NTL BOYS' BASKETBALL: YOUTHFUL TROY LOOKS TO KEEP WINNING WAYS GOING (2022-12-01)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
It’ll be a new chapter for Troy boys’ basketball, as former coach Bob Woodward returns to the bench, and last year’s returnees step into new roles.

They say good-bye to last year’s senior class that defined Trojan basketball for the past three years, but they actually return quite a bit of role players from last year’s team that won a league title, and went to a district final.

“It feels good to have five or six kids come back that got varsity experience the whole year,” said returning guard Justice Chimics. “I think we’re feeling pretty good in this spot.”

And with just two seniors they have plenty of room to grow.

“You know, we’re probably the youngest team on our schedule,” said Woodward. “I haven’t looked at everybody, but we’re loaded with sophomores and juniors. It’s going to be tough for everybody, everybody’s going to be in roles where they maybe haven’t been before, but our goal right now is just to win each day. We have no control over a lot of things that happen, but we’re going to try to win each day in practice, and, hopefully, by the end of this, we’re the best that we can be.”

Chimics is the top scorer returning at 5.4 PPG, though Colin Loveland (3.8 PPG), Lance Heasley (2.1 PPG), Evan Woodward (2.0 PPG), and Jackson Taylor (1.5 PPG) all return. 

It helps that their skills are varied, with ‘Lockdown Lance’ Heasley bringing size, rebounding and defensive inside, while Taylor brings perimeter defense.

“My primary goal is don’t let anybody score,” said Heasley, though he’ll be looking for some more of offense this year as they have to replace 50 points of production.

One player to keep an eye on Evan Woodward. He missed the first half of last year, but came back strong, having a breakout game in the district semifinal win over Bloomsburg.

“I ended up getting more playing time towards the end of the year, and got a lot more experience on the varsity level. Hopefully, I can use that, and not be behind everyone at the beginning of the season.”

The 6-foot forward will be one of those called upon to fill in some of the scoring, and he knows it.

“I will probably be more aggressive,” Evan said. “We had a lot of good players last year, like Ty, Evan, and Mason, that were able to carry big roles, and I just kind of filled in the spots when I need to, but hopefully I can be more aggressive this year.”

Loveland was also a good marksman last year, and also brings athleticism to the table. 

And they have plenty of players from the JV team a year ago that are chomping at the bit to get on the varsity floor.

“I think there’s a lot of guys that really want to play hard, and that’s what we’re going after,” said coach Woodward. “As long as we have a bunch of guys that play hard, then there’s going to be a lot of people that play, so we’re excited about that part. I think there’s a lot of people here that can contribute.”

Chimics will likely be called upon to be one of the ball handlers, a role he filled off the bench last year.

“We just need more communication, and play as a team as a whole,” said Chimics. “Really just playing hard for each other.”

They all said how playing in big games last year gives them confidence going into this season. They probably come in with more big game experience than some veteran teams.

But figuring out how to use that experience within their new team framework has been a point of emphasis this early going.

“We just have to get our team chemistry back,” said Heasley.

Despite the turnover on the roster, they’re schedule is still as tough as ever, both playing in the Large School Division, and some of their non-league games out of it.

“There’s so many good coaches and players in our league,” said coach Woodward. “We’re just trying to win each practice right now. There’s going to be some bumps in the road ahead, and how we handle that sort of adversity will determine how we’ll end up.”

They’ll also be going for the league 3-peat, but it won’t be easy, despite some of the turnover other teams have had.

NP-Mansfield and Towanda bring back veteran squads, Wyalusing, last year’s Small School champs, join the division, and Athens and Wellsboro are always tough.

But, at the end of the day, Troy feels they can give be in the mix, too.

“It’s definitely something that I think we have to do,” Chimics said. “We got to get the 3-peat. People are going to play their toughest game against us. We’ve got to be ready.”

ROSTER (Grade)

Justice Chimics (12)

Jeff Busch (12)

Lance Heasley (11)

Colin Loveland (11)

Logan Prouty (11)

Jackson Taylor (11)

Trevon Teribury (11)

Jack Burbage (10)

Lincoln Chimics (10)

Eason Teribury (10)

Evan Woodward (10)

Joseph Frye (10)

SCHEDULE

Dec. 2 - vs Benton, 7 p.m.

Dec. 7 - vs NEB, 7 p.m.

Dec. 9 - at Sullivan County Tournament, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 10 - at Sullivan County Tournament

Dec. 14 - at Sayre, 7 p.m.

Dec. 16 - vs Wyalusing, 7 p.m.

Dec. 17 - vs Lewisburg, 6 p.m.

Dec. 21 - vs NPM, 7 p.m.

Dec. 27 - at Shamokin Tournament

Dec. 28 - at Shamokin Tournament

Jan. 3 - vs Canton, 7 p.m.

Jan. 6 - vs Athens, 7 p.m.

Jan. 11 - at Wellsboro, 7 p.m.

Jan. 13 - at Towanda, 7 p.m.

Jan. 17 - at CV, 7 p.m.

Jan. 19 - at NPL, 7 p.m.

Jan. 24 - vs Williamson, 7 p.m.

Jan. 26 - at Wyalusing, 7 p.m.

Jan. 31 - at NPM, 7 p.m.

Feb. 2 - at Athens, 7 p.m.

Feb. 7 - vs Wellsboro, 7 p.m.

Feb. 9 - vs Towanda, 7 p.m.

Feb. 16 - NTL Showcase

Feb. 18 - NTL Showcase