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Chris Masse on basketball: Goal for Williamsport? Keep on improving

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Zion Hughes (15) brings the ball down court past Shamokin's Colin Steinhart (11) during a high school basketball game at Williamsport on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.

Obviously, Williamsport would prefer having had a better record entering Tuesday’s game at Harrisburg. The Millionaires will travel for the annual rivalry game which was postponed from Monday’s original start.

Any competitor would love being 11-0 or close to that, but in the grand scheme of things that record means nothing. District 2-4 Class 6A features an open seven-team playoff field, so the Millionaires know they are postseason-bound.

The goal now is constant improvement. Everything Williamsport wants to attain is out there, so it’s about getting better, forgetting the past and blazing toward the future. The Millionaires started doing that last Thursday at Selinsgrove, winning 63-48 and looking strong while doing so.

“As long as we get better as season progresses and we’re ready to roll when the postseason gets here, than all that is just growing pains. I keep telling those guys basketball season a marathon, not a sprint,” Williamsport coach Allen Taylor said. “We just have to make sure we don’t allow our failures to be a waste. We have to keep grinding and improve and, for the most part, we do it. Sometimes do have a little backslide, but hopefully we keep making those little one degree shifts and continue to get better.”

Williamsport did something similar a year ago when it rallied from a slow start, won a playoff game and gave eventual champion Scranton all it could handle in a close semifinal loss. A few plays late in that contest changed the direction, but the bottom line is Williamsport was that close to reaching the final despite a 3-9 start.

Remember, too, that not all records are created equal. Williamsport is the only District 4 team which can say it has faced state title contenders from multiple states, Cumberland Valley and New York’s Mamaronek. Its first 11 opponents also compiled a .743 winning percentage, so this has been a team running a first-half gauntlet.

The benefit now is that playing so many strong teams positions Williamsport well for the season’s second half. That goes double if senior leaders Kyreek Bradshaw (21 points, four assists at Selinsgrove) and Micah Washington (20, seven rebounds) keep coming on strong. Bradshaw also played elite defense and sophomore Zion Hughes continues heating up. Freshman Tevin Williams is a potential future star, Jahki Brister can be an inside factor and Naazir Lowe provides energy, as well as versatility off the bench.

“We’re getting to be a more balanced team, not just a one-man show and those teams are very difficult to guard. We’ve played against quite a few of those teams, so we know that first hand,” Taylor said. “I thought we would get better after Christmas going through the level of competition that we played. I feel like that put us in position to try and put some games together and try and get some momentum heading into the postseason.”

In the long run, it’s all about getting better. Williamsport would have rather won more those first 11 games, but those contests could be a means to an end if the Millionaires come through that fire unscathed.

And if Williamsport heats up as mid-February draws closer, than those previous results truly will be meaningless because the only challenge which matters is the next one.

Switching gears to girls basketball, Muncy (10-3) dropped a one-point heartbreaker against Northeast Bradford, 42-41 last Monday in a rematch of last year’s District 4 Class AA championship. NEB and Muncy have played three thrillers in the past two seasons and the last two have been decided by four combined points.

Muncy is hoping history can repeat itself now after it lost last year’s regular season meeting before winning the championship, 37-34. The Indians have won eight of their last nine games and Addi Gresh, Addi Eyer and Ava Eyer all produced and/or came close to producing double-doubles during a three-game week.

In other area news, Khamya Moate is coming on strong for Williamsport and scored a career-high 19 points in Saturday’s 59-49 win against Harrisburg. Moate has come up big in the Millionaires’ last two victories. Jaelynn Helmrich added 11 points, and Ella Ballard and Nadirah Tutler both had nine

WORKING CLASS: The game results have varied at times, but Sullivan County coach Glenn Vaughn has been excited to attend practice every day no matter the situation. Having a team which always is eager to work makes it an ideal place to be. The Griffins (8-6) are a fairly young team, but already have exceeded last year’s win total and earned a hard-fought 59-56 win against defending District 4 Class A champion Bucktail last Friday.

The work continues and this team enjoys it.

“I can’t think of many teams I’ve ever coach that consistently come to practice with the work ethic this team has come to practice with,” Vaughan said following a 46-36 loss at Muncy last Wednesday. “They care about each other and it’s really, really fun to come to practice every single day. They buy into the preparation. They buy into everything that we do.”

