NTL BOYS BASKETBALL: TOWANDA'S SECOND HALF RALLIES COME UP SHORT AGAINST LOYALSOCK (February 20, 2026)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
TOWANDA — A rough second quarter put Towanda boys basketball in a deep hole during the District IV, Class AAA basketball playoffs Thursday. In the second half they repeatedly rallied to get out of it, but each time Loyalsock had an answer with the Lancers holding on to win 63-54 in quarterfinals action.

“I thought Loyalsock did a nice job of coming out and setting the tone,” Towanda coach Landon Henry said. “They had a little bit of a quicker first step than us early on. I felt like we didn’t trust our preparation. Early in the second half we started to loosen up a bit more and play more aggressive - obviously, with the score we needed to do that - but it starts with setting the tone of the game.”

It was 10-5 Loyalsock after one then they went on to score 24 second quarter points to take a 34-17 lead at the half.

The Knights rallied in the third, getting the deficit to nine points at one point, only to watch the Loyalsock’s Brandon Cioffi hit back to back 3-balls to push the lead back to 46-31 at the horn.

Towanda charged again in the fourth, making it a 7-point deficit with 6:24 to go, but a Cioffi 3-ball sparked an 8-0 Loyalsock spurt to increase the lead to 54-39 halfway through the quarter.

The Knights got it back to a 9-point deficit with 1:59 to play but ran out of time.

Boom Thompson led Towanda with 19 points - 17 of them in the second half, 15 of them in the fourth quarter - while Markel Garner added nine points to go with a half dozen blocked shots.

“Those two guys, it’s like Thing One and Thing Two,” said Henry. “Boom is our floor general, and our extension of the coaching staff. I was proud of him. I knew he was going to respond in the second half because I felt that he played a little uptight, and didn’t really control our pace offensively like we expect him to do, but he responded just fine the second half. And tonight’s a night for him to take a moment, an experience like tonight he can just grow from exponentially as a player.

“And then for Markell, he also will grown from an experience like tonight. It was a big challenge for him to guard a long, athletic perimeter four/five, and he did a nice job. I think (Saoj Jones) made tough shots on the perimeter early tonight, which kind of spooked us a little bit, but Markell did a really nice job of being physical, and holding an identity at the rim for us defensively. I’m so proud of both Boom and Markell for their efforts this season.”

Darrius Farrell, and Lucas Vincent both scored nine points, as well, with Graham Welles adding four points. Keegan Stroud, and Landon Clark had two points apiece.

Cioffi ended with 20 points to lead Loyalsock as Jones added 15.

Issac Blackwell netted 11, Breckon Cusick notched seven, Jalil Coates scored five, Ronnie Emery hit a 3-ball, and Ryan Lingg rounded things out with two points.

Points were hard to come by as Loyalsock took a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game.

Garner got Towanda on the scoreboard with a mid-range jumper, followed by the two teams trading trips to the foul line for a 7-3 Lancer lead.

Emory’s 3-ball made it 10-3 with a minute to go in the frame, but a Thompson lay-up late cut it to a 5-point ball game.

Loyalsock came out of the quarter break and scored on their first four possessions to take an 18-5 lead.

A pair of Garner free throws cut it to 18-7, but another 4-0 spurt from the Lancers saw them go up 22-7.

The Knights rallied as they got a steal and lay-up from Vincent, followed by a free throw, to make it a 12-point game.

Jones would end the run with a 3-ball, but then Farrell came back with a deep ball of his own.

Loyalsock pushed the lead to 31-13 with 1:55 left in the half when a pair of Vincent freebies cut it to 31-15.

A Cioffi 3-ball pushed the lead to 19 points but a pair of Stroud free throws at the end of the quarter made it a 17 point game at the break.

Towanda went on a 5-0 run to start the third only to watch Loyalsock come back with six straight points to push the lead to 18 points.

A Farrell lay-up with 4:30 left in the third quarter started the Knights’ next run, with Vincent backing him up with a 3-ball.

A Garner lay-up off a Welles assist made it 40-29 with 3:10 on the clock. A Farrell put back got it back to single digits with just over two minutes left.

That’s when Cioffi hit back to back 3-balls as Loyalsock re-exerted themselves.

Thompson opened the fourth with back to back threes, then Farrell got a steal and lay-up for a 46-39 over a minute and a half into the final frame.

Cioffi would rain on their parade again with another 3-ball, and this time he got help with a lay-up from Jones, followed by three more free throw points for a 15-point lead with 3:58 on the clock.

A Clark lay-up off a Thompson assist started Towanda’s third rally of the half, followed by a Thompson free throw, then a Welles jumper for a 54-44 score with 2:39 on the clock.

Cioffi would go to the line at the other end, going 1-for-2, but a Thompson jumper with two minutes to go made it a 55-46 game.

The Knights were then obliged to foul, and while Loyalsock helped them out by going 1-for-2, the Lancers kept getting the offensive boards to keep their possessions going, rebuilding their lead to 60-48 with 25 seconds to play.

A Thompson 3-pointer cut it to 9-points with 14.2 seconds left, but the Knights couldn’t get it any closer.

It might be the end of the road for the 2025-2026 season but Henry felt it was a success even if it ended a little earlier than expected.

“I’m proud of the guys,” he remarked. “I would say that these guys have put a lot into this. We didn’t get the outcome we wanted tonight, but after a couple of days hopefully our guys can take a moment and reflect on the joy that they have to take with them in all that they accomplished. And, hopefully, walking away from tonight they have a little hunger, and a little vision for what their future needs to look like in order to make that next step.”

He’s also saying good-bye to his two seniors in Farrell and Clark.

“Those two seniors have devoted four years of their playing career here at Towanda, and it’s meant something to them,” said Henry. “They’ve been through extensive injury history, and they just continued to stick with it. We challenged them, and they’ve responded in every way. I would just want to thank our two seniors.”

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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING

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