When Minersville’s Adrienne Kroznuskie scored the last of her five 3-point buckets with 3:17 remaining in Friday’s Schuylkill League girls’ basketball championship game, the Battlin’ Miners held a four-point lead.
Little did anyone suspect at the time it would be the final points Minersville would score.
North Schuylkill used a stifling defense that held the Battlin’ Miners to 20 points below their scoring average and collected eight steals to surge from that deficit and claim a 49-41 victory over Minersville at Martz Hall. The Spartans returned to the top of the league for the first time since 2007 and denied Minersville a Schuylkill League repeat.
“I’m so proud of my kids, their composure and maturity,” North Schuylkill head coach John Rizzo said. “I knew, getting on the bus, these kids were ready to play basketball. They showed it for four quarters. They faced some adversity. In the fourth quarter, they kept their composure and prevailed.”
North Schuylkill was led down the stretch offensively by senior forward Carly Gregas, who had two opportunities for three-point plays that helped turn the tide.
Tiffany Lapotsky’s floater with 2:21 remaining cut Minersville’s lead to 41-39. Averi Jordan then made a steal that set North Schuylkill’s final surge into motion, leading to Gregas’ putback of a missed shot. Gregas was fouled on the play and made the ensuing free throw with 2:13 remaining to put North Schuylkill on top to stay at 42-41.
Jordan then grabbed a defensive rebound after North Schuylkill junior Waverly Snyder sank two foul shots with 1:09 remaining. At the other end, freshman Sam Shinkus, who came off the bench minutes earlier, whipped a pass along the baseline to Gregas, all alone under the basket, for a layup with 45.8 seconds remaining that put North Schuylkill ahead 46-41.
“It was almost too easy, but she found me and it was great,” Gregas said.
From there, the Miners, who shot 13-for-55 (23.6 percent) from the field, either missed shots or lost the ball. That forced Minersville to foul to regain possession. Shinkus, Lapotsky and Jordan each hit 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to increase the Spartans’ lead to the final margin.
“We just turned the ball over,” Minersville head coach Jared Homa said. “It’s something we have to learn from. ... When you turn the ball over, something bad is going to happen.”
Adding to Minersville’s misery was an attack that struggled against the league’s third-ranked defense. Minersville’s two leading scorers, Abby Schoffstall and Emily Mealey — who combine for 32 points per game — were held to seven, including Schoffstall’s 1-for-21 effort from the field and four total points.
“Every shooter comes out every once in a while with a game like that, but we wouldn’t trade her for anyone in the world,” Homa said.
But Rizzo said Lapotsky, who also led the Spartans with 17 points, answered critics with her defensive effort.
“Everybody told me coming in here that Tiff couldn’t guard her, and give credit to Schoffstall. She’s a heck of a ball player, but we have a heck of a ballplayer in number 10, Lapotsky,” he said.
Lapotsky indicated she also heard the doubters.
“Offense didn’t mean anything to me,” she said. “I wanted to come in and prove I’m the best defender in the league. People talk about it here and there, but I wanted to prove it.”
With few points from the usual scorers, Minersville turned to Kroznuskie and a pesky 3-point shooting attack that yielded eight such baskets, including five among Kruznoskie’s 19 points. She scored three of them as Minersville went to halftime with a 25-21 lead.
Minersville increased the edge to four, 27-23, in the third period, but North Schuylkill battled back to tie the game at 30 before Minersville took a 32-31 lead into the fourth.
North Schuylkill regained the edge on Jordan’s drive with 4:54 remaining, but Miners freshman Maggie Wigoda sank a free throw to tie the game. Minersville’s Sarah Nawrocki and Kroznuskie sandwiched 3-pointers around Lapotsky’s driving layup to put the Miners ahead 41-37, but North Schuylkill’s defensive pressure took its toll to deny Minersville its second straight league title. Instead, North Schuylkill becomes the fifth different Schuylkill League titlist in five years.
“We’ve always said we need to get a banner. We need to get some golds (medals) around us. Each year, we buy into it and we always fall short,” Lapotsky said. “Our pre-game speech was, ‘Every year we come in, and we fall short. This is not the time.’ ”
But even before that, Rizzo said he had little doubt the Spartans were ready to end the jinx.
“Just the looks on their faces,” he said, adding, “These kids are competitors.”
Game Summary
Schuylkill League Girls’ Championship
At Martz Hall
NORTH SCHUYLKILL (49) — Marone 3 0-0 6, Lapotsky 6 5-8 17, C. Gregas 4 3-4 11, Snyder 2 2-2 7, Jordan 2 3-5 7, Shinkus 0 1-2 1, Stokes 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 14-21 49.
MINERSVILLE (41) — Nawrocki 2 0-0 6, Schoffstall 1 2-5 4, Mealey 1 0-0 3, Kroznuskie 6 2-2 19, Wigoda 3 3-4 9, Kriston 0 0-0 0, Polinsky 0 0-0 0, Bentz 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 7-11 41.
North Schuylkill (22-2) 13 8 10 18 — 49 Minersville (22-2) 14 11 7 9 — 41
3-point FGs: Snyder, Nawrocki 2, Mealey, Kroznuskie 5
Schuylkill League Girls’ Champions
2014-15 — North Schuylkill
2013-14 — Minersville
2012-13 — Pine Grove
2011-12 — Tri-Valley
2010-11 — Tamaqua
2009-10 — Tamaqua
2008-09 — Nativity
2007-08 — Marian
2006-07 — North Schuylkill
2005-06 — Marian
2004-05 — Marian
2003-04 — Marian
2002-03 — Pine Grove
2001-02 — North Schuylkill
2000-01 — North Schuylkill
1999-2000 — Nativity
1998-99 — Nativity
1997-98 — Nativity
1996-97 — Nativity
1995-96 — North Schuylkill
1994-95 — North Schuylkill
1993-94 — North Schuylkill
1992-93 — North Schuylkill
1991-92 — North Schuylkill
1990-91 — North Schuylkill
1989-90 — North Schuylkill
1988-89 — Pine Grove
1987-88 — North Schuylkill
1986-87 — North Schuylkill
1985-86 — North Schuylkill
1984-85 — Pine Grove
1983-84 — Marian
1982-83 — West Hazleton
1981-82 — Pine Grove
1980-81 — Pine Grove
1979-80 — Marian
1978-79 — Marian
1977-78 — Nativity
1976-77 — Tamaqua
1975-76 — Pine Gove
1974-75 — Pine Grove
1973-74 — Marian
1972-73 — Marian
1971-72 — Marian
1970-71 — Pine Grove
1969-70 — Pine Grove
1968-69 — Pottsville