Noah Pawling of Lewisburg pulls in a rebound against Danville in the first quarter of the game Friday night at Milton High School March 3, 2023. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

MILTON–Danville overcame limited height and foul trouble Friday night while capturing another District 4 Class AAAA championship.

Lewisburg overcame losing four starters to graduation, as well as a 2-5 start, to reach a second consecutive district final. Danville earned the gold medals but both teams have continued their winning traditions in impressive fashion this season.

Hayden Winn scored 17 points and Danville played tremendous defense Friday, defeating Lewisburg, 48-38 and winning a second district championship in three years. The Green Dragons (16-9) were seeking a second straight championship but have come light years from they were in December and will likely host Littlestown in next Friday’s state tournament.

“Guys have stepped up at different times and guys have improved throughout the season,” Lewisburg coach John Vaji said. “As a coach, that’s extremely rewarding. I’m very proud of that group of young men that I’m able to coach.”

Danville coach Gary Grozier feels the same way about his team.

Danville does not have a player taller than 6-foot-2. And on Friday, Winn and valuable reserve Ethan Morrison were saddled with foul trouble throughout the game. None of that mattered.

Like it has so many times this season, Danville focused on what it had, rather than on what it did not. The Ironmen opened the game on a torrid 16-2 run, never flinched when Lewisburg rallied and smothered a tough opponent coming off a thrilling overtime, semifinal win against top-seeded Shamokin.

“When we start fast, we’re really good and it certainly can carry through. Tonight, it did,” Grozier said. “I can’t ask for me from these guys.”

Danville, while faces District 3 fifth-place finisher Eastern York in states, and Lewisburg split both the HAC-II championship and two regular-season games this season. The Ironmen went for the early knockout blow Friday, scoring 14 straight points and going up 16-2 less than midway through the first quarter.

Winn set the blistering tone, scoring seven quick points and carrying his momentum into the second half. Despite the foul trouble, Winn scored 15 first-half points, drained three 3-pointers and finished the game missing just one of his eight shot attempts. He and Carson Persing also played sensational defense, slowing a dynamic Lewisburg backcourt.

“Carson was big tonight Hayden was really big for us,” Grozier said. “They’re a great team and John’s a great coach. We knew it would be a fight and it was.”

Lewisburg came punching back in the second quarter, scoring eight straight points and pulling within 23-19. The Dragons were especially effective when they could get the ball inside, but Danville regrouped and led 30-24 at halftime.

As quick as it felt like Lewisburg’s offense started surging, Danville shut it down throughout the second half. An active zone defense cut off the inside threat for the most part and Danville contested shots well, hounding Lewisburg into shooting 1 of 19 from 3-point range. Put it all together and Danville limited Lewisburg to just 14 second-half points, one less than it had produced in the second quarter.

“We use our quickness because we don’t have a guy taller 6-2. Tonight, we ran them off the line and that’s what we wanted to do,” Grozier said. “They hit us inside with a couple of plays that led to easy shots. We called a timeout and said, ‘You have to stay connected.’ We adjusted and we were fine.”

Lewisburg stiffened up defensively as well and both teams combined for just 13 third-quarter points. Despite its shooting woes, Lewisburg pulled within 36-31 on a Jack Blough putback with 70 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but Danville never let it get any closer.

After Danville went up 10 in the fourth, Henry Harrison found Mabry inside and Lewisburg was within 41-35 with nearly three minutes left. Luke Huron, though, made a steal and layup and Danville’s defense took care of the rest as it pulled away.

Mabry, a 6-5 sophomore, looks like he could become one of the area’s premier players the next two years. He continued his breakout season in a big way, providing a big lift off the bench and scoring 15 points. He produced a double-double as well, collecting a game-high 11 rebounds and blocking three shots. Blough added eight points and eight boards.

“Neyshawn was big,” Vaji said. “We started bringing him off the bench once we got Jack back (from injury) just to let him see the game and when we brought him off the bench, he did great.”

Lewisburg reached both the district final and states after rallying late to beat top-seeded Shamokin last Tuesday. That Lewisburg was in this position at all seemed like a far-fetched proposition last December after a 1-5 stretch had the team looking at an upward climb.

Instead of sulking, Lewisburg continued working and returned from the Christmas break rejuvenated. What followed was a fantastic stretch of basketball which featured 12 wins in 13 games and earning a share of a second straight league title.

The journey is not over either. And although it did not climb the district summit, Lewisburg sure has scaled some impressive heights this season.

“It hurts but I couldn’t be more proud of how hard they played and from where this team came from,” Vaji said. “It was a credit to the kids. We tweaked some of the things we thought we could do. The boys bought in, they focused and paid attention to detail and we were able to have a great second half of that season.”

DANVILLE (48)

Carson Persing 2 2-2 6, Luke Huron 6 1-3 13, Dameon White 4 1-1 9, Hayden Winn 7 0-0 17, Cade Kush 1 1-2 3, Ethan Morrison 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 5-8 48.

LEWISBURG (38)

Cam Michaels 4 1-1 10, Henry Harrison 0 1-2 1, Neyshawn Mabry 7 1-3 15, Jack Blough 3 2-4 8, Wade Young 0 0-0 0, Devin Bodden 1 2-2 4, Noah Pawling 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-12 38.

Danville 18 12 6 12–48

Lewisburg 9 15 7 7–38

3-pointers: Danville 3 (Winn 3); Lewisburg 1 (Michaels).

Records: Danville 19-7. Lewisburg 16-9.