NTL GIRLS BASKETBALL: TROY PULLS AWAY FROM TOWANDA, CLINCHES THIRD STRAIGHT LARGE SCHOOL TITLE (February 4, 2026)
BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports ReportROME — Different faces, same result for Troy girls’ basketball, who fought off a determined Towanda team for a 51-34 win in NTL girls’ hoops action to claim their third straight Large School title.
This one has a special place in first year coach Steve Renzi’s heart. While he’s won titles with the boys, this is his first with the girls, and its a family affair.
“It’s great because of my two daughters, but all those girls are my daughters,” he said. “I’ve known them forever, coached them forever. It’s just amazing to see how hard they’ve worked, and how much they’ve improved. Towanda gave us a real good game tonight, and we wavered a little bit, but the girls fought back. We get on those little runs, and it’s hard to stop us, but it’s just amazing for them.”
Having two daughters on the team has its perks, too.
“It’s an interesting dinner table,” Coach Renzi said. “But it’s been amazing because these girls listen so well. We can get through drills, and go to the next drill so easily, and then having my daughters there, it’s kind of nice because I can get the mods of the team before, or even after.”
For Giana Renzi, its her third title as she is the bridge from the first two championship teams to this one.
“I’ve played with these girls before, growing up, so I knew what we had coming,” said Renzi. “I knew we’d be young, and not very experienced, but I knew, eventually, getting some varsity games under our belt we’d be athletic, and be able to accomplish this again.”
After coming off the bench last year, Kyah Renzo has stepped into a starring role this season for the Trojans.
“I just didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself,” she said. “I just wanted to work with my teammates, work every single day in the gym, and just work tother to win a game.”
She notes how this team is different than the iteration from the past two seasons.
“We definitely have to communicate and talk more,” said Renzi. “We are just so close that its just so nice to play with each other.”
The Knights, though, came out early with something to prove. Troy won their first meeting by mercy rule, and Towanda wanted to show that was an aberration.
They led 7-5 after the first quarter, and as much as 13-5 early in the second quarter, but Troy went on a 16-1 run to end the half for a 21-14 lead.
They extended that lead to 35-21 going into the fourth, where they pushed it to 18 points at one point. Towanda rallied, cutting it to a 12 point deficit with 3:23 to play, but didn’t score another field goal the rest of the game.
“I told the kids at halftime, there were two things in the game - I think it was the one second quarter run, and then I felt like we came out flat for some reason at halftime,” Towanda coach Rob Gentile said. “We gave them a couple easy buckets, and a seven point game turned into a 13 or 14 real quick, and we just never recovered. I was really pleased with the fight in the kids tonight. Last time I don’t think we gave them a competitive game, but I thought tonight was highly competitive. I don’t know if the score is going to indicate that, but I was really pleased with the toughness our kids showed, theirs as well. It’s a solid group - that 1-3-1 is deadly - you don’t see it often, so kids aren’t used to it. They rotate well out of it, you don’t get clean looks, and they make getting to the basket very difficult. I thought our kids did a good job, especially late in the game, just attacking it. That was our game plan from the get go, but I think we threw the ball around a little bit too much early on.”
Renzo netted 18 points to lead Troy, going 10-for-11 from the free throw line in the process, to go with five boards, and five steals.
Izzy Renzi, and Haidyn Watson had nine points each, as Izzy added four boards, and three steals, while Watson was 3-for-5 from deep with seven boards.
Raelyn Woodward added six points, as Giana Renzi had five points and nine assists. Emma Mickley chipped in with four points, and four boards.
Payton Perry had nine points, and five steals to lead Towanda, as Mya Maynard, and Brynn Woodruff had seven points, and seven boards each. Woodruff also had two steals.
Reese Sullivan notched eight points, and two steals, with Kennedy Heyer getting three points. Karis Flynn, and Taylor Aquilio had two steals each.
Offense was hard to come by in the first quarter as the Knights took a 7-0 lead out of the gates behind buckets from Maynard, and Woodruff, followed by an And-1 from Sullivan.
“It was rough,” Troy’s Giana Renzi said about their start. “They played very good defense, and we didn’t handle the pressure great.”
Gentile liked how his defense forced them into quick shots.
“I think the first quarter was a really, highly competitive game,” he said. “I just think that we ran out of gas, and kind of let up in some spots.”
A Watson 3-ball with 2:43 on the clock got Troy on the scoreboard, followed by a Giana runner made it a 7-5 game at the first horn.
Towanda opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run, kick started by a Maynard 3-ball. Sullivan then had a lay-up, plus a free throw for a 13-5 lead a minute-and-a-half into the quarter.
A Woodward jumper would start Troy’s 16-1 run in the final 6:20 of the second quarter. Watson, and Izzy Renzi had back to back 3-balls to knot the game up at 13-all, then Giana found Renzo for a lay-up to put Troy up 15-13 with 3:20 left in the half.
Renzo then scored six straight points for Troy for the 21-14 halftime score.
Izzy opened up the second half with a runner, but Heyer hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 23-17. Mickley came back with a lay-up, while a Woodruff free throw made it 25-18.
The Trojans then went on a 7-0 run with back to back buckets from Renzo, followed by another Izzy 3-ball to push their lead to 32-18.
A Perry 3-ball ended that run, but with 5.3 seconds left Giana hit a bucket plus the foul for a 35-21 lead going into the fourth.
“We just talked about moving the ball before they could trap us,” Giana Renzi said about their halftime adjustments. “Not being scared or timid out there.”
Watson hit a 3-ball to open the final frame, but Towanda came back with a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to 14 points with just under seven minutes to go.
The Trojans went on a 5-1 run to push the lead to 43-25, but a 6-0 spurt from Towanda made it 43-31 with 3:23 left in the quarter.
Renzo would get a free throw, followed by a Woodward lay-up to make it 46-31 with 1:30 left.
Woodruff hit two freebies for Towanda, but at the other end Renzo went 5-for-6 from the free throw line to ice the game.
“They deserved to win it,” Gentile said. “They’re super well coached, a good group of kids. I know them personally, so I’m proud of them for that, but we’ll be back.”
Towanda will host Wellsboro on Friday as they continue to battle for the second post in the NTL Large School standings, and D4 playoff positioning.
As for Troy, they’re eyeing big things down the road, beginning with a trip to Athens on Thursday.
“We’ve got stuff to work on,” coach Renzi said. “We’re going to keep working hard. You know what, when they roll the ball out there we’re going to play as hard as we can, give 110-percent effort every minute we’re out there, and we’ll try to go bring home a district title.”’
— —
PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
Print Friendly Version
