Local roundup: South girls rout Montgomery is Mid-Penn opener, as Akers, Moore log career-highs

Abby Akers and Ella Moore each reached career-highs and South Williamsport rallied from a second-quarter deficit as it opened Mid-Penn play with a 52-24 win against Montgomery. Akers scored a career-best 22 points and Moore 16 as South took control in the middle quarters when it scored 35 points. Mikaiya Hills added seven points in her first game back from injury and Katilyn Apker six. Falin Reynolds led Montgomery with 12 points.

In boys’ basketball, Patrick Zalonis picked up Wednesday at Muncy where he left off Tuesday at St. John Neumann. The Muncy senior drained eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points a night after going for six and 23, helping the Indians defeat Bucktail, 69-30. He was one of three players in double figures as Muncy (3-1) won its third straight game. Noah Confer produced a double-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and six steals, while Konnor Shearer scored a career-high 15 points. Stiles Eyer made seven steals and freshman Nathan Rogers had six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Jamaire Harden scored 14 points and Jaylen Andrews added nine, but Holy Redeemer took control in the fourth quarter and won 61-53 at Loyalsock in a showdown between perennial 3A state tournament qualifiers. The game was tied entering the fourth before Redeemer outscored Loyalsock, 17-9 to close the game. Ethan Nagy added nine points for the Lancers (3-1).

Despite a 28-point outing from junior guard Louis Mercantino, the North Penn-Liberty boys basketball team fell short of defeating Athens, losing to the Wildcats 70-59. 12 of his points came in the third quarter, where the Mounties managed to cut their opponent's lead down to three, but things fell apart from there.

Athens outscored North Penn-Liberty 20-12 in the final quarter, with Jase Babcock - who was second for the Wildcats in scoring with 18 - and Nick Grazul combining for 15 of those points. Conner Mosher converted on three of four free throws in the quarter, finishing with a team-high 21 points after a hot first half. The Mounties drop below .500 again while Athens climbs to 4-1.

North Penn-Mansfield won its fourth consecutive game and scored 54 first-half points while defeating Williamson, 76-49. Karson Dominick was one of four Tigers scoring in double figures, producing 20 points. Tayton Strange had a career-high 13 points and Cooper Shaw also tallied 13, while Andy Hermanson added 10 for the Tigers (4-1). Kristian Mizdail scored a game-high 24 points for Williamson (2-3).

Canton continued surging after capturing last weekend’s Galeton Tournament championship, defeating league rival Towanda, 52-48. Ben Fitch collected his second straight double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Talin Wesneski nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, while Brayden Vroman scored 11 points. Canton has won three straight games.

The Mansfield Mountaineers women’s basketball team dropped a midweek non-conference matchup to Roberts Wesleyan University by a score of 73-69.

Mansfield and Roberts went back and forth in the second half but the Redhawks pulled away in the final minute. The Mounties struggled from the free throw line shooting 8-21 which hindered the offense late, while Roberts had a perfect 18-18 day at the free throw line.

Five Mounties scored in double figures with Jasmine Hilton leading the way with 18 points and five rebounds and a pair of blocks. Cydney Stanton had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

South Williamsport 52, Montgomery 24

MONTGOMERY (24)

Madison Shrimp 1 2-3 4, Rihanna Arredondo 1 0-0 2, Falin Reynolds 5 1-4 12, Rubi Solano 1 0-0 2, Addison Muhl 0 0-2 0, Madisyn Miller 1 0-0 2, Autumn Fry 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 3-9 24.

SOUTH (52)

Abby Akers 8 4-8 22, Mikaiya Hills 3 1-1 7, Kaitlyn Apker 3 0-0 6, Ella Moore 7 1-3 16, Maddie Pinkerton 0 1-4 1. Totals 21 7-16 52.

Montgomery 11 2 8 3--24

South 9 15 20 8--52

3-pointers: Montgomery 1 (Reynolds); South 3 (Akers 2, Moore).

Records: South 1-3, 1-0 Mid-Penn. Montgomery 2-3, 1-2.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Muncy 69, Bucktail 30

BUCKTAIL (30)

Brody Pentz 2 3-4 8, Will Steele 2 0-0 5, Brett Mason 1 0-0 2, Braylon Fantaski 3 0-0 8, John Green 2 -0 5, Gary Whipp 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 3-4 30.

