North Penn-Liberty knows that words don't matter. But the Mounted Police must have been listening throughout the offseason.
After North Penn-Liberty won consecutive NTL-II championships and entered last year's District 4 A Class A championship, these seasons have won four starters with a score of 34-9. Since then, the Mounted Police have heard about their deaths in 2022.
In Montgomery last weekend, North Penn-Liberty quickly showed that these rumors were very exaggerated.
An inexperienced but talented and deep-hearted team won the Kyle Lynn Championship for the third time in a row, winning a tough match with Meadowbrook Christian and host Montgomery. The three players scored in double figures and the eight-man rotation team worked well together, indicating that this team is eager to build on the winning tradition of the plan.
"We see a lot of people here to exclude us. Not many people think we will compete with anyone," Championship MVP Kyle Davis scored 12 points and 9 rebounds in a 40-29 victory over Montgomery. Said. "It really makes us drive harder, makes us practice harder. We are ready to prove something."
It's still early, North Penn-Liberty will have a few challenging games with the large school NTL team before Christmas. Nevertheless, Mounties quickly proved why they are still a threat in NTL-II and District 4. Just because many of these players did not participate in many games last year does not mean that they cannot participate in games. They all performed well in practice with the starters in 2021 and are now embracing their opportunities.
Some extra motivation will definitely help.
"Every time I turn to another news article, I will say that we are lucky to reach 0.500, which may still be true because we played a lot of tough teams, but went out to win what some people think we can’t do. Victory, it shows that they have a chip on their shoulders," said Brian Litzelman, coach of the University of Peking University Liberty team. "This is what led to some momentum this weekend."
North Penn-Liberty was severely challenged in both games and received a response every time. The Mounted Police led Meadowbrook by 13 points at halftime, but trailed by 3 points in the fourth quarter. Without fear, they opened up the defense and won with a score of 44-38. Playing in front of a large group of people in Montgomery, whenever Montgomery rebounded in the last three quarters, the North Penn State Liberty will continue to rebound, and finally kicked off at the end of the fourth quarter.
They may not have much college time, but in both cases, the Mounted Police team looks like veterans. This is a good sign for moving forward. The chemistry shown by this team is the same. Seven players scored in the game against Montgomery, and three players scored in double figures in the game. North Penn-Liberty worked hard and defended, scoring only 67 points in two wins.
Putting all this together, the Mounted Police team looks like a team that can surprise almost everyone...except themselves.
"I think we really proved that we can play with a lot of people," Davis said. "We have really taken a step forward and we will make sure that we continue to play the way we did in the past two days."
"This is a new look, but there are talents here, and we have to move on," Litzelmann said. "They work really hard. We installed a brand new system because this system is not suitable for last year's team. They have already bought it, and they will be fine."
On the move: Montgomery knows all about the doubters, and the Red Raiders have been quieting them down for the past two seasons while making great progress. Montgomery made three consecutive victories and six consecutive victories in those years, and entered the region for the first time since 2010 a year ago. Despite Saturday's loss, the Raiders are confident that the best is yet to come.
They certainly have reason to be optimistic. Montgomery played poorly against North Penn-Liberty, but such a night may be rare. What Montgomery can control is its defense and intensity, and has scored high points throughout the game. Montgomery defeated perennial champion contender Northeast Bradford 46-35 in the semifinals of the Championship. His tenacious defense allowed him to stay in Saturday's game until the last two minutes.
Northeast Bradford has been running throughout the second half, and Montgomery has been responding. Montgomery’s culture has changed dramatically, these raiders believe. This is a key part of turning the situation around, and Montgomery seems to have cleared this obstacle.
"I talked to a few of them, and I said it's not self-confidence, not arrogance, but swagger. You have to understand that when you are on the court, you are there for a reason, especially at this level, they have. They are no longer intimidated by anyone," Montgomery coach Parish Jr. said. "For those who want to be one of them now, knowing where we are and where we are going, coaching is really fun."
Four-year starting point guard Logan Almeida won all championship honors, scoring 35 points, 9 assists and 7 steals in two games. Morris Walters played very well, Curtin Hans got 8 rebounds in the game against NEB, and Austin Kuhn got 10 rebounds in the game against the free team at Peking University. Montgomery is a deep and versatile person, in a broad AA-level field, it looks like a legitimate competitor. The fan base also became excited, and Saturday's final was filled with a grand game atmosphere.
The Raiders plan to bring some excitement to these people throughout the season.
"We want people to ask,'What happened to Montgomery?" Parrish said. "Last year we could blame the pandemic (for the niche), but before that, moms and dads were all in the stands, that's all. We want to change this situation."
