Quickness propels Lower Moreland past Tamaqua

LOWER MORELAND TWP. — Quickness in the game of basketball is an underrated attribute, especially in the era of the three-point shot.

It isn’t flashy, and doesn’t garner as much attention as a powerful dunk or fancy pass, but in Tuesday’s District 11/1 4A semifinal between Lower Moreland and Tamaqua, it made all the difference.

Lower Moreland’s quickness on both sides of the ball forced turnovers and helped put together a host of offensive runs, propelling the Lions to a 68-57 victory over the Blue Raiders.

The Lions’ full-court pressure defense was once again on display in the first half. After forcing 24 turnovers against Northwestern earlier in the week, they were on pace to repeat that feat, forcing 11 Tamaqua first-half miscues.

Even with the turnover issues, the Raiders (17-7) stayed close, trailing by four after one and six at the half. Tamaqua battled back from an eight-point deficit twice in the second quarter, withstanding the Lions quick runs to stay within striking distance.

“You have to keep the foot on the gas pedal against these guys, they just do a good job of battling back. That’s one of the best backcourts we’ve seen all year,” said Lower Moreland head coach Seth Baron. “When they made their runs, we had to call our timeouts and remind our guys what our identity is, which is cause chaos defensively.

“We preach if you get punched, you have to have an even stronger counter punch, and our guys worked hard to do that tonight.”

Lower Moreland (18-6) looked like it might pull away in the third quarter, extending its lead to 17 points, as it once again used six Tamaqua turnovers to spur the run. Just as they did all night long, the Raiders battled back. After a 13-2 Lions run to start the quarter, Tamaqua finished the frame with a 12-6 spurt of its own to close within nine.

“There is no quit in this team, that’s how this group has always been, and they showed that tonight,” said Raiders head coach Jim Barron. “We just didn’t consistently take care of the basketball. Their quickness and athleticism is great. When they trap you they trap smart, you don’t really see anyone out of position even when they overextend it.

“Even if they are out of position, it’s tough to find the open man because their trap is strong and they do a good job of getting their hands on passes.”

In the fourth, Tamaqua’s Thad Zuber tried to lead a comeback, scoring 11 of his game-high 24 points to help the Raiders cut the Lions lead to six with two minutes remaining. But turnover problems plagued them once again as pressure defense helped Lower Moreland finish strong. Its “D” held the Raiders scoreless the rest of the way, going on a 5-0 run to hold off Tamaqua to advance to the finals.

“We have to take the positives away from this game and learn from the negative. Credit to Lower Moreland, that’s a really good basketball team,” said Barron. “We have at least two big basketball games left, we just have to put our best foot forward and come to play Friday night.”

UP NEXT ... Lower Moreland will face Bethlehem Catholic in the final on Friday at 8 p.m. at Freedom. Tamaqua will go on to play Wilson in the consolation matchup on Friday at 4:30 at Pottsville.

LEADERS ... Helping out Zuber was Brayden Knoblauch, who scored 15 points. He hit three triples and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Shane Cohen led the Lions with 19 points and Forrest Keys added 16.

PLAY OF THE NIGHT... Cohen is a special basketball player and he showed that with a furious four-point run at the end of the first quarter. With the game tied, Cohen made a spectacular reverse layup almost landing in the bleachers after the play. He quickly got up and stole the ball on the Raiders inbound play, draining a jump shot just before time expired.

TAMAQUA

Knoblauch 3-6-6-15, Gregoire 2-2-2-6, Bonetsky 1-0-0-3, Zuber 10-3-3-24, Rother 2-3-3-7, Stianche 0-0-0-0, Kurek 1-0-0-3. TOTALS: 19-14-14-58.

LOWER MORELAND

Zoubroulis 3-3-6-9, Shimon 4-0-0-10, Finnegan 3-0-0-8, Keys 6-3-4-16, Cohen-8 3-4-19, Cerruti 2-0-0-5, Himmelstein 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 27 9-14 68.

Tamaqua 12 16 16 14 - 58

L. Moreland 16 18 19 16 - 69

Three-pointers: T - Knoblauch 3, Bonetsky 1, Zuber 1, Kurek 1; LM - Shimon 2, Finnegan 2, Keys 1, Cerruti 1.