BOYS' BASKETBALL: DISTRICT IV, NTL RACES COMING DOWN TO THE WIRE (2021-02-15)

Northern Tier Sports Report
It’s another snow day - with a couple more possible this week - so, with less than two weeks left in the regular season, now is as good a time as any to see where everybody is in the standings.

DISTRICT IV

CLASS AA

Wyalusing     (8-3, .592)

Muncy           (10-3, .571)

Canton          (6-6, .454)

NEB              (6-7, .430)

E. Juniata     (4-7, .410)

Montomgery (5-7, .378)

Sayre            (3-9, .357)

CV                (3-10, .287)

Line Mtn.      (2-9, .285)

With their undefeated week last week the Rams moved into first place in the Class AA standings. They have a big week this week with games on Wednesday (Williamson), Friday (Sullivan County) and Saturday (Hughesville Tournament). They have also yet to play NTL Division-II leading NP-Liberty.

Muncy has seven games left, including Southern Columbia and South Williamsport. However, don’t expect them to fall away from the top, and it will likely come down to these two teams for the top spot.

The third through fifth seeds look to be between Canton, NEB and East Juniata. The Warriors have Montgomery, Athens and NP-Mansfield this week, a good chance to pick up some wins that could give them high points.

The Panthers got a big win against Wellsboro Saturday, and have a tough week ahead of them with Tunkhannock and Athens.

EJ appears to have four games left, including a non-conference battle with Upper Dauphin.

Montgomery and Sayre are battling for the sixth and seven spots. The Red Raiders have a busy schedule these next two weeks, with eight games scheduled.

Sayre has a handful of games left, including NP-Mansfield and Canton.

CV is trying to hold off Line Mountain for the last spot.

CLASS AAA

Loyalsock     (16-1, .779)

C. Columbia (8-1, .733)

Troy              (12-2, .670)

Wellsboro     (9-2, .634)

Mt. Carmel   (10-3, .619)

S. Will.         (11-3, .600)

S. Columbia (6-5, .531)

NPM            (7-5, .504)

Bloomsburg (6-5, .498)

Warrior Run (4-6, .421)

Hughesville (2-12, .318)

Towanda     (3-8, .309)

Williamson  (0-11, .190)

Loyalsock continues to set the standard in District IV, their lone loss to Holy Redeemer by two points. They hammered Central Columbia in their first match-up, and play them again this week. They’re also supposed to face Troy Thursday. 

Central Columbia looks good to hang onto second, as their toughest game after Loyalsock is Williamsport. However, Troy is close enough that a sweep to finish the season - including a win over Loyalsock - could be enough to capture second.

The Trojans still have Wellsboro twice and NP-Liberty along with Loyalsock, a lot of point rich games to move up into second, or possibly fall out of the top four.

Wellsboro is right behind Troy and play them twice. They also have South Williamsport and their second game against NP-Mansfield left.

Mt. Carmel’s three losses are to Central Columbia, Neumann and Loyalsock and wouldn’t host a home game if the playoffs started today - that’s how tough Class AAA is. They have a few tough non-league games left, plus Bloomsburg twice.

South Williamsport has losses just to Mt. Carmel, Neumann and Loyalsock. They have Neumann one more time and Wellsboro left on their schedule.

There is a little gap between is and seven, as Southern Columbia tries to hang on to a playoff spot. Their road ahead isn’t easy with Shikellamy, Mahanoy, Bloomsburg, Selinsgrove and Muncy in their next five games.

NP-Mansfield is barely hanging on for that final spot. They have Athens, Sayre, Canton, Wellsboro and NEB left to play, and will likely need to win a majority of those to remain in the top eight.

Bloomsburg still has 10 games scheduled, though it’s doubtful they get more than half in at this point. They’ve yet to play Mt. Carmel and still need to face Central Columbia and Southern Columbia.

Warrior Run would need to go undefeated the rest of the way to get back into the playoff picture, while Hughesville and Towanda look too far out at this point.

CLASS AAAA

Danville    (11-1, .760)

Mifflinburg (11-2, .696)

Mtv           (11-4, .648)

Lewisburg (10-6, .590)

Athens      (8-7, .514)

Shamokin (4-8, .504)

Jersey S.  (5-9, .472)

Midd-West (5-7, .400)

Milton       (4-11, .361)

CMVT      (3-9, .247)

The door is closing on the Wildcats’ chances of nabbing a home playoff game. The top three are likely too far away but the Green Dragons are still within reach. They have Towanda, Canton and NEB this week, and will likely need to go undefeated to stay alive for a top four spot.

Danville and Mifflinburg are battling for the number one spot while Shamokin and Jersey Shore are within shouting distance of the Wildcats. Though, Athens seems a safe bet to make the playoffs, as eight seed Midd-West is quite a ways back.

CLASS A

SJN        (11-0, .747)

NPL        (9-1, .654)

NCC       (10-6, .431)

Lourdes  (7-7, .416)

Sullivan   (4-5, .379)

Juniata   (8-4, .365)

MC         (6-9, .306)

Millville   (2-10, .272)

Benton   (0-8, .189)

Bucktail (0-11, .177)

Liberty looks to be settled into the second spot, though they still have games against Wyalusing (twice) and Troy. Neumann has been blowing through the Mid-Penn while NCC is over two tenths of a point away.

Northumberland Christian School and Lourdes are battling for third while Sullivan and Juniata Christian are in a battle for fifth.

-All standings are as of Monday, February 15 from the District IV web site.

NTL

LARGE SCHOOL (DIVISION-1)

Troy           (10-1)

Wellsboro  (9-2)

Athens       (7-4)

NPM          (6-5)

Towanda    (3-8)

Williamson (0-11)

Wellsboro’s loss to NEB gave the Trojans some breathing room. They still have to beat NP-Liberty, a team the Hornets defeated, next week so nothing is decided yet, but being a game up on Wellsboro gives them some wiggle room.

The Hornets still have to play their rivals, NP-Mansfield, at their house, too. As it looks now, though, in most scenarios they will have to beat Troy twice to claim the title.

Athens and NP-Mansfield appear too far out to still be in contention. The Tigers, though, can still play spoiler by beating Wellsboro.

SMALL SCHOOL (DIVISION-2)

NPL          (9-1)

Wyalusing (8-3)

Canton     (5-5)

NEB          (4-6)

Sayre        (3-9)

CV            (1-10)

Another two team race, though the Rams have more ground to make up than Wellsboro. They still have to face NP-Liberty twice, and in the rest of their league games they’re the favorites, so if they can sweep the Mountaineers, and get some help, they can come out on top.

The Mountaineers’ only loss is to Wellsboro, but have a tougher schedule to end the season. Besides Wyalusing twice, they have to play Canton twice, at NEB and home against Troy.

Canton and NEB are too far out but they both can play spoiler as they have games against the Mounties.

- Records as of Monday, February 15 from the NTL web site.

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