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Williamsport girls dominate the boards and produce impressive win at Montoursville

By Chris Masse 6 min read

Ella Wilson hustled into the lane, grabbed an offensive rebound and scored off a putback. Wilson missed the ensuing free throw, but Ally Chilson secured the rebound and scored inside, creating a four-point possession.

Williamsport athletes made a lot of key plays Monday night at Montoursville, but that sequence best illustrated what helped the Millionaires take control. Williamsport dominated the boards, hustled everywhere and displayed excellent balance as it defeated Montoursville, 44-22.

Four Millionaires scored at least eight points and Williamsport outrebounded, Montoursville 51-26. The Millionaires (5-10) never trailed, played stifling defense and looked like a team starting to mesh well heading down the season’s stretch.

“We’ve been getting better as the season progresses,” Ella Wilson said after scoring a game-high 13 points and adding four rebounds. “So, to win like that, it feels good because we know we’re going in the right direction.”

The Millionaires looked good in defeat Saturday at Dallas and quickly built on that performance, taking a 15-8 first-quarter lead, going up 10 at halftime and leading by double digits the rest of the way. And when shots did not go in, a determined Millionaire often was there to pull down a rebound and either score and/or keep the possession going.

So, even when the Millionaire offense hit a dry spell in the second quarter, Williamsport still extended the lead and held a whopping 23-6 rebounding advantage at halftime. That continued to grow throughout the second half and, not coincidentally, so did the lead. Five players secured four rebounds each and Williamsport often either directly scored off putbacks or after creating second, third and fourth-chance scoring opportunities.

Payton Baney (12) and Mia Nieto (11) each reached double figures in rebounds while Ally Chilson added nine to go along with her nine points.

“Rebounding was a key going in. We thought that with Chilly and Payton inside we should be able to control the glass and when we rebound well that can lead to transition and that can lead to easier things offensively,” Williamsport coach Justin Marnon said. “Then offensive rebounding leads to second-chance points and keeping possessions alive. We rebounded well; we hustled to get us an extra possession. All of that started coming together.”

“We wanted to box out and control the boards,” Baney said. “We wanted to dominate with our height.”

The thing is, Williamsport achieved that goal with more than just height. Nieto drove that home. The 5-foot-3 point guard was the smallest player on the court, but she played like a 7-footer and battled Baney for the rebounding lead.

Even more impressive, Nieto grabbed her 10th rebound less than midway through the third quarter. After jumping for that rebound, Nieto went coast to coast for a layup and gave Williamsport a 34-12 advantage.

“I would have never guessed Mia had that many,” Marnon said. “But she shows a lot of heart out there and that’s great for her.”

Compounding Montoursville’s problems was Williamsport’s defense. The Millionaires begrudgingly allowed quality shots and when they did, they often limited Montoursville to just on per possession. That success ground Montoursville (9-8) to a halt in the second half as the Warriors scored just 10 points, not scoring their first third-quarter point until just six seconds remained. Williamsport surrendered just six field goals total and only three of those coming in the first three quarters.

Everyone made an impact, too. Five players scored in the first quarter, including reserve Sydney Crews who did so off an offensive putback. The Millionaires effectively worked the offense, set each other up for good looks and had four players score at least eight points. It was another step forward after three players reached double figures against Dallas.

“Everyone can score,” Wilson said. “It’s just a matter of who’s going to do it and we’re starting to play well together.”

“We’re playing more as a team. We’re getting more balance between guards and post players and things like that,” Baney said. “We’re choosing assists over our own shots if that’s what it takes.”

Baney proved that by dealing a game-high six assists. The dynamic junior made a run a double-double, finishing with eight points, 12 rebounds, those six assists and five blocks. Baney leads the team in scoring, but consistently found the open player when Montoursville collapsed on her Monday night and that helped the offense flow well.

A three-year starter, Baney already had three assists in the first quarter when Williamsport started asserting itself. She also made two steals and was a factor in all facets.

“Payton is a team player. She just wants to win,” Marnon said. “She has a passion for the game, so when she gets out there, I think her mentality is, ‘What do I need to do for my team to be successful?’ If that’s six assists on a night or 20 points on a night or 10 rebounds on a night that’s what she’s going to do to try and help the team win.”

Every player did something to help Williamsport win Monday, including Wilson whose strong start set the tone. Wilson built off her good game against Dallas and scored seven first-quarter points. She had a hand in six of her team’s first eight with four points and an assist and the Millionaires kept growing the lead from there.

The last previous two Williamsport-Montoursville games were decided in the final seconds. This time, however, Williamsport started fast and kept its foot on the gas while never letting Montoursville find any offensive rhythm. Nyla Kutney and Ashlynn Loe did their best to give Montoursville a spark with Kutney scoring seven points and Loe pulling down six rebounds, while adding three steals.

“Hitting those shots early is important. We’ve struggled offensively at times so when we see the ball go in the basket early in the first quarter that can help our mentality,” Marnon said. “Ella stepped up tonight and knocked down a few of those shots early, and she’s done that a couple games in a row now. That’s a big spark for us.”

WILLIAMSPORT (44)

Payton Baney 4 0-0 8, Ella Wilson 6 1-4 13, Ally Chilson 4 1-4 9, Mia Nieto 3 1-1 8, Cierra Rainier 1 0-0 3, Abby Mahon 0 0-0 0, Nadriah Tutler 0 0-0 0, Sydney Crews 1 0-0 2, Anna Harstead 0 0-1 0, Khamya Moore 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 4-12 44.

MONTOURSVILLE (22)

Maddie Labatch 0 0-0 0, Alaina Marchioni 1 1-2 4, Sydnie Stone 2 0-0 4, Shyanne Klemick 1 0-3 2, Ashlynn Loe 1 2-2 4, Nyla Kutney 1 5-8 7, Jill Stone 0 1-2 1, Kayleigh Sheleman 0 0-2 0. Totals 6 9-19 22.

Williamsport 15 7 12 10-44

Montoursville 8 4 1 9-22

3-pointers: Williamsport 2 (Nieto, Rainier); Montoursville 1 (Marchioni).

Records: Williamsport 5-10. Montoursville 9-8.

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