Fast start propels Tide past Marian

POTTSVILLE – Is there a boys basketball team in the Schuylkill League that can match-up against Pottsville?

So far this season, it hasn’t happened.

That was the case again on Wednesday at Martz Hall in the league semifinals against Marian.

The Crimson Tide, who breezed through Division 1 play undefeated during the regular season, had too much horsepower for the Division 3 champion Colts as they galloped to a 72-50 victory.

The win sends the defending champions into Friday night’s 7:30 p.m. title game against divisional rival Tamaqua, which beat back Schuylkill Haven 77-71 in the opener.

Where Pottsville (19-4) excels more than most teams is on the defensive side of the ledger. The Tide can score points, and can do it in bunches, but its their smothering defense that makes them so tough to play against.

“We knew we would have our hands full coming in to this game,” said veteran Marian coach John Patton.

When all-state Marian guard Tyler Fritz made shot two technical foul shots without a second ticked off the game clock (a scorebook issue) it was the last and only time his team would lead.

Over the next four plus minutes of play, Pottsville had a sonic-boom-like explosion, ripping off 15-unaswered points. The Tide barely missed from the floor (8-for-10) and got a thundering slam dunk by 6-6 Kevin Schenk to ignite the fireworks.

“You know I have a lot of respect for that team; we knew they would play hard and they did,” said the highly successful Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney.

Mullaney said he knew that the game wasn’t in the win column yet after Pottsville jumped out to 20-6 first quarter lead and extended it to 38-19 at halftime.

The Colts (19-4) proved him right as they tried to rally around the terrific effort of Chris Ritsick, who netted 18 points for team honors — one more than Fritz.

Ritsick hit back to back treys on step back shots to open the third period as Marian began to cut into the lead.

When fast-rising junior star John Malarkey recycled a missed shot late in the third quarter, Marian was within 52-39.

The saving grace at the close of that period was Schank, who beat the buzzer with a fielder that seemed to get Pottsville back on track.

“They challenged us to make plays. They were contesting us, and our guys really stepped up,” said Mullaney, whose program has now strung together 43 straight wins against league opponents.

Patton felt that the middle quarters were a strong suit for his team to build on with the district tournament on the horizon.

“Coach (Mike) Brennan brought up a good point, that we only lost the second and third quarters by one-point,” he mentioned. “It was tough for us to come in here and play that type (of team) and the size of the court. I thought we battled them pretty evenly in the second and third quarter.”

But Pottsville’s exceptional skill was just too much for the Colts to handle, not only early in the game, but also late.

“It was a team effort, but I thought Matt Salata did a really good job on Fritz,” said Mullaney. “I knew coming in that we were going to face a really good team. We did a good job of slowing (Fritz) down, and kept everyone off the three-point line enough. I really thought they made some tough shots. Ritsick had a great game for them.”

BIG NIGHT ... Pottsville got a huge boost from an unsung source in sophomore Raeff Dicello, who had a career high 27 points.

OUTSTANDING…. The Tide are a fundamentally sound team. They take good shots and are potent when they get on a roll.

QUIRK STAT… Marian had more rebounds (35-20) with Fritz getting 10. The Tide had just four turnovers, while Marian committed 17.

MARIAN

Ritsick 7-0-0-18, T. Fritz 5-7-8-17, Hnat 3-0-0-6, Agosti 2-2-2-6, L. Fritz 0-2-2-2, Malarkey 0-1-2-1, Chambers 0-0-0-0, Geoff 0-0-0-0, Cerullo 0-0-0-0, Eroh 0-0-0-0, Cervasio 0-0-0-0, Gibson 0-0-0-0, Nyer 0-0-0-0, Wargo 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-12-14-50.

POTTSVILLE

Dicello 9-4-6-20, Schenk 3-5-6-11, Barnes 2-6-6-10, Heimbaugh 3-0-0-8, Salata 2-1-2-6, Yost 2-0-0-5, McCuller 1-1-2-3, Stanton 1-0-0-2, Snowell 0-0-0-0, Boris 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-17-20-72.

Marian 6 13 20 11 – 50

Pottsville 20 18 16 18 - 72

Three-pointers: Marian - Ritsick 4. Pottsville -Dicello 5, Heimbaugh 2, Yost 1, Salata 1.