Four teams in District 11 basketball tournament action on Friday

The Tamaqua, Northwestern and Marian boys, along with the Pleasant Valley girls, will begin postseason play with District 11 quarterfinal round contests on Friday night.

GIRLS

Class 6A Quarterfinals

No. 8 Pleasant Valley (13-9 vs. No. 1 Nazareth (21-4)

TIPOFF - Friday, Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m. at Catasauqua

COACHES - Pleasant Valley: Nadia Pavuk; Nazareth: Rich Bickert

LEADING SCORERS - Pleasant Valley: Cameron Caffrey (13.55 ppg), Riley Wagner (9.00), Alyssa Wagner (8.27), Madison O’Neil (6.09), Samantha Merklin (4.82); Nazareth: Talya Brugler (19.48), Kelly Leszcynski (12.32), Madeline Ahearn (7.46), Makenna Fortner (4.10).

GAME NOTES - Pleasant Valley traveled to Nazareth on Jan. 29 and lost a 51-40 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference decision. The Bears’ Alyssa Wagner scored 15 points in the loss… Nazareth reached the EPC finals, but dropped a 34-28 contest to Bethlehem Catholic … The Blue Eagles’ Kelly Leszcynski was the MVP at the Easton Rotary Tournament over Christmas break, and the sophomore also earned the Stacy Perryman MVP award (MVP of the EPC Tournament). Nazareth’s Talya Brugler, a junior who hit the 1,000-point mark this season, was the MVP in the team’s first-place finish in the Haverford Tip-off Tournament and was also named the EPC’s MVP … Those two Nazareth players will be the focus of Pleasant Valley’s defense. “We recognized in the last game that we played them that they obviously had a great guard inside in Brugler. So, we need to do a better job on her. We understand that we are undersized. We are very much aware we are one of the smaller teams in the league. So, we need to pressure their guards a little more and make it uncomfortable for her (Brugler) to get the ball inside” … This marks the fifth straight season the Bears have qualified for the district playoffs, and it’s the ninth time Pavuk has guided PV to the playoffs in her 11 years with the program … The Bears opened the season with five straight victories, however the team ended the year on a four-game losing streak.

QUOTABLE - “We lost so many girls to graduation last season. So for us, with losing four starters, to come back and have the season that we had in 6A and the EPC conference, is really a testament of how hard the girls in our program worked, and how much dedication and time they put in during the offseason.” – Bears head coach Nadia Pavuk.

BOYS

Class 4A Quarterfinals

No. 6 Pine Grove (12-10) vs. No. 3 Tamaqua (17-7)

TIPOFF: Friday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Martz Hall

COACHES: Pine Grove - Frank D’Agostino III; Tamaqua - Jimmy Barron

LEADING SCORERS: Pine Grove - Kolby Geesy (8.9 ppg.), Josh Leininger (8.0 ppg.), Shea Morgan (8.0 ppg.); Tamaqua - Lucas Gregoire (17.29), Brayden Knoblauch (17.17), Barron Stauffenberg (7.57), Nathan Gregoire (6.42).

GAME NOTES: The Blue Raiders had a 16-6 regular season mark that included winning streaks of five and six games. They closed out the season with three consecutive victories qualifying for the Schuylkill League playoffs as the Division 1 wildcard ... The Raiders defeated Schuylkill Haven in the semifinals before falling to Pottsville, 58-46, in the title game ... Tamaqua has now qualified for the D-11 playoffs four straight years. The Raiders, who made it to the PIAA state playoffs in 2018, lost to Northwestern in the D-11 quarterfinals a year ago ... Tamaqua and Pine Grove have already played twice this season with the Raiders winning both games — a 60-37 win at home on Dec. 23, and a 60-42 win at Pine Grove on Jan. 16 ... The Cardinals ended their regular season on a four-game winning streak to qualifying for districts ...In those last four games, the Cardinals picked up a huge win over a over a Blue Mountain team that owns a win over Tamaqua this season. The winning streak also included decisions over North Schuylkill, Lehighton and Panther Valley.

QUOTABLE: “I think we match-up well with them. Both sides like to play solid defense and pressure. We definitely like to get up and down the court quickly and we were successful doing that against them in both of our previous games. We’re just going to be who we are and do what we do. We look forward to getting started.” - Tamaqua head coach Jimmy Barron.

