“We talked at the beginning of the season about last year,” says Manikowski, “and how they had a great season .. but came up a little short against Wellsboro in the NTL Showdown and Troy in the District IV finals. So some of our goals are to put ourselves in position to return to those games and hopefully have better outcomes.”

A trio of starters return from the ’22-’23 season for Manikowski’s inaugural campaign, including All-State senior guard Karson Dominick, as well as juniors Alex Davis and Cooper Shaw.

Dominick scored 19.4 points per game for the 25-4 Tigers last season, scoring in double digits in all but three of NPM’s games, hitting for more than 20 points 15 times and matching his career high of 33 points in a win over Williamson. The versatile junior went over 1,000 points for his career during the '22-'23 season and stands at 1,176 points.

Dominick also hit 37 three pointers, went 94-124 on free throws (76%) and rounded out his All-State resume with 5.6 rebounds per game, 2.4 assists per game, 1.8 steals per game and 14 blocked shots.

Returning starting juniors Davis (9 ppg, 3.3 apg, 2 spg) and Shaw (8.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.5 apg) lead a large contingent of players who are back after seeing varsity action last season, including .. senior Cade Kurzejewski, junior Tayton Strange, junior Talon D’Angelo, sophomore Jason Harer and sophomore Andy Hermansen.

Numbers are up for the Tigers, with a roster of 25 players for JV and Varsity.

“Our starters are not set in stone as we have some decent depth at the varsity level,” explains Manikowski, “I’m hoping to be able to go at least eight .. maybe ten-deep most games. We may mix and match the starters depending on matchups .. although a couple of players have had strong preseasons and may cement themselves in the starting lineup.”

Along with the returning players, NP-Mansfield added Brady Stetter, who scored two points and grabbed three rebounds per game for North Penn-Liberty last year as a sophomore. 

“Brady gives us another big inside presence,” says Manikowski, “He’s definitely in the mix to be a starter at the center position, along with Cade (Kurzejewski) and Jason (Harer).”

Manikowski points to Kaidyn Choplosky and Dante Stiger as players who will enter in the mix at forward and center, and lists Strange, Hermansen and D’Angelo as guards who could nab the fifth starting spot.

While Manikowski is entering his first season with the NP-Mansfield Varsity program, the long-time educator has been coaching somewhere for a majority of the his career.

“I’ve probably been coaching basketball at some level for the past twenty five years,” says Manikowski, “I was both the head boys and girls varsity coach at North Penn before it closed down .. I coached the boys and girls junior high teams .. the boys JV .. ran the boys and girls elementary program in Blossburg .. and was a volunteer assistant for the varsity under Bill Evans.”

Manikowski is definitely not new to the Tigers’ program, making the transition easy for both his players and himself. 

“Once North Penn closed I was a volunteer assistant for two years here with Coach (Kipper) Burleigh,” says Manikowski, “then I was the JV boys coach for three years and after taking a year off, I coached the boys junior high teams for the past three years.”

That familiarity has helped the Tigers as they played through the offseason and in the early days of the preseason. 

“Coach Manikowski is a great coach, and an even better guy,” says Dominick as he enters his fourth season as a starter for the Tigers, “He has a lot of experience and everyone on the team believes in him and is extremely excited for the season.”

Gaining redemption for their shortcomings in last season’s Showdown and District final is a goal echoed by Dominick.

“Thats our big goal,” says Dominick, “but we’re working to go undefeated in the league .. win the NTL championship .. win the Showdown and then hopefully we’ll be playing our best ball when Districts come and we can go on a run and surprise some people.”

The Tigers will open their season on Friday at the Shikellamy Tip-Off Tournament then will travel to Liberty on Wednesday to take on the Mounties before hosting their home-opener against South Williamsport on Monday, December 11th.

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