Minersville's Dante Carr dribbled around a Notre Dame-Green Pond defender during Wednesday's District 11 Class 3A semifinals doubleheader at Martz Hall. The Battlin' Miners defeated the Crusaders in overtime 52-50 (photo by Kelly Wiley).

POTTSVILLE — All 32 minutes of regulation was not enough for Minersville or Notre Dame-Green Pond.

Dante Carr scored a game-high 18 points and Shazier Bethea chipped in 15 as Minersville edged Notre Dame-Green Pond 52-50 in overtime in a District 11 Class 3A semifinals boys’ basketball game Wednesday at Martz Hall.

“I thought Dante Carr was awesome for us tonight,” Battlin’ Miners coach Dave Mullaney said. “He just really executed our game plan and being a man down low and scoring in the right way around the basket. We’ve been looking for that and he really came through for us tonight.”

With the game tied 45-45 at the end of regulation, Jordan Bowers nailed a 3-pointer with 3:15 on the clock in overtime to put Minersville (22-4) ahead 48-45.

Justin Manning added a second chance basket for Notre Dame to keep things close. After a scoreless possession each, Manning split a pair of free throws following another triple from Bethea. The Miners led 51-48 with 55.8 seconds left to play.

Carr’s next shot didn’t fall, and Isaiah Miles added a slashing layup for the Crusaders to cut the deficit to one with 21.0 on the clock. Notre Dame intentionally fouled twice and sent Carr to the line where he split the pair to go ahead 52-50 with seconds left. Manning’s last chance layup didn’t fall for the Crusaders and the Battlin’ Miners held on to win.

The win advances Minersville to the championship round against Catasauqua at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Martz Hall. Catasauqua rolled past Mahanoy Area 61-36 in Wednesday’s other semifinal contest.

The victory also clinches a berth in the PIAA playoffs for Minersville.

“I was just telling the guys that 3A is a legit classification with four really quality teams,” Mullaney said. “But to come out here on Saturday, we’re going to have to play really well and prep really well. But we’ve got a shot, and we put ourselves in a position to get a shot at a district title.”

In the first quarter, it was back-and-forth between both squads. Bradley Kostishak found Carr slashing for an easy layup. Fast-forward as the Battlin’ Miners and Crusaders battled with lead exchanges before turnovers caught up to Minersville early.

The Battlin’ Miners turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions and Notre Dame-Green Pond scored five points from a layup by Cody Driscoll, and 3-pointer by Manning. Minersville had four turnovers in the first quarter and totaled nine in the first half.

The Battlin’ Miners kept it close and trailed Green Pond 17-14 at the end of the first.

Minersville continued to have turnover issues in the second quarter but was able to capitalize on turnovers by the Crusaders.

Bethea netted a 3 to tie the game at 19-19 with 4:41 on the clock as the Miners battled neck-and-neck with Notre Dame down the stretch. Bowers got a full head of steam at half court and weaved around two Crusaders for a layup that put Minersville ahead 24-23 at the half. Notre Dame-Green Pond committed four turnovers in the second.

“I thought that was big,” Mullaney said about the lead going into halftime. “We were kind of trailing for most of the half, I would think. And just to have that break where we go in and feel like, hey, we must’ve done some pretty good things in order to get that. That is very important to us.”

Following the break, the turnovers were nearly eliminated even as the pressure mounted.

The Battlin’ Miners and Crusaders exchanged the lead seven times before NDGP went on another 5-0 scoring run. Carr found a slashing Kostishak for two points to stop the run, but Notre Dame’s Alex Clark grabbed an offensive rebound and watched his recycle fall as the Crusaders led 37-32 with under 2 minutes on the clock in the third quarter.

Bethea added a steal and had a chance to give Minersville the lead or tie at the buzzer but couldn’t get a shot off. Notre Dame-Green Pond led Minersville 37-35 going to the fourth quarter.

The Crusaders maintained the lead midway through the fourth until Kostishak added an offensive rebound, was fouled on his way back up and eventually netted two free throws to tie the contest at 43-43 with 3:36 left in regulation.

Tied 45-45 minutes later, neither team went on to find another bucket before the buzzer. Hutsko and Carr played strong, yet clean, defense in the paint to make sure Miles could not get a buzzer-beater away for Notre Dame.

“You’ve got to celebrate; we should celebrate all those little wins that you have throughout,” Mullaney said about the state playoff berth. “That is huge. To continue with these guys and to play in the state tournament, but obviously our focus right now is the district title. But I agree, it is a great accomplishment for our program.”

Game Summary

District 11 Class 3A
Semifinals
At Martz Hall

NOTRE DAME-GREEN POND (50) — Manning 4 2-8 11, Ca. Diaz 6 0-0 12, Driscoll 5 0-0 11, Miles 3 0-0 6, Murphy 3 0-0 6, Bohn 0 0-0 0, Aktie 0 0-0 0, Boyd 0 0-0 0, Striba 0 0-0 0, C.J. Diaz 2 0-0 4, Levy 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 2-8 50.

MINERSVILLE (52) — Hutsko 2 1-2 5, Zimerofsky 0 0-0 0, Kostishak 2 2-2 6, Bethea 5 1-2 15, Halford 0 0-0 0, Carr 6 6-7 18, Bowers 3 0-0 8. Totals 18 10-13 52.

NDGP (20-5)   17 … 6 … 14 … 8 … 5 — 50

Min (22-4)   14 … 10 … 11 … 10 … 7  — 52

3-point FGs: Manning, Driscoll, Bethea 4, Bowers 2

Officials: Rizzo, Pincin, Pina