Leading scorers don't typically hear the words "great job," more than once from their coaches when scoring just a mere bucket in the first half of their team's biggest game-to-date this season.
Then again, with his fiery emotion on the court, Mahanoy Area's Dylan Mahmod isn't your typical basketball player. And with more than 600 wins to his credit, Golden Bears' legend Mickey Holland is far from your average coach.
Tuesday night, Holland watched his senior leader's patience prevail over his competitive swagger as Mahmod let the game come to him, dropping 15 of his team's final 29 points to key a 49-35 win over Blue Mountain in Tuesday's Schuylkill League boys' semifinals at Martz Hall.
"He was getting everyone else involved in the first half and not forcing any shots that weren't there," Holland explained. "I thought he was playing very well and it was just a matter of time until he got some buckets."
The victory sets up a championship rematch from a year ago as Mahanoy Area will meet Pottsville, a 56-30 winner over Williams Valley, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Martz Hall. The four-time defending league champion Crimson Tide soundly defeated the Golden Bears 35-21 in last year's title game.
Trailing by as many as five points in the second quarter Tuesday, Mahanoy Area (21-2) tightened up its defense midway through the frame. After a Will Bornstein drive put the Eagles ahead 17-12, the Golden Bears didn't allow another point over the final 4:17 as the Eagles were limited to just three outside shots and a pair of turnovers.
"I thought we got a little 3-point happy there and settled for jump shots instead of attacking the hoop," Blue Mountain head coach Dustin Werdt said.
One reason the Eagles (19-5) settled for perimeter jumpers was the presence of Mahanoy Area big man Tyler Cavenas, who combined with some good guard help to clog the middle and prevent Eagles 6-foot-4 forward Skyler Panchari from being productive around the basket. Despite fouling out, Cavenas won the big-man matchup, outscoring his counterpart 11-7.
Led by Mahmod, the Mahanoy Area guard play of Larry McNeil, who finished with 16 points, and Jason Richmond were content to feed Cavenas in the first half. It resulted in the 6-5 center scoring all 11 of his points in the game's first 16 minutes.
"You can't let them bury you in transition," Holland said. "Bornstein makes it go, Slane is really good. ... It's the best transition game I've seen in a long time."
The final 16 minutes belonged to Mahmod, who did everything from drive to the basket to bury a shot from midcourt.
Mahmod, who finished with 17 points, began to get in the scoring flow when he drove to bucket at the 4:31 mark of the third quarter to extend Mahanoy Area to its largest lead of 27-21.
Blue Mountain cut the lead back to one point on a Kyle Slane 3-pointer and pair of free throws by both Mark Chelius and Bornstein. Bornstein led the Eagles with 10 points, while Slane finished with nine.
"Slane played really hard despite being sick. If it was an average day he probably would have missed school, but he gutted it out for us," Werdt said.
Mahmod repelled the Eagles' biggest surge of the second half with a drive to the basket with 44 seconds left and a desperate heave from midcourt that he buried at the third-quarter buzzer.
"We are always coached to get a shot off before the end of the quarter," Mahmod said. "Needed a little bit of luck on a shot like that."
Mahmod added another eight points in the fourth quarter as Mahanoy Area cruised to a shot at title redemption later this week.
The Golden Bears have won four league titles under Holland, who relishes the opportunity to take on the bigger schools in the Schuylkill League.
"At one point I remember sitting down in a league meeting and they were talking about just awarding three trophies to the three division winners. ...You don't give up opportunities like this to play the best teams," Holland recalled.
"Some of my fondest memories as a coach were going against the Shamokin's, Blue Mountain's and Pottsville's, even if we lost the game. You thank God for the opportunity to play in games like that."
Werdt felt equally appreciative for Tuesday night's effort, but for different reasons.
The defeat ends a brutal six-day stretch for Blue Mountain, which since Thursday played North Schuylkill, a Schuylkill League Division-I tiebreaker with Pottsville on Saturday and a make-up non-league battle with Shamokin on Sunday.
"It certainly didn't make things easy for us, but based on the competition we have played over the last few days, I think it's an experience that will make us better and hopefully we have a fun run in districts," Werdt said.