NTL GIRLS' BASKETBALL: NEB PULLS AWAY FROM TOWANDA FOR NTL SHOWCASE WIN (2025-02-14)

Northern Tier Sports Report
ROME — Northeast Bradford won three of the four quarters as they defeated Towanda, 46-34 in the opening round of the NTL Girls’ Basketball Showcase Thursday.

They built a 24-16 lead at the half, then after Towanda cut it to 34-28, the Panthers out scored them 12-6 in the final frame to secure the win.

“A hard fought win tonight,” said NEB coach Ben Beebe. “Towanda is a good pressure team, we need that to get us ready for districts. The girls played as one tonight, I was very pleased with the ball movement.”

Sophomore Mallorie Maynard had the big night for NEB, getting a double-double of 15 points, and 14 boards, while adding four assists, two steals, and two blocks.

Leah Beebe had 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals, as well.

Lillie Maynard had seven points, and five rebounds, with Becca VanDeMark getting seven points, six boards three assists, and two steals.

Lilah Hughes had three points, to go with four boards, and three steals, as Kara Dughi notched two points, and two steals.

On the Towanda side it was a learning experience for the young Knights.

“It was a game of two teams that gave a lot of effort and fight tonight but one played a little bit better and made more shots,” said Towanda coach Rob Gentile. “I give Ben a ton of credit. Of all of the good coaches in our league, I think Ben does the best job of allowing his kids the freedom to just be themselves as players. That really showed tonight. They seemed much more relaxed tonight and made the shots and plays that needed to be made.”

Mya Maynard had eight points, and 16 rebounds for the Knights, as Payton Perry added eight points, with three assists, and four steals.

Brynn Woodruff finished with seven points, and seven boards, as Mary-Kate Eberlin, Karis Flynn, and Ali Hollett had three points each. Eberlin had four steals, as well.

Reese Sullivan finished with two points, and three steals.

“I think our kids got too caught up in the pressure of winning that they just couldn't allow themselves the freedom to just play the game,” Gentile said. “A bunch of our kids seemed to be really timid which forced some others to try to do too much. The end of the day these are all just learning experiences and I know this will make us better moving forward. This group fought really hard to earn this opportunity and that's a credit to them. The next step in the process is to learn how to take advantage of our opportunities.”

VandeMark, and Mallorie Maynard had five points each in the opening frame to help NEB take the 10-7 lead. Mallorie then hit two 3-balls in the second quarter as they out scored Towanda 14-9.

Towanda’s Maynard, Mya, hit three buckets for six points in the third, while Woodruff added five points, as the Knights rallied, out scoring NEB 12-10.

In the fourth quarter four different Panthers scored to bring home the win. 

Towanda will now get ready for district play, which starts next week, while NEB will take on Troy for the Showcase title on Friday at Mansfield University with a 6 p.m. tip-off.

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PHOTOS BY TINA MAYNARD

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