Panther Valley faces Notre Dame in D-11 finals

Last season, Panther Valley reached the District 11/1 Class 3A subregional playoffs and drew New Hope-Solebury in the semifinals.

The Panthers battled the Lions, before the District 1 team pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 60-40 victory.

The other semifinal matchup pitted Palmerton against Notre Dame, which proved to be for the District 11 Class 3A championship.

After the Blue Bombers claimed the title, Panther Valley head coach Patrick Crampsie and his team have often spoke about getting that opportunity to play for a district championship — and making the most of it.

As it turned out, fate paired the Panthers against the same Palmerton team that won last year’s crown.

And this past Wednesday night, the Panthers used a strong second-half push to defeat the Blue Bombers and set up a final against Notre Dame of Green Pond.

Panther Valley trailed by as many as 16 points against the Blue Bombers before staging its comeback.

Aaron Gutierrez, who is averaging 11.13 points per game, hit three three-pointers in the final quarter and finished with 20 points to lead the rally. The Panthers, the No. 4 seed in the 3A bracket, outscored top-seeded Palmerton by a 25-12 margin in that final frame.

Erik Marchorro, who averages 12.13 points, added 15 in the win, while Blake White (9.96 ppg) also finished with 15. Panther Valley’s leading scorer, Brandon Stilitino (13.65), contributed 10.

Now, the Panthers have a chance to not only redeem themselves from last year’s result, but also a missed opportunity from a year earlier.

“We had an opportunity to play in the district championship in 2018,” said Crampsie, whose team will meet the Crusaders Saturday at Easton Middle School at 1:30 p.m. “But we were not at full strength, and it was like a black cloud hanging over us.

“We feel like this game tomorrow night is a great opportunity that we have not had since 1990, and we are set on ending the drought that we have talked about all year long.”

Panther Valley will look to make the most of its chance in the final against the Crusaders — who defeated New Hope 60-49 in Wednesday’s other semifinal matchup.

“To be honest, we spent two-and-a-half weeks preparing for the semifinal game because we knew that if we didn’t beat Palmerton, the season would be over,” Crampsie said. “So that was our only focus for that period of time.

“Now that we were able to get that done, we are excited and look forward to the challenge of playing Notre Dame in the district championship game.”

The Crusaders, who have had their share of success in recent years, are coming off a win in the semifinals against Solebury.

Before that, they made a strong showing in the Colonial League playoffs, as they destroyed Wilson in the quarterfinals (86-59) before losing to Southern Lehigh — the eventual league champion — in the semifinals (82-60).

“Coach Patrick Boyle has done an amazing job since he’s been at Notre Dame, and has his kids in the mix every single year,” said Crampsie, whose team owns a 12-11 record. “We know it’s going to be a very tough game.”

Leading the Crusaders this season has been their sophomore sensation, Brad Boyle.

The coach’s son has excelled throughout his first two seasons, and is consistently mentioned when discussing the Lehigh Valley’s top talented players. He was a unanimous selection to the Colonial Coaches Association First Team all-star squad.

“(Brad) has to be one of the best sophomore players in the state of Pennsylvania,” Crampsie said. “He’s going to be tough to prepare for, and we are also concerned with their tenacious man-to-man defense.

“We need to be able to handle it, and get ourselves good looks on the offensive end.”

Boyle averages about 21 points per contest, and also looks to create opportunities for his teammates, who are more than capable of producing.

The Panthers, however, are also capable of producing.

Crampsie’s club, which opened the season with four straight wins, has hit on 147 three-pointers (6.4 per game), and will be tough to beat if they get hot from the perimeter.

Stilitino leads PV with 59 treys, while Gutierrez (34) and Marchorro (33) have also chipped in.

The Panthers are ready to roll and are hungry to make their mark on the biggest stage this season. The last time PV brought home district gold was back in 1986.

Crampsie and the Panther faithful hope that tomorrow afternoon could be a finish that was 34 years in the making.