BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
The Northeast Bradford boys’ basketball team has a lot going for it this season. They have a veteran coach in Paul Burgert, plenty of 3-year and 2-year varsity players, and an NTL Division-II line-up that features teams that have some holes to fill.
“We finally have experience,” said coach Burgert. “Hopefully we see some maturation from them. We can’t use lack of experience anymore as an excuse.”
The Panthers had an inconsistent 2022-2023 campaign, getting some big wins, but also falling short in a few contests that would like to have back.
“We were just talking about that the other day,” said returning center Cayden McPherson. “We’ve just got to take it one game at a time. We can’t take anybody lightly.”
They return three of their top four scorers from a year ago with McPherson (8.3 points per game), Josh Stanton (9.4 PPG), and Brayden Miller (9.5 PPG), along with sharp shooter Dillon Donnelly (38 3-pointers).
“We had almost four kids that basically averaged double figures last year, so we spread the wealth pretty good,” said Burgert. “Yet, we have some guys that can have some big nights for us. We certainly like to get the ball inside.”
Miller had a big night last year in a 36-point effort against, but, once again, was a game they lost.
“I don’t have an answer for that,” Burgert said. “Consistency was our big issues, along with turnovers, or decision making, at times.”
Miller and McPherson will be complimenting each other down low. Both can score in the paint, and can also step outside and hit the jumper.
“I’ve been working on my finishing and my rebounding,” McPherson said. “Being undersized against most of the bigs height wise I really have to be physical on the glass.”
In the backcourt this will be Stanton’s third straight season taking the reins of the offense, and he feels comfortable being in that role.
“I just want to continue to find my open teammates, and really just keep our offense flowing, and find opportunities as they come up,” he said. “I like our team chemistry, we still have a lot of it there. We just need to continue to build on that and just get better as a team.”
Donnelly joins him back there. The Panthers were an inconsistent shooting team a year ago, but Donnelly believes they’ll be better in that area this year, too.
“In practice we’ve been working on our shooting every single day, trying to get better at it,” he said. “A bunch of guys put in a lot of time in shooting over the summer, so we’re looking for a good season.”
They also have some younger players they’re looking to step up, namely Cooper Brown and Eli Stanton.
“I just want to help set a good example for them,” Josh Stanton said. “Show them that we’re going to work hard here, and we’re going to give it our best.”
At the end of the day, though, chemistry will be what gets them through.
“We mesh really well together,” said Donnelly. “Everybody knows each other, and what they’re going to do, so it’s going to be a good season.”
The Panthers know what they have, and what they can accomplish, and they’ve set their goals accordingly.
“We want to win a league title, and we want to make a run at the district title,” said McPherson. “I think we’re very capable of it.”
They also don’t have any problems with carry the weight of being the favorites this season.
“It’s definitely a good feeling,” said Stanton. “But we also have to prove it now. We’ve got to show that we have what it takes.”
SCHEDULE
Dec. 6 vs Troy, 7 p.m.
Dec. 8 at Montgomery Tournament, 6 p.m.
Dec. 9 at Montgomery Tournament, 6 p.m.
Dec. 12 at Wellsboro, 7 p.m.
Dec. 15 vs Canton, 7 p.m.
Dec. 18 vs Montrose, 7 p.m.
Dec. 20 at Sayre, 7 p.m.
Dec. 23 at Blue Ridge, 7 p.m.
Dec. 29 at Benton, 7 p.m.
Jan. 5 vs Williamson, 7 p.m.
Jan. 10 vs CV, 7 p.m.
Jan. 12 vs NPL, 7 p.m.
Jan. 16 at Athens, 7 p.m.
Jan. 18 at Wyalusing, 7 p.m.
Jan. 23 vs Towanda, 7 p.m.
Jan. 25 at Canton, 7 p.m.
Jan. 30 vs Sayre, 7 p.m.
Feb. 1 at Williamson, 7 p.m.
Feb. 3 vs NPM, 7 p.m.
Feb. 6 at CV, 7 p.m.
Feb. 8 at NPL, 7 p.m.
Feb. 10 vs Bloomsburg, 2:30 p.m.
