NTL BOYS' BASKETBALL: NEB LOOKING TO HAVE BOUNCE BACK SEASON (2022-12-01)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
The Northeast Bradford boys’ basketball team will be hoping to bounce back this year after a tough season last year, and they have quite a few reasons for hope.

They return their starting backcourt from a year ago - including junior point guard Josh Stanton - as many other teams are saying good-bye to some historically good classes. That should allow them to hit the ground running this season.

“I’m very excited for the season,” said returning marksman Dillon Donnelly. “I think we got a lot of potential, and we’re coming in the gym working hard every single day.”

The league landscape changed, too, with defending Small School champs Wyalusing moving up to Large School, and Williamson dropping down. That gives the Panthers hope that they can compete for a league title.

“I think it’s definitely within our reach,” guard Joe Stanton said. “I think we just take it one game at a time, we definitely can set that as a goal.”

One area they’ll need to focus on is the paint. They lost 6-foot, 5-inch stalwart Dan Seeley to graduation, and don’t have anybody on the team listed over 6-feet, 1-inch.

“We’re going to try to play fast,” said coach Paul Burgert. “Small and fast.”

It helps that they return their starting point guard Josh Stanton. The junior was thrown into the deep end last year, but showed promise, with averages of 6.4 PPG, 3.3 APG, and 1.6 SPG.

“I think it really showed me what I need to improve on,” Josh said about last season. “I need to work on dribbling, passing - all the fundamentals. I think it showed me that I need to rely on my teammates more, and just do a few things better.”

He’ll be one of the few true point guards returning from last year, so that gives the Panthers an edge, especially in their division.

“He could be the best point guard in the league,” Burgert said. “He really had his ups and downs last year, his first year in varsity, but he really showed his promise.”

His brother Joe Stanton, the lone senior on the team, will flank him. Joe averaged 4.7 PPG, 3.1 APG, and 1.4 SPG.

They also have a younger brother, Eli Stanton, who comes in as a freshman, giving the program quite a family feel.

“Hopefully, we can all find some varsity minutes,” Joe said. “It’s fun playing with them, although, in practice, sometimes things get a little heated. Sometimes you’re going to get into it with them, but it’s fun. I love them, and I love playing with them.”

Donnelly put up 1.8 PPG a year ago, and had some nice moments shooting from deep. He knows he’ll have to improve upon his shot this year if they’re going to score points effectively.

“I’ve been putting even more work in my shooting,” remarked Donnelly. “We’re working on our shooting every single day. Everyone’s coming in, and putting in work. We just do a lot of extra shooting drills.”

Shooting may have been their biggest Achilles’ Heel last season, and now, without the size, they’ll definitely need to make a few more threes. 

“We’re hoping to see an improvement that, because that was a thorn,” Burgert said. “We have some kids that have up in some time, and hoping it pays off.”

But they’ve also embraced the fact they’re going to be small, with the players throwing the word ‘scrappy’ around quite a bit.

“We’re going to have to be more scrappy, we’re going to be more physical, and we’re going to need to push harder, and a lot faster,” Josh said. 

Cayden McPherson (1.2 PPG) is their only returning big man from the rotation a year ago, while Drew Beers (2.2 PPG) can bring some of that speed that they need.

Canton, CV, NP-Liberty, and Williamson all lost quite a few players to graduation, while Sayre has a new coach.

In districts defending champs Wyalusing moves up to AAA, but St. John Neumann, the Class A state champions, are up to AA now, making it just as tough as it’s always been, especially with Muncy bringing quite a few back.

They’ll be a few younger players in the mix, too, so they’ll still be some growing pains, but, looking around at the other teams, and what they have, Burgert is confident his team can compete for titles, whether in the league or district.

“We feel like this team could compete with anybody, believe-it-or-not, even though were undersized,” he said. “I think we have a lot of heart, and we’re hoping to prove that all right.”

ROSTER (Grade)

Joe Stanton (12)

Josh Stanton (11)

Cayden McPherson (11)

Dillon Donnelly (11)

William Herb (11)

Andrew Beers (11)

Brayden Miller (10)

Tanner Herb (10)

Connor Johnson (10)

Jayden Comstra (10)

Cooper Brown (9)

Dayton Russell (9)

Tyler Thoman (9)

Eli Stanton (9)

SCHEDULE

Dec. 5 - at Elk Lake, 7 p.m.

Dec. 7 - at Troy, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 9 - at Montgomery Tournament, 8 p.m.

Dec. 10 - at Montgomery Tournament

Dec. 14 - vs Wellsboro, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 16 - at Canton, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 19 - at Montrose, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 - vs Sayre, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 27 - vs Benton, 6 p.m.

Jan. 6 - at Williamson, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 11 - at CV, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 13 - at NPL, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 17 - vs Athens, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 19 - vs Wyalusing, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 21 - at NPM, 4 p.m.

Jan. 23 - at Towanda, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 26 - vs Canton, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 31 - vs Sayre, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 2 - vs Williamson, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 7 - vs CV, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 9 - vs NPL, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 11 - at Bloomsburg, noon