Sports
Notre Dame Boys Lose Heartbreaker
Crusaders led though most of game, but fall to Pine Grove on buzzer beater
ORWIGSBURG --- It could be a long time before Notre Dame overcomes the shock of losing on a buzzer shot to Pine Grove 51-49 Wednesday in a District 11 Class AA semifinal at Blue Mountain High School.
The Cardinals sent the Crusaders home losers after Brady Burke score off an offensive rebound before the buzzer to give Pine Grove its first and only lead of the game.
Pine Grove tied the game at 49-49 with 3:25 left when Larry Zimmerman scored on a layup with 3:25 left. After that, the Cardinals (21-4) went into an offensive stall in the final minutes in order to get the final shot, in which they capitalized.
Find out what's happening in Eastonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Pine Grove also went on a 14-2 run in the fourth quarter to catch up and take the lead.
The Crusaders (15-9) had beaten Pine Grove in the District 11 semifinals last season. Notre Dame was looking good in this game with a 33-21 lead at halftime and as 47-37 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
Find out what's happening in Eastonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“We never felt comfortable, but we liked our position going into the fourth quarter,” said Notre Dame coach Patrick Boyle. “We didn’t handle the situation as well as we wanted to. We handle their pressure for the most part fairly well. We played really hard to that point. But then we got really tired. They got some turnovers and transition points.”
Adam Ambielli and Tyler Kohl led the Crusaders with 15 points each followed by Dillion Huerta with 10.
Pine Grove was led by Brady Burke with 14, and Larry Zimmerman with 13 and Kyle Burke with 10.
The Cardinals will play Salisbury in the District 11 Class AA championship game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Martz Hall.
NOTRE DAME (49) – Miller 0 2-2 2, Huerta 3 2-2 10, Ambielli 5 4-4 15, Kohl 6 1-6 15, Ross 2 1-3 5, Hughes 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 10-17 49
PINE GROVE (51) – Zimmerman 4 3-5 13, Rossi 2 2-3 6, K. Burke 5 0-0 10, B. Burke 6 2-5 14, Fehr 1 0-0 2, Hafer 2 2-6 6. Totals 20 9-19 51
Notre Dame 13 17 17 2 – 49
Pine Grove 9 12 16 14 – 51
3-point FGs: Notre Dame 5 (Huerta (2), Kohl (2), Ambielli)
Officials: Clark, Ligenza, Moran