 changed everything.

Midway through the third quarter, Jaylen Andrews and Gage Patterson drained three straight 3-pointers. In those 60 seconds, Loyalsock went from holding a tenuous six-point advantage to being an energetic team leading by 15 and moving upward. That duo combined for four 3-pointers in the decisive third quarter and the Lancers turned a nailbiter into a rout, defeating Montoursville, 72-49 at Ron Insinger’s Gymnasium.

Andrews scored a game-high 22 points and was 6 of 7 from the field in the second half. Patterson produced 17 points and made 4 of 5 second half shots, while Nate Bauman fueled the offense with eight assists. Two of those came during the one-minute flurry which dramatically altered the game’s complexion.

“I’m not a big 3-point man but for some reason the trey can motivate you and really snowball into positive things,” Insinger said. “On the other side, missed treys can take the wind out of your sails. You keep your fingers crossed they’re going to start to fall.”

They certainly did in the third quarter as those four 3-pointers helped Loyalsock go on a 21-7 run. The Lancers (7-4) never cooled off again, making 8 of 11 fourth quarter shots and leading by as many as 29 at one point. It was a shocking turn of events after Montoursville had stormed back from a 12-point first quarter deficit and taken a 31-30 halftime lead.

Patterson signaled the changing tide when he hit a 3-pointer on Loyalsock’s first third quarter possession. The lead had grown to six when Bauman hit Andrews in stride and watched the junior guard drain a 3-pointer. Bauman fed Andrews a few seconds later and Andrews swished another 3-pointer.

Andrews flipped roles and found Patterson in the corner for another 3-pointer as Loyalsock went up 47-32 and forced a Montoursville timeout. Those quick 3-pointers were like a fierce upper cut and Montoursville never recovered.

“We did a good job facilitating and passing the ball around,” Andrews said. “We started hitting some shots and that was good. That forced them to come out and guard us man on man and that’s what we want.”

Zone, man to man … it didn’t matter throughout the second half. Loyalsock made a ridiculous 74 percent of its shots and Krish Patel’s 3-pointer in the fourth quarter gave it five straight made from behind the arc. It was just the kind of response Loyalsock needed after dropping a one-point heartbreaker at Mount Carmel last Saturday.

After Montoursville dominated the second quarter and took a halftime lead, Loyalsock found itself at a crucial point in its season. Instead of wilting, the Lancers came fighting back.

“We told them at halftime it’s what you do with adversity that makes the difference in the second half and they picked it up,” Insinger said. “That’s the sign of a good team, being able to do that after Saturday’s game.”

“Gage came in motivating us and making sure we’re good. Coach let us know what we’re doing wrong, and we capitalized on their mistakes and kept going from there,” Andrews said. “We’re all working off each other. If one guy is hyped, we’re all hyped. We all just try to keep each other positive and keep moving forward.”

Montoursville adopted a similar approach and came storming back after Loyalsock threatened to run it out of the gym early. The Lancers led 21-9 late in the first quarter, but the Warriors countered by scoring the next 12 points and tying the game. Tanner Menne’s 3-point play with 90 seconds left in the half gave Montoursville its first lead and it changed hands four more times from there, Quinn Ranck making it 31-30 by going coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beating layup.

Coming off an impressive 55-33 win against nine-win Mifflinburg, Montoursville continued showing how dangerous it can be with that first half comeback. But the Warriors also revealed issues that have plagued them throughout the season and lost five costly turnovers in the third quarter as Loyalsock quickly turned them into points.

“The biggest issue was we couldn’t hold onto the ball in the second half. We had a bunch of turnovers at the start of the third quarter,” Montoursville coach Mark Mussina said. “We kind of embarrassed them in the second quarter and went into the half with the lead and we knew they were going to come out aggressive. They came out in the third quarter and caught fire and kind of took it to us.”

Loyalsock scored 21 points each in three of the four quarters, but Montoursville held it to seven in the second when it rallied. The Warriors also moved the ball well, worked it inside effectively and had five players score.

Once Loyalsock started rolling in the second half, Montoursville started settling for quick jumpers and that played into Loyalsock’s hands. While the Lancers were making seemingly everything, Montoursville made 2 of 12 from behind the arc until freshman Shea Ulmer canned two late-game 3-pointers. He was one of six Warriors who scored at least six points. Ranck had a team-high eight, as well as six rebounds, and Gavin Cott added six points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

“It shows what we can be. If you would have told me coming here that we would be up one at halftime, I’d have been thrilled,” Mussina said. “We had a terrible first quarter, and we couldn’t finish around the rim, but we came back strong in the second and did some good things to get the lead.”

Loyalsock let Montoursville back in it the first time after being up big but kept its foot on the gas this time. Montoursville closed within 11 early in the fourth quarter, but the Lancers quickly scored the next 12 points. Ethan Nagy played well off the bench and had nine points with seven rebounds. Andrews had a hand in eight straight at one point in the fourth quarter as Loyalsock built momentum going into Wednesday’s showdown against Southern Columbia which will be for first place in the HAC-III.

“We’re based on energy,” Andrews said. “When one is going, we all start to go and move.”

MONTOURSVILLE (49)

Bryce Eberhart 3 0-0 7, Quinn Ranck 3 1-2 8, Tanner Menne 2 2-3 6, Gavin Cott 3 0-0 6, Matthew Conklin 1 0-0 2, Shea Ulmer 2 1-2 7, Chase Snyder 1 0-0 2, Wyatt Fry 3 0-0 6, Nason Tran 1 2-2 5. Totals 19 6-9 49.

LOYALSOCK (72)

Jaylen Andrews 9 1-2 22, Gage Patterson 7 0-0 17, Nate Bauman 5 1-4 11, Tyler Gee 2 0-1 4, Tarik Abdul-Hakim 0 0-0 0, Ethan Nagy 4 1-1 9, Alec Kulp 2 0-0 4, Krish Patel 1 0-0 3, Josh Bomboy 1 0-0 2. Totals 31 3-8 72.

Montoursville 11 20 7 11-49

Loyalsock 21 9 21 21-72

3-pointers: Montoursville 5 (Ulmer 2, Eberhart, Ranck, Tran); Loyalsock 7 (Andrews 3, Patterson 3, Patel).

Records: Loyalsock 7-4. Montoursville 5-9.

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