Selinsgrove boys basketball defeats Lewisburg 53-47 in wire-to-wire fashion
By: Benjamin Snyder | SportzWire | December 11, 2025 | Photo courtesy Steve Varias
SELINSGROVE, PA -
On Thursday December 11th 2025, the Selinsgrove Seals stunned Lewisburg at home with a thrilling six-point victory.
Q1 -
The tip-off went to Lewisburg's Leon Tucker II, but an early turnover gave Selinsgrove the basketball. Selinsgrove then presented some miscommunication of their own to give Lewisburg the ball again. After a minute or so passed Lewisburg's Nazir Meredith fouled Griffin Parker which put him on the line. Parker missed both, but Lewisburg could not convert on any offensive possessions. The ball went back to Selinsgrove, and they missed three consecutive put-back opportunities in the paint, including a failed transition dunk. Moments later, Rebira Jemana fouled Selinsgrove's Xaivier Jackson which gave him the chance to shoot his first free throws of the game. Jackson came up short on both. After more than two minutes of scoreless basketball, Chase Carter found Noah Walter under the net to give Selinsgrove their first points of the game (2-0 Seals). On the Seals next offensive possession, Chase Carter found two points of his own near the rim, putting the Seals up by four. Xaivier Jackson increased the Seals lead to six after putting through a transition layup off a Lewisburg turnover. Nazir Meredith earned Lewisburg their first points of the game from an and-1 layup which cut the Seals lead to three with 3:30 to go in the first quarter. More careless basketball ensued as Jaylen Walker committed his first foul of the game on the shot of Selinsgrove's Xaivier Jackson. Jackson missed both shots at the free throw line (6-3 Seals, 2:20 to go). On the next possession, Lewisburg's Cortland Michaels pushed through contact to convert a layup and send himself to the free throw line (Julian Torres foul). Michaels missed his foul shot and Mac DeFazio earned the defensive rebound. The rebound turned into a Jack Piecuch wide open three-pointer to put the Seals up 9-5. Lewisburg was unable to capitalize on their next possession, handing Selinsgrove the ball. Jaylen Walker gave his second foul of the game and the Seals made some substitutions before Lewisburg went on a 6-0 run to close out the quarter. During that run, Cortland Michaels, Nazir Meredith, and Jaylen Walker all found the basket for two points. Xaivier Jackson was able to keep the run to just six by blocking an attempted buzzer beater from Cortland Michaels. Lewisburg led 11-9 at the end of quarter number one.
Q2 -
The second quarter of play all began with a self putback layup from Selinsgrove's Mac DeFazio. Lewisburg's response consisted of another putback layup from Nazir Meredith. Selinsgrove pushed right back thanks to a deep three-pointer from Mac DeFazio (assisted by Griffin Parker). Lewisburg's next possession went right back to Nazir Meredith where he scored his eighth and ninth points of the game from a layup. The reign of scoring continued with a Griffin Parker three-pointer giving the Seals a 17-15 lead with 6:22 to go in the second. Twenty seconds later Leon Tucker II got in the scoring column with a fadeaway three-pointer, assisted by Cortland Michaels. Possessions later, Xaivier Jackson hit a layup to continue the roller coaster game (19-18 Seals). Both teams then traded fouls including Jaylen Walker's third. With 4:03 to go, Xaivier Jackson found Julian Torres in the corner for an easy trey. On the Seals next possession, Julian Torres found Xaivier Jackson in transition to hand the Seals two more points (24-18 Seals). On the very next possession, Nazir Meredith was fouled on the shot by Mac DeFazio, and he converted both free throws. A minute passed and Selinsgrove's Jack Piecuch found himself a scoring opportunity from beyond the arc. His shot rolled around the rim before falling to put the Seals up 27-20. Xaivier Jackson's second foul of the game gave Cortland Michaels an opportunity to shoot foul shots, and he hit both. Thirty seconds later Michaels made it to the line again from a Noah Walter foul. The Green Dragons were already in the bonus, so they continued to put Michaels on the line. Michaels made his first shot, but he couldn't drop his second. Michaels did find the hoop on the Green Dragons next possesion to cut the lead to just two (27-25 Selinsgrove). The first half concluded with a Mac Defazio converted foul shot which allowed the Seals to carry a three-point lead into the break.
