NTL BOYS' BASKETBALL: YOUTHFUL NEB LOOKS TO DEFEND THEIR NTL TITLE (2024-12-02)
BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports ReportFor the past several years Northeast Bradford boys’ basketball has gone through a cycle of rebuild then compete, with one class usually leading them for three years. Last year’s seniors were one of those types of classes, and it ended up being a banner raising year as they claimed the NTL Small School title. However, with just one senior on this year's squad things could go back to the beginning.
“We have a really good group of younger guys, so we feel pretty good,” said NEB coach Paul Burgert. “It’s kind of invigorating to get a new group, it’s like a different team.”
They return just two regulars from last year’s squad in Cooper Brown and Eli Stanton, but Brown did lead them in scoring a year ago at 12 points per game.
“We need to keep doing the same thing, getting better rebounding and have less turnovers,” Brown said. “It’s going to be challenging getting everything back together.”
Burgert hopes that Brown and Stanton will bring some stability to the young team this year.
“It gives us a good start,” Burgert remarked. “Cooper was our leading scorer last year, so we’re getting that back, and Eli really, really could have played a lot more minutes than he did, that was my fault.”
Brown believes they’ll have a similar identity to last year, with several players stepping up in different ways every night.
“There’s no I in team, we all need to play together,” he said.
One of those players looking to step up will be senior guard Tanner Herb.
“I think it’s definitely a lot of pressure eon us as a new team, but we’ve been working our way up,” said Herb. “I played with most of these kids since my third grad year, so we have a lot of chemistry in that way. I think we’re going to do well.”
NEB has been competitive at the JV level the past couple of seasons, which is a good sign since they’ll be the varsity from here on out.
“I think that’s definitely going to carry over, because we’ve had a lot of our kids play varsity, too,” Herb remarked. “I think it just gives us a better look.”
Regardless, being the defending Small School champions NEB is going to have a target on their back in divisional games.
“We’ve got to put a lot of work in to do that again,” said Brown.
Still, they feel they might turn a few heads.
“I think we’re going to come out a lot better than things we’re going to be,” added Herb. “It could be anyone’s game any night. With our team playing with each other for so long, I think we’ll definitely have a big chance of winning that Small School title again.”
Burgert believes defense will carry them until they can get their legs under them offensively.
“They’ve been pretty successful at each level they’re been at,” he said about his newcomers.
Small School looks pretty wide open with Sayre the slight favorites coming in.
“It’s going to be tough,” said Burgert. “Sayre’s really good, they have a lot of seniors. NP-Liberty returns most of a team that went to the district championship game for Class A, and Canton’s got a lot of their guys back. It’s going to be a real battle, it’s going to be fun.”
ROSTER
Tanner Herb (12)
Cooper Brown (11)
Dayton Russell (11)
Eli Stanton (11)
Brennin Thoman (11)
Tyler Thoman (11)
Dan Barrett (10)
Mac Burgert (9)
Nate Gross (9)
Clay Wilks (9)
Jordyn Evans (10)
Noah Marino (10)
Landon Knolles (9)
Brayden Kovacs (9)
Logan Shadduck (9)
SCHEDULE
Dec. 3 at Montrose, 7 p.m.
Dec. 6 at Montgomery Tournament
Dec. 7 at Montgomery Tournament
Dec. 10 vs Wellsboro, 7 p.m.
Dec. 12 at Wyalusing, 7 p.m.
Dec. 14 vs Blue Ridge, 1:15 p.m.
Dec. 16 vs Elk Lake, 7 p.m.
Dec. 17 vs Troy, 7 p.m.
Dec. 19 at NPL, 7 p.m.
Dec. 30 vs Benton, 7 p.m.
Jan. 7 at Canton, 7 p.m.
Jan. 9 vs Sayre, 7 p.m.
Jan. 14 vs CV, 7 p.m.
Jan. 16 at Williamson, 7 p.m.
Jan. 18 vs Williamson, 7 p.m.
Jan. 22 at NPM, 7 p.m.
Jan. 24 vs Athens, 7 p.m.
Jan. 27 at CV, 7 p.m.
Jan. 29 at Towanda, 7 p.m.
Jan. 31 vs NPL, 7 p.m.
Feb. 5 vs Canton, 7 p.m.
Feb. 7 at Sayre, 7 p.m.
Print Friendly Version
