HS Girls’ Basketball: Marian knocks off Shenandoah Valley to clinch Schuylkill League playoff berth
Marian's starting five huddle during a timeout in Monday's Schuylkill League Division II win over Shenandoah Valley (Photo by Leroy Boyer).
HOMETOWN — The Marian players heard all the noise.
They listened to the haters, the doubters, the people who said they wouldn’t even have a team, let alone a successful one.
They watched teammates depart for other schools, their previous head coach leave, their new head coach resign after five games. A roster that last spring looked capable of making a state title run was down to eight girls, three of them freshmen.
Yet, they persevered. They were driven and motivated to prove all those people wrong.
Marian’s resiliency paid off Monday when the Fillies downed Shenandoah Valley 48-31 in a Schuylkill League Division II girls’ basketball game at the Jack Malarkey Gymnasium.
With the win, Marian punched its ticket to Martz Hall and the Schuylkill League playoffs as the third seed from Division II. The Fillies (12-9, 9-5 D-II) will play Division I runner-up North Schuylkill (14-6) in the first of four quarterfinal playoff games at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Division II runner-up Mahanoy Area (17-5) and Division I third-place Tamaqua (16-6) meet in the other girls’ quarterfinal at 3:30 p.m. The boys’ quarterfinals follow at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
“There’s nobody in this county that thought the Marian Fillies would be in the Schuylkill League playoffs,” — Jeff Onushco, Marian head coach
“There’s nobody in this county that thought the Marian Fillies would be in the Schuylkill League playoffs,” said Marian coach Jeff Onushco, who took over for Jeanette Shafer Barron in December. “It’s a credit to these kids.
“I’m thrilled. I’m thrilled for the kids. With everything they’ve been through … they had some people doubting them, thought this program would be ruined because people left. There was a lot of negative talk about the Marian Fillies.
“Our kids were determined from the start to prove that theory wrong. That’s why I’m so proud of our kids. It’s all about them.”
(YouTube video goes here)
Monday, Marian relied on its two veterans — sophomore forward Addy Marek and junior DeAnna Pugh — and they delivered.
Marek dominated from start to finish, compiling a game-high 26 points and six rebounds. She scored 12 points in the first half as the Fillies built an 18-12 halftime lead then finished strong, scoring nine in the fourth quarter. Marek battled through Shenandoah Valley’s physical, in-your-face defense to get fouled, shooting 10-for-13 from the line.
“With my girls behind me, always looking for me in the paint, looking for me on the perimeter,” Marek said. “We all played as a team and we knew we needed to do that tonight.”
Pugh’s playmaking ability in the second half allowed Marian to get separation on a feisty Shenandoah Valley club that has a bright future with three freshman starters.
Her biggest play came in the final seconds of the third quarter, after the Blue Devils had sliced a 13-point lead to seven on back-to-back 3-pointers by Aubrie Monaghan and Gianna Donovan.
With 8 seconds left in the half, Pugh got the ball in the frontcourt, caught the Shenandoah Valley defense napping and raced coast-to-coast to the basket, scoring a layup with 3 seconds on the clock.
The bucket gave Marian a 33-24 lead entering the fourth and the momentum. The Fillies then iced it with a 10-0 run over the first six minutes of the final frame. The spurt featured a 3-pointer by Pugh, a layup by Haley Minzola off a feed from Pugh, a follow-up bucket by Marek and a conventional 3-point play by Marek as the Fillies took a 43-26 lead with 1:55 left.
“I looked at the clock and I knew we only had a short amount of time,” said Pugh, who finished with nine points. “Everybody had their back turned, so I’m going to push myself to the limit that I know I can. I just took it to the basket strong and made a good finish.”
Shenandoah Valley (11-11, 7-7) could have forced a three-way tie for the final league playoff berth with a victory. The Blue Devils struggled to score all night, however, shooting 4-for-22 in the first half and 10-for-45 for the game.
Marian’s 1-2-2 full-court trap defense caused major issues for Shenandoah Valley in the first half as the Blue Devils committed 14 turnovers over the first two frames.
Monaghan led the Blue Devils in the scoring column with 10 points.
“We just put it in (Sunday),” Onuscho said of the press. “The last time we pressed them man-to-man and I felt we didn’t get a lot out of it. I thought we needed some traps.
“At times we did a good job. Katie Knock did a great job on the opposite, taking away the middle and getting some knock aways and steals. It gave us some easy baskets and possessions. It worked.”
Marek and Pugh were key figures in Marian’s success last season as the Fillies went 23-5, won a share of the Division II crown, were the District 11 Class AA runners-up and reached the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals.
They showed great emotion in the post-game video interview, excited to have a chance to play again at Martz Hall and compete for a Schuylkill League title.
“Let’s go,” Pugh shouted. “It’s definitely amazing. It proves a lot of people wrong. That’s what makes me happy and our team happy. What people were saying outside of this atmosphere and this family … it just proves a lot of people wrong.”
Added Marek: “This season a lot of people doubted us, that we were even going to have a season, that we were even going to have a team this year. This is a real big get-back. We bounced back from everything so well. I’m really proud of everybody on this team.”
Game Summary
SHENANDOAH VALLEY (31) — Troutman 1 2-2 4, Donovan 1 3-6 6, J. Chagolla 2 0-2 5, Monaghan 4 1-2 10, Li. Salguero 2 2-2 6, La. Salguero 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 8-14 31.
MARIAN (48) — Pugh 4 0-0 9, Minzola 3 0-0 7, Knock 2 1-2 6, Decosmo 0 0-0 0, Marek 7 10-13 26, Kwon 0 0-0 0, Bushati 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 11-15 48.
| Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | Final |
| SV (11-11, 7-7) | 3 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 31 |
| Mar (12-9, 9-5) | 8 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 48 |
