WHITEHALL - North Schuylkill was in position to play for its first District 11 boys' basketball championship in six years.
In the fourth quarter, it all slipped away.
Strong defensive pressure and clutch buckets helped Catasauqua overcome a five-point deficit and defeat the Spartans 52-46 in a Class AA semifinal Wednesday at Whitehall High School.
North Schuylkill (16-7) led 40-35 entering the fourth quarter and was up 45-42 with 4:35 to go after Matt Manbeck hit two free throws. But the Spartans shot 1-for-15 from the floor over the final eight minutes of the game and committed three turnovers as Catasauqua (17-8) closed the game on a 10-1 run.
The victory advances the No. 2-seeded Rough Riders to Saturday's championship game against top-seeded Notre Dame-Green Pond, which beat No. 5 Minersville 69-52 in Wednesday's other semifinal. The title game at Freedom High School at 3 p.m. will be a rematch of the Colonial League title game, won by Notre Dame-Green Pond 60-58 on Feb. 15, and a rematch of last year's district championship game, won by the Crusaders 59-49.
"I honestly can't tell you," Spartans coach Curt Ziegmont said of
what happened in the fourth quarter. "We turned the ball over, we missed layups. We let it get away on us, it is as simple as that."
Sophomore Tevin Murray had a monster game for North Schuylkill with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Jake Damiter added 11 points, seven boards and five assists for North Schuylkill, with Manbeck also grabbing nine rebounds.
Derrick Bond scored 16 points and Brandon Purrane 11 to pace the Rough Riders, while, after a rough first half, Paryss Marshall, Catasauqua's leading scorer, finished with nine points and 13 rebounds.
The Spartans' lone field goal of the fourth quarter came on a steal and layup by Damiter at the 6:29 mark. It gave North Schuylkill a 42-35 advantage.
But the Spartans, who started two sophomores and a freshman, began to wilt under the Rough Riders' pressure defense. After playing man-to-man in the first half, Catasauqua switched to a zone for the second.
"It could have been, fourth quarter, did they feel pressure, I don't really know," Ziegmont said. "I thought we did a good job battling.
"We started pressing a little bit, kids started feeling pressure, trying to do a little too much. Some of the shots we took we were trying to get six points, but that spot is not on the court."
Catasauqua got to within 42-40 on a putback by Bond. After Manbeck's free throws made it a three-point game, Marshall hit 1-of-2 from the foul line and Bond tied the game on a layup with 3:19 to go. Kevin Bond gave the Rough Riders the lead for good on a layup with 1:51 left.
North Schuylkill then turned the ball over on its next two possessions. The first, a steal from Dakota Schiffer, turned into a baseline drive and bucket by Marshall. After a Kevin Bond steal, Purrane missed the front end of 1-and-1, but there was a tie-up on the rebound and the possession arrow went to the Rough Riders. Purrane was later fouled and hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to make it 51-45.
"We have two or three different zone defenses that apply some pressure and when you are playing that, you have more help and there is more people flying to the ball," Catasauqua coach Eric Snyder said of the fourth-quarter defense. "We used the variations of those two or three zones."
An example of how tough it was for North Schuylkill offensively in the fourth came when Major Jordan grabbed the offensive rebound after Damiter hit 1-of-2 from the line. The Spartans missed all three shot attempts that followed, including one that rolled out, before Derrick Bond grabbed the defensive board.
The loss ended what was a good year for the Spartans, who began the season with four new starters. Despite Bobby Grigas missing the first 13 games with an injury, North Schuylkill bettered last year's win total of 15.
"We did have a fantastic year, there is nothing to put our heads down about," Ziegmont said. "I truly believe we are one of the two best teams in the districts and we are not playing for it. It is a tough thing."