Five area teams in action Saturday

Five area teams will be in action on Saturday as the District 11 basketball playoffs continue quarterfinal round play. Jim Thorpe, Tamaqua and Northwestern will all open play in the girls Class 4A tournament, while Marian will have a girls Class 2A game. In boys action, Weatherly will play in a Class 1A game.

GIRLS

Class 4A Quarterfinals

No. 2 Jim Thorpe (21-2) vs.

No. 7 Pine Grove (11-11)

TIPOFF: Saturday, Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m. at Lehighton.

COACHES: Jim Thorpe - Rob Kovac; Pine Grove – Kyler Burke.

LEADING SCORERS: Jim Thorpe - Leila Hurley (16.78 ppg), Skyler Searfoss (15.30), Olivia Smelas (12.91), Mackenzie Yuhas (5.83), Leah Snisky (3.65); Pine Grove – Alli Butler (13.6), Mikaili Donmoyer (9.4), Kailen Felty (4.8).

GAME NOTES: Jim Thorpe is looking to rebound from a 49-46 setback in the Schuylkill League championship game, while Pine Grove is looking to get back into action after a layoff of a couple weeks … The Olympians and Cardinals are familiar with each other, as both are members of the Schuylkill League Division I. The teams met twice this season, with the Olympians winning both (60-34 on Dec. 19 and a 66-36 on Jan. 20) … This is the fourth time in the last five years the Olympians have qualified for districts, with 2018 the only time during the five-year run they failed to get in … Last year, the Olympians reached the D-11 title game, before falling to Bethlehem Catholic, 47-38. The Olympians then dropped their opening game in the state playoffs to Lansdale Catholic to end an extremely successful 26-2 season … The Olympians enter districts having lost two of their last three games, both of them at the hands of North Schuylkill – once in the regular season finale, and then again in the SL title game … The Olympians ran off a six-game winning streak to start the season. Then, after a Christmas Tournament loss to Northampton, the Olympians went on a 14- game winning streak … Before last year, Jim Thorpe only had two district victories in school history (2002, 2012), but it doubled that with quarterfinal and semifinal round victories against Wilson and Tamaqua, before falling in the title game.

QUOTABLE: “Obviously, we don’t want to play a team a third time in the season. That presents all kinds of problems because there’s a familiarity between teams, which we prefer not to have from an opponent. We’re also looking to rebound from a very disappointing end to last Friday night’s game (against North Schuylkill). Hopefully, what we did this past week will take some of the sting out of our mouths entering Districts.” – Jim Thorpe head coach Rob Kovac.

Class 4A Quarterfinals

No. 3 Tamaqua (18-4) vs.

No. 6 Wilson (13-10)

TIP OFF: Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. at Martz Hall.

COACHES: Tamaqua - Erika (Barron) Davis; Wilson - Sondrine (Glovas) Gutierrez.

LEADING SCORERS: Tamaqua - Emma Kuczynski (22.86 ppg.), Emily Titus (14.86), Jamie Zuber (5.09), Sophia Boyle (4.53), Jen Frederickson (3.82); Wilson – Ashley Errico (leading scorer, 65 3’s this season), Almond Goodman (9.0 ppg., 28 3’s), Aaliyah Crozier (7.0), Makayla Grant.