Class 4A Quarterfinals

No. 7 Northwestern (11-11) vs.

No. 2 Bethlehem Catholic (12-10)

TIPOFF: Friday, Feb. 21 at Whitehall High School at 6 p.m.

COACHES: Northwestern - Billy Hallman; Bethlehem Catholic - Scott McClary

LEADING SCORERS: Northwestern - Deven Bollinger (11.27), Sean McCann (9.64), Nick Henry (9.09), Luke Hallman (7.95), and Andres Garrido (7.00); Bethlehem Catholic - Isaiah Alexander (6-6 So.), Julian Thomas (6-3, Sr.), Bryan Santana (5-11, Sr.), and Ryan Santana (5-11, Sr.)

GAME NOTES: Northwestern returns to the district playoffs for the third straight season and after a strong showing a season ago, when the Tigers defeated Tamaqua in the quarterfinals (68-55), before losing to Allentown Central Catholic in the semis and Wilson in the consolation game. Northwestern lost to Lancaster Catholic in the state playoffs...Northwestern and Bethlehem Catholic, which compete in different leagues (Northwestern in the Colonial, Beca in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference), have only one common opponent on the season in Notre Dame of Green Pond...Beca defeated the Crusaders 58-45 on Dec. 6 to open the season in the 2019 tipoff tournament at Notre Dame. Northwestern traveled to Green Pond and returned with a win as well, 72-61...The Golden Hawks face impressive competition both in their league schedule and in non-league action, as they also took part in the Robert Griffiths Tournament in York...Northwestern has had its share of ups and downs this season. The Tigers had impressive wins over Bangor, Moravian Academy and lost by only four points to eventual CL champion Southern Lehigh...Both sides are expecting a pressure-filled contest, with the back courts of both squads seeing plenty of the stress from their opposition...The Tigers ended their regular season with two losses to Salisbury and Catasauqua, and haven’t played a game since Feb. 4...However, scrimmages against four different teams have kept them primed for game-type scenarios and ready to show what they can do.

QUOTE: “Bethlehem Catholic is something we definitely haven’t seen this season - they’re big, athletic and we’re expecting to be pressured. The kids have been good, and upbeat, and after a two-week layoff from games, we’ve had some pretty good scrimmages against Pocono Mountain West and Northampton, and we’re excited and looking forward to the game.” - Northwestern head coach, Billy Hallman.

Class 2A Quarterfinals

No. 4 Marian (18-4) vs.

No. 5 Williams Valley (15-7)

TIPOFF: Friday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. at Martz Hall

COACHES: Marian - John Patton; Williams Valley - Dennis Kasper

LEADING SCORERS: Marian - Tyler Fritz (28.54), Chris Ritsick (12.17), Dante Agosti (10.71); Williams Valley - Bo Raho (20.1), Bryce Herb (12.9) and Jesse Engle (8.0).

GAME NOTES: Marian has now qualified for the District 11 playoffs 15 straight season — the longest current streak by any area boys team. The Colts dropped their opening D-11 game to Executive Education Academy last season, but two years ago they defeated Moravian Academy in overtime in the semifinals and then defeated Shenandoah Valley in the finals to take the district crown ... Marian and Williams Valley played one time during the 2019-20 regular season and that was a high-scoring 72-65 affair won by Williams Valley on Jan. 13. The Colts had a slow start, as they fell behind by double digits early on. Raho’s 25 points and Engle’s 23 paced the Vikings, while Tyler Fritz’s 33 paced the Colts. Fritz scored 18 of his 33 in the final frame of the game, while leading the charge from behind ... Marian has had its share of highlights this season as it began the season with an 11-game win streak, with their only other losses in the regular season coming from Mahanoy Area, Notre Dame and Nativity. The Colts won the Schuylkill League Division 3 title and qualified for the league playoffs by beating Nativity in a special playoff game. They fell to eventual league champ Pottsville in the semifinals.

QUOTE: “The first time we played them, it was a high scoring game and we didn’t do a good job of boxing out. We allowed way too many second chance points and fast break opportunities that we’re focusing on limiting them to this time around. We need to do a better job of controlling the tempo, boxing out and limit their second chance points.” - Marian head coach, John Patton.