In sports, the third time can either be a charm or a curse.
On Wednesday, it was a charm for Ligonier Valley and a curse for Southmoreland.
The visiting Rams showed why it is difficult to defeat a team three times in one season as they rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit to defeat the Scotties 59-50 and gain the WPIAL’s seventh and final berth in the Class 3A state playoffs.
Second-year coach Dante Porter said it was his biggest win at Ligonier Valley. He said his team didn’t panic when the Scotties jumped out to a quick 14-4 lead.
“We’ve been through this all year. We stuck with what got us here,” Porter said.“We knew their big guys could get to the rim, and we made them work for every shot.”
Both teams came into the matchup having lost a bit of their mojo in the last two games.
Southmoreland (15-11) found its stride first with a barrage of treys, two from Noah Felentzer and one each from Brock Pritts and Ty Whoric, to build a 14-4 lead.
Porter called timeout with 3:34 left in the opening quarter, and when the teams returned to the court, the roles seemed to be reversed.
Ligonier Valley (14-12) surged to a 23-10 run led by five points from Michael Vargulish-Graver, a pair of treys from Greyson Daugherty and another 3-pointer from Noah Knupp as the Rams went ahead 27-24 at halftime.
Early in the second half, a trey by Whoric and two free throws from Felentzer cut Southmoreland’s deficit to 31-29.
Vargulish-Graver answered with a basket and two free throws and Simeon Pope scored to build a 37-29 lead for Ligonier Valley.
The quarter ended with a basket by Vargulish-Graver to give the Rams a 43-35 lead.
Southmoreland went on a 9-2 run to begin the fourth quarter on a basket by Luke Stinnett, a Whoric trey, two Felentzer free throws and Stanley Chapman’s putback to make it 45-44.
Knupp guided the Rams through slowing the tempo and running time off the clock along with beating the Scotties’ full-court press as time wound down.
Vargulish-Graver’s three-point play and Knupp’s free throw widened the Ligonier Valley lead to 49-44 with 2:23 to play.
A minute later, Felentzer’s basket cut the lead to 51-46, but the Scotties’ fate seemed to be sealed when Brady Sherbondy’s trey attempt rolled around and rimmed out with just over one minute to play with a chance to get within one point. Ligonier Valley ended on a 7-4 run to cap the victory that will send the Rams to their first state playoff appearance since 2019.
Vargulish-Graver scored 24 points to lead the Rams. Daugherty added 10.
Felentzer was the Scotties’ only double figure scorer with 16 points.
In a joyous locker room, Vargulish-Graver said, “Everything feels good. This was a big win against a very good team we lost to twice in the section. I’m looking forward to the state playoffs.”
In the somber Southmoreland locker room, coach Frank Muccino told his seniors they had accomplished a lot in four seasons, with two section titles and a 22-game section winning streak.
He said losing momentum, “has been our bugaboo a few times, more than I can count.”
“It seems like we get one or two mistakes or a bad rotation, a turnover and then fall apart and don’t recover,” he added. “Then we get stagnant and want someone else to make a play.”
He credited Ligonier Valley with “weathering the storm each time.”