Ligonier Valley boys basketball grabs crown on 2nd try

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 9, 2018 | 10:16 PM

Previous Next

Previous Next

The second time was fun for Ligonier Valley.

After losing in the Heritage Conference championship boys basketball game a year ago, the Rams made sure it didn’t happen again on Friday night.

“They did what they had to do to get the victory tonight. They weren’t going to be denied,” Ligonier Valley coach Todd Hepner said of his team, which won its 12th consecutive game by beating Purchase Line, 78-65.

Marrek Paola scored 31 points and Michael Marinchak added 21 to lead the Rams in the District 6 conference’s showcase game at IUP’s Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex.

The end result was redemption for a Ligonier Valley team that came away from last season’s title game with an 80-75 loss to Saltsburg.

“We knew we were going to be ready to play,” Marinchak said. “Being here last year kind of prepared us for that, but we practiced hard all week and this was our best team effort this year.”

Behind a combined 29 points from Paola and Marinchak in the second half, Ligonier Valley (17-4) withstood several Purchase Line charges after having its way with the Red Dragons in the first half and charging to a 17-point lead at the break.

Purchase Line (18-4) sliced its deficit to 45-36 with 6 minutes remaining in the third quarter after falling behind by as many as 22 points in the first half.

“I just thought we were a little shell-shocked at the beginning,” Purchase Line coach Steve Woodrow said. “When you get down by that big of a margin early, it’s tough to come back. But we battled.”

The Red Dragons were within 74-66 in the fourth quarter on a 3-point shot by Melvin Sanchez with 32.7 seconds left. But they had no answer for Paola, who seemingly scored at will from every angle.

“He gave us all kinds of problems,” Woodrow said. “He’s a big kid, and he was just able to score at will. I thought he was the difference.”

Paola scored 10 fourth-quarter points, mainly on putbacks, as the 6-foot-6 junior outmuscled Purchase Line’s post players for rebounds.

From the opening tip, Ligonier Valley controlled the game. The Rams outscored the Red Dragons, 20-10, in the first quarter as Paola scored 11 points for Ligonier Valley.

The Rams built a 22-point lead late in the second quarter, but Purchase Line, with Sanchez beating the buzzer on a layup, outscored Ligonier Valley, 6-1, in the final minute to cut the halftime deficit to 38-16.

Paola finished the first half with 14 points and Marinchak chipped in nine.

“We’ve been playing together since kindergarten,” Paola said. “It’s nice to know you have a point guard of his caliber out there with you. It makes things a lot easier to play your game because he’s just so good with the ball. He’s our leader out there.”

Purchase Line was led by Dom Campbell’s 19 points. Sanchez scored 16, Shamar Campbell 13 and Jacob Barnett 11 for the Red Dragons, who also lost to Ligonier Valley once during the regular season by a similar score of 79-67.

It’s not the end of the season for either team, both now awaiting District 6 playoff seedings next week.

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.

Tags: Ligonier Valley