Ligonier Valley boys repeat as Heritage champions

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 8, 2019 | 10:12 PM

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Now that Marrek Paola knows he hopefully will be playing college basketball next season in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, he found new meaning in playing a high school game at IUP’s Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex.

The Seton Hill-bound 6-foot-8 senior scored 31 points Friday night to lead the Ligonier Valley boys team to its second consecutive Heritage Conference championship with a 66-42 victory over West Shamokin.

“It’s an amazing feeling coming from a high school gym to a big stage like this,” said Paola, who also had 11 rebounds to go with another huge scoring night. “I knew before the game that I had played here. I played here two other games, and I just wanted to come out with the same energy as I did the last two years.”

Even an ejection couldn’t deter Ligonier Valley. The Rams’ roster just goes too deep.

And they’ve got Paola on their side.

“He’s just a man among boys,” Ligonier Valley coach John Berger said. “He’s tough to cover. He’s a scary guy to have to gameplan for.”

Ligonier Valley (19-2) overcame the loss of second-leading scorer Michael Marinchak to an ejection after he was whistled for two technical fouls in the fourth quarter. Under PIAA rules, Marinchak will be required to sit out Ligonier Valley’s regular-season makeup game Monday at United.

“I’m glad we have a makeup game before our first District 6 playoff game,” Paola said. “We’ll get ready and play that game, and then we’ll regroup and get ready for the playoffs.”

Defending Class 3A champion Ligonier Valley defeated Richland in the District 6 title game last year.

“We’re getting down to the time where these guys know the deal,” Berger said. “They’re ready to go. I’m starting to see a little bit of fire, finally. It only took us 21 games. They don’t want to go home. They want to keep going.”

Ligonier Valley, which beat Purchase Line in last year’s Heritage Conference championship game, was making its third consecutive appearance in the classic, which drew an estimated 3,000 fans Friday. The Rams lost to Saltsburg in the 2017 game.

Paola scored 18 first-half points for the Rams, who also got 11 points from Jaxon Ludwig and 10 from Matthew Marinchak.

Riding momentum from the first half, Ligonier Valley came out of the halftime locker room firing.

Ludwig scored five quick points for the Rams, who won their only regular-season meeting with West Shamokin, pulling away with a late fourth-quarter surge to post a 17-point margin.

Paola and Ludwig combined to score 14 of Ligonier Valley’s third-quarter points as the Rams outscored the Wolves, 18-13, to take a 44-27 lead.

When Ligonier Valley lost Marinchak, it didn’t much matter to the Rams, who poured it on in the fourth quarter, building their biggest lead with the final score.

With 5 minutes, 43 seconds remaining, Marinchak was ejected after being whistled for two rapid-fire technical fouls. Marinchak, who was fouled by West Shamokin’s Jack McCullough, was cited for taunting, then drew a second technical, apparently for disputing the first call.

“We’ve got to learn to keep our mouths shut,” said Berger, himself having drawn a referee’s whistle for a bench warning in the first quarter. “When I tell somebody that somebody’s watching you and don’t say a word, you’ve got to keep your mouth shut and not say a word.”

Berger is the Marinchak brothers’ uncle.

“I was watching him,” Berger said of Matthew Marinchak. “I didn’t see anything. The stories I got, I’m not even going to go there. I don’t buy that. He plays from the heart. He puts everything on the line.”

The sequence appeared to energize West Shamokin for a time, but the Wolves quickly fell apart and couldn’t gain ground.

Paola’s 10 first-quarter points fueled Ligonier Valley’s 13-8 advantage heading to the second quarter.

West Shamokin coach Judd McCullough, sensing his team’s inability to match Ligonier Valley’s frenetic pace, employed a slow-down approach in hopes of frustrating the Rams. But Ligonier Valley’s smothering defense forced the Wolves into a string of turnovers, and the Rams steadily increased the lead to 12.

With Paola adding eight more points, Ligonier Valley surged to a 26-14 halftime advantage.

Ethan Libengood led West Shamokin (16-7) with 18 points, and Trevor Smulik added 11.

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.

Tags: Ligonier Valley, West Shamokin