GAME NOTES: The Blue Raiders of the Schuylkill League, and the Warriors of the Colonial League, didn’t face each other this season, but did have one common opponent in Moravian Academy. Tamaqua defeated the Lions 64-55 on Jan. 29, while Wilson lost to Moravian three times (42-39 and 47-35 during the regular season, and 62-27 in the quarterfinals of the Colonial League playoffs) … Tamaqua, which had 19 regular-season wins last year, lost only four games this season. The Raiders fell to Jim Thorpe twice, and to Blue Mountain and North Schuylkill once. Tamaqua is currently on a six-game win streak ... This is the fourth straight season, and the seventh time in the last decade, that the Blue Raiders are competing in the district playoffs … The last time the Raiders and Warriors met in districts was 2004, when Tamaqua posted a 57-48 victory in the quarterfinals. The Blue Raiders reached the finals that year ... The Warriors’ Errico reached the 1,000-point mark this season, and currently holds the school record for three-pointers in a career and a season … “Wilson is very athletic, and a three-point shooting team,” Davis said. “We have been preaching ... long shots mean long rebounds. So, we must make sure that we really make contact and box out, because they crash the boards very well. A lot of their threes aren’t going (to fall), but they do a good job of reading the rebound and getting put-back shots. We have been really harping on that” … Kuczynski has a chance of surpassing the 2,000-point mark. She currently sits in third place on Tamaqua’s all-time girls scoring list with 1,930 points. Teammate Emily Titus needs only 23 points to reach 1,000 points in her career.

QUOTABLE: “Postseason is something you have as a goal, and one that you strive for (all season long). With this group, they know what it feels like to be in the postseason. So, we have been preaching all week, ‘Records go out the window. It’s a new season. And, it’s anybody’s game. It’s about who shows up, who’s focused, and who sticks to the game-plan and does all the little things that they need to do to come out on top,’” – Tamaqua head coach Erika Davis.

Class 4A Quarterfinals

No. 4 Northwestern (18-5) vs.

No. 5 ACC (12-9)

TIP OFF: Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. at Catasauqua

COACHES: Northwestern - Chris Deutsch; ACC - Mike Kopp

LEADING SCORERS: Northwestern - Sydney Sevrain (11.48 ppg.), Paige Sevrain (11.13), Alexandra Lister (9.83), Kailyn Jones (7.04), Tess Ledeboer (5.35); ACC – Maria Traglia (9.29 ppg.), Julia Roth (9.14), Emily Vaughan (8.10), Hanna Hoeing (5.38), Madalyn Szoke (4.48).

GAME NOTES: Northwestern and Central Catholic didn’t play during the regular season, but the teams had three common opponents. The Tigers beat Southern Lehigh twice (39-32 and 62-24), while ACC beat them once (51-35). The Vikings had the edge against the other common foes as they posted four relatively easy victories against Whitehall and Emmaus, while Northwestern lost to both of those teams. Central Catholic beat Whitehall twice (40-31 and 43-29) and Emmaus twice (47-25 and 62-32). Meanwhile, the Tigers lost to Whitehall (41-38) and Emmaus (51-46). The fact that a strong Central Catholic team is seeded fifth in a loaded Class 4A field led Deutsch to giving the bracket a nickname. “I call it ‘the bracket of death’ because whoever gets out of it has really earned it. I think a lot of 4A teams could win other brackets going away.” In addition to Northwestern and ACC, the bracket includes Bethlehem Catholic, Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua ... The Tigers don’t need to look very far for a confidence booster heading into Saturday’s game, as just one year ago they handed ACC a 52-41 setback in the quarterfinal round of the District 11 playoffs … The Tigers ended their regular season on a six-game win streak, and entered the Colonial League playoffs as the tournament’s No. 2 seed, but dropped a 49-45 decision to No. 3 seed Moravian Academy in the semifinals ... Northwestern has qualified for the District 11 tournament for the ninth straight season ... With three teams moving on to the state tournament in Class 4A, both sides are once again aware of this game’s importance. The winner of this game will need to win just one of its next two games to reach the state tournament … Deutsch said that Sydney Sevrain, who was injured in the opening minute of the Colonial League playoff loss to Moravaian, was in a walking boot this week, and will probably be a game-time decision.

QUOTABLE: “Last year was the first time in school history that we ever defeated them. I think that gives us confidence going into this game, knowing that if we do what we are asked to do, and play our game, we can definitely beat them. — and that’s half the battle right there. It’s about mentality. In years past, Central would just go into games, and they would win games before they even started because of the confidence factor involved. Now, our girls have the mentality that we can play with them.” – Northwestern head coach Chris Deutsch.

Class 2A Quarterfinals

No. 5 Marian (13-9) vs.

