Schuylkill Haven Stymies First Chapter Of New Northern Lebanon Era As Hurricanes Run Away Late, Begin Season With Tough Win Inside Vikings’ Updated House

Written by: Andy Herr on December 2, 2025

At the start of every season, new is always going to be the word of the day. Then again, there’s “new” and there’s the type of new that the Northern Lebanon boys’ basketball program is rolling out with this winter.

New coach? Say hello to Franklin Wilson Jr, getting his shot at a varsity job after coming east by way of Harrisburg this year to the L-L’s northernmost outpost. Invariably, a new style to pair with a new coach? Yeah, that too checks the box as Wilson Jr brings with him a high intensity, pressure-style motive that relies on franticness and just making the opposing team feel anything but comfortable, an admittedly unique style that isn’t all that common across the Lancaster-Lebanon League in general. New faces on the roster? Some that even came back after a year away? Mark that down too. Shoot, if that wasn’t already enough, how about a brand-new facility to officially christen this new chapter of Viking basketball with as NL has finally opened the doors to its new and improved gym and overall athletic facility after a multi-year construction project on the school’s campus, some of which is still ongoing? Yep, they got new digs these days as well.

So yes, a lot of what defines Northern Lebanon will be an overall sense of freshness and just overall newness. That said, if the saying goes that you only get one shot at making a good first impression, that task came Monday night when the Vikes opened their season, much less their upgraded facilities, for the first game of this new era when the Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes came calling, a team that had already bested NL last season in an early December game up in the county they called the “Skook.”

And while Northern Lebanon would show more than ample signs on Monday night as to why they figure to be a strong headache for the rest of their L-L Section Four brethren to contend with, the Hurricanes would have just enough answers – particularly late – to ultimately force Northern Lebanon into securing that first win for another day and time down the road in the future.

Truth be told, while both teams began the night as sparring partners with one another with points coming at a premium, it be Haven who would garner the first bit of separation up on the scoreboard as the Hurricanes started the night off with a 7-0 lead, capped off with Max Hines take to the cup which led to a Vikings’ timeout with 4:47 left to play in opening act.

Suffice to say, going nearly half of the first quarter without being able to tally a point – from the field or otherwise – most certainly wasn’t in the ideal initial plans for the Vikings. However, one of the key veterans back in the fold for NL this season, Andrew Via, helped to raise the curtain and score the Vikings’ first points of the 2025-26 campaign courtesy of a much-needed triple, as the senior guard only saw his triple followed up by a three-point play of the traditional variety by way of another senior cohort, Nolan Lesher, making it a 7-6 Hurricanes’ lead with then 2:34 left in the first stanza.

And while Haven would later see their advantage climb back upwards to a five-point barrier at 11-6 in the aftermath of back-to-back Matt Lucas buckets, the Vikings would claw back on even footing come the expiration of the first frame once sophomore sniper, Collin Padovani, was able to sink a key triple in the waning stages, setting both of these squads into the new quarter while locked up in a 13-13 stalemate.

Finally, the infant stages of the second quarter, would Northern Lebanon find their first instance of playing with the lead.

For that would come via the handiwork of Lesher inside once more, en route to his 15-point night at the office come the end of the evening, as the senior big man’s pair of free throws made it a 14-13 Vikings’ advantage with not even one full minute having evaporated off the new quarter’s clock.

However, for as quickly as Northern Lebanon was able to lay claim to the lead, so too would Schuylkill Haven end up taking it right back away from them.

Specifically, the baton would be passed once Justin Watcher finished off a move en route to the tin to put the ‘Canes up by an 18-17 lead, only to then see that lead balloon up to a six-point gap at 30-24 following a steal and finish from Alan Evans, the eventual game-high scoring on the evening, who tallied a 22-point showing to pace the Schuylkill Haven charge on Monday night.

Then again, just when it seemed as if the Hurricanes could finally solve this Northern Lebanon riddle, here came the Vikings to reel themselves back into the fight.

