NTL BOYS' BASKETBALL: VETERAN TOWANDA FEELS THIS IS THEIR YEAR (2022-12-01)
BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports ReportTowanda boys’ basketball feels like this year is their year. They’ve shown sparks the last two seasons, particularly a year ago, but with a big group of returnees, and influx of younger players, the Knights feel they should be competitive in the league this season.
“We’re looking forward to a year where we had a heavy junior class last year, so those guys are now stepping into a senior role,” said coach Landon Henry. “And we’re hoping that those guys can be the engine of the team, and kind of guide some of these younger additions to our team throughout the course of the season.”
They return three of five starters - Elias Shrawder, Justin Schoonover, and junior Teagan Irish.
Schoonover has been starting since he was a sophomore, and Shrawder has been getting heavy minutes since then, as well. And they want to set their sights high.
“My goal is to get a district home game,” said Schoonover. “I really want that, it would be so cool.”
Schoonover put up 6.8 PPG a year ago playing as a hybrid forward. Shrawder averaged 7.4 PPG, while Irish brings back the most offensive punch at 8.9 PPG a year ago. Senior Grady Flynn had 2.9 PPG off the bench, along with sophomore Jack Wheaton (2.8 PPG).
“It helps when you’re bringing back five upperclassmen, five players that played meaningful minutes last year,” said Shrawder. “And we’re bringing back Logan Lambert, who didn’t play at all last year. He constantly got injured, but it’s good to have him back, and bring a lot of depth, which is good.”
Lambert, at 6-feet, 4-inches, brings them some much needed size, while they expect Flynn to take over the center role that departing senior Mason Hartmann held a year ago.
Being a little smaller is going to have an affect on their offensive game plan.
“We’re going to look to push the pace again,” said Henry.
Their biggest loss is guard Dante Ottaviani, who led the team in scoring at 13 PPG. He was one of the area’s top marksmen, and solid defender, to boot.
They’re hoping a strong crop of sophomores will help fill in the gaps, namely Wheaton, Will Shrawder, and Connor Barnes.
“We had all those guys playing meaningful minutes last year,” said Elias. “That has really set a precedent for hit year, so they’re going to have to step up.”
Irish also looks like he could have a break out year, especially with the way he was scoring at the end of last season.
“I’ve been working on my shot, and working on finishing around the hoop,” he said. “I really expanded my game so that way I can do anything.”
They’ve made it a point of working on their shooting in order to replace those threes that they’ll miss from Ottaviani.
“We’re in the gym all the time,” said Irish. “I think we should be alright.”
Rebounding will be another key - Hartmann was their best rebounder - but that’s one area Schoonover will look to pick up the slack.
“I’ll be flying around,” he said.
It’s the defensive end that Henry is most focused on. Hartmann took a lot of charges in the paint, and Ottaviani chased around a lot of perimeter players.
“If we can control the game on the defensive end it’ll lead to good offense for us,” said Henry.
The NTL landscape has changed quite a bit over the last year - Troy, Athens, Wyalusing, Wellsboro have all graduated quite a bit of their teams from the last three years. As those teams try and figure things out the Knights believe they have an edge with their continuity.
“We have more chemistry,” Schoonover said. “We’ve been playing with each other forever, we know how each other play.”
As for Henry, this is year two of being at the helm, and he’s feeling much more comfortable now than he was at this point a year ago.
“Coach Mattocks has been here and done it for numerous years,” he said. “He’s a huge help, and then we also have coach Mike Rawlings, who’s in here almost every day with us, and he’s been a big help. Having those two on staff has been beneficial for me. And these guys having the attitude that they have, the willingness to work, and the willingness to listen, it has really just been a blessing for me.”
NP-Mansfield and Athens are expected to be the top two teams in the division, but if things break right, Towanda sees themselves right there with them. Last year they played in a lot of tough games with some of the NTL’s best, but couldn’t quite close them out.
“I talked about, last year, just getting more and more experience,” Henry explained. “Getting familiar with that winning face. I felt we tasted it a little bit last year, and I’m excited for these guys to go and explore even more.”
The players believe everything they’ve gone through in careers is leading to this season.
“We were in a lot of close games last year,” said Elias. “We’ve just got to do the little things right and close the games out.”
ROSTER (Grade)
Elias Shrawder (12)
Grady Flynn (12)
Logan Lambert (12)
Dominic Posey (12)
Justin Schoonover (12)
Teagan Irish (11)
Vincenzo Mignano (11)
Evan Chandler (11)
Andrew Barker (11)
Jack Wheaton (10)
Jack Tavani (10)
Wil Shrawder (10)
Connor Barnes (10)
Varrius Farrell (10)
Gianni Assante Di Cupillo (10)
Edan Flynn (10)
Landon Clark (9)
Kole Heyer (9)
Bayley Poll (9)
Calogero Mignano (9)
Cameron Miller (9)
Darrius Farrell (9)
Nolan Deacon (9)
SCHEDULE
Dec. 3 - vs CV, 1:30 p.m.
Dec. 7 - vs Sayre, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 12 - at Montrose, 7 p.m.
Dec. 14 - at Canton, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 16 - at Muncy Tournament, 6 p.m.
Dec. 17 - at Muncy Tournament
Dec. 19 - at NPM, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 - at Wellsboro, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 28 - vs Athens (Valley Christmas Tournament), 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 29 - Valley Christmas Tournament
Dec. 30 - Valley Christmas Tournament
Jan. 4 - at Sullivan County, 8 p.m.
Jan. 6 - vs Wyalusing, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 13 - vs Troy, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 17 - at NPL, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 19 - at Williamson, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 23 - vs NEB, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 26 - vs NPM, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 31 - vs Wellsboro, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 2 - at Wyalusing, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 6 - at Meadowbrook Christian, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 7 - at Athens, 7:30 p.m.
