POTTSVILLE — Williams Valley may not have been playing its best basketball at the end of the regular season.

The Vikings lost four games in a row late in the year. But on Friday night in the District 11 2A championship against Marian, they saved their best for their biggest moment.

The two teams split during the regular season coming into the gold medal matchup.

It was Williams Valley that controlled the game from the tip, weathering a few of the Fillies’ runs to win back-to-back 2A titles with a 51-29 victory at the famed Martz Hall.

“We were not playing our best basketball at times at the end of the year,” said Williams Valley head coach Shane Zellers. “But we used all of those days off before playoffs to condition and to work on the things we needed to work on to get better. And credit to our girls, they came out and played really tough. We preached that, in the two weeks that we had off, to come out and play with some toughness and drive the basketball and not just rely on the kick outs and the three. We just kept attacking.”

The Fillies were able to stay close in the first quarter because of the trifecta.

Marian hit two triples in the first and trailed 11-8 going into the second. Ireland Kasper had a nice first for the top-seeded Vikings, scoring five points, which was a sign of things to come for the senior.

Williams Valley was able to pull away a little bit in the second, finishing the frame with an 8-2 run to lead 24-16 at the half. Kasper got hot in the quarter, hitting back-to-back three-pointers to make it three from deep for her in the first half. The Vikings were leading by just two, and then Kasper’s treys quickly made it an eight-point advantage around the 2:50 mark.

Williams Valley surrendered just one field goal in the second – a three from Brooke Hannis-Miskar – with the rest of the Fillies’ points coming from Addy Marek’s five makes from the charity stripe.

“Williams Valley played very well,” said Marian coach Jeff Onuscho. “They got that senior leadership. And their whole lineup has been in this type of game before. And we only have two girls that have been in this type of game before.

“We didn’t play our best and we didn’t defend them as well as we did time the last time that we played them. But that’s a credit to them. They executed their stuff. We cut it to four in the third quarter, but then we either couldn’t get a stop or we would have a turnover that hurt our momentum.”

A Marek three cut the deficit to four (28-24) in the third. Williams Valley quickly went back up eight after buckets from Kasper and two free throws from Mallory Miller, but Deanna Pugh answered with a runner for the second-seeded Fillies.

It looked like it was going to be a back-and-forth third, but the Vikings once again finished the quarter strong, going on an 8-0 run to end the period, fueled by yet another Kasper three. The run pushed the Williams Valley lead to 14 going into the fourth.

“Defensively, as the game went on, I think we did a good job taking away the three-point line,” said Zellers. “And then our poise with the basketball on the offensive end; we were able to get some good looks and some easy layups. Again, credit to our girls. They fought. We also did a good job on the boards throughout the game. We always preach to finish the possession, and that’s what we were able to do all night.”

The Vikings continued to lock down the Fillies, outscoring them 12-3 in the fourth quarter. A late finish inside by Ella Kobularik plus the foul would push the Williams Valley lead to 20.

The winners will face Southern Columbia in the first round of states next Friday night. The Fillies will take on the District 12 runner-up on Friday.

“I’m just extremely proud of all our girls,” said Onuscho. “I’m proud of our captains for the job that they have done leading this team, and our younger players who have showed amazing growth. Everybody who has been out there has hit a big shot for us this season. When I took over on Dec. 16, I didn’t think we would’ve gotten to the championship game. I thought it was possible, but I knew we had a lot of work to do and the girls did it. I’m just really proud of the growth of our team.”

LEADING SCORERS… Kasper scored a game-high 17 points for the Vikings and added seven rebounds. Miller chipped in with 12. For Marian, Marek scored 11 points and ripped down 10 boards.

BIG RUN… Marian trailed 32-26 around the three-minute mark of the third. The Vikings finished the game on a 19-3 run.

REBOUND HOUNDS… Williams Valley dominated in the rebounding department, out-rebounding the Fillies 20-10 in the first half. Along with Kasper’s seven boards, Quinn Smeltz led the way with nine and Ella Kobularik added eight.

MARIAN

Bushati 0-0-0-0, Pugh 3-0-0-6, Minzola 0-0-0-0, Hannis-Miskar 2-0-0-6, Knock 2-0-0-6, Kwon 0-0-0-0, Decasmo 0-0-0-0, Marek 2-5-6-11. TOTALS: 9-5-6-29.

WILLIAMS VALLEY

Smeltz 4-0-2-8, Miller 3-6-7-12, Kobularik 3-2-4-8, Kasper 6-1-2-17, Shomper 2-2-2-6. TOTALS: 18-11-17-51.

Marian 8 8 10 3 - 29

Williams Valley 11 13 16 11 - 51

Three-pointers: Marian - Hannis-Miskar 2, Knock 2, Marek 2. Williams Valley - Kasper 4.

Records: Marian (14-11); Williams Valley (18-6)