PUTBACKS: Hughesville was one of the youngest teams in the region last season and performed strongly, winning three of the past four games. Hughesville made a strong start at Sunbury last weekend, beating South Williamsport and Hikeramie to win the Hikeramie Championship. The Spartans looked deep and balanced, and performed well in both victories. Josh Heiney and Carter Cowburn were the winners of all tournaments. Dylan Bieber won the championship 65-62 with 15 points. The bench has also changed a lot. Langdon King and Ethan Woolcock's bench is particularly strong, and Woolcock's defense in the fourth quarter helped win the victory. South beat Greenwood 43-36 to get third place. Sequan Roberts scored 20 points and Lee Habalar scored a career-high 18 points... Lewisburg recovered from a 10-point disadvantage and won the first game in a dramatic way, beating Snow 51-50 in overtime. Lando Valley. Joey Martin scored 20 points, Jack Hernandez scored 13 points, Cam Michaels scored 11 points...Only two players from Montousville returned in a high-quality college game. But on Friday, the double-digit lead was reduced to 6 points before Wellsboro lost 54-42. Quinn Ranck scored 11 points in the first varsity game between the two players, and Brayden Brown scored 9 points... Riley King and Trey Seagley won all championship honors, Sha Levan County finished third in its Mountain Crazy Championship and defeated MMI Prep 49-37. King scored 15 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists...Canton defeated Austin and Williamson to win the Williamson Championship. Statewide defender Isaiah Nimchik scored 22 points in the final. One week after participating in the state football semi-finals, forward Kayden Williams scored a game-high 17 points against Austin. Williamson’s Tristan Parker broke out 29 points in the semifinals against Galton... Cowanesque Valley is also the champion of the championship, defeating Northport and Jasper Truppsburg to win the Jack Bush championship ...The Warriors ran second in the Bachtel Championship, and Nathan Axterman (15) and Carter Marr (14) set a career high against Williamsburg. Bucktail second-year student Braylon Fantaski scored 41 points in two games.
Chris Masse reports on high school basketball and can be contacted at cmasse@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter @docmasse.
PhD. Volkswagen top 5
1. Loyalsock (1-1): The defending AAA state champions hardly entered their defending stage with ease. They are trinity with Burks Catholicism and perennial power. Although this sounds crazy because this is only the second game, Loyalsock may have reached a turning point, after winning the Trinity 61-56 in overtime at home. Saraje Ali is the only player who has played a long time on the school team this season. The statewide forward was sent off in the fourth quarter. Without fear, Loyalsock continued to grow rapidly and dominated the overtime, beating Trinity 8-3. Nate Bowman scored a career-high 14 points and Brandon Clark grabbed 12 rebounds. The victory was good, but Loyalsock's performance may herald more good times to come.
2. St. John Neumann (0-0): A team with a strong core from last year's Division 4 A-level championship will start the new season in South Williamsport tonight. Neumann is seeking a third consecutive regional title and faces a major test in Thursday's home opener against the Holy Redeemers.
3. Williamsport (1-1): Williamsport got rid of its first loss to CD East and returned strongly in Saturday's game against York. He scored only 24 points in three quarters and scored 64-48. Win. Veteran guard Kenon Brown scored a career-high 24 points and JJ Beagle scored 12 points. This is a young team, and many players are participating in a school team competition for the first time. George Wiley showed encouraging signs in the game against York, scoring 11 points. The Millionaires controlled the scoring of both opponents to less than 50 points and had a big test in the Scranton Reserve tonight.
4. Wellsboro (1-0): Montoursville played a great game, but Wellsboro made some key fouls in the game and insisted on winning the first victory of the season 54-42. Conner Adams filled the data sheet with 8 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Liam Manning is one of the leading inside players in the district, with a game-high 15 points and 7 rebounds. Inside Manning and outside Peyton McClure kept the inside and outside defenses honest. McClure was an excellent shooter. He made three three-pointers in the first half and scored 13 points.
5. Jersey Shore (1-0): A year ago Owen Bloom (Owen Bloom) came off the bench and did not waste time entering the starting lineup last Friday, helping Jersey Shore to win 58-55. Sigu's away victory. The power forward did everything, scoring 13 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks. This is a well-rounded team, McAllister (17 points and 6 rebounds) and Tristan Gallick (12 points and 3 assists) also scored in double figures. Damian Williams contributed 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. When the Jersey Shore played against Central Mountain, tonight was the night of competition.
Player of the week-Carter Cowburn, Hughesville and Saraj Ali, Loyalsock
Coburn has made steady progress in the past two seasons, and the junior forward is developing into one of the region's leading inside players. Coburn rebounded after a double-double in Thornbury, ending the game with 29 points and 20 rebounds. His presence on the inside also opened up the outside for several dangerous shooters. After Ali won the honor of the state's first team a year ago, he started where he left. The defense is about to slow him down, but Ali scored 41 points and 16 rebounds last weekend. He is a forward who treats the stadium as a defender and sent 6 assists in the game against Trinity.
Game of the Week-St. John Neuman of South Williamsport
These opponents divided the Central Pennsylvania Conference championship last season, and it was Grant Bachman’s buzzer return at the Catholic Community Center that made it a tie, because Nan handed over the only conference loss of the past two years. Neumann. Last year's two games were very interesting, and this game may follow these scripts.
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