Williamsport had played some of its best basketball of the season en route to a seven-point lead midway through the second quarter over visiting State College on Saturday afternoon.

A young Millionaires squad was getting contributions up and down the lineup, taking care of the basketball and dominating the paint against an undersized Little Lions team.

But State College was able to turn the tide in a big way. A 15-3 run to close the half, capped off by a stepback 3 in the final 15 seconds by Nick Carr gave State College a lead they wouldn’t relinquish as they beat Williamsport at the Magic Dome, 62-49.

“The only thing I can think of is fatigue causing turnovers. That’s been a trend of ours lately. We get a 5-to-10 point lead, and then we have these careless turnovers, when we pass the ball out of bounds or try to dribble somewhere in traffic that we don’t need to,” Williamsport coach Allen Taylor said. “Because at that time they were not, it wasn’t a half-court trap or anything. It was just self-inflicted wounds, to be quite honest.”

Turnovers started to pile up quickly for Williamsport during that State College run as their youth and inexperience started to show. And the Little Lions did a great job of capitalizing off of those turnovers, especially from deep. Three different State High players hit triples in the quarter, capped off by Carr’s fantastic step-back from the right wing in the final few seconds.

The Millionaires fought their way back to a tie game in the early stages of the third quarter. After the teams played nearly three scoreless minutes, Tevin Williams made a tough basket to make the score 32-29. And the next time down, Quincy Williams caught the ball in the lane, kicked it out to Ethan Chilson in the right corner, and Chilson splashed home a 3-pointer to tie game up at 32.

But that would be the last tie or lead change of the contest.

The Little Lions would score 11 of the next 14 points in the quarter before Millionaire Naazir Lowe hit a three at the buzzer that got Williamsport back to within five at 43-38 to keep the game within reach heading into the final frame.

State College had other ideas.

The Little Lions scored the first ten points of the quarter to take a 53-38 lead before Chilson stopped the run with a basket-and-the-foul at the midway point of the final frame. But by that time, the damage was done due to the long scoring drought, something that’s been an issue in the early part of the season for Williamsport.

“We’ve got to find a way to get more unscripted points, offensive rebounds. We had some opportunities and we missed some offensive putbacks, but I don’t know that we got any transition buckets, which has been a staple of ours over the years. This team is struggling trying to score in transition,” Taylor said. “A lot of our stuff, we’re having to work hard and have half-court sets. Teams are loading up for Tevin, and as they should be. That means other guys have to cut, space, screen, do whatever. A lot of times he’s getting the ball and there’s a lot of standing. We’ve got to get some more action.”

Despite the loss, which drops WIlliamsport to 4-5, there are some things that Taylor is pleased to see from a team that frequently has three, sometimes four, sophomores or younger on the court. But he acknowledges there is a way to go if they’re to reach their goals this year.

“I’m happy with our willingness to compete. We just have to be more consistent, and we need to build our endurance. I think endurance is one of the things that we’re struggling with. Again, it goes back to that physicality. We’re OK for a quarter or two, but then it’s like a boxing match,” Taylor said. “That guy that’s going to the body the first five, six rounds, it wears them down. I think teams are wearing us down. We’re going to have to get mentally tougher, and we’re going to have to coach them a little bit better. We’ve got a lot of season.”

STATE COLLEGE (62)

Micah James 8 0-0 19, Nick Carr 6 0-0 14, Parker Thurley 2 0-0 4, Michael Powell, 3 0-0 8, Connor Baldwin 2 0-0 5, Lucas Starks 1 0-0 2, Connor Rhoades 4 1-1 10. Totals 26 1-1 62.

WILLIAMSPORT (49)

Naazir Lowe 3 0-0 7, Saleem Overton 3 0-1 6, Quincy Williams 2 1-2 5, Teven Williams 4 2-4 10, Mekhi Gaston 1 3-3 5, Ethan Chilson 3 1-1 9, Kason Ulmer 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 7-11 46

State College 11 21 11 19 – 62

Williamsport 11 16 11 11 – 49

3-point goals: State College 9 ( James 3, Carr 2, Powell 2, Baldwin 1, Rhodes 1), Williamsport 3 (Lowe 1, Chilson 2)