By Todd Hummel
ORWIGSBURG -- Mifflinburg junior guard Corey Murtha's assignment in Friday night's PIAA Class AAA first-round game with Pottsville was simple.
It was the execution of that assignment that would provide some problems. Murtha knew all week his defensive assignment would be the Crimson Tide's leading scorer, Nick Schlitzer, a 6-foot-4 guard that is Pottsville's primary scorer, distributor and ball handler.
"I knew I had to guard Schlitzer. He's tough. We practiced like it would be my job all week in practice. I think I was prepared," Murtha said. "I did all I could stop him. We had some pretty good help defense and I think the work in practice is what did it."
Murtha held Schlitzer under his average, forcing him to take 18 shots to score his 17 points, the key in the Wildcats holding the Crimson Tide to just 38 points in a 51-38 victory at Blue Mountain High School.
"Again, it was a team thing. Corey had the assignment on Schlitzer, obviously, but you notice every time there was pick set, we switched," Mifflinburg coach Eldon Hoy said. "Travis Trutt switching out on to him, Kaleb Snyder switching out on him, even Zac (Hoy) switched a couple of times. Anytime they set a pick, the kids did exactly what we told them to do all week (in practice)."
The Wildcats (23-3) advance to the second round where they will face District 2 champion Abington Heights (28-2), a 58-28 victor over East Pennsboro. That game will be Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. Pottsville, which won its first district title since 1990, finishes the season at 23-5.
Things looked to be working against the Wildcats early in the game. With the game just five miles from Pottsville, it was essentially a home game for the Crimson Tide.
"That was the biggest crowd we played in front of this year. It was pretty cool (walking in the gym), but it was a little intimidating because their student section was so big," Murtha said. "We've never played in a state game before with this group of guys and I think we were a little nervous."
The nerves affected both team in the first quarter with each team netting just one field goal in the first four minutes of the contest and the score was 8-8 after one period.
"We knew they were going to be in aggressive man-to-man. In practice, we were able to drive right away against it, but against (Pottsville) we weren't able to drive right by them," Mifflinburg point guard Zac Hoy said.
The game was still just 9-8 with the Crimson Tide in the lead when the Wildcats took a lead they would never relinquish. Murtha scored five consecutive points to spark a 9-0 run that opened up a 17-9 lead for MIfflinburg on a Hoy jumper with 3:14 left in the second quarter. That lead held heading to the locker room at halftime as Hoy hit a short jumper with 15 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 22-13 advantage at the break.
Mifflinburg faced a little more adversity in the third quarter thanks to the combination of foul trouble and the heat in the Blue Mountain gymnasium. Murtha didn't come up to start the second half and Trutt had to leave the floor in the third thanks to the heat. Two other Mifflinburg starters, Snyder and Jim Showers, were in foul trouble.
"I'm not sure this team met adversity like that all year. It was so hot in there. Corey Murtha went down at the beginning of the second half and had to leave. We had to start Connor (Pierce) in the second half. You saw Travis Trutt go down in the second half cause of the heat," Eldon Hoy said.
It didn't hurt the Wildcats as Pierce, a sophomore guard and Michael Wiand, a freshman forward, played big minutes off the bench.
"Connor Pierce and Michael Wiand just played some awesome minutes for us. It was all on the defensive end," Eldon Hoy said. "We didn't lose a beat defensively when those two were in the game."
The Crimson Tide made a run at the Wildcats to start the third quarter, scoring the first seven points to pull within 24-22 on a Josh Whalen layup with 4:25 left in the third. Trutt would score on back-to-back fast break baskets to push the lead back to six.
Pottsville would cut the lead to two on a Schlitzer bucket with 2:13 left in the third, but Murtha hit a pull up jumper with 20 seconds left and Trutt came back after leaving the game to convert a three-point play to start the fourth to push the lead to 33-26.
The fourth quarter is when Mifflinburg's defense really began to affect the Crimson Tide. They weren't able to convert a field goal until the 2:55 mark of the fourth and left a lot of shots short.
"You could tell they were running low on energy. They were really aggressive out in the passing lanes in the first half and early part of the third quarter, but you could tell they weren't as aggressive later in the game," Zac Hoy said. "That really helped us on the offensive attack."
Mifflinburg would build an 11-point lead and then clinched the game from the line. Zac Hoy made 10 consecutive foul shots over the final two minutes to seal the game.
Hoy led the Wildcats with 21 points, while Murtha had 11 points and eight boards. Trutt scored all nine of his points in the second half.
Schlitzer had 17 points to lead the Crimson Tide.
