BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
ROME — Northeast Bradford played one of their best games of the season at the best time, using a big first half to roll past Montgomery, 68-43, during the first round of the District IV, Class AA boys’ basketball playoffs Wednesday.
They jumped out to a 22-9 first quarter lead and never looked back, putting the Red Raiders into the mercy rule early in the third quarter.
“It was a 180 from last year when we were very tense,” NEB coach Paul Burgert said. “We came out loose, and when we play loose good things happen.”
And leading the charge was point guard Eli Stanton, who went 6-for-6 for 15 points with six assists despite foul trouble limiting him. In the first quarter he had six of their first 10 points, while assisting on another bucket, before heading to the bench with two fouls.
“He really is becoming a heck of a playmaker,” Burgert said. “If he could have stayed out of foul trouble, obviously that hurt, but he’s a handful.”
Cooper Brown poured in 20 points on 9-for-16 shooting to go with two steals, as Clay Wilks had a double-double of 12 points and 11 boards.
Tyler Thoman added 11 points, and five steals, as Tanner Herb notched nine points, and two steals. Dan Barrett scored one point, with Brennin Thoman grabbing seven boards, while handing out three assists.
Parker Bennett, and Briar Persing had 11 points each to lead Montgomery, as Hayden Wilt scored eight.
The Panthers jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind a bucket from Brown, followed by back to back lay-ups out of Stanton.
Damaj Stewart-Williams got Montgomery on the scoreboard with a lay-up, but at the other end Stanton found Cooper for a bucket to make it 8-2.
A Wilt runner cut it to a 4-point game but the Panthers rattled off seven straight points off a lay-up from Stanton, a 3-ball out of Brown, and a bucket from Wilks to go up 15-4.
A Raider 3-ball ended that run, but Herb came back with an old fashion 3-point play for an 18-7 lead.
A Bennett bucket cut it to 18-9, but the Panthers finished out the frame strong, thanks to a Brown jumper, and a pair of freebies from Tyler Thoman to take the 13 point lead.
Montgomery jumped out with a 4-0 run to start the second, but Stanton returned, getting a lay-up plus the And-1 to push the lead back to double digits.
A pair of Wilks free throws pushed the lead to 14 points, with a Bennett lay-up keeping Montgomery in touch.
However, NEB broke the game open with a 13-0 spurt, kicked off by a Stanton 3-ball. Tyler Thoman got a lay-up, with Stanton getting a put back, while Wilks followed with a lay-up for a 36-15 lead.
Herb would hit a free throws, as Brown nailed a 3-ball to end the run with the Panthers up 40-15.
Montgomery tried to answer with a 5-0 run themselves, but a Tyler Thoman deep ball made it a 23-point game.
A Wilt lay-up in the dying seconds of the half put the score at 43-22 as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
NEB came out in the second half much like the first, on a 9-0 run.
Wilkes scored off a Stanton assist to start things off, followed by Brown hitting a jumper. Stanton then found Tyler Thoman, and Brown for back to back buckets, while putting the finishing touches on the spurt with a foul shot to put the game into the mercy rule, 52-22.
Montgomery would cut it to a 20-point deficit early in the fourth, 57-37, but NEB answered with an 8-0 run to secure the game. They went 11-for-13 from the charity stripe in the fourth as part of a 20-for-25 day from the free throw line.
NEB now moves on to face Muncy at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday down at Montoursville.
“I purposely don’t look ahead, so I haven’t even really watched Muncy yet, so I’ve got tonight to be up late to watch a lot of film,” Burgert said. “But we’re pretty stoked to be in the semifinal, and we feel like we can compete with anybody when we’re loosing, and playing our game.”
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
