Gregoire, Knoblauch lead Raiders

POTTSVILLE – Tamaqua’s talents are many.

But the Blue Raiders also possess a skill that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.

Heart.

It’s what’s at the core of the Tamaqua boys basketball team, something that propelled it to a 77-71 win over Schuylkill Haven in the Schuylkill League semifinals on Wednesday night.

“Ever since the beginning of the season, we’ve had that heart,” said senior Lucas Gregoire, who led the Blue Raiders with 28 points. “We’re fighting every game. We’re trying our hardest every game. That effort is always there, you can never doubt that.

“And in this game, that’s the reason why we won.”

The victory sends Tamaqua into Friday’s final against Division 1 and two-time defending league champion Pottsville, which defeated Marian 72-50 in the other semifinal.

“It was a really big win,” said Raiders’ coach Jim Barron. “Any time you’re playing at this point in the season, it’s a big win.”

Tamaqua, the Division 1 runner-up, traded big shots with the Division 2 champion Hurricanes throughout the contest at Martz Hall.

Perhaps none bigger than a basket from senior Brayden Knoblauch (22 points), who put the Blue Raiders up 50-48 with :55 remaining in the third quarter.

Knoblauch then made a huge play at the other end of the floor with a steal on Haven’s next possession, one that resulted in a basket from Sean Lavine as time expired to push Tamaqua’s advantage to 52-48 heading into the final period.

It was a lead Tamaqua would not relinquish the rest of the way.

“That’s huge,” said Barron. “When you play a team like Schuylkill Haven, they’re going to shoot the ball, and they’re going to go on runs. So you need that cushion.

“Brayden made some big shots, Lucas made some big shots; I thought Sean Lavine’s putback at the end of the third quarter was huge. Everything kind of worked out our way, and we put ourselves in a good position to be able to close it out.”

While the Hurricanes never retook the lead, they also never went away.

Schuylkill Haven senior Albe Evans poured in a game-high 34 points and buried seven treys for Haven. His last three-pointer cut the Blue Raiders lead to 71-69 with 58.2 to play in the fourth quarter, which prompted a timeout.

But Knoblauch cut though two defenders on the inbounds, and hit Nate Boyle (14 points) under the basket to make it a four-point game with 26.4 to play.

Evans added another basket, but Lucas Gregoire made all four of his free throws down the stretch to seal it.

“It means a lot to me and the team,” said Knoblauch. “This was one of our goals coming into the season. We have it written down on our goal board that we want to qualify for the Schuylkill League Tournament. We got to that point, and we got past the first round, and we get to compete for a championship. It’s just huge for us as a team.”

The Blue Raiders (17-6) never wavered after falling behind 35-34 at halftime. Haven built a 41-35 advantage after two free throws from Evans with 6:17 to play in the third period.

Tamaqua responded with a 9-0 run to take a 44-41 lead. During the stretch, Nicko Bolletino hit the deck, wrapping his arms around a loose ball before Barron called timeout to keep possession.

Lucas Gregoire’s basket after the stoppage made it 42-41 with 3:30 to play in the third.

It was the type of effort play Barron was looking for – one that defines this team.

“I thought they outhustled us in the first half, I really did,” he said. “They got every loose ball. I told them at halftime that they weren’t going to outhustle us, and we really reacted in the second half. We came out, we got on the floor, we boxed out and hit the glass. We did everything we needed to do.”

CLUTCH … The Blue Raiders were 14-of-14 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, and finished the game 21-of-25.

SHARING THE WEALTH … In addition to Evans, Mason Ulsh (14 points), Mason Carter (11) and Jack Higgins (10) also scored in double figures for the Hurricanes.

TAMAQUA

Knoblauch 8-2-2-22, Bolletino 1-1-2-4, Boyle 4-5-6-14, N. Gregoire 1-2-2-5, L. Gregoire 8-11-13-28, Satuffenberg 0-0-0-0, Lavine 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 24-21-25-77.

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN

Ulsh 5-2-3-14, Evans 12-3-4-34, Miller 1-0-0-2, Carter 4-3-4-11, Houtz 0-0-0-0, Higgins 5-0-1-10. TOTALS: 27-8-12-71.

Tamaqua 21 13 18 25 - 77

Sch. Haven 17 18 13 23 - 71

Three-pointers: Tamaqua – Knoblauch 4, Bolletino 1, Boyle 1, N. Gregoire 1, L. Gregoire 1. Schuylkill Haven – Evans 7, Ulsh 2,