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Bittersweet ending: Marauders fall just short in state title game

Mirror photos by Gary M. Baranec Luke Ruggery, Jessiah Witherspoon and the Bishop Guilfoyle Marauders walk off the court after finishing as runner-up in the Class 2A final.

HERSHEY — Math, Civics & Sciences began Friday’s PIAA Class 2A state championship game holding poses after 3-point shots and jogging back on defense.

The Mighty Elephants spent the moments after the final buzzer celebrating wildly, knowing they’d survived a dog fight to eke out a 54-52 victory over a very game Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic squad inside the Giant Center.

The Marauders’ best season since they joined the PIAA ended just one 3-pointer away from the gold ball they coveted, and as they watched their opponent celebrate, it started to sink in how close they were to their ultimate goal.

“When you get this far, the deeper you get, the more it hurts,” Bishop Guilfoyle coach Chris Drenning said. “We’re hurting a little bit right now, because our motto all week was that we were coming down here to win a game.”

The team loses its all-time leading scorer, Luke Ruggery, to graduation.

“It’s super tough,” Ruggery said. “When you come this close to winning the state championship, it’s awful. It’s just a terrible feeling knowing we were that close. I mean, two points, that’s really close.”

Bishop Guilfoyle led 49-46 after a pair of Jessiah Witherspoon free throws with 1:33 to play, but Jihad Watson tied the game with a 3-pointer for MCS.

Michael Montecalvo’s backdoor layup with 53 seconds to play put BG back ahead. Once again, the Elephants had an answer as Zahir Jackson made a layup while being fouled with 42.1 left. He missed the free throw, and Witherspoon was fouled on the other end.

The junior guard made one of two, but Jackson responded with another layup with 19 seconds left. Witherspoon missed a 3-pointer and was forced to foul Watson, who made one of two to set up what appeared as though it would be a dramatic finish.

Bishop Guilfoyle called a timeout to set up its final play, but Ruggery got the inbounds and was trapped, slipped and threw the ball away as the buzzer sounded.

“We figured they were going to be in man, and we wanted to get something with me going downhill,” Ruggery said. “I wanted to get a shot or a kickout. They switched it up to zone on us at the end, and we didn’t see that coming. We tried to call timeout, but the refs didn’t see it.

“I slipped, so I had no chance of getting it off. That was the end of that.”

The Marauders made nine 3-pointers in the game, including one by Will Helton that put them up 25-21 late in the first half, but rather than build the lead, they went cold.

Math, Civics & Sciences used a 10-0 run to close out the half to lead by six at intermission.

“There were stretches that we played well, and I really thought we were going to win,” Drenning said. “We had a few really good looks from the corner with the lead that could have put us up and changed the game.”

Bishop Guilfoyle pushed the pace throughout the game, and it wasn’t until the Elephants slowed things down that they were able to take control. Watson led MCS with 17 points, Semaj Mills scored 14 and Nisine Poplar added 12 points.

“I was a little surprised that they tried to play such an up-tempo game,” Math, Civics & Sciences coach Lonnie Diggs said. “I know that’s their style, but I just thought with them against us, knowing that we’re deeper than they were, that they would try to slow it down.”

Ruggery scored 11 of his 17 points in the first 10 minutes of the game, but he and his teammates combined to miss an uncharacteristic 20 3-pointers in the contest.

“We talked about him for the past few days leading up to today,” Diggs said. “We wanted to limit him. Obviously, he’s their main guy, and in the first half he got a few clean looks and even missed a few. We found him a little better in the second half and tried to make some of the other guys beat us.”

They nearly did.

“We’re brothers,” Ruggery said. “We’ve developed that over the past year and a half or so. We love each other to death. To give that team our best game and defend like we did and lose by two, it really sucks.”

Bishop Guilfoyle finished the year 27-3, and its loss to Math, Civics & Sciences was its first to a Class 2A team all season in a game that certainly could have gone either way.

“It shows pride and heart,” said Ruggery about the Marauders’ playoff run. “What we’ve done with this community and this student section, student body, coaches and all our families, it shows the support we have and all the hard work we’ve put in.”

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (52): Witherspoon 7-15 3-4 19, L. Ruggery 6-16 0-0 17, Helton 3-5 0-0 8, K. Ruggery 2-6 0-0 4, Montecalvo 2-9 0-0 4, Yanoshak 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 20-51 9-29 52

MATH, CIVICS & SCIENCES (54): Mills 5-11 2-2 14, Jackson 4-6 0-1 8, Poplar 5-9 0-0 12, Watson 6-18 3-5 17, Jones 0-6 0-0 0, Slaughter 0-0 1-2 1, Middleton 0-1 0-0 0, Edwards 1-4 0-0 2, Barron 0-1 0-0 0, Fleming 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 21-56 6-10 54

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bishop Guilfoyle 17 8 12 15 — 52

Math, Civics & Sciences 17 14 9 14 — 54

3-point goals: Bishop Guilfoyle 9 (L. Ruggery 5, Witherspoon 2, Helton 2); Math, Civics & Sciences 6 (Mills 2, Poplar 2, Watson 2)

Officials: Mark Sike, Garry R. Dixson Jr., James A. Reeder

Records: Bishop Guilfoyle (27-3); Math, Civics & Sciences (23-9)

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