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Mabry continues emerging as Lewisburg rallies past Montoursville

By Chris Masse 6 min read

LEWISBURG–Nayshawn Mabry is the kind of teenager one enjoys teaching. He is polite, courteous and respectful.

All that is great in just about every facet of life. The key now is letting him know that it is OK to ditch some of those qualities and add a little nastiness when he takes the basketball court. The 6-foot-5 center is an exciting athlete who is helping Lewisburg start flourishing and he made a big impact Wednesday, helping the Green Dragons rally past Montoursville.

Mabry produced his first double-double, going for 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks as Lewisburg defeated Montoursville, 50-39. The defending District 4 Class AAAA champions won for the fifth time in six games while staying within a game of first in the HAC-II.

“Coach wants me to be more aggressive,” Mabry said. “That’s something I’m still working on.”

If Mabry adds that element to his game, the sky could be the limit. He is young and is playing at Lewisburg for the first time since junior high after spending a year in Alabama. There has been a feeling out period as Mabry adjusts, but he has all the physical tools to become a standout.

Mabry finishes around the basket, runs the court well and can be a defensive difference-maker by fronting post players and/or altering shots and clogging passing lanes. His nine second-half points were crucial in Lewisburg coming to life, too, after the Dragons sleepwalked through the first half and trailed 18-17 at halftime.

A poised player, Mabry never changed his demeanor Wednesday and consistently was calm. The goal now is adding a little fire to go with that ice.

“We’re just trying to get him to be more and more aggressive. We’re waiting for that time for him to come down and just throw one down,” Lewisburg coach John Vaji said. “The thing is, he has a great attitude. We can push him. He’s very respectful and he understands where you’re coming from, so he’s very coachable.”

Mabry is playing organized basketball for the first time in two years since he moved back to Lewisburg more than halfway through the 2022 high school campaign. Still, he learned a lot in Alabama which has made the transition easier.

Combine that with Mabry settling back in with his teammates and Mabry is becoming a weapon. His timing is perfect, too. Forward Jack Blough was playing his best basketball this season before suffering an injury two weeks ago. Lewisburg needed Mabry to step up and he has done just that.

Blough is expected back soon, and Mabry’s development could make those two a powerful duo. Mabry has produced three straight double-digit scoring performances and is one rebound from having two double-doubles in his last three games.

“Everyone down there (in Alabama) looked like they’re trying to go D1. They took it really serious,” Mabry said. “Every school day in the morning we would work out or do drills, so playing down there definitely got me prepared for coming up here.”

“I felt so bad for Jack because he was playing so great,” Vaji said. “But it’s the next man up and, so far, Nayshawn has been coming along. He’s been getting better each game.”

The same could be said for Lewisburg as a whole. The Dragons (7-6, 4-1) lost four starters from last year’s district champion, so some growing pains were not surprising. Those mainly occurred during a three-game December losing streak which left Lewisburg at 2-4.

Since then, however, a new-look team has started meshing better and is one shot from having a six-game winning streak. Its lone loss during the last six games was a last-second heartbreaker against Danville, a game which ultimately has the Ironmen ahead of Lewisburg by one game in the wide-open HAC-II.

“We had a really rough start and now we’re starting to get back together,” Mabry said. “Losing all those seniors was tough, so we just had to get comfortable playing with each other. We’re playing a lot better than we were.”

Montoursville, however, looked like the better team throughout much of the first half, scoring the game’s first seven points and holding a 16-12 lead late in the first half. Lewisburg briefly took its first lead, but two Quinn Ranck free throws had Montoursville (5-10, 2-3) up 18-17 at halftime.

It was Deja vu for the Warriors. Montoursville led Loyalsock by one at halftime last Monday before the Lancers stormed back and won. This time, Lewisburg started asserting itself and came alive in the third quarter. An 18-8 run put Lewisburg ahead by nine and the Dragons led by double digits for the game’s final 7 1/2 minutes.

Freshman Shea Ulmer scored 11 points and Ranck had 10 in the first half. Chase Snyder added eight rebounds, but Montoursville went cold in the second half and made just 6 of 21 shots.

Lewisburg snapped out of its funk by adjusting offensively and using its full-court pressure to create some turnovers. That ignited the running game and Lewisburg started heating up after being in a deep freeze in the first half and missing its first 10 shots. Cam Michaels helped bring the energy throughout the second half and had eight points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Henry Harrison produced nine points and seven rebounds and Wade Young pulled down six boards.

Tsogtoo Batbaatar and Charlie Landis combined for 12 points off Lewisburg’s bench. Reserve Noah Pawling found Landis for a last-second 3-pointer to close the third quarter and that set the tone for a strong start to the fourth as Lewisburg started pulling away.

“To our guys’ credit, we switched our offense a little bit and went to a different set and were able to get it inside on that cross screen and get some easy buckets inside which we need to be able to do,” Vaji said. “There’s still a lot we need to work on, but there’s progress being made.”

MONTOURSVILLE (39)

Bryce Eberhart 1 3-4 5, Quinn Ranck 3 2-2 10, Tanner Menne 2 2-2 6, Shea Ulmer 4 1-2 11, Gavin Cott 0 0-0 0, Matthew Conklin 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Fry 1 0-0 2, Chase Snyder 1 0-0 2, Nasan Tran 1 0-0 3, Jimmy Mussina 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 8-10 39.

LEWISBURG (50)

Cam Michaels 4 0-0 8, Henry Harrison 4 1-1 9, Nayshawn Mabry 5 1-1 11, Wade Young 2 0-0 5, Devin Bodden 1 4-4 7, Tsogtoo Batbaatar 2 1-2 5, Charlie Landis 2 0-0 5, Dylan Dershem 0 0-0 0, Noah Pawling 0 0-0 0. Totals

Montoursville 7 11 8 13-39

Lewisburg 7 10 18 15-50

3-pointers: Montoursville 5 (Ranck 2, Ulmer 2, Tran); Lewisburg 3 (Young, Bodden, Landis).

Records: Lewisburg 7-6. Montoursville 5-10.

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