MUNCY (69)

Nathan Rogers 1 1-3 3, Noah Confer 4 3-6 11, Kyran Lisembee 2 0-0 4, Stiles Eyer 2 2-4 6, Patrick Zalonis 9 0-0 26, Konnor Shearer 7 0-0 15, Kohen Meyer 1 0-0 2, Kem Hampe 1 0-1 2. Totals 27 6-14 69.

Bucktail 15 5 4 6--30

Muncy 19 24 14 6--69

3-pointers: Bucktail 5 (Fantaski 2, Pentz, Steele, Green); Muncy 9 (Zalonis 8, Shearer).

Records: Muncy 3-1, 2-0 Mid-Penn. Bucktail 0-1, 0-1.

Holy Redeemer 61, Loyalsock 53

REDEEMER (61)

Cody Quaglia 3 0-0 8, Mark Atherton 8 2-2 22, Logan Sekol 1 0-0 2, George Sabatini 4 8-12 16, Jack Hurst 1 0-0 2, Brayden Sock 2 0-2 6, David Popson 2 1-2 5. Totals 21 11-18 61.

LOYALSOCK (53)

Jaylen Andrews 5 0-0 11, Tarik Abdul-Hakim 1 0-0 2, Gage Patterson 2 2-2 7, Jamaire Harden 6 2-2 14, Ethan Nagy 4 1-2 9, Isiah Jennings 1 1-2 3, Nate Bauman 2 3-4 7. Totals 21 9-12 53.

Redeemer 18 7 19 17--61

Loyalsock 12 16 16 9--53

3-pointers: Redeemer 8 (Atherton 4, Quaglia 2, Sock 2); Loyalsock 2 (Andrews, Patterson).

Records: Loyalsock 3-1.

Canton 52, Towanda 48

TOWANDA (48)

Bayley Poll 4 1-3 12, Gianni Assante-Dicuppilo 0 1-2 1, Kole Heyer 1 0-0 2, Graham Welles 1 0-0 2, Landon Clark 2 1-2 6, Darrius Farrell 1 0-0 3, Teagan Irish 9 2-5 22. Totals 18 5-12 48.

CANTON (52)

Lance Route 2 1-4 5, Ben Fitch 8 4-6 20, Gunnar Resavage 2 0-0 4, Talin Williams 2 5-8 10, Quincy Wesneski 1 0-0 2, Brayden Vroman 4 3-4 11. Totals 19 13-22 52.

Towanda 14 9 9 16--48

Canton 10 15 14 13--52

3-pointers: Towanda 7 (Poll 3, Irish 2, Clark, Farrell); Canton 1 (Williams).

Records: Canton 3-2.

Athens 70, North Penn-Liberty 59

NPL (59)

Adynn Wheeland 4 1-2 9, Louis Mercantino 11 1-2 28, Blake Oakley 3 0-2 6, Luke Kreger 3 2-2 8, Daniel Harman 3 2-2 8. Totals 24 6-10 59.

ATHENS (70)

Jase Babcock 7 0-1 18, Conner Mosher 8 3-4 21, Nick Jacob 2 0-0 6, Peter Jones 1 0-0 2, Davin Spencer 3 0-0 6, Nick Grazul 3 1-2 7, Korey Miller 4 0-0 10. Totals 28 4-7 70.

NPL 13 15 19 12

Athens 18 16 16 20

3-pointers: NPL 5 (Louis Mercantino 5) Athens 9 (Babcock 4, Miller 2, Mosher 2, Jacob 1)

Records: NPL 2-3, 1-2. Athens 4-1, 2-0.

North Penn-Mansfield 76, Williamson 49

WILLIAMSON (48)

Kristian Mizdail 5 13-14 24, Jack Nolan 3 0-0 6, Phil Robertson 3 1-2 7, Isaiah Croft 1 1-1 3, Seth Zimmerman 2 0-0 4, Watson 1 2-2 4, Hartman 0 1-2 1. Totals 15 18-21 49.

NP-MANSFIELD (76)

Tayton Strange 6 1-2 13, Patrick Youmans 2 0-0 4, Alex Davis 2 2-4 6, Andy Hermanson 4 0-0 10, Brady Stetter 3 0-0 6, Cooper Shaw 4 2-3 13, Karson Dominick 8 3-3 20, Cade Kurzejewski 0 4-4 4. Totals 29 12-16 76.

Williamson 10 15 8 16--49

NP-Mansfield 26 28 10 12--76

3-pointers: Williamson 1 (Mizdail); NP-Mansfield 6 (Shaw 3, Hermanson 2, Dominick).

Records: NP-Mansfield 4-1. Williamson 2-3.