Montoursville and Lewisburg react to the final score as Lewisburg wins 56-53 at Shikellamy High School. Lewisburg won 56-53 to win the District IV AAAA Champions. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Before watching his team play Montoursville last Friday, Lewisburg coach Leon Tucker looked toward the past.

He watched some film from 2024, featuring current seniors Aiden Eby, Rebira Jemana, Nazir Meredith and Cooper Mowry. They were smaller and not as skilled back then, boys growing into their roles as Lewisburg struggled through a six-win regular season.

Friday at Shikellamy’s Field House, Tucker watched those four young men earn gold medals.

All four have played vital roles during a rapid program transformation, helping Lewisburg become kings of the District 4 Class AAAA world. The Green Dragons won a thrilling 56-53 championship against Montoursville last Friday, and have made a 15-win improvement since 2024, entering their state tournament game Friday against Big Spring at 21-4.

“They went through a lot. They battled through some hard times. We had some tough practices; we had some heart to hearts. A lot of emotion was shed over the last three years with those guys,” Tucker said. “For them to continue to show up and put the work in, trust in me, trust in the coaching staff, believing in each other and coming together for each other has to be pretty damn rewarding.

“That’s awesome. They deserve that.”

Seniors and underclassmen came together and helped Lewisburg secure its first district championship since 2022. The Dragons have won 16 straight games, avenging two defeats along the way. They rallied from an early six-point deficit against Montoursville before holding off a furious rally.

Jemana sparked a swarming defense; Mowry scored a game-high 19 points and Meredith scored five key fourth quarter points. The work continues and Lewisburg eyes conquering a bigger mountain now, starting Friday when it hosts Big Spring in the state tournament, but two years after starting near the bottom it has reached the district summit.

“It’s been an incredible journey,” Jemana said after scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds against Montoursville. “We weren’t where we wanted to be two years ago, but we knew the potential we had and every day we put in work these past two years. Now we’re here.”

Promising signs came following the regular season two years ago when Lewisburg stunned No. 2-seeded Montoursville in the district quarterfinals and defeated No. 4 Central Columbia in the third-place game, avenging two prior defeats against both, to reach the state tournament. The Dragons made an eight-win improvement last year, but went one-and-done in districts.

That result fueled the team’s collective fire and Lewisburg hit the ground running soon after the season concluded. The road took the Dragons throughout the Eastern seaboard, but ultimately, took them right they hoped to go.

“It’s amazing. All the early mornings and late nights we had were worth it,” Mowry said. “We were going to Harrisburg and playing teams down there; we went to Liberty University for team camp. All the workouts over the summer and winter and now we’re here. It’s amazing.”

Lewisburg hoped all that work would lead to immediate results but following a 3-0 start, it dropped four of its next six games. At 5-4 and with Mowry battling an injury, it was hard to tell where this season might go. But when times grew tough, Lewisburg was able to lean on the experiences it shared throughout the summer, as well as the past two years.

Playing at defending HAC-II co-champion Mount Carmel, Lewisburg put it all together and romped to a 66-47 victory. That was the turning point and the winning never stopped from there, with the Dragons capturing the HAC-II championship. They then exacted revenge, flipping previous defeats against District 4 Class AAA champion Warrior Run and Southern Columbia to take the Heartland Conference title for the first time.

Next up was districts and Lewisburg thumped state qualifier Mount Carmel before fighting off Montoursville and securing those coveted gold medals. What a ride it has been.

“I hope they remember this for the rest of their lives,” Tucker said. “I hope they remember not just tonight, but I hope they remember back in April when we started this with the open gyms and what we did in the summer, going to summer camps and driving to Harrisburg in the summer and fall. The journey to get here was pretty special.”

Everything Lewisburg has learned and endured together came shining through against Montoursville. The Dragons had won two hard-fought games against Montoursville during the regular season but the third battle was the toughest yet. What the game lacked in shooting percentage was compensated by relentless effort and neither team backing down.

It seemed fitting that the final obstacle on what has been a two-year odyssey was one of Lewisburg’s toughest yet. It took all the Dragons operating as one but they took Montoursville’s best shot and hit back, becoming the program’s fifth district champion since 2014.

“It’s so much more rewarding. The way we had to battle showed our growth,” Jemana said. “We started off and were losing and they got the upper hand. In the past we would have been done, but all the work we put in, we came back and fought and clawed our way back.”

“They have a combination of players and they have a really good basketball team,” Montoursville coach Mike Mussina said. “They play a lot of basketball. Not just now, not just during basketball season, but all the time. That’s how you get to this point and they earned it.”

Lewisburg has become a team as balanced as it is talented. All five starters average more than nine points per game, while reserves like Jaylen Walker and Jack Siegel also have played critical roles. The team’s motto is “Together,” and only by uniting together could Lewisburg have won this championship

The entire team, but especially the four seniors, have grown literally and figuratively a lot these last two years. And if they all build off the lessons which built a champion, Tucker likes the destinations their lives may take them.

“I was looking at film of them (the seniors) two years ago and looking at what little scrawny sophomores they were to watching the men they’ve become now,” Tucker said. “I hope with the lessons they’ve learned along the way from this, it leads them to be good men in life and that they’ve made some good life lessons along the way.”