NTL BOYS' BASKETBALL: TOWANDA GETS PLENTY OF CONTRIBUTIONS IN WIN OVER ATHENS (2024-12-20)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
TOWANDA — It was a game that showed the two types of team Towanda can be - turnover prone at one moment, and a well oiled machine the next. In the end, the Black Knights found their groove enough for a 63-49 win over Athens in NTL boys’ basketball action Thursday.

The game was sloppy with turnovers and fouls, but the Knights used a strong second quarter to take a 25-15 lead at the half.

In the second half they found their offense, scoring 38 points as they finish with 20 assists as a team 21 made field goals.

“It always feels good to get a win,” said Towanda coach Landon Henry. “It feels good to get a win against a good team. Coach Lister does a great job over there, and he had his guys prepared. They played really hard, I thought, and I thought our guys matched their physicality, and matched their effort, and found a way to win.”

Four different Towanda players got into double figures on the night, something Henry expects to keep seeing as they go forward in the season.

“I think that’s going to be a part of our group this year, much different than last year,” said Henry. “I think we should do a nice job of sharing the basketball, and getting multiple guys going. There’s been a lot of guys that have worked on their ability to score the basketball in the summer, so I think it’s translating over into the season.”

And leading it all is freshman point guard Boom Thompson, who finished with a team high 13 points, four assists, and five boards.

“Boom is a tremendous young player,” Henry remarked. “We have a lot of faith in him, and we tell him, he’s the engine, whatever he says, goes. We want him to grow into a leader, and ultimately, he’s got so much more time of basketball left, but he’s doing a lot of really good things for a young player.”

Darrius Farrell added 12 points to go with four assists, as Markel Garner had a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds, while adding three assists.

Connor Barnes netted 11 points, Ben Shrawder scored six, Graham Welles notched five, Bayley Poll had four, and Landon Clark rounded out the scorers with one.

Jase Babcock had 22 to lead Athens, with Nick Grazul adding eight.

James Friend scored five, Lucas Shultz, and Adam Kemp had four points each, Kam Wheeler netted three, Noah Hobday added two, and Peter Jones rounded out the scorers with one.

It was back and forth throughout the first quarter as Babcock got a lay-up to start off the scoring.

Towanda responded with five straight points, but Athens came back with two buckets to take a 6-5 lead.

Thompson found Shrawder for a bucket to put the Knights back on top 7-6, but at the other end Friend hit Babcock for a lay-up to put Athens up 8-7.

Towanda had the final say of the frame as Poll hit a lay-up for the 9-8 lead.

The back and forth continued into the second quarter with Athens going back on top with a Grazul basket.

The Wildcats, though, went cold for much of the rest of the quarter, and Towanda took advantage, netting seven straight to go up 16-10, the run punctuated by a Thompson 3-ball off a Garner assist.

Jones would get a freebie to end the run, but Welles came right back with a 3-pointer of his own to make it 19-11 Knights.

After a pair of free throws form Kemp Towanda went on a 6-0 run scored by four different players, as the Knights built a 25-13 lead.

Wheeler hit Shultz on a back door cut to make it 25-15 at the break.

The offenses opened up in the third as Farrell and Babcock started to head up. Farrell netted 10 points for Towanda, while Babcock went off for 12 for Athens.

Farrell opened things up with a 3-ball, then hit two freebies. Thompson would add a free throw after as Towanda built their biggest lead of the game, 31-15.

Babcock ended that run with a 3-pointer, but Thompson hit Farrell on a back door cut to keep it a 15-point lead.

The Wildcats would go on a 9-1 run after that to cut it to 34-7.

That set up a thrilling final stretch of the third quarter that saw the two teams going back and forth.

An old fashion 3-point play from Ferrell put Towanda up by double digits again, 41-31, but a pair of freebies by Hobday made it an 8-point game.

That’s when Barnes and Thompson scored back to back buckets to make it 45-33 Towanda. The teams then traded baskets before the horn for a 47-35 Knights lead going into the final frame.

The Wildcats would get back to back 3-balls from Wheeler and Friend to cut the deficit to 47-41 with 6:40 left in the game.

Towanda would answer with an 8-0 run - five points by Garner, three out of Thompson - to build a 55-41 lead with 4:20 left to play.

Athens kept their hopes alive with a 6-2 run to make it 57-47 with 1:40 left to play.

Barnes, though, put the nail in the coffin with a lay-up off a Shrawder assist with a minute to go as that extended the lead back to 12 points.

It’s a bounce back game for Towanda (4-3) as they’re coming off a late loss to NP-Liberty earlier this week.

They have one more game before Christmas break as they head to Sullivan County on Monday with a 12:30 p.m. varsity start.

“It’s right before Christmas so we obviously want to take care of business, and enjoy a win before we go into the break,” Henry said. “There’s definitely things that we see from tonight that we need to clean up, and there’s so much more room for growth for us. I think that’s the exciting part, is realizing that there’s more for us.”

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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING

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