Most notably, the one with the rod and reel here would be NL sophomore sharpshooter, Carter Moyer, as Moyer promptly fired in a key triple with 90 seconds remaining in the half to not just get the Vikings back to within three at 33-30, but Moyer and Co.’s late half antics largely helped to buoy the NL contingent into the break with a pep in their collective step, all while despite acknowledging that current three-point deficit at the intermission.

Coming out of the break though, things couldn’t have started off much better for Northern Lebanon had they hired their own scriptwriter.

Case in point, senior guard, Kael Erdman, peppering in a triple on the Vikings’ initial offensive possession to begin the third frame, only to have that then precede a Nolan Lesher bucket in transition, all of which helped to see the Vikings enjoy their largest spurt of momentum up until that point, along with a 37-33 lead to show for it.

However, for as positive as NL had begun the third quarter, Schuylkill Haven would have an answer for that too.

In fact, the Hurricanes would not long afterwards see themselves playing with the lead as a steal and finish by way of Justin Watcher — finishing with silver medal efforts in the Hurricanes’ scoring column with a 16-point showing — made it a 40-37 Haven lead with a tick over four minutes left in the quarter by that point.

Yet back and forth continued to be the theme.

Sure, while NL sophomore guard, Ryan Clemmer, would be able to knock down a trey which created a 42-42 tie with a hair over three minutes left in the period, a tough bucket inside roughly 1:30 later by way of Haven’s Matt Lucas would later usher the visitors out to a 47-42 galivant, all of which came before the curtain finally lowering on the third quarter with Schuylkill Haven maintaining the 47-44 advantage over their hosts.

By this point, it was nothing if not apparent that anyone who would be able to garner any sort of difference – say, a two to three possession lead – would probably be the eventual victor in this one.

And if that were the barometer, Schuylkill Haven would have the spoils of that advantage as a tough three-point play registered by Hurricanes’ big man, Max Heim, seemed to spell trouble for Northern Lebanon once Heim was able to knock down the freebie afterwards, making it a 52-46 Hurricanes’ cushion almost right out of the chute.

But to their credit, even when having to fight an uphill battle, not the least of which came once Andrew Via, the one who seems to stir the Northern Lebanon drink on both ends of the floor, fouled out with a good chunk of the final quarter left outstanding, Northern Lebanon’s troops were nonetheless up for the challenge.

Yet perhaps no one best exemplified that resolve more than the aforementioned Clemmer as the fearless sophomore guard proceeded to pump in a pair of game-saving triples over the span of a minute and change, the latter of which trimmed the Haven lead down to the slimmest of margins, 56-55, with 4:30 left to play in the fourth.

However, that would prove to be all the closer the home team would get for the remainder of the evening.

From there, after executing their “stall ball” set perfectly – considering it ended with a Heim back-door slip for an easy deuce inside to make it a 60-57 contest – the Hurricanes were able to parlay that with a staunch defensive stand as the final minutes wore along.

In fact, following that final Clemmer 3-ball, the Hurricanes would hold the Vikings to all of two points throughout the latter half of the final quarter.

Then, when it came to the final margins, Schuylkill Haven was able to find success at the charity stripe with Alan Evans going 2-2, Heim splitting a pair, and then splitting a pair again, all of which helped to culminate in a final 64-57 Schuylkill Haven triumph over a game Northern Lebanon bunch on Monday night once the buzzer sounded.

All that is to say, not the end result Northern Lebanon was looking for starting off this first week. Fair. Sure. But as many in the Vikings’ camp said in the leadup to this season, they largely wanted the opposition to “feel” their presence this season and know that they could expect a staunch fight for 32 minutes when going up against this group from NL. Again, final verdict aside, it was evident that Schuylkill Haven was anything but comfortable playing against the Vikings for any sort of sustained period on Monday night, not the least of which could be directly correlated to the amount of deflections NL was able to garner on the defensive end with their overall activity. And hey, if they can consistently play with that type of an edge for the remaining 20-plus games left out there on their slate, L-L Section Four and others will soon discover that Northern Lebanon is a problem to try and contend with. Yes, even if everything about them might seem totally new this year.