Ligonier Valley, West Shamokin boys set for Heritage title game

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 7, 2019 | 8:12 PM

For the third season in a row, the Heritage Conference boys basketball championship game comes down to a matchup involving Ligonier Valley, which will be facing its third opponent in the title game at 8 p.m. Friday at IUP.

This time, West Shamokin takes a crack at the short-handed Rams, who lost to Saltsburg in the 2017 championship game before beating Purchase Line in 2018 as a prelude to eventually winning their first District 6-3A championship.

“It’s where we want to be. It’s just another goal we set at the beginning of the season,” said Ligonier Valley coach John Berger, who took over this season for a second stint at his alma mater.

“We’ve got to go there and play with a purpose. West Shamokin is very well-coached and very athletic.”

Ligonier Valley (18-2) this year prevailed in the only regular-season boys meeting with West Shamokin.

The Rams beat the Wolves, 62-45, on Jan. 14 at West Shamokin in a game that saw Ligonier Valley pull away in the closing minutes.

“If I had to pick a school in this conference that scares me the most, it’d be West Shamokin,” Berger said.

Since that game, West Shamokin (16-6) has won seven in a row, the latest coming in dramatic fashion Tuesday in the Heritage Conference semifinals against United.

Despite wasting a 16-point, fourth-quarter lead, the Wolves prevailed 65-62 on Tyler Lightcap’s 3-pointer with 3 seconds left.

“Our guys are resilient, and they showed it again. But that game is behind us,” West Shamokin coach Judd McCullough said. “We’re facing a team now with a lot of experience.”

After winning the District 6-3A title a year ago, Ligonier Valley lost to Lancaster Mennonite in a PIAA first-round game in former coach Todd Hepner’s final game with the Rams.

Hepner, who succeeded Berger as coach in 2013, resigned to spend more time with his family.

West Shamokin was without 6-foot-6 senior forward Ethan Libengood in its Jan. 14 game against Ligonier Valley, but he has since returned.

Libengood has missed much of the season with a broken bone in his neck suffered Dec. 13 in a victory over Saltsburg.

“He’s finally starting to hit his stride,” McCullough said. “He’s one of the big pieces to our team.”

In nine games, McCullough is averaging 8.8 points and 7.0 rebounds. He scored a team-high 18 points against United in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, senior guard Carson DeWitt leads West Shamokin in scoring (19.0 ppg) and rebounding (9.0 rpg).

Ligonier Valley is led by 6-8 senior center Marrek Paola and the Marinchak brothers, junior guard Michael and freshman guard Matthew.

The trio generated most of the offense in the Rams’ 80-58 rout of visiting Purchase Line in the conference semifinals Tuesday. Paola, a Seton Hill commit, led the way with 34 points and 15 rebounds.

“They are about as hard to defend as anyone,” McCullough said. “You have to defend the post, and you have to protect the basket because they have kids who can attack it. And they’ve got a number of guys who can hit the 3. They’re definitely a challenge, but we’re going to battle and hope to keep it close.”

Ligonier Valley’s bench got shorter in recent weeks with the losses of senior guard Pedro Herrera, junior forward Rylee Dyson and sophomore guard Sam Sheeder, all of whom left the team.

“We can’t afford stupid fouls, especially early on,” Berger said. “We need to play with a purpose, keep the focus. We’re going to get fouls because we’re super-aggressive. But we can’t get into foul trouble.”

Note : The girls championship game at 6 p.m. features Blairsville and Penns Manor for a second consecutive year. The Bobcats defeated the Comets to claim the conference title in 2018.

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.

Tags: Ligonier Valley