Raiders rebound to rout Panther Valley
Emma Kuczynski of Tamaqua goes up for a shot while Panther Valley’s Christina Dacey (22) attempts to block it. Jamie Zuber of Tamaqua (left) is also in on the play.
On Monday, the Tamaqua girls’ basketball team had a crash landing.
Thursday, the Raiders rebounded with a great takeoff and a soft landing.
Extracting the demons from its first loss of the season at North Schuylkill, Tamaqua wasted little time in setting a tempo last night. The Raiders doubled up visiting Panther Valley in the first quarter and eventually rolled to a 72-42 Schuylkill League victory.
Riding the crest of three sophomores on the offensive side, and a terrific rebounding effort by Kristin Jones who hauled in 20 boards, Tamaqua never looked back.
“I thought it was a nice little Christmas present we gave ourselves,” said Tamaqua coach Erika Davis. Emma Kuczynski provided the biggest gift — a 19-point, 11-assist, 10-rebound triple-double. Add in Emily Titus’ 20 points, and a superb outing from swift guard Jamie Zuber (11 points), and it added up to a Raider rout.
“We had a little chip on our shoulder with the display of basketball the other night,” said Davis. “We had a good two days of practice, and emphasized doing the little things right, and the rest will fall into place.”
Where the Raiders caused an uproar was with their press, forcing Panther Valley into 15 turnovers in the first half, which didn’t sit well with Panther coach Bill Lynn.
“We were just going through the motions, and when you go through the motions in this league, you’re going to get killed,” said Lynn. “It’s all pride and heart. That’s what I just got finished telling the team.”
Lynn cited his team’s lack of rebounding. “You don’t box Kuczynski and Jones, they make you pay. We didn’t box them out, and you saw what happened. They make their team go.”
Tamaqua (5-1, 1-1) zipped in front 11-0 riding the wave of five quick turnovers off a rattling press, getting six points from Kuczynski, a triple by Zuber and Jones’ short range jumper.
Leading 22-11 after one quarter, the Raiders quickly put the game out of reach with a 14-0 scoring frenzy to start the second period. It began with Rebekah Hromyak’s trey, Kuczynski sank four straight points, and Titus made a huge imprint with a steal, and a couple of fastbreak baskets for a commanding 36-11 lead.
“We played a well-balanced game,” said Davis. “The girls have to understand, they all have to play on the same page. When we do that, we’re hard to stop. Hopefully this momentum will carry us into our game next week at Nativity.”
GLASS CLEANING … The Raiders had a total of 42 rebounds, six more than the Panthers. Jones’ spectacular 20 and Kuczynski’s 10 adds up to high numbers. Rachel Filer yanked down 12 for Panther Valley.
SHOTS GALORE … Tamaqua had a blistering first-half shooting performance and finished the night 32-for-65. PV shot just 16-for-59.
PANTHERS CAN ANSWER … PV dug itself a hole by not taking care of the ball early on. They do have firepower in Erika Dubosky and Christina Dacey. Dubosky’s finished with 12 points and Dacey added 11.
JV GAME… The Raiders scored a 51-32 victory in the opener, led by Sophia Boyle’s 20 points and 10 rebounds, Bale Reinhardt poured in 13 and a whopping 24 rebounds, and Emma Hope had 10 points and 17 rebounds. Leading PV was Megan Pascoe with 14 points.
TAMAQUA
Kane 0-0-0-0, Zuber, 4-0-0-11, Hromyak 2-0-0-5, Jones 4-0-0-8, Boyle 3-0-0-6, Titus 9-2-3-20, Frederickson 1-0-0-2, Kuczynski 9-1-2-19; Reinhardt 0-0-0-0; Frederick 0-1-2-1. Totals: 32-4-7-72.
PANTHER VALLEY
Pascoe 1-0-0-2, Steber 0-0-0-0, Dubosky 4-2-4-12, Dacey 0-0-0-0, Hoben 3-0-0-7, Markovich 0-0-0-0, Sheridan 2-2-2-6, Dacey 4-2-2-11, Filer 2-0-0-4, Miller 0-0-0-0, Jones 0-0-0-0, Ludicello 0-0-0-0. Totals: 16-6-8-42.
Tamaqua 22 22 16 12 - 72
Panther Vy. 11 3 16 12 - 42
Three-pointers. T-Zuber-3, Hromyak-1; PV-Dubosky-2, Hoben, C. Dacey
