Schuylkill Haven receives its silver medals after falling to Executive Education in Friday's District 11 Class 3A championship game (Photo by Leroy Boyer).

Hurricanes’ Martz Magic runs out in loss to Raptors

POTTSVILLE — For the first time in 12 games, the Martz Hall rims weren’t kind to the Schuylkill Haven girls.

For the first time in 15 games, the Hurricanes couldn’t make a play when they had to in a clutch moment.

A pair of lengthy streaks came to an end at the wrong time Friday night for Schuylkill Haven as the Hurricanes suffered a 39-33 loss to Executive Education in the District 11 Class 3A girls’ basketball championship game at Martz Hall.

It was the first loss since Jan. 6 for the Hurricanes (22-5), a stretch that included winning their first-ever Schuylkill League Division I title and their second straight Schuylkill League overall championship.

The defeat was the first for this group of Haven players in 12 games at Martz Hall over the past two seasons. The loss also prevented Schuylkill Haven from winning its first District 11 girls’ basketball title since 1985, a stretch of 41 years.

“We got looks, they just weren’t dropping,” Schuylkill Haven coach Tony Sanders said. “Our foul shooting hurt us tonight. Credit to them, though, they played good defense on us.”

Executive Education (17-7) set the tone early, opening the game on a 7-1 run. The Raptors dominated the boards and were able to drive strong to the basket, often resulting in multiple scoring chances per possession.

Schuylkill Haven opened the game by missing its first 10 shots, with Mckenna Runkle’s turn-around jumper with 1:05 left in the first period ended the shooting drought. The Hurricanes were 1-for-12 from the field in the first quarter and trailed 7-4.

The poor start left Schuylkill Haven chasing all night. The Hurricanes rallied to tie the game at 13-13 with 3:52 left in the first half on a 3-pointer by Kylie Siket and a layup by Audrey Hutchinson, but a 3-pointer and a driving layup by Mariah Hargrove quickly stretched the lead back out to five.

Hargrove was a thorn in Haven’s side all night, scoring 11 of her 15 points in the first half as the Raptors led 20-17 halftime. Hargrove finished with 11 rebounds, while Nia Bush had 10 points and 15 rebounds.

“They matched our physicality,” Sanders said. “They were one step ahead of us most of the night.”

Schuylkill Haven struggled to put the ball in the basket all night. The Hurricanes finished 13-of-53 from the field (25%) and were just 4-of-12 from the foul line.

Despite the tough shooting night, the game was still there for the taking for Schuylkill Haven in the fourth quarter.

After Executive Education stretched its lead to 24-17 midway through the third, Schuylkill Haven put together an 11-2 run that brought a strong Haven fan following to its feet and put some energy back into Martz Hall.

A 3-pointer by Siket, a short jumper by Runkle, a jumper by Ava Terefencko and a 15-footer by Hutchinson tied the contest at 26-26 after three quarters.

When Hutchinson made a steal, was fouled and hit both free throws early in the fourth, Schuylkill Haven had its first lead of the game at 28-26 with 7:27 left.

Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, their shooting woes returned. Haven missed its next seven shots and was just 2-for-15 from the field in the fourth quarter.

Executive Education quickly tied it on a layup by Bush, then took the lead on a 3-pointer by Kamila Rios. Rios, who came off the bench when starter Teavianni Green rolled her ankle in the game’s opening minute and played the rest of the game, had all six of her points in the fourth quarter.

Her biggest play came with just under two minutes left and the Raptors leading 33-31.

With Schuylkill Haven having possession of the ball, Rios came up with a steal, drove the length of the court and converted the layup to put Executive up 35-31 with 1:32 left.

“We couldn’t handle the ball like that at that point in the game,” Sanders said. “They found some openings on us and they capitalized.”

A driving layup by Runkle slice the margin to 35-33 with 1:09 left. After a free throw, the Hurricanes had one more possession with a chance to tie, but Runkle’s driving shot was short. Hutchinson rebounded, but her follow by blocked by Bush.

Haven was then forced to foul. The Raptors converted, hitting 3-of-4 from the line in the final 30 seconds to capture the program’s first-ever girls’ basketball district title.

Runkle finished with 12 points for Schuylkill Haven, while Hutchinson had 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Despite the loss, Schuylkill Haven heads to the PIAA Tournament, where the Hurricanes will face the fourth-place team from District 12 on Friday, March 6, at a District 11 site and time to be determined.

“We have to move to Friday, that’s what I told the girls,” Sanders said. “We have a game Friday and we’ll move on from there.”

Game Summary

District 11 Class 3A Championship

At Martz Hall

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION (39) — Hargrove 6 2-2 15, Bush 3 4-8 10, Henry 1 4-6 6, Riddick 1 0-0 2, Green 0 0-0 0, Rios 2 1-3 6. Totals 13 11-19 39.

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN (33) — Hutchinson 4 3-6 11, Siket 2 0-0 6, Runkle 5 1-4 12, Terefencko 2 0-2 4, Strenkoski 0 0-0 0, Wade 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 4-12 33.

3-point FGs: Hargrove, Rios, Siket 2, Runkle

Officials: Bulka, Scheeler, Onushco