Northern Tier Sports Report

Athens Canton NEB Sayre Towanda Troy Wyalusing Youth College Preview/Wrap-Up Opinion

NTL GIRLS' BASKETBALL: YOUTHFUL TOWANDA EYES AN IMPROVED CAMPAIGN THIS SEASON (2024-11-30)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
Towanda girls’ hoops had a bit of a rebuilding season a year ago, but performed well enough to qualify for districts. This year they’re young again, but have set higher goals.

“I’m really excited that we’ve all ben working really hard to get to this point that we’re at,” said junior Brynn Woodruff. “We’ve all as a team been looking forward to getting back into the season.”

With no seniors, and six freshman on the team means they’ll have to bring several younger players up to snuff.

“Our goals are simple, improve every day and become the best team we can be,” said Towanda coach Rob Gentile. “I know it's cliche, but at the end of the day if we just focus on improvement, being the tougher team each night, treat each other with respect, do the little things well, the rest will take care of itself. Sometimes when you get caught up in outcomes, you lose sight of the little things that get you their. We would love to have an opportunity to compete with the best teams in our league and district, but you have to earn the right to put yourself in those positions. Obviously, our goal is to be there in the end, but that happens at the end of the season and that is a long way away. We will just take it one day at a time.”

Woodruff and her 11 PPG return, along with her rebounding inside. In fact, they should be pretty strong inside with her and Mya Maynard (7 PPG) manning the middle.

“We feel that we have two of the better post players in the league and they are both interchangeable, and both can stretch a defense with the ability to score in different ways,” Gentile said. “Their versatility allows us to take advantage of some favorable matchups at times, and also creates opportunities for others. Playing inside out is one of our staples and it's something we have to continue to improve on. Our guards (Payton (Perry), Kennedy (Heyer), and Karis (Flynn)) have improved significantly in the offseason, and I believe are ready for breakout seasons. I really feel when all is said and done, Payton in particular is going to turn some heads. She is playing with a ton of confidence right now and has really taken her game to another level for us. I think by season's end, she will establish herself as one of the better guards in our league as well.”

Perry was second on the team at 8.9 PPG a year ago, and stretched the floor with her 3-point shooting.

“We’re trying to improve our shooting, and just working with each other more,” Heyer said, noting they hope to turn defense into offense this year.

“Hustling is key,” she remarked. “We have to be very strong on defense because of our short numbers, and try to use our defense to help us more on offense.”

Woodruff, Heyer, Perry, Maynard, and Flynn are their only returnees, but Gentile feels comfortable with that group.

“They are all really athletic, come from great families, and are all highly coachable kids,” he said. “I am personally looking forward to see how they step up as leaders.”

With just 11 players on the roster, and six of them freshmen, how fast they get their youngsters up to speed may determine the success of their season.

“We’re really able to work with everyone, because each year that goes on and we’re still the same team we were the year before,” said Heyer.

Despite being freshmen, Gentile believes they’ll be ready to contribute.

“Our freshman might be the biggest surprise of all this season,” Gentile said. “This might be the most prepared and experienced group we have coming into their high school careers yet, and we still have a bunch more coming in the next few years. We have lost a few quality kids, and will likely lose a few more, to the new girls' wrestling program, but we are super excited about the ones we've got. All of them will play a key role in our success and each do unique things that we will take advantage of. Right now, we are just trying to get them all up to speed without overloading them with too much. We want them to be basketball players, not robots. Playing two games per night will be the challenge for now, but we feel we have the six freshmen that can do that.”

With Flynn and Heyer being the only juniors on the team the two are doing their best to bring the youngsters along.

“I want to be more of a leader, and improve my skills in trying to help my teammates,” said Flynn.

Looking towards the season Troy looks to be the favorites to take the top spot in the division again, but that second spot should be a battle between the Knights, Wyalusing, Wellsboro, and Athens with Williamson dropping down to Small School.

“My team goals would be us working together and moving forward,” Heyer said. “We made it to the first round of districts last year, and I think as a team, I would like to see us move forward through that.”

For Gentile, the goal right now is get all players in shape enough to play high minutes.

“Our primary focus early on in the season is simply to get in basketball shape,” he said. “Many of our kids did play fall sports, but basketball is just a different type of conditioning level, and with the very small numbersour kids, particularly our young kids, are going to have to be in great shape to play the amount of minutes per night that they are likely to play. We are also trying to get our younger guys acclimated to our style of play and the team standards that we live by as a program. Fortunately, our incoming 9th graders have played a lot of ball and have a really good understanding of the game and have been playing the same style in our junior high program for the past few years.”

ROSTER

Kennedy Heyer (11)

Brynn Woodruff (11)

Karis Flynn (10)

Payton Perry (10)

Mya Maynard (10)

Mary-Kate Eberlin (9)

Reese Sullivan (9)

Lennon Rice (9)

McKenzie Vanderpool (9)

London Decker (9)

Ali Hollett (9)