That has helped Sullivan stay in the hunt for the top seed in District 4 Class A. The Griffins also are in second place in the Mid-Penn East Division. They lost some close games during a recent funk, but broke out in a big way against Bucktail, erasing a nine-point second quarter deficit and rallying down the stretch to prevail.

Four players reached double figures, including returning starter Tucker Blasi who produced nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. Cayden Smithkors added 13, Lucas King 12 and Ryan Murray 10, along with eight rebounds. Lucas King collected seven rebounds and four steals.

All but Blasi either came off the bench or saw limited varsity time a year ago. Most return next year as well. So, while some look at the coming years with excitement, this team which has been working since last spring, is focused only on making this year one to remember.

“This group is incredible as far as their work ethic, their attitude and their togetherness. They’re bringing back some of the Griffin Basketball work ethic that we had before COVID,” Vaughan said. “I’m excited. We’re young, so people are talking about next year. I don’t care about next year. We’re capable of being really good right now. We just have to get a little smarter and figure it out on the offensive side of the floor a little bit.”

PUTBACKS: Niyah Tutler scored a season-high 26 points in a 47-39 win at Bucktail, helping the Knights, who dressed just five players Saturday against Millville win their eighth game … South Williamsport rallied from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to win at Meadowbrook Christian, 53-50 in overtime. Abby Akers scored 19 points, Ella Moore 14 and Coco Kline hit the go-ahead free throws in overtime … Canton (9-5) has won four straight games with Kendall Kitchen, Lydia Roupp and Cailyn Van Noy all scoring at least 20 points in a game last week … Ashley Woodring scored 21 points, helping Cowanesque Valley hold off North Penn-Liberty, 41-37 last Friday. The Indians (6-6) have won five of their last seven games. Haley Litzelman continues putting up huge numbers for North Penn-Liberty and produced 41 points and 24 rebounds in two games last week.

Chris Masse may be reached at cmasse@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @docmasse.

BOYS BASKETBALL

1. Warrior Run (12-2): Warrior Run has won six straight games since losing to Southern Columbia at the Shamokin Christmas Tournament and avenged that defeat last Friday, winning, 63-35. Doing so gave Warrior Run a two-game lead in the HAC-III. The Defenders are receiving steady contributions from their bench as well and are three wins from capturing at least a share of their first league title in the 2000s.

2. Lewisburg (10-5): After dropping a two-point heartbreaker at Danville, Lewisburg came back strong Saturday and defeated Central Columbia, 57-44. Senior center Neyshawn Mabry continued his big season, scoring a career-high 30 points and draining six 3-pointers. Lewisburg moved into a first place tie in the rugged HAC-II and hosts Danville in a few weeks. Five of the league’s six teams have nine or more wins.

3. Muncy (12-2): Muncy went 3-0 last week, capping it with two road wins over the weekend, including, 59-41 at Susquenita. Ken Hampe scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds there. Five players produced at least one double-digit scoring performances last week, including sophomore Jaxton Frantz who collected a game-high 19 points off the bench at CMVT. Nate Rogers averaged 12.7 points in the three victories and Kyran Lisembee made six steals against CMVT. Muncy does not have one of the area’s leading scorers like the last two years when it featured Ross Eyer and Noah Confer, but the strong balance keeps defenses from gearing toward slowing one specific player.

4. North Penn-Mansfield (11-3): Troy continues being a thorn in North Penn-Mansfield’s side, defeating it for a second time last week and snapping the Tigers’ four-game winning streak. North Penn-Mansfield, though, could get more cracks at their rival in the NTL Showcase and/or districts. The Tigers are one of the area’s most balanced teams and all five starters average at least seven points.

5. Jersey Shore (9-4): In terms of how impressive this year’s turnaround is think about this: Jersey Shore has more wins this season than it had in the previous three combined (8). The Bulldogs played one of their most complete games Saturday at Midd-West with Jacob Lorson producing a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Ben Dalton had 21 points and eight rebounds, while Tucker Hanna filled the stat sheet with nine points, seven boards and six assists. Landon Lathan added six assists and Jersey Shore capped a 2-0 week.

