Crusaders outlast Panthers in 2 OTs
Notre Dame-Green Pond coach Pat Boyle has been coaching boys basketball longer than anyone in the Lehigh Valley.
He’s in his 27th season and Friday night marked his 713th game in charge of the Crusaders.
But no matter how long you’ve coached, you still get drained during the course of a game and the Colonial League championship game at Freedom left everyone involved emotionally spent.
“I’m exhausted,” Boyle said late Friday night.
He was not too exhausted to smile, however, after his Notre Dame-Green Pond team pulled out a 45-42 double-overtime win over Saucon Valley for its first league title since 2014 in arguably the most memorable game of the boys postseason so far.
A tight game throughout, the two Northampton County and East Division teams were tied at 37 at the end of regulation and were still knotted at 40 at the close of the first overtime.
An Alex Magnotta drive with 1:23 left in the second OT gave Saucon a 42-40 edge before Chase Marcks hit a 3-pointer to give the Crusaders a one-point lead with 1:11 remaining.
The Panthers, who missed a pair of potential game-winning shots at the end of regulation and had another good look bounce off the rim near the end of the first overtime, had three more chances to either tie or regain the lead.
The first possession resulted in a missed 3 by Jacob Klotz. Jacob Albert got the rebound, and was fouled, but missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18.5 seconds left.
Caleb Hobbie got the rebound off the missed foul shot for Notre Dame, but he also missed the front end of a one-and-one with 17.2 ticks left.
That set up one final full possession for Saucon Valley. Jack Robertson drove to the basket and tried a reverse layup but Notre Dame’s Dainn Vassallo met him
at the rim and blocked the shot and scrambled for the rebound.
He was fouled with 0.9 seconds left, made both free throws and a desperation heave by the Panthers wasn’t close as the celebration began for Notre Dame, which improved to 21-3 with its 15th straight win.
This was a case where the adage about defense winning championships rang true.
“I was more worried about No. 25 because they like to drive it in and dump it off to him, but I saw that was going pretty hard and had his head down and I thought maybe I could get a little something going here,” Vassallo, a 6-foot-2 junior, said. “So I just put my hand up and hoped for the best. I blocked it, I grabbed the ball and the rest is history.”
No Colonial League member has played in more tournament games than Notre Dame. The Crusaders were playing in their 23rd out of a possible 29 tournaments since leaving the Centennial League and joining the league in the 1994-95 school year. But they had won just two titles before Friday night.
The nine-year wait for the third crown made the moment all the more gratifying, especially since Saucon Valley played the role of spoiler to the max.
“We had to gut one out,” Boyle said. “We knew they were going to make it really difficult. I told Coach Snyder he’s going to win a bunch of titles over the course of his career, but our guys did a great job tonight.”
Saucon Valley controlled the tempo and forced Notre Dame to its lowest point total of the season even with the benefit of the extra eight minutes.
“We didn’t get a lot of easy baskets and a couple of times in our offense our spacing got real bad,” Boyle said. “And then we’d get an open look and one of their guys would come out of nowhere to block a shot. It’s a tough matchup for us because they’re two or three inches taller at every single position.”
Colin Boyle, a junior and the coach’s son, gave the team a spark with 7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 deflections that led to a pair of steals. But he fouled out with 2:03 left in regulation with the game tied at 37.
“We got a few points in transition with Colin, but then he fouls out and doesn’t get to play in the last 10 minutes, so we’re very fortunate to get a win,” Boyle said. “Our kids have the unique ability to block things out and move on to the next play.”
Crusaders were on the Marcks
Marcks had to move on after he rushed a long shot at the end of the first overtime that gave Saucon Valley a chance at one last possession in the initial OT.
“We were supposed to hold for one shot and Chase shoots it with 12 seconds left,” Boyle said. “He was kicking himself and I was yelling at him, but I just knew he was going to come through in the next overtime and he obviously did.”
Marcks, one of Notre Dame’s three seniors, savored the moment.
“It feels amazing because this is something I’ve dreamed about for a long time, ever since I was a little kid,” Marcks said. “Me and Zach went to middle school together and we always talked about winning a championship together. There’s nobody I’d rather do it with than him because he’s one of my best friends. I’m just so happy we were able to do this for our school and change the culture and bring a championship back.”
Proud Panthers
Snyder has definitely changed the Saucon Valley culture in his first season. The Panthers were 7-15 last season and 23-78 overall in the previous five seasons.
But Saucon (19-6) was just one shot away from the program’s first league title since 2011.
“Ultimately the game doesn’t come down to one shot and we had a lot of chances throughout the game,” an emotional Snyder said. “They’re really, really good. But I’m so proud of our kids. They’re hurting right now.”
Snyder said he felt coming in that his team would have to play a nearly flawless game.
“I thought we played well for the most part,” he said. “We made a couple of mistakes here and there. We were one possession short and I give it to them because they made the plays in overtime. Rodgers hit an insane 3-pointer in the first overtime and Marcks hit one in the second overtime. It was a great high school basketball game. It obviously stinks to be on the losing side of it, but we’ll recover.”
What’s next
Both teams move on to the District 1-11 Class 3A subregional. The Crusaders will be seeded second behind defending champ Executive Education and get a bye into the semifinals on March 1.
Saucon Valley will be seeded third and play MaST Community Charter in a quarterfinal round game on Feb. 25.
If Saucon wins, it would play Notre Dame again in the semis.
The district brackets are expected to be finalized and released on Saturday.