Vikings ‘excited but not content’ following breakthrough boys basketball season

It was an ugly, early-season loss. Twenty-five points to Pequea Valley on Dec. 12 at home.

While chatter of the Northern Lebanon boys basketball program began to swirl, the Vikings refuted the outside noise. Questions like “was this the right choice” or “is this going to work” couldn’t crack the foundation. First-year head coach Franklin Wilson Jr. and his players knew it was a learning adversity, a chance to make them stronger.

The Dec. 13 Northern Lebanon practice was the best of the season. No one hung their heads low. No one questioned capabilities.

The Vikings got back to work and turned in their best campaign since the 2020-21 season. Northern Lebanon finished with a 10-12 record, posting its first double-digit winning output in five years while coming a few spots shy of qualifying for the District 3 Class 4A playoffs.

“At that moment,” said Wilson, reflecting on the Dec. 13 practice, “I knew that this was something we could build around. Because even though we weren’t getting the results that we probably wanted to see on the scoreboard, the guys were still bought in. The guys were still showing up. And we turned this thing around.”

Wilson recognized he had a dedicated group from the jump. When he earned the Vikings gig — after he applied for the position on Indeed — he immediately began forging connections.

Wilson had no ties to Northern Lebanon. He spent the previous four years as an assistant at Harrisburg, under the revered Demone Maxwell.

“The last four seasons, being in the Mid-Penn (Conference), it was a lot of games and a lot of understanding what it takes to be a head coach, just seeing the process of everything,” Wilson said. “And I had a good opportunity to do a lot of work with our varsity guys during the summertime.”

The basketball world tested Wilson in his debut loop. Northern Lebanon lost two seniors to injury before the season tipped off and another at the midpoint. He began to digest the full commitment, having to operate a booster club, be available at the drop of a hat and oversee the junior-varsity growth.

Through the learning curves, his players remained the glue. From start to finish, their identity persisted.

“My players actually taught me a lot,” Wilson said. “When I first got to Northern Lebanon, coming from Harrisburg, which is a high energy, high passionate place, I had to realize all players don’t receive information the same. Some players like the energy and then some you have to talk to a certain way.

“But it carried all the way throughout the summer and the fall and into our season this year. We just wanted to be the more physical team, a team that plays with a lot of energy.”

The physicality surfaced following the harrowing PV setback. The Vikings won four of their next six games, including a 57-53 stunner against Lancaster Country Day. They bucketed 93 points in a Dec. 27 win over Biglerville, the highest single-game volume since 2015.

Scoring by committee was the vehicle. NL had three players average double figures this winter — Carter Moyer (16.1 points per game), Andrew Via (13.8), and Nolan Lesher (12.6) in his five appearances. Kael Erdman and Ryan Clemmer were also steady presences, delivering at five-point clips.

“It took a group effort every night,” Wilson said. “We didn’t have anybody where we could just roll the ball out there and say, ‘Go get us 50 points and put us on your back.’ It was really all hands on deck.”

Wilson expects a similar dynamic next season. From the agonizing losses to the whirlwind victories, the blueprint for program success is firmly in place.

“We feel like we left a lot of wins on the table,” Wilson said. “So we’re excited about what we did this year, but we’re not content.”

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article misstated how long it’s been since the Vikings had a double-digit winning record. It has been since the 2020-21 season, not for nearly a decade as originally stated. LebTown sincerely regrets the error.