BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
The Towanda girls’ basketball team finished off last season on a high note as they took third in the district and returned to state play. With everybody from that team back the Black Knights are setting their sights a little higher up.
“People see us as finishing at a higher place, and I think a lot of us see us that way,” said Brynn Woodruff. “But we will surrender the outcome - whatever happens, happens - and we’ll just do what we know that we can do.”
Woodruff, Payton Perry, May Maynard, Kennedy Heyer, and Karis Flynn are the five returning starters, while they have plenty of sophomores who came off the bench last year that have big game experience.
“Our attitude, our philosophies aren’t going to change,” Towanda coach Rob Gentile said. “Our big thing last year, we didn’t focus on results. We really worked hard on the little things that lead to results, and that’s how we’re going to start the season. Who’s going to win a league title, district title, they’re going to take care of themselves.”
Woodruff is a double-double threat that can score inside and out for Towanda.
“I’ve just been learning different things, learning to see the court,” she said.
Maynard is also a double-double threat who can score from inside, while Perry brings the long ball.
“I definitely worked on my shooting,” she said. “And trying to learn new stuff.”
Heyer is the utility player that does a little bit of everything for the Knights, while Flynn runs the point.
“We’re really comfortable with each other,” Heyer said. “We’ve grown so much together for the last three years, we know where everyone’s going to be.”
They also return subs Mary-Kate Eberlin, Reese Sullivan, and Ali Hollett, while picking up three freshman that Gentile hopes to put into the mix.
“We basically have our top eight kids coming back,” said Gentile. “We had two pretty high quality ninth graders that have some varsity experience and success in the fall, and Maris Cobb and Taylor Aquilio. They play a lot of basketball. We have really 10-11 kids that we can throw out there at any given time, and strength in numbers is our philosophy.”
With the run and gun style Towanda plans to play having a deep bench is important.
“If somebody needs to come off we trust our teammates,” Perry said. “We know that if they come in, they’re going to play just as hard as everybody else.”
“It feels good knowing that, no matter who we put on the court, we’re always able to rely on whose there,” added Woodruff.
Gentile has put an emphasis on getting as many kids on the court as he can.
“We know that the experience is there, there are no excuses in terms of not knowing,” he said. “That’s the benefit of this going into it. We don’t have to teach a bunch of stuff, we just get right into it and practice. We have pretty strong leadership, and they’re all real leaders. They’re leaders in our program, they’re leaders in the school, they’re great kids, they’re good students. We’ve been around for a while, so we’ll see what that leads to.”
Last year they came up just short of an NTL title to Troy, but the Trojans graduated most of their varsity. While Troy does bring in several younger players, it does make for a wide open race in the Large School division.
That’s a race Towanda’s players feel they can win.
“I feel really confident, especially because we came close to it last year,” said Heyer. “We have all the same people.”
ROSTER (Grade)
Kennedy Heyer (12)
Brynn Woodruff (12)
Karis Flynn (11)
Payton Perry (11)
Mya Maynard (11)
Mary-Kate Eberlin (10)
Reese Sullivan (10)
Ali Hollett (10)
Maris Cobb (9)
Taylor Aquilio (9)
Maci Alexander (9)
SCHEDULE
Dec. 6 at Loyalsock, 2:15 p.m.
Dec. 10 at Sayre, 7 p.m.
Dec. 12 vs Williamson, 7 p.m.
Dec. 17 at NPL, 7 p.m.
Dec. 19 vs Athens, 7 p.m.
Dec. 22 vs Elk Lake, 7 p.m.
Dec. 27 vs Ithaca at Elmira Tournament, 1:30 p.m.
Dec. 29 at Elmira Tournament
Dec. 30 at Elmira Tournament
Jan. 3 ve Williamsport, 12:30 p.m.
Jan. 7 vs Troy, 7 p.m.
Jan. 9 at Wellsboro, 7 p.m.
Jan. 14 vs NPM, 7 p.m.
Jan. 16 vs Wyalusing, 7 p.m.
Jan. 19 vs Sullivan County, 7 p.m.
Jan. 20 at CV, 7 p.m.
Jan. 22 vs Canton, 7 p.m.
Jan. 27 vs NEB, 7 p.m.
Jan. 29 at Athens, 7 p.m.
Feb. 3 at Troy, 7 p.m.
Feb. 5 vs Wellsboro, 7 p.m.
Feb. 7 at Wyalusing, 7 p.m.
Feb. 10 at NPM, 7 p.m.
