ORWIGSBURG - Teams generally know what to expect from Minersville's offense.
It's balanced, fast and difficult to predict - let alone stop.
Knowing what to expect from the Battlin' Miners' defense, however, is a far different story.
"We watched them on tape two or three times and you really can't capture the way they play defense," Notre Dame-Green Pond coach Josh Kopp said after Minersville defeated his Crusaders 49-31 in Tuesday's District 11 Class AA semifinals at Blue Mountain High School.
"They sink to the ball well when we try to penetrate in the paint and we really had a hard time getting anything going offensively."
The tenacious man-to-man defense allowed top-seeded Minersville (24-1) a comfortable cushion all game, and advanced it to the district championship game Friday against No. 2 Salisbury at 6 p.m. at Martz Hall.
"They were well-prepared," Kopp said. "They had every one of our offensive sets basically scouted out, did an excellent job of switching down on to our cutters and took us out of everything we wanted to do offensively."
Miners senior guard Alyse Ryan drew the main defensive responsibility of closing down Notre Dame's Gabby Altmire. The Crusaders' senior guard thrived on driving the lane this season, but was denied that option Tuesday night.
"We did a really good job in the first half stepping in and stopping (Altmire's) penetration," Minersville coach Jared Homa said. "The film we saw on her, she really liked to take the ball in the lane."
Meanwhile, the Battlin' Miners' offense piled on points as usual.
Minersville scored the first seven points of the game and led 14-5 after the first quarter. Senior guard Reighly Melochick, freshman guard Abby Schoffstall and freshman forward Emily Mealey combined for all 14 points.
And they were hardly done.
Mealey put in back-to-back buckets to open the second quarter and Melochick followed with eight straight points for the Miners, extending the lead to 26-7.
"We thought we had an advantage down low with Mealey," Homa said. "We were able to get decent looks off that with Abby Schoffstall penetrating and spotting up Reighly.
"We knew they couldn't double off Reighly, but they were kind of forced to in the first half. Abby got off her man and sealed up Emily Mealey. They had to pinch off Reighly and she was able to get free there."
Melochick finished with a game-high 22 points. Mealey added 14 points and eight rebounds.
Schoffstall tallied seven points and five assists, though she had at least two first-quarter passes to Emily Mealey that sent the freshman forward to the foul line.
"They're a tough team to handle," Kopp said. "They have a big kid who can make layups and they have two or three kids who can make 3-point shots. You kind of have to pick your poison and hope one of them are off.
"That wasn't the case."
Minersville led 28-9 at the intermission and adjusted defensively in the third quarter to prevent fifth-seeded Notre Dame (12-12) from attempting 3-point field goals to get back in the game.
The Crusaders used the defensive change to get back to driving the lane and scored 14 points in the frame. Julie Romich led the offensive push with six points in the third quarter.
Altmire led Notre Dame offensively all night with 10 points.
Minersville makes its second appearance in the District 11 Class AA championship in three years Friday. The Miners lost to Pine Grove 38-36 two years ago in the title game.
Instead of getting a rematch this season, Minersville plays Salisbury, which defeated Pine Grove 60-49 in the other semifinal.
The Miners will be trying to win their first district championship in 24 years. They won Class AA in 1989 and Class A in 1990.
A district title this season would be icing on Minersville's cake, which is already layered with a Schuylkill League Division II title, the school's first-ever league championship and a berth in the PIAA playoffs.
"It's exciting," Melochick said. "Finally - hopefully - we can win one in my senior year. It'd be great to win two championships."