TOP STORIES COUNTDOWN (25-21): UPS AND DOWNS OF THE PLAYOFFS, AN UNSUSPECTING LEAGUE TITLE, AND LOCAL ATHLETES FLYING HIGH (2025-07-10)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
The 2024-2025 season had plenty of memories that will go on forever, and here are five of the top 25 from this past school year.

25. NEB boys’ basketball falls in back to back OT district games: A young Panthers squad took a big step this year, but sometimes those steps still hurt.

After getting out of the first round they took on Muncy in the district semifinals. Despite a rough shooting first half the Panthers were down just 19-18 at the half.

NEB led by five early in the second half, with Muncy rallying to take a 6-point lead in the fourth. NEB would out score them 9-3 down the stretch to send the game into OT.

However, NEB was held scoreless in the extra period.

Senior Tanner Herb had a career night with 18 points while junior Josh Stanton filled the stat-line behind a 16 points, seven steal, and five rebound effort.

The third place game against Sayre was just as wild, with Sayre taking a 22-9 lead in the first half, only to watch NEB cut it three at the break.

The veteran Sayre team appeared to be on their way to states as they led by six with 49.4 seconds left, but NEB out scored them 7-1 the rest of the way to send it into OT, punctuated by a Cooper Brown extra long distance 3-ball at the buzzer.

The Panthers scored first in the extra period, and led 56-52 with three minutes to play, but Sayre out scored them 14-4 the rest of the OT to get the win.

Brown had 23 to lead NEB, while Herb had 14 points in his final game as a Panther.

The set backs may have ended NEB’s season, but with just one senior on the roster, they hope this past year’s losses will turn into wins next year.

24. Plethora of high jumpers across the area: It was springtime for boys’ high jumpers this year, even if the weather wasn’t always ideal for it. 

The NTL crowned one district champion, one state medalist, and three earn berths to states in a banner year.

Wyalusing’s Dylan Johns had a slow start to the season, struggling to get beyond 6-feet, but found his stride at home invite, the Lasagna Invitational.

In a strong field he came out on top, hitting 6-feet, 6-inches to win, which proved to be his highest mark of the year.

He would tie for second at districts to make states, then leaped 6-feet, 3-inches to reach the state podium.

Athens’ Jase Babcock save his best for districts, hitting 6-feet, 5-inches to claim the Class 3A title. He hit 6-feet, 2-inches in a very competitive field at states.

Babock was mister consistent, hitting 6-feet, 2-inches or better six times this spring.

NPM’s Luke Kreger got as high as 6-feet, 3-inches this year. After having a tough time leading up to districts he jumped 6-feet, 1-inches to earn a state berth, tying for second.

He’ll be looking to improve upon that next year.

Troy’s Kendrick Ross had a fast start to the season, hitting 6-feet, 5-inches in early April. He was consistently above 6-feet, nailing 6-feet, 4-inches at Lasagna. 

However, a tough day at districts saw him just miss states, a goal he’ll be looking to get next year.

Other key NTL jumpers were Wellsboro’s David Seeling, a district medalist, Towanda’s Kole Heyer, a top 12 finisher at districts, along with Troy’s Cameron Morey, Wyalusing’s John Kerin, and NPM’s Tayton Strange.

23. Towanda girls’ tennis claims first NTL title in four years: Longtime Towanda girls’ tennis coach Lucy Snyder felt this was going to be a rebuilding year for the Knights.

But the young Towanda team did what they had to do to eke out a league title, winning it in their final league match of the season.

Snyder credited her players picking up on what she was teaching early, and then building on it as the season went on.

Towanda started the year 0-4, but they rallied with league wins over NPL, CV, and Wellsboro. 

They would beat NPL again, and even though they split with Wellsboro, they could clinch an outright title by beating the Indians. 

In their league clinching match they edged CV 3-2. They got early wins from Nadia Alderfer and Emma Ackley.

CV’s Kylee Stone edged Towanda’s Lainey Alderfer at first singles, but it was Towanda’s first doubles team of Jayden Conklin and Maddie Blanchard that brought home the title with a 7-5, 7-5 win to seal things up.

They say good-bye to top singles player Lainey Alderfer, but return everybody else, as Snyder hopes to hit the ground running in 2025.

22. Wyalusing girls’ soccer rolls to district win over Meadowbrook Christian: The year before Meadowbrook Christian ended Wyalusing’s season in the district semifinals.

This past fall they took that frustration out on Meadowbrook as they won 8-0 to reach the district semifinals for the third straight year.

Six different Rams found the back of the net, led by Chloe Bennett’s two goals and four assists. Kenzie Kintner had two goals with an assist, while Vayda Rought had a goal with an assist.

Addisyn Bly, Emily Fowler, and Carol Scarborough all scored, as well.

It was scoreless for the first half, but once Bennett found the back of the net with 21:46 on the clock. The Rams poured in four more goals before the half, then added another four in the second half.

It was the type of performance coach Gary Haley had hoped to see from his team all season long.

The win pushed them into the district semifinals, where they lost a hard fought game to Muncy, 2-1, in some of the windiest conditions those players will see.

21. Troy girls’ soccer wins first playoff game in over a decade: The Trojans had had plenty of league success over the past five years, but district success eluded them.

District IV is tough in Class AA, and even when the Trojans appeared to out play their opponents on the pitch, they just couldn’t turn that into a win on the scoreboard.

This past fall they defeated Williamson 4-0, overcoming a big goal tending effort from Ashley Woodring.

Four different Trojans scored - Kyah Renzo, Saydi Renzo, Alexis McRoberts, and Ella Lawton - with Renzo, Haley Davies-Grove, and Giana Renzi each getting an assist.

Troy’s first goal came off a set play, as Roy hit McRoberts on a corner kick, who found Saydi Renzo, who slipped it to Kyah Renzo by the right post for the 1-0 lead.

The Trojans rolled the rest of the way to get the win. 

They would fall to Hughesville in the semifinals, but they were able to get the monkey off their back in that district win.

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