Linville Hill Christian Overwhelms Marian Catholic: Kehler On Hoops
Written by: Andy Herr on March 9, 2025
Linville Hill Christian traveled to Marian Catholic in Tamaqua on Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A state championship tournament and easily defeated the District 11 champions 77 to 42. The mercy rule was triggered late in the game, and the contest was never competitive. The view from here is that Linville Hill, located in Gap, is the most cohesive, unselfish, and mutually supportive team that can be found in Pennsylvania this season.
Marian Catholic scored first, on a putback by 6’ 4” sophomore Rocco Griguoli, then Linville Hill scored the next 10 points, on a 3-pointer by 6’ senior Derian Petersheim, a tip in by 5’ 11” senior Giovanni Sejuste, a jumper by 6’ 2” senior Jerome Stolzfus, two free throws by Sejuste, and a free throw by Stolzfus. Marian Catholic was never in contention from that point. Linville Hill’s offense was just too much for the home side to contain.
Linville Hill’s offense involves lots of motion, and cutting, and interior passing. In a typical play, a Linville Hill player will drive past his defender then throw a bounce pass to a teammate cutting to the basket who will score on a layup. The Linville Hill players have superb court vision, wonderful passing skills, a determination to get the ball to an open man, and amazing timing and anticipation of where teammates will be. It’s beautiful to watch the carefully coordinated attack and extraordinary teamwork. This offense is ideal to play against man-to-man defense, such as Marian Catholic’s.
Another standout feature of Linville Hill’s approach to basketball is ferocious rebounding on both boards. On Saturday afternoon, Linville Hill had more than twice the number of rebounds as Marian Catholic. Linville Hill had more than twice as many offensive rebounds (19) than Marian Catholic had defensive rebounds (9), a ratio that is very highly unusual in high school basketball. Of particular note was Sejuste’s tremendous determination on the offensive board. The team also has a long-range marksman: Petersheim scored six times from beyond the arc in this contest. Linville Hill’s balanced scoring is a testament to their overall offensive balance.
Marian Catholic played on the perimeter on Saturday, primarily focused on shooting 3-pointers. Of their 16 made field goals in this game, seven were 3-pointers. Another indication of the perimeter focus of their offense: they only shot six free throws in the game. Rocco Griguoli was the one Marian Catholic player who was willing to mix it up inside, and it was Griguoli who shot all six of Marian Catholic’s free throws. On defense, Marian Catholic had no answer for the Linville Hill attack, either in transition or in half court.
Linville Hill had a 44 to 20 advantage on the boards. Linville Hill had 13 turnovers, and Marian Catholic had 15 miscues. Linville Hill was six of 10 from the free throw line, and Marian Catholic was three of six. Linville Hill scored six times from beyond the arc, all by Petersheim. Marian Catholic made seven 3-pointers, four of them by 6’ 1” junior Jacob De La Cruz. Three other Marion Catholic players scored from beyond the arc.
Linville Hill is now 20-5, and they will play perennial state championship contender Constitution, from the Philadelphia Public League, on Wednesday night at 7:30 at West Chester Henderson in the 2nd round of the tournament. Marian Catholic’s season concludes with a 13-12 record and a notable accomplishment: they won the District 11 championship
Linville Hill Christian scoring: Derian Petersheim 24, Giovanni Sejuste 17, Drew Tibbins 12, Stephen Smucker 12, Jerome Stolzfus 11, and Josh Stolzfus 1.
Marian Catholic scoring: Jacob De La Cruz 18, Rocco Griguoli 11, Yaniel Nunez 5, Gregory Tirpak 3, Justin De La Cruz 3, and Bryan Ferreira 2.
Linville Hill Christian 21 24 18 14-77
Marian Catholic 10 14 12 6-42
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