MAHANOY CITY — Brian Miller has developed the knack this season for being around the basket.
He was certainly in the right spot Thursday night.
Miller scored on a putback off a Matt Yedsena missed jumper just before the final buzzer went off, lifting Mahanoy Area to a thrilling 59-58 Schuylkill League Division II-III crossover victory over Minersville at The Mickey Holland Gymnasium.
“That was a nuts game,” Miller said.
Miller, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, finished the night with a game-high 17 points and completed a double-double with 12 rebounds. Three of his boards were on the offensive end, resulting in six second-chance points.
None were bigger than the final two.
With 4.6 seconds left in the game and down by one, the Golden Bears (11-2, 7-0 D-III) inbounded the ball in front of their bench to Yedsena. He quickly dribbled towards the baseline, got cut off by a defender, and fired up a 10-foot jumper over the defense. The shot hit off the rim and went right to Miller, who grabbed the ball and calmly put the ball back up. It bounced off the backboard and went through the net just before the buzzer sounded.
The gymnasium erupted when the buzzer went off. The Golden Bears’ bench rushed the court, mobbed Miller and celebrated next to the wall behind Mahanoy Area’s basket.
“I was like ‘I have to get the board, I have to win this,’ ” Miller said as he recounted Yedsena’s miss. “It just went in. I had to go up and get it.
“Summer leagues I have (done something like this), but never in a regular-season game. This is probably the first one. It feels awesome.”
The game was everything that could be expected between the two division leaders and the top two ranked teams in the District 11 Class AA power ratings.
It was the second consecutive night Mahanoy Area pulled out a close victory. The Golden Bears won at Williams Valley 49-46 on Wednesday, battling back from an eight-point deficit to start the fourth quarter. Mike Wronski hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 30 seconds left.
Thursday’s win put Mahanoy Area 2½ games up on Shenandoah Valley (5-8, 4-2) and three games up on Nativity (8-6, 4-3) in the division
after Williams Valley beat the Hilltoppers 45-43 in a crossover contest.
The win also clinched a district playoff spot for the Golden Bears.
“This win definitely boosts us,” Miller said. “We can’t brag on it. We have to keep moving on, but this is definitely a boost win.”
Thursday was likely the biggest victory for Mahanoy Area first-year head coach Scott Hudson. It certainly was his most exciting.
“Minersville gave us everything we could handle,” Hudson said. “Offensively we had trouble keeping them in front there for a little while. They hit some big shots at the end there. Two games in a row, two gut-check wins.
“Miller is always around the basket somewhere. He’s been doing it all season.”
The loss was the first in the division for the Miners (10-3, 6-1 D-II), who are now a game ahead of Williams Valley (9-4, 5-2) following the Vikings’ win Thursday.
Minersville trailed 57-53 with 1:20 left in the game before David Graham, who scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, drained a 3-pointer just to the right of the top of the circle at 1:09, making it a one-point game. After Yedsena missed both ends of double-bonus situation with 22.7 seconds left, Graham gave the Miners the lead, scoring off a 10-foot leaner with 9.3 seconds remaining.
Minersville did everything right on the Mahanoy Area’s final shot except box out.
“It came down to they made the play and we didn’t,” Minersville coach Cliff Woodford said. “We had three guys chasing the ball and that left 3-4 guys on the offensive board. He (Miller) made the play, that is why he is one of the best in the league.”
Yedsena, Wronski and Mike Joseph tallied 14 points apiece for the Golden Bears. Joseph was a perfect 8-for-8 from line in the fourth quarter and also had five assists in the game.
Brian Brennan, who was starting in place of the injured Spencer Tobin, finished with 14 points and eight rebounds for Minersville. Chris Leshko added 13 points and seven rebounds.
The Miners battled from behind the entire night. They trailed 9-0 and 17-7 in the first quarter, 45-37 in the third quarter and then 53-46 in the fourth.
“We are proud of them because we didn’t back down,” Woodford said. “We took it right back at them. We battled. They made the play at the end, we didn’t.”
Game Summary
MINERSVILLE (58) — McBreen 4 0-0 8, Stephen 1 2-2 4, Hashin 2 0-0 5, Leshko 5 1-1 13, Stoppie 0 2-2 2, Graham 3 5-6 12, Brennan 4 5-5 14. Totals 19 15-16 58.
MAHANOY AREA (59) — Joseph 3 8-8 14, Yedsena 6 1-3 14, Wronski 5 0-0 14, Luddy 0 0-0 0, Miller 8 0-2 17, Styka 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 9-13 59.
Min. (10-3, 6-1) 12 16 16 14 — 58 MA (11-2, 7-0) 17 12 18 12 — 59
3-point FGs: Hashin, Leshko 2, Graham, Brennan, Yedsena, Wronski 4, Miller
JV score: Minersville 34-18