Published Saturday, March 6, 1999 
On Dec. 13, 1997, the George Junior Republic Tigers lost a regular season game with eventual PIAA-A champion Kennedy Christian after coming out flat in the first half. After that the Tigers would go on a 52-game winning bender that would challenge some of the state's longest win streaks ever, and added a state title of their own.
Last night, the habit was broken. George Junior -- which had not lost since that night 15 months ago -- came out flat and stayed that way for much of their District 10-AA title game with Mercyhurst Prep at Meadville High School. A fourth-quarter surge by the Lakers left the Tigers hitting the panic button, and this time there was no way to come back.
With the shocking 42-40 loss, the Tigers (24-1) will reroute their plans for the PIAA state playoffs set to begin next Saturday, with GJR taking on the No. 2 team from District 9.
"We got good looks," first-year GJR coach Ralph Blundo said after his team turned in its third low-scoring game of the playoffs. "We missed some easy shots. I don't know how many times we had back-door looks to the basket. I think our kids have a lot of character. This really hurts because we put in a long hard season and I think we all feel responsible in some way for not closing it out. But we're not done yet."
Although the second and third quarters were the most glaring in the Tigers' lack of execution, with GJR amassing just 11 points over those 16 minutes, the game was decided by Mercyhurst's on-again, off-again outside shooting which heated up late in the fourth behind a pair of threes from Matt Burke.
With 3:30 to play and Mercyhurst trailing 36-30, Burke drilled one of his three treys, and poured in another seconds later on a George Junior turnover to knot the game at 36.
B.J. Grove, who led the Tigers with 15 points, spun inside to put the Tigers back up 38-36, and GJR's pressure on the outside caused a pair of air-ball 3-point attempts from Summers and Sean Baer, but Baer picked off an errant GJR pass and threw in an un-contested lay-up to tie the game with under two minutes to play.
The teams traded baskets again before the Tigers got the ball back on a partial block from Grove that was snared by Marquis Anderson. But Antwon Lawson was ruled to have stepped out of bounds as he received a down-court pass, and the Tigers had to put Burke on the line with under a minute to play, who knocked home both for the 42-40 lead they would make stand.
"We made a commitment from the get-go to play their game," Blundo said. "We let them be as patient as they wanted to be on offense and hoped they wouldn't make their shots."
GJR led for most of the game, including 21-15 at the half and 26-25 at the third quarter turn, although neither team was able to find a groove until the fourth quarter, which saw the Lakers outscore the Tigers 17-14.
"For some reason throughout the game they seemed to feel a lot of anxiety," Blundo said. "I think we compounded our errors because we let one or two bad plays get to us."
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DISTRICT 10 CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP
MERCYHURST PREP 8 7 10 17 42
GEORGE JUNIOR 15 6 5 14 40
MERCYHURST - Baer 2-0-0-5; Summers 4-0-0-12; Burke 4-3-4-12; Dill 2-0-0-4; Merski 4-0-0-9. 3-pt. goals: Baer 1, Summers 4, Burke 1, Dill 1, Merski 1. Totals: 16-3-4-42.
GEORGE JUNIOR - Grove 6-3-4-15; Bazemore 4-0-0-8; Swan 3-1-1-7; Anderson 3-0-0-6; Lawson 1-2-2-4. Totals: 17-6-7-40.
