Moving on: North Penn-Liberty edges Meadowbrook Christian and returns to district championship

North Penn-Liberty players continue testing their fans hearts. They also keep winning.

And now, a year after making history, North Penn-Liberty has an opportunity to achieve another first. Nothing in the District 4 tournaments has come easy the last two years, but the Mounties are still standing: still displaying the will to match their skill.

Luke Kreger scored 21 points, Evan McTish (11 points, 17 rebounds) collected his 500th career rebound and Landon Mattern hit three late crucial free throws Monday at Montoursville as North Penn-Liberty won a thrilling 66-64 District 4 Class A semifinal against Meadowbrook Christian. The defending champions won their first title a year ago and will try and repeat when they face Sullivan County later this week at a time and place to be determined.

"It’s a great feeling," Kreger said. "We’re trying to go back-to-back. It was the first time ever last year winning it and we’re hoping to do it again."

"It was a nailbiter at the end. We made our free throws down the stretch which was key," North Penn-Liberty coach Bear Mattison said. "We played hard and just well enough to win."

North Penn-Liberty (16-9) reached both its fourth final and state tournament in the past six seasons, doing so with three new starters. The Mounties rallied from eight down early, then opened the fourth quarter on a 15-9 run, going up six with three minutes remaining. Victory, however, was not secured until sharpshooter Gavin Canelo rimmed out a potential game-winning 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

A year ago, North Penn-Liberty rallied from eight down in the semifinals against Bucktail and erased a late four-point deficit in the championship against Lourdes. Meadowbrook repeatedly tried to buckle the Mounties but never could break them.

There are some new starters and reserves this season, but the results remain the same. Through it all, North Penn-Liberty is finals-bound again.

"We knew other kids had to step up and we knew they would," Kreger said. "It wasn’t really any different, it was just different people had to step up and do different things."

"I felt very confident in them, and we all started playing well a couple games into the season and we really took off from there," McTish said after producing his ninth double-double. "I think we’re doing a good job playing team ball and passing the ball around."

Every player left his mark on the win with Mattern scoring 12 points, Conner Lewis going for eight with six rebounds and Brody Grinnell adding six points. Sudan Benner (8 points) and Silas Boiywo shined off the bench, giving huge contributions when Lewis and Grinnell were in first-half foul trouble.

Different players made big impacts at crucial times. It was not one or two players lifting North Penn-Liberty back to the finals, but all sharing the load.

"Losing them was big because they just weren’t three starters, but they put up a lot of points and played really good defense," Mattison said. "Landon Mattern stepped up as a point guard and Conner Lewis is a bulldog. They’re stepping up this year; Sudan is doing a good job as the sixth guy and Brody has really come on strong and played more aggressive as the year has gone on. Those guys have really stepped up."

North Penn-Liberty faced up an uphill climb, quickly falling behind 12-4 midway through the first quarter. The Mounties regrouped and built a 19-18 lead entering the second quarter, but the lead changed hands seven times before they went up, 33-32 at halftime. North Penn-Liberty never trailed again, but Meadowbrook scored the final seven points of the third quarter and tied it, 46-46 entering the fourth.

McTish fed Kreger for a layup and a Benner steal set up Mattern for an inside score which made it a five-point game. Mattern’s 3-pointer then had North Penn-Liberty up, 61-55 but Meadowbrook kept fighting back. Mattern drained a free thrown, then sank two big ones to put North Penn-Liberty up, 65-61 with 20 seconds left after a massive offensive rebound from Kreger.

Canelo (26 points) then drilled his seventh trey and made it a one-point game with eight seconds left before a Kreger free throw gave North Penn-Liberty a 66-64 advantage. Meadowbrook called timeout with 4.2 seconds remaining and Canelo raced upcourt. Not wanting to risk a foul, North Penn-Liberty forced him into a tough shot distance-wise, but the long-range bomb from beyond the top of the key created a harrowing few seconds, looking on target before rolling around and off the rim.

"It was a little scary," McTish said. "I’m happy he missed it."

North Penn-Liberty is happy it has McTish. A workhorse forward, McTish has become one of the area’s premier rebounders the past two seasons and reached 500 on the first possession of the second half despite missing most of his sophomore year with an injury. McTish needed 10 rebounds to reach 500 entering the game and now has 507.

Relentless work on the boards helped McTish give North Penn-Liberty coveted second and third chance scoring opportunities and he also helped put multiple Meadowbrook players in foul trouble. McTish was clutch at the line as well, making seven of eight shots, including three in the fourth quarter.

"I was going for it (500 rebounds), but I just wanted to win," McTish said. "I go for offensive rebounds and try to score as much as I can off them. I was a little off tonight, but we all pulled through and we won in the end, so it was all worth it."

Kreger and McTish are the team’s lone returning starters from last year’s championship team and Kreger made quite an impact again, too. The explosive guard used his speed to create plays on both ends and was especially strong in transition.

Kreger heated up in the middle quarters, scoring 14 of his points and making 6 of 7 shots at one point. He drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer which put North Penn-Liberty up one at halftime, finished around the basket to make it, 43-37 in the third and found Lewis inside in the fourth quarter, putting the Mounties up, 52-47.

"I try and think of myself as a leader and try to lead everything," Kreger said. "If I can heat up and lead everyone through it, I will, and if I can’t other guys step up and lead us through it."

"He has what I call that, ‘TWTW, the will to win,’" Mattison said. "He’s the motor for the team. He’s a phenomenal player."

North Penn-Liberty had thumped Meadowbrook, 50-24 last December at its Christmas Tournament. The Lions showed how far they have come since that game and will play Lourdes for third place and the district’s final state tournament berth. Meadowbrook pushed North Penn-Liberty as hard as possible, but the Mounties survived and advanced and have again reached the district’s ultimate destination.

"We hadn’t played since Tuesday, we didn’t have school today and we had foul trouble. It felt like it was all going against us," Mattison said. "They hung in there and we did just enough to win."

MEADOWBROOK (64)

Gavin Canelo 8 3-7 26, Luke Fasnacht 1 0-0 3, Cole Blackman 2 2-3 6, Isaac Beltz 4 2-2 10, Jaeden Canelo 2 1-4 5, Griffin Runkle 6 0-0 14. Totals 23 8-16 64.

NPL (66)

Brody Grinnell 3 0-0 6, Conner Lewis 4 0-0 8, Luke Kreger 9 2-4 21, Sudan Benner 3 1-2 8, Silas Boiywo 0 0-0 0, Evan McTish 2 7-8 11, Landon Mattern 3 5-8 12. Totals 24 15-22 66.

Meadowbrook 18 14 14 18--64

NP-Liberty 19 14 13 20--66

3-pointers: Meadowbrook 10 (G. Canelo 7, Runkle 2, Fasnacht); NPL 3 (Kreger, Benner, Mattern).

Records: North Penn-Liberty 16-9. Meadowbrook 14-10.