Advertisement

Local teams hope home cooking pays off

todd hummel, the daily item, sunbury, pa.
·6 min read

Mar. 8—The PIAA boys basketball playoffs tip off tonight with four of the five local qualifiers playing at home or close to home.

Danville and Lewisburg in Class 4A, and Greenwood in Class A will all host first-round games, while District 4 Class A runner-up Northumberland Christian will play at 6 p.m. at Lewisburg.

Shamokin, the third-place team in Class 4A, is the only area team on the road, heading north to the Scranton area to face District 2 runner-up Valley View.

Northumberland Christian's Warriors (21-5) are making their second appearance in the state playoffs, facing off against District 2 champion Forest City (14-10). The Foresters started the season 1-5 and ended the year with the same six-game results, but they won 11 of 12 contests in between those stretches. They lost a sub-regional final to Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg, 58-57, on a last-second shot from halfcourt.

Foresters senior Dylan Bezek averages 15.2 points per game, while senior guard DJ Heath chips in 14.5. Sophomore Max Urbas (8.3 ppg) leads the team with 22 3-pointers this season. Forest City hasn't made a PIAA playoff appearance since 2002, and hasn't won a game in the state playoffs since 1994.

The Warriors are trying to bounce back from a tough loss, 54-41 to Sullivan County in the District 4 Class A title game. Norry won the teams' regular-season meeting by 19. The Warriors are averaging 64.5 points per game this season, and four players post double figures.

Luke Snyder, who missed seven games this season, leads the team at 14.1 points per game. Conner Bennett (12.4 ppg), Henry McElroy (12.3) and Cole Knauss (11.9) are all close behind Snyder's game-high clip. Bennett (59) and Knauss (54) each have more the 50 3-pointers this season, despite the Warriors not making a 3-pointer in the district title game. McElroy does a good job getting to the line, shooting 70.3% from the stripe on 111 attempts this season.

The nightcap at Lewisburg features a rematch of last year's first-round matchup between the Thunderbolts (19-5) and Green Dragons (16-9), won by Lewisburg 56-54 on Henry Harrison's 3-pointer with less than a minute left.

Lewisburg returns just one starter from that game — Cam Michaels — though Harrison and Jack Blough played big roles off the bench. The Green Dragons started the season 2-5, but rebounded to win 12 of their next 13 games, tying Danville for the division. They then knocked off top-seeded Shamokin in the district semis on Michaels' buzzer-beater in overtime.

Michaels upped his scoring average more than six points per game this season, leading the Green Dragons at 15.7 per along with 27 total 3-pointers. Harrison led the area with 66 3-pointers, but he was held without one for only the second time this season against Danville in a 48-38 loss in the District 4 Class 4A title game. Harrison averages 12.8 points per game.

Lewisburg sophomore big man Neyshawn Mabry has been revelation in the late season. Though averaging just 6.5 points per game overall, he's been in double figures in eight of the last 14 games. He blocked three shots in the overtime against Shamokin, then led the way against Danville with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

The potent Thunderbolts, who won the York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association-Division 3 title for the fifth time in the last seven seasons, also feature three double-figure scorers, led by their 6-foot-8 junior Christopher Meakin, who topped 1,000 career points in his last game. He leads the team at 18.3 points per game. Jake Bosley has also gone over 1,000 career points this season, and was the YAIAA-III player of the year this season. He is second on the team at 15 points per game. Zyan Herr leads York with 49 3-pointers and averages 12.3 points.

The Ironmen (19-7) will host the District 3 fifth-place team, Eastern York (17-7), at 7 p.m. today.

It's might be a tough matchup for Danville because of the the Golden Knights' size. Their 6-foot-4 swing man, Austin Bauman, is headed to Marywood to play both basketball and baseball. Bauman was the player of the year in YAIAA-II, averaging 16.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He has 40 3-pointers this season, and totaled more than 1,300 points in his career. Sophomore Carter Wamsley was also a first-team all-league selection.

Eastern York started the season 11-0, and won Division II of the YAIAA.

Danville counters with guard Carson Persing, who leads the team at 12.6 points per game and with 56 3-pointers. Luke Huron is the only other Danville player in double figures at 10.4 ppg., but the balanced Ironmen have six players that average at least six points.

Shamokin takes on Valley View in Archbald. The Cougars won their first Lackawanna Division I title in 19 years this year, and they have beaten every other District 2 champion at least once this year — taking two wins over Class 6A champion Scranton and Class 5A champion Abington Heights. The Comets beat Shamokin (61-41) and Danville (71-23) in nonleague games this season.

Eli Yusavage, a Drew University recruit, leads Valley View at 14.1 points per game, while senior forward A.J. Kurcharski chips in 10.8 per.

Shamokin, which earned the 1,000th win in program history earlier this season, will counter with its super sophomores. Joe Hile leads the team at 16.7 points per game, and has knocked down 31 3-pointers this season. Case Lichty, who will likely draw the assignment of covering Yusavage to start the game, is second on the team at 12 ppg. and leads the Indians with 41 3-pointers. Big man Jenssyn Shuey is the final double-figure scorer for the Indians at 10.6 ppg. Shamokin's lone senior starter — point guard Cam Annis — is second on the team with 38 3-pointers.

Greenwood (25-2) will host Phil-Mont Christian Academy (18-9), the District 1 runner-up after dropping a 70-64 decision to Chester Charter in the championship game.

The Wildcats are also coming off a loss, dropping a 69-51 decision to Linnville Christian in the District 3 title game. Tyler Sherman leads Greenwood at 19.5 points per game, scoring 507 points this season. Sam Myers leads the team with 31 3-pointers, and he is second on the squad at 13 ppg. Small forward Brenden Sarver is at 9.7 points per game, and has knocked down 28 3-pointers this season. Ben Brinser has hit 27 3-pointers coming off the bench.