No. 4 Williams Valley (16-6)

TIP OFF: Saturday, Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. at Martz Hall.

COACHES: Marian – Paul Brutto; Williams Valley – Chuck Rodichok

LEADING SCORERS: Marian – Macy Alansky (11.4 ppg), Emily Shaud (10.5), Julia Kreisl (8.8), Ashley Pleban (5.7), Abbey Digris (5.2); Williams Valley – Elyssa Yeagley (14.3 ppg), Maddy Bordner (11.8), Emily Kramer (9.2).

GAME NOTES: Marian has now qualified for the District 11 playoffs an incredible 47 straight years. A year ago, the Fillies reached the district championship game, before falling to Mahanoy Area, 51-37. Marian’s last D-11 championship was in 2014, when the Fillies defeated Shenandoah Valley 47-22 in the title game … Marian and Williams Valley met once during the regular season, with the Fillies pulling out a 41-38 overtime victory on Jan. 14. Alansky scored five points in overtime of the game to help the Fillies get the victory. Pleban led Marian with 13 points in the game, Alansky had 10, and Shaud chipped in with nine … Marian had a four-game win streak — its best of the season — late in the campaign … The Fillies are 3-0 against Williams Valley in the District 11 playoffs since 1991. The Fillies have earned wins over the Vikings in postseason play in 2014 (49-34), 2003 (54-24) and 1998 (64-31).

QUOTABLE: “We just need to attack their zone better. We were up double digits the first half when they were playing a lot of man. But they went to a zone in the second half, and we weren’t patient against it and were shooting the ball too quick. We didn’t really attack it intelligently and ended up struggling, taking bad shots and that got them back in it.” – Marian coach Paul Brutto.

BOYS

Class 1A Quarterfinals

No. 4 Weatherly (10-12) vs.

No. 5 Lincoln Leadership Academy (7-15)

TIPOFF: Saturday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. at Lehighton Middle School

COACHES: Weatherly - Corey Gerhart, Lincoln Leadership Academy - Parnell Hosier.

LEADING SCORERS: Weatherly - Scott Zoscin (18.1 ppg), Anthony Colecio (10.95), Elijah Derr (6.27), Mason Gerhart (6.05); Lincoln Leadership Academy - Josh Gonzalez (16.8 ppg), Jamie Pagan (13.6), Michael Del Los Santos (9.0).

GAME NOTES: Weatherly returns to the district playoffs for the third straight season. Last year, the Wreckers were eliminated in the quarterfinal round by Lincoln Leadership Academy, 80-56. The last time Weatherly reached districts three straight seasons was 2000-02 ... The two teams met in the Wreckers’ season opener (Dec. 10) this year, with Weatherly winning a 72-68 decision. Colecio paced the winners with 23 points, while Zoscin netted 21 ... The last district playoff win for Weatherly came in 2006. That season, it defeated Lehigh Valley Christian in the quarterfinals and Pius X in the semis, before losing to Nativity in the finals ... Weatherly finished the season with back-to-back wins over MMI Prep and Shenandoah Valley. The Wreckers never had a three-game winning streak this season. Meanwhile, the Lions dropped nine of their final 12 regular season games ... Weatherly had a .500 record seven different times this season (1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8) ... Zoscin hit the 1,000-point mark against Marian on Feb. 4, and currently sits at 1,076 points. Zoscin has reached the 20-point mark in nine games this season, including a high of 33 against Minersville. He also leads the team in three-pointers (47), and the area in free-throw percentage (.865) ... Weatherly’s last district title came in 2002.

QUOTABLE: “Our kids are pumped up. We’re hungry. This is a revenge game for us; since Lincoln knocked us out of the district playoffs last year. We have had a lot of time to prepare every part of our game this week. Lincoln is very athletic, and they have a big post player, so we have to be ready to play. Hopefully all the preparation we’ve put in will propel us to a victory and to the next round. We are telling our kids to take one game at a time and leave nothing on the floor.” – Weatherly coach Corey Gerhart.