Just 25 seconds remained and Northeast Bradford held both a four-point lead and the basketball.

And yet, Muncy nearly rallied and won another District 4 Class AA championship. The Indians forced two turnovers, and Dominic Guardini drained a clutch 3-pointer but a last-second 3-point attempt was just off the mark and Northeast Bradford celebrated a thrilling victory.

Clay Wilks scored five of his nine points in the fourth quarter and NEB held off Muncy’s furious push, winning its first district title of the 2000s, 34-33 at Montoursville’s Mike Mussina Court. The Indians (18-8) were making their fifth straight finals appearance, but NEB denied it a third title during that time.

“It speaks to the resiliency of this team that we had a shot at the end to win it,” Muncy coach Jason Gresh said. “It’s good for the young kids especially to get that experience tonight. It sucks for the seniors, but the seniors should be darn proud about getting to a fifth straight state tournament and fifth straight district championship game.

“They have set a precedent for the juniors to continue the run.”

Muncy nearly overcame the odds to win a third title in four years. Jaxton Frantz forced a turnover with 22.2 seconds remaining and Guardini’s 3-pointer pulled the Indians within, 34-33. NEB attempted a baseball pass against full-court pressure out of a timeout, but it sailed long and out of bounds after being tipped.

Guardini inbounded under Muncy’s basket to Nate Rogers who dribbled toward midcourt and whipped a pass on the right wing to Dylan Mausteller. The sophomore is an excellent shooter with a bright future, but the attempt bounced off the rim and NEB held on, avenging last year’s overtime loss against Muncy in the semifinals.

“You look back and think of things you could have done or should have done, and you can play that game all night but at the end of the day we didn’t get it done tonight,” Gresh said. “But another game is ahead of us, and we have to prepare for that.”

Indeed, Muncy has a new opportunity, and the biggest prize remains out there. The Indians will play against District 9’s runner-up either Red Bank Valley or Clarion next Saturday, March 7 at a District 9 site.

Not just that it lost, but how Muncy lost obviously had it hurting Wednesday. The effort and execution were there, but shots simply refused to drop. Now, it’s a matter of moving forward instead of looking back.

“You let this one sting a little bit and then you start looking toward next Saturday. That’s really what we have to do,” Gresh said. “Once this sting gets past, we’ll be able to talk about it. We battled through a lot.”

Neither team really ever could get its offense going. Some of it was tough defense by each squad but a lot was simply cold shooting nights.

Muncy went downright frosty at times, especially in the second and fourth quarters when it went more than four minutes each time without scoring. It was not a lack of execution either. Muncy consistently worked for quality shots but so often they fell off the mark.

Despite that, Muncy erased a six-point third quarter deficit and went ahead, 30-28 on a Jaxton Frantz drive with 6 minutes, 24 seconds remaining. In a recurring theme, however, whenever it felt like Muncy was heating up, frost bite set in and it did not score again until Guardini’s 3-pointer in the closing seconds, a 6 minute, 16 second stretch.

It was a cruel twist of fate after Muncy seemingly could not miss Saturday at Montoursville when Frantz scored 37 points in a 64-25 semifinal win against Line Mountain.

“We weren’t forcing things. We were patient in our offense, we got the looks we wanted but they just wouldn’t fall,” Gresh said.”That’s basketball, unfortunately. We go from a night where Jax scores 30 in the first half to scoring 33 in a game. It’s crazy.”

Guardini scored 10 points and Frantz 8. Kyran Lisembee added seven, along with four assists and two steals. Rogers shined off the bench with four steals and two assists.

Rogers sparked a 6-0 run to close the first quarter after he entered and Muncy led 11-9 entering the second. After being held scoreless for nearly five minutes, Lisembee drained a 3-pointer and seconds later made a steal, feeding Frantz for a layup which pulled Muncy within, 18-16.

Lisembee assisted Frantz and Frantz found Nixon Lamper inside as the Indians tied it, 20-20 early in the third before going cold for nearly four minutes. Again, when it looked like NEB might pull away, Muncy rallied as Lisembee converted a steal into a layup and Rogers scored along the baseline to make it a two-point game entering the fourth.

Rogers then found Mausteller early in the fourth, tying the game before Frantz put Muncy ahead. Wilks (10 rebounds) answered and scored the next five points and NEB led, 34-30 with 1:54 left following a Daniel Barrett free throw.

“It was just a defensive battle all the way. We had a battle with them last year and won. Tonight, it just didn’t get done,” Gresh said. “It’s one of those you look back at, and it stings and it should sting, but you move forward.”

MUNCY (33)

Jaxton Frantz 4 0-0 8, Dominic Guardini 4 0-1 10, Nixon Lamper 2 0-2 4, Kyran Lisembee 3 0-0 7, Nate Rogers 1 0-0 2, Gavin Barrows 0 0-0 0, Jermain Morgan 0 0-0 0, Caleb Beaver 0 0-0 0, Carter Feigles 0 0-0 0, Dylan Mausteller 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 0-3 33.

NEB (34)

Cooper Brown 4 0-0 8, Eli Stanton 4 3-5 11, Mac Burgert 1 0-0 3, Clay Wilks 4 1-2 9, Daniel Barrett 0 1-2 1, Dayton Russell 1 0-2 2. Totals 14 5-11 34.

Muncy 11 5 10 7–33

NEB 9 11 8 6–34

3-pointers: Muncy 3 (Guardini 2, Lisembee); NEB 1 (Burgert).

Records: NEB 22-3. Muncy 18-8.