The bright lights and big crowd of Martz Hall didn't affect Abby Schoffstall.
And the Minersville freshman delivered her biggest game when her team needed her the most.
Schoffstall scored a career-high 22 points, sinking four crucial free throws in the final 35 seconds, to lift the Miners to a 46-42 victory over Pottsville in a Schuylkill League girls' basketball semifinal Wednesday.
The victory advances Miners-
ville (22-1) to its first Schuylkill League title game since 1990. The Miners will face Division III champ Marian, who knocked off Division I champ North Schuylkill 31-28 in the other semifinal, at 6 p.m. Friday at Martz Hall.
"It was a little nerve racking, but they were off me and on Reighly (Melochick), and they left me open," Schoffstall said. "I took what I had."
Schoffstall's big night came out of necessity after Pottsville (15-8) used a tight, box-and-1-like defensive alignment to basically take Minersville's 1,900-point scorer Melochick out of the game.
Melochick, the area's leading scorer at 20.8 points per game, finished with just five points, getting only two shots in the first half and five total.
Sophomore Alyssa Kondrack excelled in Pottsville's defensive alignment, getting help from Hanna Burnhauser at times to keep Melochick at bay.
"We played man, and we were in denial on Melochick," Pottsville coach Rick Wojciechowsky said. "We definitely were in Melochick's pocket by playing as best we could. She's a wonderful player, so we knew that we had to concentrate on her.
"Everyone that contributed on the floor. ... We're extremely proud of the effort we gave.
"We put a game plan together, and these girls worked their tails off all the time. We thought we were prepared, and we were."
What Pottsville's defensive alignment did, however, was give Schoffstall and fellow freshman Emily Mealey room to operate on the offensive end.
Schoffstall, a 5-foot-6 guard, scored nine points in the first half as Minersville took a 21-18 halftime lead. Mealey, a 5-foot-10 center, controlled the paint, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.
With her team leading 31-24 after three quarters, Schoffstall scored the Miners' first seven points of the fourth quarter to put Minersville up 38-26 with 5:56 remaining.
"Emily and Abby made them pay. That's a benefit that we have, that if they try and double-team somebody, we have other kids who can step in there," Minersville coach Jared Homa said.
"In the fourth quarter, it seemed Abby Schoffstall didn't want to give up the ball."
Minersville's defense stifled Pottsville for the first three quarters, forcing 25 turnovers and holding leading scorer Sadie Cresswell to just two points on 1-for-5 shooting. Homa put senior Alyse Ryan on Cresswell, with Ryan getting help when Pottsville set screens to get Cresswell open.
"We did a lot of switching, because Cresswell is such a great player," Homa said. "The other four girls really stepped up and jammed her. They did a tremendous job on her.
"We didn't want to give her any room at all."
The turnovers prevented Pottsville from getting into any type of offensive rhythm.
"The big impact of that is that we're losing scoring opportunities," Wojciechowsky said. "Every time we turn it over, no matter if they score off it or not, we're losing an opportunity to attack the rim. If we could have a few of those back, in the scope of a game like this, a close game of four points, that makes a big difference."
Wojciechowsky was extremely proud of how his team reacted when it fell behind by 10 points in the fourth quarter. The Crimson Tide responded, going on a 12-3 run to slice Minersville's lead to 42-40 with 41 seconds left.
Cresswell came alive in that spurt, scoring eight of her 10 points. Ashley Purnell added the other four points, capping a monster game for the 5-11 junior center. Purnell finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"She came off the bench and really sparked us," Wojciechowsky said of Purnell. "She made contributions on the offensive and defensive side. She was a beast on the boards for us, and that helped us turn the Tide."
With Minersville up 42-40, the Tide fouled Schoffstall on a drive through the lane.
With the crowd going berzerk, Schoffstall calmly sank both free throws with 35.1 left. She added two more foul shots with 9.8 remaining to ice it.
"I usually just knock them down," Schoffstall said. "I was calm. You just have to block everything out. I just concentrated on the rim."
Added Homa: "She hit the two biggest free throws that we've had all season. For a freshman, in a pressure-packed situation, she didn't blink an eye."
Minersville has never won a Schuylkill League girls' championship. Friday gives the Miners another shot.
"This is a great feeling, but we're not done yet," Schoffstall said. "We still have work to do."