Q3 -
The second half got started with a Mac DeFazio layup in the paint. Lewisburg responded fiercely with two-point makes from Nazir Meredith (2) and Rebira Jemama. At this point Lewisburg, was carrying a one-point lead. With 5:25 remaining in the third, Xaivier Jackson hit a reverse layup to put the Seals up once again. From here on, both teams traded the lead back-and-forth. Nazir Meredith gave Lewisburg the lead, but a Mac DeFazio three put Selinsgrove right back on top (35-33 Seals). The next three minutes presented no scoring, but both teams also gave fouls during this period, including fouls from Leon Tucker II, Rebira Jemana, and Julian Torres. Lewisburg's Rebira Jemana broke the cold streak with a fadeaway two-point tip-shot to tie up the game at 35 a piece. The quarter ended with a made foul shot from Xaivier Jackson to give Selinsgrove a 36-35 lead.
Q4 -
Everyone in the gym was getting into it during a wild fourth quarter. Chase Carter got things started with a layup for the Seals. He then committed a foul which put Lewisburg's Jack Siegel on the line. Siegel knocked down both foul shots to cut the Seals lead to just one point (38-37). The man of the night, Mac DeFazio put through a three-pointer to keep momentum with the Seals. Another series of fouls was committed by both squads and one of those fouls put Jack Piecuch on the free throw line, however, he could not convert on either free throw. Leon Tucker II earned himself a bucket to cut the lead to two points. That action was followed by fouls from Leon Tucker II and Cortland Michaels. Xaivier Jackson reached the free throw line during that time, but yet again came up short on both shots. Leon Tucker II struck again to tie up the game 41-41, but both Mac DeFazio, and Noah Walter hit three-pointers, giving the Seals the lead.
As repetitive as it sounds, Leon Tucker II continued his legendary fourth quarter with a trey. From here on out it was crunch time for the Dragons, so they began fouling. Jack Piecuch made foul shots for the Seals giving them a five-point advantage. A series of foul shots were then missed by Xaivier Jackson and Noah Walter which gave Lewisburg a chance, but a Julian Torres free throw put the Seals up by seven following a make from Xaivier Jackson. With seconds left, Mac DeFazio reached the line and made both increase the Seals lead to 53-44. As time expired, Lewisburg's Cortland Michaels drained a three-pointer to mark a 53-47 finish in favor of the Seals.
Postgame -
I met with the Selinsgrove Seals head coach Justin Keiser after the conclusion of the contest to speak with him about the game.
I asked coach Keiser what the last seven days looked like for his guys since they were bouncing back off of a 57-52 loss against Mount Carmel. I asked him what went well and what fueled this victory.
Ben - "Coach you guys are bouncing back off a 57-52 loss last week, what went in practice this week over these last seven days to just get right today and beat a really good Lewisburg team?"
Justin Keiser - "We are just focused on team defense, but ultimately in the long run we just need to put the ball in the basket" He mentioned that against Mount Carmel his team missed about 13 layups and they went 2 for about 12 from the free throw line. He later stated, "We struggled to put the ball in the basket again tonight a little bit, but we are doing everything else really well". He said that doing everything else really well was able to power them to a win against Lewisburg.
Ben - I then asked coach Keiser about Selinsgrove's leading scorer against Lewisburg, Mac DeFazio. I stated, "Mac DeFazio had 19 points tonight... through these first three games he's been really consistent, improving from last year, what has he meant to you so far through these first three games?"
Justin Keiser - Coach Keiser responded enthusiastically about Mac. He stated, "Mac is the ultimate culture guy, if we had 10 of Mac I would take it every time. He does everything right (good intentions), he plays so hard". Keiser appreciates everything that Defazio contributes to his team.
Ben - My final question consisted of asking what the message was to his guys at halftime, especially because they were carrying a three-point lead into the break. I stated, "What was the message halftime? You guys were up by 3 going into the break... what was your message to the team just to finish strong here?"
Justin Keiser - "For the most part it was to keep doing what we're doing... I thought them in good spots (Keeping Lewisburg to a good spot), our shot selection was pretty good." He also mentioned that they needed to continue to trust themselves and take shots when they were open.
Conclusion -
Selinsgrove claimed victory tonight over Lewisburg despite being 15.5 point underdogs. Mac DeFazio led the way with 19 points to put the Seals over the top. In a game where Lewisburg struggled, Nazir Meredith was the bright spot and he scored 17 points. The winning Seals will take on Southern Columbia at home on Tuesday December 16th at 7:30pm.
All photo credit goes to Steve Varias.
