At one point PV led by seven, 16-9, in the second quarter.

A solid defensive performance is just as important in basketball as a consistent offense.

Tamaqua demonstrated that Wednesday night. The Raiders went toe-to-toe on offense with Panther Valley in what proved to be a close game most of the night.

In the end, the Raiders overpowered the Panthers with their defensive advantage, especially in the second half, to win the non-league matchup, 62-49.

Tamaqua Coach Jim Barron agreed that his team’s defense “did well the second half.” Especially senior Thad Zuber, as the 6-1 senior guard managed two key second--half steals, forced two second-half turnovers. and pulled in eight rebounds in the game. He also scored 14 points, 12 of them on foul shots.

“Zuber did a great job setting up,” Barron said. “He’s always tough. He’s our rock.”

On the other hand, the Panther defense wasn’t where it needed to be.

“We had too many defensive breakdowns,” said Panther Valley head coach Pat Cramspie after seeing his team come to within two midway through the fourth quarter. “We didn’t get key stops when we needed to and they took advantage.”

The Panthers (5-2, 2-1) started out fiesty, leading through most of the first half. But Tamaqua’s Lucas Gregoire got a field goal and two free throws, and Casey Rother handled a pass from Zuber under the basket to score two more points, which put Tamaqua up for the first time at 25-24 with 1:59 left in the first half.

At the break, Tamaqua (7-1, 3-0) led only 31-30, but an 11-1 run, ignited by six Zuber points, put the Raiders in the lead for keeps, 43-31.

The burning embers of PV weren’t extinguished yet, however. The Panthers got to within two points, only to have the Raiders capitalize on miscues and score six straight points – four of them at the foul line.

Barron praised Crampsie for the Panthers’ comeback attempt.

“Pat always comes up with these defenses — I think it was like a triangle and two. They were jumping a guy at the ball and our guys kind of panicked a little bit. Finally, after we’d seen it a couple of times, we realized by handing the ball instead of passing it in, we could take advantage of it.

“I’m happy with the win, but I’m not totally happy with the way they played. But you know, that’s what practice is for. We’ll go back and take care of things we have to work on.”

SOME STATS ... Tamaqua shot 19-for-35 (54 percent), while PV was 20-for-57 (35 percent), including a 7-for-26 performance (27 percent) in the second half. Tamaqua outrebounded PV, 31-19.

SOMETHING POSITIVE ... Crampsie was happy with the enthusiasm the Panthers showed coming into the game. “I was happy with the mindset,” Crampsie said. “The kids came ready to play. We were excited tonight. We knew we were playing a really good team. It’s a rival, so I was happy.”

NEXT UP ... This was the only scheduled matchup of the season between Tamaqua and Panther Valley. Both teams have three home games in a row. The Raiders meet Schuylkill Haven tonight, oppose Blue Mountain on Jan. 4, and face Pine Grove on Jan. 6. PV hosts Freeland MMI on Saturday afternoon, Lehighton on Jan. 2 and Shenandoah on Jan. 7.

JV GAME ... The Panthers held off Tamaqua in the opener, 40-35. Wesley Griffin was the only double-figure scorer for the Raiders with 11 points. Top-point getters for PV were Tommy Edwards with 12 and Bryce Kropf and Adam Depew with 10 each.

TAMAQUA

Bonetsky 2-0-2-4, Stianche 2-3-4-7, Zuber 1-12-13-14, Knoblauch 2-0-0-5, Rother 3-2-2-8, Boyle 0-0-0-0, G. Gregoire 2-2-4-6, L. Gregoire 7-4-4-18. TOTALS: 19 23-29 62.

PANTHER VALLEY

Marcharre 1-0-0-3, Turner 3-0-0-8, Figueroa 5-4-4-14, Distler 0-0-0-0, Blasko 4-1-2-9, Perez 3-0-0-7, Sanchez 2-0-0-4, Edwards 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 20 5-6 49.

Tamaqua 9 22 12 19 - 62

Panther Vy. 13 17 8 11 - 49

Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Knoblauch 1; Panther Valley - Turner 2, Marcharro 1, Perez 1.