“Overall I thought the season went well,” says McLean of his squad’s 11-12 overall finish, “Being in my second year, I feel like we took the right steps from last year being 8-14 to this year finishing .500 and in the playoffs. Hopefully next year we take that next step .. being above .500 and making a playoff run.”

The Lady Tigers made a one-win improvement in the league (7-9) as well as in the large school division (3-7), while five of their losses came by single digits. 

“My goal this year was simply to build on last season,” says McLean, “whatever that looks like .. I felt like we did that. From wins, to player development, to team development .. I was pleased with the steps we took. I thought overall we matured a lot and realized that we can compete with the best of them.”

Mansfield was led by Kameron Lightner, who averaged a double-double of 12.6 points and 15.4 rebounds per game. McLean had high praise for his lone senior starter, who added 2.8 steals, 1.6 assists and a blocked shot per outing. 

“This year, Kameron Lightner took some huge leaps to solidifying herself as one of the best players in the NTL,” says McLean, “When competing with the best, she showed up and had some dominating performances.”

Lightner scored in double figures in 15 of NPM’s 23 games and had double-digit boards in 22. 

Maddy McNamara followed up her freshman season from a year ago as the ‘All-Tioga County Girls’ Basketball Newcomer’ with a solid sophomore campaign for the Tigers, averaging 11.3 points .. with 20 threes .., 5.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.3 steals per game. 

“Maddy McNamara took a huge  jump from her freshman year,” says McLean, “also showing she can be one of the best in the NTL. We’ll have some huge shoes to fill with Lightner graduating,  but McNamara has shown that she is ready for this to be her team.”

Junior Elaina Shaw (5.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.6 spg, 25-3’s), freshman Julia Kaczynski (5.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.9 spg) and sophomore Addy Lehman (4.4 pag, 2.1 rpg, 1.5 spg) rounded out the Lady Tigers’ starting five, while seniors Avalon Rew (1.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg) and Emmi Route (1.5 ppg) provided minutes off the bench.

“Julia Kaczynski had a great freshman year,” says McLean, “She was like our utility player .. whatever we asked her to do, she did  .. and she did a great job. She was battle tested and rose to the occasion every time. Players like Elaina Shaw and Addi Lehman also stepped up and made some great plays in huge moments for us this year.”

North Penn-Mansfield’s offseason will be spent developing McLean’s returners even further. 

“The plan moving forward is to just keep building on what we have done so far,” says McLean, “While we have big shoes to fill, we’re returning four out of our five starters, which is helpful going into the off season. We’re able to just pick up where we left off and put our heads down and keep working.”