Agape Freedom Sports LLC

By: Jeric Yurkanin

Carbondale — At the 53rd Turonis / NBT Bank Holiday Classic, two rival programs collided in the opening round with more than just a bracket spot on the line — there was tournament pride in the air. And with a packed gym on hand tonight, fans were more than ready to get this one rolling.

Valley View entered as the defending champion (2024). Lakeland has worn the crown recently too — 2023 champs, with Mid Valley winning in 2022, and the Chiefs also taking it in 2021.

Point is: nobody owns this tournament. The trophy keeps moving, and every winter it feels like a new chapter gets written.

And on this night, with noise bouncing off the walls… the stage was set.

Fans were on their feet — some rocking blue, white, and red for the Chiefs, others in yellow, blue, and gold for the Cougars — and the energy felt like tip-off couldn’t come fast enough.

Lakeland came out strong and hungry, jumping to a 7–0 lead and holding the undefeated Cougars scoreless for the first four minutes. Multi-sport athlete David Naniewicz set the tone early with a block and a couple tough rebounds as the Chiefs’ defense looked locked in.

But the moment Valley View finally saw one go through — a 7–3 three-pointer — the Cougars woke up… and they didn’t look back.

Valley View ripped off 12 unanswered to flip the game and take a 12–7 lead by the end of the first quarter.

The momentum stayed in Cougar hands in the second. With 4:13 left in the half, Valley View had pushed the lead to 21–9 as Lakeland struggled to find rhythm — both from deep and in the paint.

Valley View owned the lane the rest of the half, and by the break the Cougars were up 28–14.

And coming out of halftime, the Cougars kept pouring it on.

Valley View continued right where it left off — turning stops into points, controlling the glass, and stretching the lead possession by possession — and there was no looking back as the Cougars defended their title hopes with a statement 61–30 win over Lakeland.

Valley View leaders:

Michael Muto: 18 points, 4 three-pointers Colin Witkowski: 8 points Aiden Plotkin: 6 points Jagger Roe: 6 points

And Lakelands – David Naniewicz scored 12 points for the Chiefs.

Lakeland’s early punch made it feel like anything could happen in the opening minutes… but once Valley View found the net, the Cougars flipped the switch — and from that point on, they controlled the game on both ends the rest of the way.

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