Talk of the town: Sullivan County defeats Norry Christian and captures District 4 Class A championship
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Nearly every current Sullivan County player was at Montoursville 11 years ago when the Griffins captured the program’s first District 4 Class A championship. Many dreamed that someday they would be the ones hoisting the championship trophy.
Wednesday, back at Montoursville, dreams turned into reality. And for all the Red-clad fans who stuffed the Montoursville bleachers, their team delivered a dream-like performance.
Ben Carpenter scored 18 points, Riley King added 16 and Sullivan brilliantly executed its game plan on both ends as it defeated top-seeded Northumberland Christian, 52-41 for the district championship. All eight players Glenn Vaughan used made big impacts and the Griffins (17-8) took their place alongside that 2012 team as one of the best teams to ever do it there. Just as important, they became District 4’s best Class A team this season.
"It’s insane," gutsy forward Trey Higley said after scoring eight points and grabbing eight rebounds. "It’s a dream come true."
"It adds even more to this. We watched the team that won it when we were 7-8 years old. Now we will always be remembered in that gym all the time like they are. It’s an amazing feeling," said super sub Landon Baldwin, who again shined off the bench. “All the hard work, all the sweaty days and gut-wrenching losses, we keep working and it all leads to a moment like this."
What a moment it was.
Norry Christian (18-7) was the top seed and the heavy favorite after defeating Sullivan, 61-42 in Laporte last January. But that was a different Griffins team. Sullivan has won nine of its last 10 games and surged at the perfect time.
Given a second chance against Norry, Sullivan, which will likely host District 3’s fourth-place finisher in the opening round of states, showed exactly how far it has come. The Griffins never trailed after early in the first quarter, built a 25-18 halftime lead, slowed a potent offense and answered nearly every time Norry threatened throughout the second half. Some of the pieces were missing earlier this season but at the most opportune time, Sullivan has put everything together and completed this championship puzzle.
"We’ve always wanted it, and we finally got it. All the hard work paid off," King said after dealing five assists and making a series of clutch second-half shots. "I feel like last time we played we were nowhere near our best. Tonight, we left everything out there. We played as a team and played great defense."
Sullivan defended so well that it held Norry without a field goal for nearly seven minutes in the first half before keeping it scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of the third. All this against a team which had scored 80 points in its 46-point semifinal win against Galeton.
"Winning a district championship is huge and I’m so happy for them. I believed it was possible all year even though knowing that that team we just played was probably the favorite," Sullivan coach Glenn Vaughan said. "We’re 9-1 in our last 10 games and we felt very confident and loose coming into this game."
It showed all night long. Norry scored two quick transition baskets to start the game, but the Griffins never let it do damage with the running game from there and started locking up the half-court offense as well. Sullivan held an excellent shooting team without a 3-pointer, fiercely contesting shots without losing help defense in the paint.
And when Maddox Bahr hit a floater in the lane to put Sullivan up 8-6 midway through the first quarter, the Griffins were off and running. They never trailed again, and it was Bahr’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer off a King assist which had the Griffins flying into the locker room ahead, 25-18 at halftime.
"That was straight energy throughout the team," Higley said. "Once it went in everyone got up and we were all hyped. It just kept rolling and rolling."
Sullivan scored the third quarter’s first seven points, going up 32-18. The way the Griffins efficiently ran their offense, that 14-point bulge started feeling even wider. Sullivan players were constant motion as was the basketball and they patiently worked for good shots. They produced them inside, outside and from all the players.
Combine that with ferocious defense and Sullivan essentially shortened the game, catching Norry between the vise of both its stellar play and the clock. And Sullivan hit back whenever it seemed like Norry was building momentum, King punctuating it when he drilled a pull-up, buzzer-beating 3-pointer which sent Sullivan into the fourth quarter up, 34-22.
"Everybody did their job," Baldwin said. "Everybody knew what they had to do to make sure we won that game."
"They couldn’t just guard one person," King said. "We have so many people that contributed to this win to help us out."
Sullivan’s ability to move the basketball while working for the shots it wanted changed the game’s complexion starting in the first quarter and the Griffins made more than 50 percent of their shots in all but the second quarter. Even going 4 for 9 that quarter, Sullivan started seizing control, while also attacking the basket and getting Norry in foul trouble.
Carpenter and King were sensational in the fourth quarter, combining for 13 points. Carpenter made two of the game’s biggest plays after Norry twice had pulled within seven. First, the versatile junior guard made a steal at midcourt and went in for a layup which made it, 44-35. On Sullivan’s ensuing possession, Carpenter made an outstanding spin move around two defenders and banked in a shot while being fouled.
From there, Sullivan rode its defense and clutch foul shooting. King and Carpenter both made both ends of 1-and-1s, giving Sullivan a 51-41 lead with 58.3 seconds remaining. King jumped high to block a shot in the paint, Baldwin grabbed the rebound and made a free throw seconds later, making it an 11-point game.
The last 30 seconds belonged to Sullivan as it dribbled out the remaining time and savored the sight of all their fans rising in celebration.
"It was awesome having that support down here tonight," Vaughan said. "I know the guys fed off that."
The fans fed off the players, too. And the reception those players received before, during and after the game will be something they remember as much as winning the championship. This moment, this night and this championship was theirs and the 2023 Griffins knew they had left their mark on program history.
"It’s Sullivan County. Everyone is coming out to watch basketball," King said. "It’s an amazing feeling."
SULLIVAN (52)
Riley King 4 5-8 16, Ben Carpenter 7 4-6 18, Trey Higley 4 0-0 8, Maddox Bahr 2 0-0 5, Conner Smithkors 0 0-0 0, Derrick Finnegan 2 0-1 4, Landon Baldwin 0 1-3 1, Tucker Blasi 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 10-18 52.
NORRY (41)
Luke Snyder 9 1-4 19, Henry McElroy 2 2-4 6, Cole Knauss 3 0-0 6, Josh King 0 0-0 0, Conner Bennett 1 2-2 4, Alec Phillips 0 2-2 2, Sam Garvin 1 2-2 4. Totals 16 9-12 41.
Sullivan 12 13 9 18--52
Norry 8 10 4 19--41
3-pointers: Sullivan 2 (King, Bahr).
Records: Sullivan County 17-8. Northumberland Christian 18-7.