Players of the Week

Levi Butler, South Williamsport and Stiles Eyer, Muncy: Northwest cooled off South Friday, but Butler rampaged through his first two games, helping the Mounties defeat Hughesville and CMVT. Butler topped 20 points in three straight contests, erupting for a career-high 36 in the hard-fought Hughesville victory. The sophomore added 20 more against CMVT and added six rebounds against Northwest. Eyer pulled off the rare double-double that does not involve points on consecutive nights last weekend. At CMVT, the senior guard totaled 11 assists and 10 steals, adding eight assists. The next day at Susquenita it was Eyer producing 12 rebounds and 11 assists. He added 12 points and eight rebounds against Sullivan County.

Game of the Week

Montgomery at St. John Neumann: If this rematch is as fun as the first game last month, fans will be in for a treat. Montgomery defeated Neumann for the first time since 2011 when Hayden Wilt hit a last-second runner for a 62-60 victory. Both teams are hoping to make some noise in the District 4 AA field, so expect a fiercely contested game.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

1. Loyalsock (13-1): Before a sloppy, but hard-fought win at North Schuylkill last Saturday, Loyalsock delivered a gutsy performance when it was without 1,000-point scorer Lacey Kriebel and top reserve Addi Barowy but still beat Southern Columbia, 60-41. Julie Ellis and Jillian Kennedy had big nights there, Ellis generating a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Kennedy scoring a career-high 16 points. Kriebel returned and scored 14 points in consecutive games against Bloomsburg and North Schuylkill, while Alaina Dadzie had 11 points and 17 rebounds in Saturday’s win.

2. Hughesville (14-1): Hughesville entered Monday’s game at Milton on a high after completing a three-win week. The Spartans highlighted that run with an impressive 60-41 win at four-time defending District 4 Class AAAA champion Central Columbia. They avenged two defeats against the HAC-II leaders from last year and snapped their 10-game winning streak as well. Maddie Smith, Ava Snyder and Alli Anstadt all scored in double figures and Allyssa King and Anna Easton provided strong production off the bench there and at Mount Carmel where Hughesville won, 56-30.

3. Jersey Shore (10-3): Jersey Shore moved into a tie for first place in the HAC-I last Wednesday, handing Shikellamy its first league loss and winning, 45-34. The Bulldogs have won four straight games and have a shot to break that tie and avenge a previous defeat Wednesday when they host Selinsgrove. Peyton Dincher has scored at least 20 points in four straight games and Cailyn Schall had 12 points, seven assists and five steals last Friday against Midd-West. Sophia Stover added five steals and Avery DePasqua nine points, along with six assists.

4. Lewisburg (10-4): Slow starts on consecutive nights at Central Columbia and Lourdes hindered Lewisburg as it rallied but lost both. Central took a one-game lead on Lewisburg in the HAC-II, but the Green Dragons host them in a few weeks. Maddy Moyers continues having an excellent junior season and totaled 41 points and 16 rebounds in those contests. Before those defeats, Lewisburg recorded an impressive 57-34 win against Shamokin. Teagan Osunde was outstanding, scoring 16 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and making four steals. She also was just two assists from a triple-double at Central.

5. Milton (9-4): Liz Schrock is becoming a well-rounded weapon in the paint and produced a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds in Friday’s 61-55 loss at Shamokin. Addison Wenzel scored 18 points in that game, while Carrie King had nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Earlier in the week, King scored a career-high 21 points, helping Milton win at Montoursville, 52-36.

Players of the Week

Addi Gresh, Muncy and Kendall Kitchen, Canton: Gresh is becoming quite a weapon inside, offensively and defensively. The 6-foot senior produced double-doubles in her first two games last week and may have earned a third if Muncy had blown things open so quick. Gresh scored a career-high 18 points against Sullivan County, grabbed 12 rebounds against Northeast Bradford and blocked seven shots in those games. Kitchen also makes things happen on both ends of the court and averaged 17.7 points in Canton’s three victories. A three-year starter, the junior guard averages nearly three steals per game and has scored at least 19 points in three of her last four games.

Game of the Week

Muncy at Lewisburg: Thursday’s game features a battle between state qualifiers in the Class AAAA and AA fields from last year. It also is a contenst in which the two teams have combined to win 16 of their last 18 games. Maddy Moyers and Addi Eyer are two of the area’s top point guards, so that will be a fun match-up to watch within the game.

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