North Penn-Mansfield, Troy To Meet For District IV Championship
The Troy Trojans and North Penn-Mansfield Tigers both punched their tickets to the championship game of the District IV Class 3A boys playoffs with wins on Tuesday, February 28 at Montoursville High School.
Troy got off to a quick start, minus an opening dunk from Aiden McKee, to take a 13-5 lead over the Defender en route to a 67-42 win. The Trojans weathered a 2nd quarter onslaught from Warrior Run, barely outscoring them 18-17 to end the first half, but outscored the Defenders 36-20 in the second half to secure the win.
“Our kids have worked really hard since day one,” Troy coach Bob Woodward said. “We pride in doing things the right way. These guys play for each other. Warrior Run made a great run at us in the 2nd quarter. To start the second half we looked to be patient and made the extra pass. We look forward to getting back to practice tomorrow.”
Burbage led the Trojans with a game-high 24 points while Evan Woodward added 12 and Justice Chimics chipped in 10. Chimics also added 7 assists and 3 steals.
McKee and Mason Sheesley scored 13 points apiece for Warrior Run.
In the nightcap top seeded North Penn-Mansfield edged #4 seed Loyalsock, 66-62. Early turnovers by the Tigers led to 5 quick points for Sock, but eventually rallied to lead 12-11 after the first quarter. Each quarter the Tigers edged the Lancers by one point, outscoring them 15-14 to lead 27-25 at the half, and 41-38 in the third.
Heading into the 4th quarter two early baskets by senior Sammy Lawrence pushed the Tigers’ to 48-40. Loyalsock then began slowly chipping away at the lead, getting the score back down to 52-45 with three and a half minutes remaining, and eventually cutting the lead down to 64-62 with 2.4 seconds left. After the Lancer’s final made basket Lawrence was fouled after getting the inbound, sending him to the line. The senior sank both foul shots, icing the four point win.
“The team over came some adversity in this one,” said Tiger coach Kipper Burleigh. “We were not allowed to practice yesterday and we were already scheduled off Saturday and Sunday. We had a long bus trip and never seemed extremely comfortable on the floor. Our turnovers were up 50% tonight. We gave up twice as many offensive rebounds as we normally do and 20 more points. Through it all the kids found a way to get it done. Six players scored 7 or more points and we were able to show some poise at the free throw line in the 4th quarter.”
As a team the Tigers shot 22-for-30 from the foul line, including going 15-for-17 down the stretch. Karson Dominick led the Tigers with 23 points and was 13-for-15 at the foul line, including going 8-for-8 in the final frame. Cooper Shaw hit three three-pointers to finish with 11 points, Lawrence and Alex Davis scored 9 each, and Andrew Green and Brody Burleigh finished with 7 points apiece.
Jayden Andrews lead all scorers with 25 points.
Both Troy and North Penn-Mansfield await their final game time, date, and location.
Credits:
Idea/Concept: Ed Weaver
Videography: Ethan Chabala
Video Editing: Ethan Chabala
Writing: Ed Weaver
Anchor: Ed Weaver
Photography: Frank Dimon
Produced by Vogt Media
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