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Home-standing boys teams have tough tests

Todd Hummel, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·5 min read

Mar. 6—Five of the seven boys basketball teams in our area that qualified for the PIAA playoffs will open at home in the first round tonight.

The two away teams are in Class A, Northumberland Christian heads to Lancaster County Christian to face District 3 champion Linville Hill at 7 p.m. tonight, and in Class 3A where District 4 Class 3A third-place Southern Columbia heads to District 6 runner up Forest Hills at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

District 4-6 Class 5A champion Selinsgrove will have been off for nearly two weeks since its 54-52 victory over Hollidaysburg in the championship game on Feb. 24. The Seals (17-7) will host District 3 seventh-place Muhlenberg (14-11) at 7 p.m.

The Muhls, from just North of Reading, have nine losses, but but six came at the hands of Class 6A schools. Selinsgrove is making its first appearance in the PIAA playoffs since 2017. Ries Naugle leads the Seals and the area in scoring at 21.8 points per game, and has scored 524 points this season. Junior Gavin Bastian is second on the team at 10.5 points per game, while freshman Xaivier Jackson averages 9.9 points. Naugle has 48 3-pointers on the season, while Bastian and Jackson each have 32 3-pointers.

Danville (20-7), the District 4 Class 4A champion, will host District 3 fifth-place team Octorara (18-8) at 7:30 p.m. The Braves have had a strange season. They started the year 16-2, and coach Keith Lambert picked up his 300th career victory in a win just before Christmas over Schuylkill Valley. Octorara then lost six straight games including their first-round district game, before beating Middletown and Littlestown to earn a state playoff berth.

The Braves have a strong senior leader in Zach Kirk, a guard that has more than 1,000 career points, but when Braves beat Middletown to clinch a state playoff berth, four of the five double-figure scorers for Octorara were underclassmen.

The Ironmen thrive on their balance. Danville's top three scorers are separated by just 13 total points. Luke Huron leads the team at 11.9 points, while Daniel Walker is second at 11.8, and Hayden Winn averages 11.4 per game. The only starter without at least 15 3-pointers is Walker, the starting center. Huron has a team-high 36, while Ethan Morrison has 32, and senior Carter Heath has 22.

Shamokin (19-7), which lost to the Ironmen, hosts District runner-up Valley View (19-6) at 7 p.m. The Cougars beat the Indians in last year's first-round in Archbald, 53-39.

Both teams have played extremely competitive schedules as all of the 13 combined losses for the two schools have come to teams competing in the state playoffs.

Kyle Rupp is the lone double-figure scorer for the Cougars at 14.5 points per game, but the Cougars allow just 40.5 points per game defensively. Valley View has allowed just seven teams to reach 50 points this season.

That of course is completely different than how the Indians want to play. Shamokin averages 63.2 points per game, and have scored at least 80 points in four games this season. Junior Joe Hile leads the team at 16.5 points per game, and with 45 3-pointers. Jenssyn Shuey is second on the team at 13 points per game. Rylan Price has stepped up his game in the postseason. Price scored in double figures in just three games during the regular season, but has been in double figures in all four postseason games.

The Green Dragons trip to Johnstown could be a tough one. The Trojans (21-4) have just two losses since the calendar turned to 2024, and are the back-to-back District 6 champions. Donte Tisinger is a Division I recruit at point guard. The 6-foot 1 junior is already over 1,000 points for his career, and set the school single-game scoring record with 53 points back in September.

The final two games on Friday night come in Class A. District 3 runner-up Greenwood (16-8) hosts District 1 runner-up Phil-Mont Christian (18-5), which reached the quarterfinals last season after beating Greenwood in the opening round. The Wildcats will have to find an answer for 6-4 junior center Kendell Bratten, who averages a double-double (19.5 points, 10.9 rebounds).

The team that beat the Wildcats last week in the District 3 championship game — Linville Christian — will face District 4 third-place Northumberland Christian. Linville Hill has just two losses over the last two seasons — to Berlin Brothersvalley in last year's state semifinals and to Class 6A Avon Grove on Dec. 30, 2023. Linville Hill has won all of its games since that loss by at least 20 points except for a two-point win over La Academia in the quarterfinals of the District 3 tournament.

There might not be a hotter scorer in District 4 than Northumberland Christian junior Conner Bennett. He's hit his career-high of 33 points in back-to-back games and at least 20 points in eight of his last 10 games. Bennett averages 16.1 points per game and has an area-high 72 3-pointers this season, including 14 in three District 4 playoff games.

The only game on Saturday sends Southern Columbia (18-7) to play District 6 runner-up Forest Hills (20-5). It's a young Rangers team. Forest Hills has four players that average double figures, one is a freshman and two are sophomores. Freshman Dylan Stohon leads the team in scoring (16.5 points) and rebounding (6.4 per game). Sophomore Koy McGough (14.9 ppg) and senior Si McGough (12.8) are the second and third leading scorers for the Rangers. Si McGough and junior Chase Williamson are the only regular upperclassmen in the rotation. Three freshmen are in the regular rotation for Forest Hills.

The Tigers will counter with a veteran squad led by Wilkes University-bound Brian Britton. He averages 21.2 points per game and is 51-of-56 from the charity stripe over the last nine games. Southern Columbia will counter the Rangers youth with three senior starters.