District 11 Boys’ Basketball: 3-pointers lift Marian past Tri-Valley in Class AA final
Marian poses with the District 11 championship trophy after defeating Tri-Valley 59-55 in Saturday's Class AA boys' basketball championship game at Martz Hall (Photo by James Gelatko).
POTTSVILLE — The bright lights and big crowd of Martz Hall didn’t phase a young Marian boys’ basketball squad Saturday afternoon.
The Colts thrived in it.
Freshman Gregory Tirpak hit six of Marian’s 11 3-pointers as the Colts outlasted Tri-Valley 59-55 in the District 11 Class AA championship game.
Tirpak finished with 20 points, while sophomore Rocco Griguoli added 17 points and eight rebounds as Marian earned its first District 11 boys’ crown since 2017.
Marian (13-11) advances to the PIAA Tournament, where it will host District 3 runner-up Linville Hill Christian in the first round March 8.
“It’s a good night to shoot the ball well,” Marian coach Scott Murphy said. The Colts don’t have a senior starter, going with two juniors, two sophomores and Tirpak.
“I’ve been telling people all year … We’re a young group. We had our challenges because of that. Sometimes young and inexperienced maybe quite don’t realize the magnitude of the moment. We knew we were coming in here with nothing to lose.”
Marian didn’t just shoot well … the Colts shot the lights out.
Marian finished 20-for-41 (49%) from the field overall, 11-for-23 (48%) from 3-point range. Every time Tri-Valley seemed poised to take control or go on a run, the Colts hit a big shot, a lot of times from long distance.
“They shot 50 percent from the 3-point line … that’s unheard of. They hit threes, some contested threes,” Tri-Valley coach Mike Masser said. “That was the difference in the game … that was the only difference in the game.
“They’re not going to do that again this season or the next five seasons.”
Marian’s offense is centered around the 3-point shot and the Colts were able to establish that early.
The first part of that game plan is getting the ball inside, whether it’s off dribble penetration or inside feeds to Griguoli, then kicking it back out to the perimeter. A 6-foot-4 center, Griguoli scored on a pair of layups off dribble penetration by Marian’s guards in the first quarter as the Colts grabbed an early 14-11 lead.
Despite being matched up with Tri-Valley senior center Blake Schwartz, who stands 6-5, Griguoli was still able to work himself free in the paint for points. Schwartz paced Tri-Valley with 15 points and 17 rebounds.
It was the second straight big game for Griguoli, who had 15 points and 20 rebounds in the Colts’ semifinal win over Schuylkill Haven on Wednesday.
“I was just working hard in the paint every second, not taking any breaks,” Griguoli said. “The whole time, work in the paint, if they collapse get the ball out for my guys to take 3-pointers.
“Greg Tirpak, all of them, they hit big shots.”
Tirpak, meanwhile, hit a 3-pointer to break an 11-11 tie at the end of the first quarter, then broke a 16-16 tie midway through the second frame with another long triple.
Yaniel Nunez, Justin De La Cruz and Bryan Ferreira also hit 3-pointers in the first half as Marian forged a 27-22 lead.
Tirpak then got hot in the third quarter, hitting three more 3-pointers and a pair of free throws. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Marian up 40-31 with 4:21 left in the frame and his two foul shots made it 47-39 with 15.2 seconds left in the period.
“This was the biggest game of the season, because it was win or go home,” Tirpak said. “I knew I soon as I shot it … If there wasn’t a hand in my face, I was letting it go.
“It was definitely unexpected,” he added about his big night. “I’m only 15, playing against adults, it’s crazy. But when I start feeling it, I’m going to let every shot go that I can get.”
Tri-Valley (17-8), looking for its first-ever District 11 boys’ basketball title, made a game of it in the fourth quarter as back-to-back 3-pointers by Gavin Klock and Braeden Doyle sliced the margin to two.
After Marian upped its lead to 54-48 on a 3-pointer by Nunez, Tri-Valley went on a 7-0 run to take its only lead of the game at 55-54 with 2:10 remaining on a drive by Trey Porter.
Tirpak then put the Colts back in front for good with a long 3-pointer from the right wing with 1:02 remaining. Sporting a headband that kept his long hair in check, Tirpak hit shots from all over the court, rising high in the air with a smooth stroke.
“Greg is a good shooter,” Murphy said of Tirpak. “He can get streaky, in both directions. Tonight was the good direction. Not too bad for a young lad like that to be able to step on this stage and have a night.”
Tri-Valley turned the ball over with 52.4 seconds remaining and Marian held the ball for 30 seconds before the Dawgs started to foul.
Jacob De La Cruz hit one free throw with 20.7 left to make it 58-55. After Tri-Valley missed a potential game-tying 3-point attempt, Griguoli went 1-for-2 at the foul line to ice it.
Only the District 11 champion advances to the PIAA playoffs. Tri-Valley’s season ends at 17-8.
“This is awesome,” Griguoli said. “That’s all I can say.”
