FOUNTAIN SPRINGS - If high school basketball games were 30 minutes long instead of 32, Line Mountain would be in the district playoffs.
And if pigs could fly, we'd all have real dirty windshields.
The Eagles, needing to win to qualify for the District 4 AA
tournament, held a six-point lead with two minutes to go Monday at North Schuylkill, a lead built with their top player, Mike Marciniak, on the bench with four fouls.
But Marciniak fouled out within seconds of being put back into the game, and Line Mountain had trouble against the Spartans' late pressure, and North Schuylkill rallied for a 54-50 win.
"We didn't take care of the ball," said Line Mountain head coach Jeff Lagerman. "That's been our poison since early in the season. I'm sure we had about 20 turnovers tonight, and you just can't give a team that many possessions and expect to win."
Marciniak had a frustrating night to finish his career. Although he had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, he only played about half the game because of foul trouble. Ironically, his teammates still almost bailed him out. He sat out the whole second quarter after picking up his second foul late in the first, and the Eagles stretched a one-point lead to four at halftime.
That prompted North Schuylkill coach Curt Ziegmont to do a mass substitution late in the half.
"I wanted to send a message that we had to play better defense in the second half," Ziegmont said. "I thought we could cut into the lead with him on the bench and we didn't. But we did come out and play good defense in the second half, and our pressure was getting to them."
The Spartans, who also finished 10-12, opened the second half with an 11-3 run to go ahead 30-26, but the Eagles worked their way back.
Sophomore Bill Breinich, who led all scorers with 19 points, looked like he would be the hero for Line Mountain. He hit a 3-pointer for a 47-41 lead with 2:35 to play, then had a steal on defense.
But the Eagles turned the ball over and Marciniak, who had just come back in, was nailed for his fifth foul on a rebound.
"It was a frustration foul," Lagerman said. "The North Schuylkill kid had him locked up pretty good and he threw him to the ground."
A jumper by Ryan Cicioni cut Line Mountain's lead to 49-48, and Tyler Skinner later hit a foul shot to tie. Damon Meyer gave North Schuylkill a 51-49 lead, and Skinner then hit two foul shots to make it 53-49.
Trae Wren was fouled on a 3-point shot with 25 seconds left, but Wren was only able to can one foul shot, and the Spartans then didn't let Line Mountain get the ball in easily, with several fouls to give.
"Give credit to our kids," Ziegmont said. "They played hard."
Center Brandon McCloskey had 15 points and eight rebounds for North Schuylkill.
LINE MOUNTAIN (50) - Williard 2 0-0 4, Breinich 8 0-0 19, Rickert 0 0-0 0, M. Marciniak 5 0-0 10, Beninsky 3 0-1 6, Wren 3 3-5 9, Karlovich 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 3-6 50.
NORTH SCHUYLKILL (54) - Rakowsky 4 1-2 11, Motsney 2 0-0 4, Chernewski 1 1-2 3, Meyer 2 1-2 5, Cicioni 3 0-1 7, Skinner 1 5-6 7, McCloskey 6 3-6 15, Kovach 1 0-0 2, Damiter 0 0-0 0, Gallagher 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 11-20 54.
Line Mtn. (10-12) 11 12 13 14 - 50
N. Schuylkill (10-12) 10 9 15 20 - 54
3-point FGs: Line Mountain (3) - Breinich 3; North Schuylkill (3) - Rakowsky 2, Cicioni.
JV score: North Schuylkill