BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
MONTOURSVILLE — Sullivan County’s 58-54 win over NP-Liberty to claim the District IV, Class A boys basketball title was more than just a game - it was three. The first saw the Griffins fire out of the gate and take control, the second was a defensive slugfest as NPL slowly got back into it, and then the third was a second half that saw the top come off the building as both offenses lit up the scoreboard.
No wonder long time Griffin coach Glenn Vaughan was speechless after the game.
“I just know I’m super proud of the team for doing what they just did,” Vaughan said. “We were down 13 points, and nothing was going our way. They were hitting threes, and we found a way to drive and dig, and do what we did.”
His players, though, had plenty to say about being district champions for the third time in program history.
“It feels great, that was our goal,” senior Tucker Blasi said.
“It’s a great feeling I thought I’d never have,” added Cayden Smithkors.
The Griffins led 13-4 just over four minutes into the game but only scored six points the rest of the half as NPL took a 20-19 advantage into the locker rooms.
Just as it looked like the two sides might be settling down for a battle in the trenches the Mounties used the long ball to turn the third quarter into an NPL blitzkrieg.
They had 26 points in the frame - 17 of the from Landon Mahern - as they built a lead as big as 44-31 with 1:52 left in the quarter.
However, the Griffins out scored them 8-2 the rest of the way to cut it to 46-39 going into the fourth.
In the final frame they went with a 4-guard line-up to press and run on NPL, out scoring them 19-8 to pull ahead late and hang on.
“I went a little bit smaller and quicker, and it seemed to have an effect on the defensive end,” explained Vaughan. “The kids, they never gave up. They kept fighting, and we just made enough plays to get the job done.”
The Griffins couldn’t have asked for more balanced scoring, with six players getting between seven and 12 points on the night.
Smithkors had 12 points and nine boards to lead Sullivan, as Tucker Blasi netted 10 points to go with four steals.
Lucas King had nine points, and five boards, with Colin King getting eight points, six boards, six steals, and four assists.
Jaiden Moore chipped in with 10 points, Dom Marotti netted seven, and Ryan Murray rounded out their scorers with two.
“This team is awesome,” remarked Blasi. “We basically have seven starters. We could put anybody on the floor in our top seven, they could have a great game, and when you have four or five guys that could go for double digits on any night that’s a really hard high school basketball team to guard.”
Mahern finished with 19 to lead NPL, with Luke Kreger scoring 13. Sudan Benner, and Evan McTish had eight points each, with Connor Lewis scoring four, and Brady Grinnell adding two.
The Griffins led 6-0 just over 2-and-a-half minutes into the game as Smithkors, Lucas King, and Blasi all had buckets.
“The start of the game was awesome,” said Blasi. “I think it set the tone.”
Lewis hit a jumper to make it 6-2, but a Colin King steal and lay-up put the Griffins up 8-2 at the 4:35 mark.
Lewis got a lay-up for NPL, but a Lucas King 3-ball, followed by a Moore lay-up saw the Griffins go up 13-4.
“The whole team knew we could do it if we just played as a team,” Smithkors said about the early run.
NPL would go on a 4-0 spurt after that to cu tit to 13-8 with 2:10 left in the quarter.
After that neither team could get the ball in the hoop as they went scoreless for the next four minutes.
Kreger broke the stalemate with a lay-up for a 13-10 score, but back to back buckets from Colin King, and Smithkors put the Griffins back on top 17-10.
Benner came off the bench to bank in a 3-ball for NPL, cutting it to 17-13. Kreger then nabbed a runner for a 2-point game.
Benner would give NPL their first lead with another 3-pointer, this one nothing but net, then hit a runner for a 20-17 score with 37 seconds left in the half.
Blasi would get a jumper just before the horn for a 1-point game as the teams went into the locker rooms.
“They throw the press at you, and the 3-2 zone, and we broke the press, but then we rushed ourselves on the offensive end,” explained Vaughan. “We had to kind of collect ourselves a little bit.”
The players felt they left a few lay-ups out on the court with passes that were a little high and wide.
“We had to keep our cool, and keep working as a team,” said Smithkors.
They would retake the lead 20 seconds into the second half with a Moore lay-up, only for an old fashion 3-point play from Mahern took it right back for NPL.
Smithkors would get a put back for a 23-all game, but then NPL went NBA Jam hot, especially Mahern.
He would hit three 3-balls on three of his newt four shots as part of a 21-8 Mountie run that saw them go up by 13 with just under two minutes left in the third.
“We just had to keep punching back,” Smithkors said about that run.
The Griffins didn’t panic as they did their best to keep pace, and keep the deficit manageable.
“It was tough, but it’s a position we’ve been in before,” Blasi explained. “We just had to change a couple things, get to the shooters a little quicker, make them a little uncomfortable, and maybe they’ll start missing.”
Colin King would get a bucket, then find Murray for a lay-up to get it under 10 points with 45 seconds to play.
The two teams then traded buckets, with Marotti getting the final say on a buzzer beating lay-up for a 7-point difference going into the fourth quarter.
McTish opened the fourth with a lay-up for a 48-39 NPL lead, but a Marotti 3-ball from straight away cut it to 48-42 a minute into the fourth.
McTish found the basket again off a Kreger assist, but in the course of a minute Sullivan got two buckets from Smithkors, and one out of Blasi to make it a 2-point game with 5:10 left to play.
The two teams traded turnovers for a few possessions until Blasi got to the foul line and hit both with 4:14 to go to knot the game up at 50-all.
NPL would retake the lead on a Mahern free throw, followed by a Grinnell steal and lay-up, making it 53-50 with 3:37 to play.
With 2:33 to play Lucas King got a steal and lay-up to make it a 1-point game, then Sullivan took the lead with 45 seconds to go when Blasi got a steal, then passed it up ahead to Marotti for the go ahead bucket, giving the Griffins a 54-53 advantage.
“We had that stretch where we had a couple steals,” Blasi said. “They tried to get our guards in the post a little bit, and we fronted, and just we’re tough. We got the ball up to Dom, and he made the lay-up - and from there it was just our game to win.”
Twelve seconds later number 12, Colin King, got a steal and lay-up for a 56-53 score.
Mahern would go to the line with 19.5 seconds left, making 1-of-2 to cut it to 56-54. Those would be the last points they score as they sent Lucas King to the line, where he made both to make it a 4-point game with 12.9 on the clock.
In those final seconds NPL had two misses and Sullivan was back on top of the district.
“It was just heart…we’ve had it all season,” Vaughan said about the comeback. “On a night like tonight things go too fast, and I don’t know I can say anything super intelligent other than the guys kept believing, kept fighting. I think our quickness in that line-up that we went to certainly had an effort on the final stretch.”
Sullivan County will now host a state game on Friday, March 6. They’ll get the fourth placed finisher out of District III.
“Hopefully it’s energetic, and we have a lot of fans come out,” Smithkors said.
If it’s anything like the district title game, nobody will want to miss it.
——
PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
