ALTOONA — The Ligonier Valley boys basketball program was making its first PIAA appearance in seven years Saturday, so it was also the first state tournament for the roster of players on the 2025-26 team.
There were bound to be some jitters then, especially since the Rams — who qualified for the state tournament as the seventh-place finisher out of the WPIAL — were going on the road Saturday to face a very talented Bishop Guilfoyle Academy team that is a strong contender to reach the Class 3A state championship game later this month.
And indeed, Ligonier Valley fell behind and Bishop Guilfoyle used the early spread as a foundation to score a 62-43 first-round victory that ended the Rams’ season.
“I think that we were a little tight at the beginning of the game,’’ said Ligonier Valley coach Dante Porter, whose team wrapped up a 14-13 season. “We were kind of feeling our way early in the game, and Bishop Guilfoyle is a very disciplined, physical basketball team that will make you pay for your mistakes, and they did that to us tonight.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our upperclassmen for the way that they stepped up this year,’’ Porter added. “We just lost to a better basketball team today.’’
Bishop Guilfoyle, which won the District 6 Class 3A championship game last week, improved its record to 24-4 and will face South Park, a WPIAL third-place finisher, in the second round Wednesday night at a site and time to be determined.
The Marauders placed four players in double figures, led by senior Taurean Consiglio’s 15 points. Junior Grant Okonak added 14, and seniors Jake Kissell and Tyson Lestochi chipped in 11 and 10.
“We had a little bit of a dry spell in the second quarter, but outside of that, we were pretty good,’’ BG coach Ryan Lestochi said. “We had a lot of guys scoring for us, and we stuck to our game plan, which was to attack the basket, make the right passes at the right time and finish our shots.’’
BG bolted out to a 10-0 lead right out of the gates. Consiglio started the Marauders’ run with a bucket off an inside feed, Okonak converted a steal into a layup, sophomore Alex Krimmel made a free throw and junior guard Troy Ruggery floated in a field goal from the key. Kissell drained a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to complete the surge.
Kissell scored five points and Consiglio and Ruggery chipped in four apiece for BG as the Marauders dominated the opening eight minutes.
Ligonier Valley put together its best rally in the opening minutes of the second quarter, as the Rams went on a 12-5 run to cut their deficit to 25-17. Two inside buckets by senior forward Cam Kunkle started the Ligonier Valley rally, which later included 3-point field goals by senior forward Michael Vargulish-Graver and senior guard Michael Wisnewski, who led Ligonier Valley with a game-high 17 points, including five 3-point shots.
Junior Noah Knupp’s bucket pulled Ligonier Valley to within 25-17, but BG responded with a Consiglio layup and a 3-point shot by Lestochi to build its lead back up to 13 points, 30-17.
Led by Okonak’s powerful inside game, the Marauders held serve in the third quarter and led 46-32 entering a fourth period in which they expanded their advantage to as much as 21 points.
Okonak accounted for 12 of BG’s 16 third-quarter points, draining a 3-point shot and making three field goals from the paint.
“I just give credit to my teammates for getting me the open looks,’’ Okonak said of his third-quarter outburst. “We just tried to stay patient and get the best shots that we could.’’
Porter saluted this season’s upperclassmen, who have won 28 games for the Ligonier Valley program over the past two years.
“We had some foul trouble today, but I’m very pleased with our overall effort,’’ Porter said. “This program had won only eight games in two seasons combined before many of the players in this year’s group went on to win 28 games over the past two seasons combined.
“It’s all been a matter of these players putting in the extra time like attending open gyms and working very hard,’’ Porter added. “I’m really pleased with this year’s senior group. They have helped us to build a positive, winning culture here.’’