BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
TOWANDA — Towanda got a balanced effort offensively, and played tough perimeter defense as they defeated NEB, 52-37, during NTL boys’ hoops action Monday.
The win secures Towanda’s spot in the district playoffs.
“We were excited to be back on our home floor,” said Towanda coach Landon Henry. “These guys worked really hard, and we’ve been working on just trying to get better every day. I think that we took care of the basketball much better tonight than our last showing, and ultimately that was the biggest difference tonight. We played under control, and with a lot more poise. Some of our young guards, like Boom Thompson in particular, played with a ton of maturity, and he just made really good decisions tonight, and defended very well.”
Towanda hit three first quarter 3-balls as they took a 13-4 lead at the first horn, with the two teams keeping it even through the third quarter as the Knights led 41-28.
The Panthers made it a 9-point game with 4:05 left to play, but Towanda held them scoreless for the rest of the fourth to secure the win.
It marks the second game in a row NEB came out slow.
“We’re just not ready to play in the first quarter,” said NEB coach Paul Burgert. “We come like we’re stuck in the mud, we’re digging ourselves holes, and it’s just hard to climb out against good teams.”
Towanda assisted 13 of their 21 made field goals, as Thompson led the way with 11 points, and six assists.
“That’s a credit to our patience,” Henry said. “The guys seeing the floor, taking their time to get good shots, and that’s something we stressed after our last game.”
Darrius Farrell netted 11 points, with Markell Garner adding eight. Graham Welles, and Landon Clark had six points apiece, as Bayley Poll, and Connor Barnes both scored four.
Ben Shrawder chipped in with two points, and three assists.
Cooper Brown had a career night to lead NEB, going 10-for-16 for 25 points, while adding six boards.
“Cooper was the only thing we could get going offensively tonight,” said Burgert. “He was dynamite tonight.”
Eli Stanton added six points, and five assists, as Clay Wilkes, Tanner Herb, and Tyler Thoman had two points each. Herb also had six board, and three steals.
The two big guys - Garner and Wilkes - traded buckets early for a 2-2 lead, then
A 3-pointer by Farrell made it 5-2, with Brown cutting it to 5-4 with a jumper.
Towanda then scored eight straight to end the quarter - two 3-pointers by Thompson and Poll, sandwiched around a lay-up from Clark.
Farrell hit a second 3-ball to start the next quarter, extending Towanda’s lead to 16-4.
The two teams went back and forth after, with Brown hitting a jumper to end the NEB drought.
Farrell had an old fashion 3-point play to make it a 13-point lead, but an Herb lay-up cut it back to 11.
Back to back buckets from Garner and Thompson extended the Towanda lead to 15 points, with Brown making it a 23-10 behind a put back.
After a Clark put back pushed the lead to 15 points again, Brown hit three straight shots to cut the deficit to nine points.
A pair of Clark free throws late in the half made it 27-16 at the break.
Garner opened the second half with a bucket for a 29-16 lead, only for Brown to come back with a lay-up.
The two teams traded blows throughout the third, with Welles hitting a 3-pointer for a 36-22 Towanda lead halfway through the frame.
NEB go back to back buckets from Brown and Stanton to cut the lead to 10, only for Shrawder lay-up to push it 12.
A Thoman jumper made it 38-28, but Welles had the final say, hitting a buzzer beating 3-ball for a 41-28 Towanda lead going into the fourth.
Stanton opened the frame with a lay-up, followed by a Poll free throw.
Brown hit a jumper to keep the deficit at 10 points, but a Thompson lay-up kept NEB at arm’s length.
Brown would nail a 3-ball - the only one for the Panthers all night - to make it a 9-point game.
At the other end Garner hit a lay-up off a Thompson feed for a 46-35 lead.
A full court Stanton drive and lay-up made it a 9-point game, but that’s as close as NEB got.
Towanda would close on a 6-0 run as they did a good job running clock to get the win.
“We’re excited,” Henry said about clinching their first playoff birth in two years. “It was a goal of ours, and we’re looking forward to that.”
For NEB, the loss likely takes them out of the NTL Small School title race, but they can still make the Showdown with wins in their final two games against Canton and Sayre.
“The last six quarters we’ve played our defense has been pretty good,” Burgert said. “We have to keep building on that, and then we’ve just got to get some guys going offensively.”
Towanda will be fighting for the seventh spot in the district standings in order to avoid a possible play-in game.
They travel to Troy Wednesday, then host Wellsboro Friday in a key match-up.
“Two teams that have gotten us already this year,” said Henry. “We’ll be fired up ready to go, and give them our best effort.”
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