NTL BOYS' BASKETBALL: TOWANDA USES STRONG SECOND HALF TO TOP CV (2022-12-04)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
TOWANDA — Towanda used some hot outside shooting and suffocating defense to pull away from Cowanesque Valley, 61-34, during NTL boys’ basketball action Saturday.

The Knights got off to a strong start, but some foul trouble saw the sputter a little bit in the second quarter. The Indians would rally into the third, cutting it to 27-20, but Towanda responded by scoring the next 13 points to take a 20-point lead, and CV wasn't able to get back into the game.

“We started a little uneasy on the offensive end,” said coach Landon Henry. “I thought we played really hard defensively the entire game, I was very pleased with that. Offensively, we were just doing a little bit of catch dribbling, wanting to go a little too fast. We just need to catch, and see the floor before we make a decision.”

Henry went deep into his rotation - he had with first half foul trouble - and paid it off as the Knights finished with 19 bench points. It was a true team effort as nobody got into double figures.

Justin Schoonover, Teagan Irish, and Jack Wheaton had nine points each to lead the Knights. Schoonover also grabbed six boards, as Irish had three rebounds.

Logan Lambert finished with eight points, and three rebounds, while Grady Flynn, Elias Shrawder, and Bailey Poll had six points a piece.

Connor Barnes and Vinnie Mignano each chipped in with two points, with Barnes getting five boards, and Mignano grabbing three. Jack Tavani added six rebounds off the bench.

The Knights had more threes than twos (11-9), and got some help from CV, who struggled from the line, going just 12-for-27.

Fletcher Good led the Indians with 12 points.

Towanda jumped out to an 8-3 first quarter lead in the first four minutes of play, punctuated with an Irish 3-ball.

They would outscore the Indians 8-4 the rest of the way, thanks to two 3-balls from Lambert and Flynn.

Towanda’s lead ballooned to as much as 27-8, but CV scored the final eight points of the second quarter to cut it to 27-16 at the half.

In the third Good got back to back lay-ups to make it 27-20, and it was looking like things would get tight.

An Irish lay-up, though, would start the Knights’ big run, followed by up a pair of Schoonover free throws to make it 31-20.

Shrawder then found Irish for a 3-ball to extend their lead to 34-20.

The Knights would get six more points before an Owen Kemp lay-up ended the run.

However, Towanda started another, ending the quarter with 10 straight points to take a 50-22 lead after three.

This was a good sign of growth for Towanda, who, a season ago, needed a last second lay-up from Irish to get the win over at CV.

“Cowanesque Valley is well coached team, and I have a lot of credit for their team,” said Henry. “They played very hard. I told our guys, we’ve got to show up ready to play today, because they’re going to give us a physical, scrappy fight.”

Despite the early foul trouble, and the typical high amount of turnovers that come with the first game of the season, the Knights were able to find their groove in the second half.

The home stand continues for Towanda as they host Sayre on Wednesday with a 7:15 p.m. start.

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PHOTO CAPTION: Towanda’s Justin Schoonover gets a lay-up against CV…PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING