Jones propels Raiders as Tamaqua clinches D-11 berth

Time and time again, Kirstin Jones has come up big for the Tamaqua girls’ basketball team.

On a night when Jones was recognized for her efforts during her career, she helped the Blue Raiders take another step toward securing their future.

Led by a double-double from Jones, Tamaqua clinched a berth in the District 11 playoffs with a 55-25 Schuylkill League Division 1 victory over Jim Thorpe on Senior Night.

“It means so much because we worked hard for this all season,” said Jones, the team’s lone senior. “We finally clinched, and it’s really exciting.”

The victory helped the Blue Raiders (11-10, 4-9) snap a four-game losing streak, which made Tuesday’s game against the Olympians even more critical with only one regular season contest remaining.

“It certainly wasn’t easy, with our league being very challenging,” said Tamaqua head coach Erika Davis. “We found a way to win tonight. We started off really hot, and I think that was key for us. Normally, we have a very slow start, and we’re always coming from behind.

“But we were fortunate enough, the girls knew this was a big game, and we wanted to send Kirstin out with a bang. So we put all the pieces together and got out right from the start.”

The Blue Raiders took control early jumping out to an 11-0 lead, and held a 22-4 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Jones dominated the glass, pulling down 23 rebounds while also scoring 15 points.

“She’s great on the boards, but we need that good team balance on the offensive end and she was able to contribute with the points, which is something that we need every game from her,” said Davis. “She’s such a great kid, on and off the court. I’m just extremely happy with the way she played, and the way she got her teammates excited and pumped up as well.”

Emma Kuczynski scored 15 points and had seven steals while also dishing out seven assists for Tamaqua. Emily Titus added 10 points.

“Kirstin is a great player and an even better friend,” Kuczynski said of Jones. “I always love having her on the team because she’s just a great presence for us to have. Defensively, offensively, everything.”

Jim Thorpe (6-16) struggled to find a rhythm offensively, recording just one field goal in the first quarter while also committing 10 turnovers in the opening frame.

“Tamaqua came out with a sense of urgency,” said Olympians head coach Rob Kovac. “I think we’ve been improving, each and every game. We’ve shown and done some good things. Unfortunately, tonight the wheels fell off the bus a little bit early and we never really recovered, and a lot of that has to do with how Tamaqua played.

“They put a little pressure on the ball, and we didn’t do a very good job taking care of it in the early stages. And unfortunately, turnovers turned into transition (points). And Jones killed us on the boards again tonight. I thought we did a little better job early, but when you turn it over as much as we did, especially early in the game, we didn’t give ourselves a chance to compete.”

Payton Kovac scored 14 points to pace the Olympians.

NICE TOUCH … In addition to Jones, Tamaqua also recognized Jim Thorpe’s seniors prior to the game.

JV GAME … Jim Thorpe won the JV game, 51-38.

SWEEP … Tamaqua won the first regular season meeting against Jim Thorpe, 59-31, on Jan. 11.

JIM THORPE

Richards 1-0-0-2, Kovac 5-3-6-14, McGinley 1-0-0-2, Condly 0-0-0-0, Scott 0-0-0-0, Montemuro 0-0-0-0, Skrimcovsky 0-0-0-0, Gabel 1-0-0-2, Craigie 2-1-2-5. TOTALS: 10-4-8-25.

TAMAQUA

Kane 0-0-0-0, Zuber 1-0-0-3, Hromyak 1-0-0-2, Jones 6-3-4-15, Boyle 1-0-0-2, Titus 5-0-0-10, Frederickson 3-0-0-6, Kuczynski 6-2-2-15, Reinhardt 0-0-0-0, Frederick 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 24-5-6-55.

Jim Thorpe 4 8 8 5 - 25

Tamaqua 22 13 16 4 - 55

Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Zuber 1, Kuczynski 1; Jim Thorpe - Kovac 1.