TOP STORIES COUNTDOWN (15-11): BIG YEARS ON THE HARD COURT, GOING LOW ON THE LINKS, AND FINALLY BRINGING HOME SOME STATE HARDWARE (2025-07-12)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
The middle section of the list involves plenty of hoops action, some low scores on the links, and bringing home state hardware.

15. Towanda girls’ hoops goes from 3-7 start to state qualifiers: A senior-less Black Knight took a few on the chin to start the season. They had a tough schedule, opening with eventual state champions Loyalsock, and went winless at the Elmira Christmas Tournament. 

However, a change in focus led to a 9-game winning streak from mid-January to early-February.

“Early in the year, I feel our focus was simply on winning, and we weren’t very success,” said coach Rob Gentile.

The key stretch was winning three games in four nights against quality opponents - Wyalusing (52-42), NEB (64-58), and Athens (47-37).

The Rams led for much of the first half, taking a 23-21 lead into halftime, but Towanda hit five from deep in the second to take control of the game. They out scored Wyalusing 11-5 down the stretch to get the win.

It was another rally for the Knights against the Panthers. They were down 50-43 going into the fourth, but out scored them 21-8 in the frame to get the win.

Again, the Knights found themselves down at the half, 18-16, but out scored the Wildcats 31-20 in the second half to get the win.

That spurt propelled them to a home district game, where they beat the Rams for the third time that season, 60-32, which earned them a state berth.

After falling to the Lancers (52-20) they rallied to beat Mt. Carmel (41-40) to take third.

Gentile said it best for the Knights.

“This group far exceeded our expectations for them.”

14. Canton’s Schoonover, Towanda’s Savercook earn state bids for golf: It was a history making season for senior Izzie Schoonover, as she was the first Canton golfer to earn a state berth.

Schoonover went into the second day of districts sitting in fourth, but shot a 92 on the final day to take second. It was a tight battle for second as Schoonover got silver by one stroke.

She had one of the best rounds of her career on the front nine with a 43, including three birdies, then grinned out a 93 on the final nine holes to punch her ticket.

“I didn’t know how far I was going to come this season, and I’m just really happy to be here,” Schoonover said.

Savercool had a solid two days, opening with an 82 on the first day, then shot an 83 on the second.

He had a strong start on the final day, but a seven on the 11th hole made him nervous. However, he shot plus-4 over the final seven holes to secure his state berth with a fifth place finish.

“I had a pretty good feeling that I would be in there,” he said.

13. Canton girls’ hoops makes states for the first time since 2002: It had a been a strong season for Canton up until the district third place game.

During the regular season they had given NEB their first divisional loss in six years, while in the opening round of districts they battled through a though Southern Columbia squad.

However, their 38-35 win over Northwest to take bronze truly made the season special as they punched their ticket to states for the first time in a generation.

Canton led 20-18 at the half, but the Rangers would tie it up halfway through the fourth quarter. The two teams went back and forth after that, with Northwest making it a 1-point game with 51.4 seconds to play.

Cailyn VanNoy then went to the line with 21.7 seconds left, making both for a 3-point lead, and that proved enough as the Warriors held serve at the other end for the win.

VanNoy had 14 points with four assists, and three steals, while 1,000th point scorer Kendall Kitchen finished with 12 points, and six steals.

“Tonight was a very special night,” said coach Ryan VanNoy. “These girls have put Canton girls’ basketball in a play that it hasn’t been in 20-plus years.”

12. NEB girls’ hoops claims sixth straight NTL Divisional title: The Panthers have been a model of consistent excellence for the past six seasons as they’ve terrorized the small schools of the NTL.

It’s been next woman up for NEB during that stretch and it’s worked as they’d gone undefeated in divisional play for five of those six years, finally getting bested by Canton this past January.

They had a 4-game win streak in December, and then a 7-game win streak to start the New Year. On the whole they out scored their divisional opponents 613-326 this season.

The Panthers were led by their backcourt of Leah Beebe (15 PPG) and Lillie Maynard (12 PPG), while getting strong contributions from their supporting cast.

For the second year in a row they also made the district finals, and for the second year in a row they lost to Muncy.

While climbing that district mountain is still on the to-do-list NEB has plenty to be proud of.

“It feel it was another great season,” said NEB coach Ben Beebe. “The girls won an amazing sixth straight title.”

11. Troy’s Alyssa Parks nabs elusive state cross-country medal: Going into her final race at the PIAA Championships it could be forgiven if Parks had felt a little like Tentalus. She was a 4-time state qualifier, but had just missed the medals in her first three tries.

On her fourth try, though, she ran aggressive from the start, and never wavered from her top 20 position throughout the race, taking 15th to finally get on the podium.

Parks was eighth at the 800 meter mark, and was as far back as 18th at the 2-mile, but the final mile she worked up three spots.

“I just figured I’d have to go for it - whatever happens, happens,” she said.

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