Living his dream
Boyle’s game-winner with 18 seconds left clinches Notre Dame’s thrilling win over Palmerton
Colin Boyle said it before, but he never meant it more than he did Friday night.
“Kids grow up and they dream about playing for the 76ers or playing for Duke, but when I go to bed at night I dream about playing for Pat Boyle and winning championships for the Crusaders,” he said. “It means the world to me that I get to play for my dad and I could win one for him.
“He’s one of the best coaches around. He put me in the right position to win.”
Boyle’s reverse layup with about 18 seconds left gave Notre Dame-Green Pond a one-point lead in a memorable back-andforth battle and the Crusaders then had to hold their breath as Palmerton star Matt Machalik went to the foul line with 5.9 seconds remaining.
Machalik, who was spectacular with acrobatic and athletic moves throughout the game in scoring a game-high 28 points, missed both foul shots. After the Crusaders’ Isaiah Miles missed two free throws at the other end with 4.2 seconds left, Palmerton had one last shot.
But a long pass to Machalik was broken up, and while he grabbed the loose ball his desperation heave wasn’t close and Notre Dame celebrated a 60-59 victory and its second straight Colonial League championship.
“Machalik is one of the greatest athletes in this area,” Boyle said. “He’s going to Lehigh to play football and we knew he was going to be tough. They were going to fight, and it got a little iffy, but I loved how our guys fought back.”
This one was every bit as dramatic and hard-fought as last year’s 45-42 double-overtime win over Saucon Valley in last year’s league final.
Boyle and Machalik were named the league’s co-MVPs earlier in the week, and both backed up their accolades with outstanding efforts that displayed their talents in different ways.
While Boyle had 12 points, 12 assists, three steals and three rebounds, Machalik continually delivered highlight-style stuff.
In the end, though, Boyle was celebrating Notre Dame’s fourth league title while Machalik dropped to the McIntyre gym floor at Freedom and bowed his head as Palmerton came excruciatingly close to its first league title since a Centennial League crown in 1989.
“I’ll never put the blame on Matt because of all the crazy things he did out here today,” interim Palmerton coach Joe Egan said. “He missed those two free throws, but you know what? He made the two against Saucon Valley, or else we wouldn’t have been playing here tonight. It’s unfortunate.
“Matt’s a competitor and this might be a learning experience for him. This moment will stick with him, but he’s going to go on and do great things after high school.”
Machalik, who is second all time in scoring at tradition-rich Palmerton behind only the legendary Bob Mlkvy, has 1,585 career points with at least one more to play in the upcoming District 11-1 3A subregional tournament. Palmerton (15-9) is expected to be the No. 3 seed and play No. 6 Panther Valley on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
He scored 14 of his team’s 18 points in the third quarter when neither team could gain much separation. Cam Bohn’s 3-pointer broke a 47-47 tie at the third-quarter buzzer, but Notre Dame would be stuck on 50 for nearly half of the final period.
Back-to-back baskets by Danny Darno off Boyle assists for Notre Dame and field goals by Machalik and Brayden Hosier for Palmerton tied it at 56.
Hosier’s pair of foul shots with 1 minute, 31 seconds left gave the Bombers a 58-56 lead. Bohn answered at the foul line for the Crusaders with 1:07 left.
Logan Anthony gave Palmerton its last lead at 59-58 by making the first of two free throws with 31.3 seconds remaining.
That’s when Boyle decided to take things into his own hands after chasing down the rebound of Anthony’s missed foul shot. He brought the ball up the floor and kept it all the way to the rim.
“I have all the trust in the world in my teammates because every single guy on our bench can make an open shot,” Boyle said. “If they’re open, they’re getting the ball. I wouldn’t have won MVP without those 10 guys pushing me through in practice and setting the screens.
“But on that last possession I saw an open lane and I took it.”
Boyle continued to extend praise to others, including assistant coach George Baurkot.
“Coach Baurkot preaches opposite-side and opposite-hand layups, and I just listened to Coach Baurkot,” Boyle said.
Pat Boyle said his son only averages 12 points but impacts the game in so many ways.
“We weren’t sure he was going to play tonight because he hurt his knee in practice on Thursday,” Coach Boyle said. “We were hoping he could just play a little bit. I thought he made some huge plays tonight.”
Notre Dame completed the regular season and league tournament with a 20-0 record against Colonial League competition. The Crusaders are 22-2 overall withwinsoverPoconoMountainWestandFreedomtostart the season and then losses to Shaler and State College in a holiday tournament.
To dominate the league as they did not and not get the title would have been a bitter pill to swallow.
“There’s no denying that,” Pat Boyle said. “I’ve been doing this for 28 years, and this group is a gift to us coaches. I would have been heartbroken for them if they didn’t get this tonight and finished the deal. Honestly, we feel truly blessed to have a group of kids like this.”
Boyle expects Notre Dame to be a No. 2 seed behind defending champ Executive, and play MaST Community Charter from Philadelphia in its subregional quarterfinal. If the Crusaders and Blue Bombers win their firstround games Saturday, they would meet in the semis Feb. 28.
Perhaps the coaches wouldn’t necessarily like to see a rematch, but after a double-overtime thriller in the regular season and another one that went to the wire, area basketball fans wouldn’t mind see another Crusaders-Bombers game.
Palmerton, which got 12 points from Hosier, doesn’t plan on folding now.
It didn’t flinch when Notre Dame made five 3-pointers in the first quarter and took several six-point leads.
“Someone asked me if I was nervous about anything and I said I was nervous about them making 15 3-pointers, and it seemed like they did tonight,” Egan said, noting Notre Dame’s 10 treys. “They’re a great team and especially when they shoot like that they’re tough to beat. We had opportunities. We just didn’t finish.
“It’s disappointing, but this group has been resilient all season. We’ve gone through so much and they keep fighting.”