From staff reports
COCOLAMUS - East Juniata started this year where last year's regular season ended - with a winning program.
The Tigers got 22 points from Nick Lorenz and Bailey Coder added 16 as the host club dished up a 73-56 loss to Harrisburg Academy in the opening round of East Juniata's boys basketball season-opening tournament.
"We got some leadership out of Nick and Bailey on the floor early," East Juniata coach Brock Anders said. "Jake Sankey was able to distribute the ball on the floor."
And that was more than enough, he said, to prove that his two big shooters and a young point guard could lead the team - in fact, Anders said, this is his third freshman to drive the bus, and after Friday's outing, he's likely to stay behind the wheel. Anders said the Tigers also got a nice spark off the bench from David Brantley - back from a short trip to the wrestling team - who scored 14 in the win.
The Tigers will play fellow Tri-Valley League member Line Mountain tonight in the final, a team that returns a strong core from a year ago.
"We'll have to play hard to beat them," Anders said.
Boys basketball
Southern Huntingdon 39, Juniata 34
THREE SPRINGS - With only four scoring players - and just three of them getting points from the floor - it was a difficult opener for Juniata. The Indian boys fell to host Southern Huntingdon, 39-34, in the Rockets' tip-off basketball tournament.
The Indians will play Fairfield, which lost to Mount Union, in the consolation game.
"It was tight the whole way to the end," Juniata coach Nate Geibel said, noting the improvement of his team from a year ago. But its strength was defense, as the offense struggled to find the basket.
"We played very good defense," he said. "Our matchup zone just took them out of the game."
Scott Sneath tallied 14 and Zach Graybill 13 for the Indians.
Midd-West 70, Montgomery 44
MIDDLEBURG - Midd-West went a whole season without a win a year ago. Propelled by a huge second quarter, the Mustangs didn't even go one game without one this year.
A 13-point lead at the break was opened wide in the second half, as the Mustangs tossed Montgomery 70-44 in a non-tournament season opener.
Midd-West coach Brent Bobb said his JV team got a big win, and the good feeling infected the varsity.
"I've never seen them so fired up in my life," he said. "They played with an aggressiveness that I don't even know where it came from."
Kahill Brooker led the attack with 17 points. Dyllan Folk (12) and Colton Keister (11) also were in double figures for the Mustangs.
The JV win was by a 59-17 score.
Midd-West (1-0) hosts Line Mountain Wednesday.
Northern York 55, Greenwood 50
BOILING SPRINGS - Greenwood's move to the Paul Corby tournament at Boiling Springs offered some new challenges, and unfortunately for the Wildcats, it was Northern York that was up to the task.
The Polar Bears froze out Greenwood, 55-50, on a big first-half advantage that held down the stretch. Greenwood plays Susquehannock in the consolation game today.
"The second half we just missed a bunch of layups, got ourselves in a hole," Greenwood coach Kent Houser said.
But that started in the opening half, when Northern built a 10-point lead before the break. The Wildcats chipped away at it, getting as close as three in the final minute, but a couple free throws ended that effort, Houser said.
Tyler Fegley scored 20 and Josh Ferguson 12 in the loss.
Mount Union 68, Fairfield 40
THREE SPRINGS - Jamal Smith's 12 points may have been only the second highest total in the game, but along with 10-point nights from Devante Raison and Kahlil Fortson, Mount Union started the season on a positive note and will play tonight in the championship game of the Southern Huntingdon boys basketball tip-off tournament.
If there was any bad news for the Trojans, it was at the line, where they barely hit a third of their tries, going 6-for-17 as no one connected on more than one free throw.
Mount Union led from the get-go, outscoring Fairfield in every quarter but the last one, which was event. The Trojans had their best stanza after the break, winning the third 25-9.
Mount Union plays the host tonight at 7:30.
Girls basketball
West Perry 62, Greenwood 29
MILLERSTOWN - The Greenwood girls basketball team came out on the short end of the stick Friday when the Wildcats lost their season opener to West Perry, 62-29, at the Perry County Tournament.
The Wildcats couldn't keep up with West Perry's offensive output, with the fourth quarter's 11 points being Greenwood's only double-digit quarter.
Hattie Kuhns was Greenwood's leading scorer with 9. West Perry's Madison Urich and Megan Smith finished 20 points and 17 points respectively.
Greenwood (0-1) plays its second game today.
Johnstown Christian 40, Belleville Mennonite 23
BELLEVILLE - Foul trouble and a minor injury combined to make Belleville Mennonite's opener in the girls portion of the Trojans' own basketball tournament unpleasant.
Johnstown Christian earned the trip to the final, 40-23. The host will play Columbia County Christian in the consolation today.
"We were playing freshman and sophomores," Belleville Mennonite coach Ally Zook said. "Some of the girls really stepped it up and they ended up playing good."
Rachel Anders led the Trojans with 10 points.
Juniata 41, Milton 29
LEWISTOWN - Despite some shooting difficulties, Juniata's girls basketball team came away from the opening day of the Mifflin County Tip-Off Challenge with a win, 41-29 over Milton.
The Indians will have a chance to go 2-0 top start today, drawing Southern Huntingdon - which lost a lopsided contest to the host - in their second game in the non-tournament event.
Carly Burns had 14 for Juniata - five of those points came at the stripe - and Victoria Varner got 10 of her 12 points from the line.
"It was definitely not our best offensive shooting performance," Juniata coach Meghan Geedey said.
On the good side, she said, "We defended very well, we rebounded very well. We didn't give up easy baskets."
And her team scored nearly half its points in free throw shooting, going 20-27.
"That's how you finish games," Geedey said. You've got to be able to take the foul shots to finish the game and that's what we did."
McConnellsburg 38, Mount Union 35
MOUNT UNION - Mount Union's girls came up short in their debut, a non-league, non-tournament basketball opener against McConnellsburg Friday that the visitors won 38-35.
"We struggled defensively and we struggled making layups," Mount Union coach Jenny Cunningham said of her debut at the post.
Tynita White put up 19 for the Trojans, with some success after the half, when Mount Union had a lead. But McConnellsburg pulled away in the second half, outscoring the host team by nine to win it.
McConnellsburg also won the JV game, 35-17.
Mount Union (0-1) travels to Forbes Road Monday.
