Wednesday’s opponent, Philipsburg-Osceola, is a long way from being among the top teams in the state and that showed at Pleasant Valley gymnasium in a 74-31 BG triumph, but Mounties coach T.J. Anderson thinks his team is in the right league to eventually make that happen.

“This to me is a big-boy league,” Anderson said. “Every night is a dog fight. These coaches are good. You have a lot of 100-win coaches and good programs. To me, Laurel Highlands is a football and basketball league from what I see. We have to get our kids trained and developed the right way, especially in the offseason. I like the league. I like the competition. We just have to get tougher, and it’s coming.”

That’s what the Marauders have done over the past decade-plus, and this year’s team is among the deeper ones Bishop Guilfoyle has sent out to the court.

Taurean Consiglio, looking healthy after his return from an injury that forced him to miss all but one game of the football season, led the Marauders with 18 points. Tyson Lestochi and Jake Kissell each added 11 points.

01/14/26 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Bishop Guilfoyle's Taurean Consiglio gets by Philipsburg-Osceola's Nick DeSimone.

Sophomore Alex Krimmel scored just seven points on Wednesday, but his addition to the starting lineup has helped spark BG this season.

“He’s the best shooter in the program,” BG coach Ryan Lestochi said. “You have to have shooters in this game to keep the floor spaced. We have some athletes that can get to the hoop so he really helps keeping the floor spaced and giving those guys lanes to drive, and he’s just going to get better.”

Krimmel has had several games where he’s made multiple 3-pointers and forces teams to respect the Marauders from well beyond the 3-point line.

“This summer, I worked really hard to get into the position I’m at right now,” Krimmel said. “I feel like I’m an outside threat on 3-pointers, I can block shots and cause some chaos on defense. I feel like I fit well on this team. We share the ball very well and all score evenly. It’s great playing with them.”

Bishop Guilfoyle was able to play 12 players on Wednesday and nine of those scored.

“It’s good to give them some experience on the varsity level,” Coach Lestochi said. “They have the JV games, but that’s obviously not the same as the varsity game. It’s always nice when you can play 12 guys and feel pretty comfortable playing 12 guys. It helps us evaluate where they are at on the varsity level.”

That depth has come from years of success at all levels for the Marauders — something Philipsburg-Osceola is working on. Anderson helped build Juniata Valley into a team that had plenty of success at the state level in a short time, but the process has taken a bit longer at P-O.

“Traditionally (at Philipsburg-Osceola) we haven’t had the success that Juniata Valley had back in the 90s,” Anderson said. “You’re looking at decades of culture that we need to turn around. It’s taken a little bit longer than we would have liked for it to turn that culture around, but it’s starting to happen. Our elementary program from third grade up through sixth is 52-2 right now. It’s starting to come. I just need a couple more years to get it to where Juniata Valley was before I left.”

Nick Desimone led the Mounties with nine points on Wednesday, but P-O had more turnovers (35) than points (31). Still, Anderson believes the school playing in the LHAC will lead to long-term success.

“One of the biggest things I have seen is that if you can go .500 in our league, you do really well at states,” Anderson said. “The goal is to make sure you’re either in the middle or the top of our league. It’s going to take some time to get there, but I believe with our training and the way we’re doing things now, we’re on the right path.”

Bishop Guilfoyle improved to 10-2 and is undefeated in LHAC and District 6 play.

“We’re pretty pleased with where we’re at,” Coach Lestochi said. “We feel we’re a little ahead of where we were last year. We look like we’re almost in the shape we want to be. We got a little sloppy today, and there were some things as coaches we weren’t happy with today. I know the score was what it was, but there are some things we need to clean up.”

Lestochi was likely referring to BG’s 22 turnovers — something it won’t be able to do against teams like Forest Hills and Westmont Hilltop if it wants to reach its goals this season.

“Everyone says state championship, but first we have to get (a) LHAC (championship) and districts,” Krimmel said. “We haven’t gotten a District 6 championship in a long time, so that would be awesome as well as a state championship obviously.”

PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (31): Meyers 2 0-0 5, Klinger 1 0-0 2, Desimone 2 4-6 9, Matier 2 0-0 5, J. Kendziora 0 0-0 0, McClenahan 2 1-1 6, Mason 0 0-0 0, Couturiaux 0 4-4 4. Totals — 9 9-11 31.

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (74): Lestochi 5 1-2 11, Consiglio 8 2-2 18, Ruggery 2 2-2 6, Krimmel 3 0-0 7, Kissell 2 7-8 11, G. Okonak 2 0-0 4, C. Okonak 1 0-0 3, Lightner 2 4-4 9, Baker 2 0-0 5, Shellenberger 0 0-0 0, Misiura 0 0-0 0, Wheeler 0 0-0 0. Totals — 27 16-18 74.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Philipsburg-Osceola 8 10 7 6 — 31

Bishop Guilfoyle 27 22 16 9 — 74

3-point goals: Philipsburg-Osceola 4 (McClenahan, Matier, Desimone, Meyers); Bishop Guilfoyle 4 (Krimmel, C. Okonak, Lightner, Baker).

Records: Philipsburg-Osceola (4-10); Bishop Guilfoyle (9-2).

Officials: Jordan Forster, Jack McDougal, Dan Solomon.