Raiders, Panthers ready for round two
The Tamaqua and Panther Valley boys basketball teams will be in PIAA State Tournament action this week. Tamaqua meets Susquehanna Township tonight, while Panther Valley faces High School of the Future on Wednesday.
PIAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND
CLASS 4A BOYS
D-3 No. 4 Susquehanna Township (17-11)
vs. D-11 No. 3 Tamaqua (20-8)
TIPOFF: Tuesday, March 10 at Governor Mifflin Intermediate School (Shillington) at 7:30 p.m.
COACHES: Susquehanna Township – Vincent Rogers; Tamaqua - Jimmy Barron
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Susquehanna Township – Michael Marable (Jr., Guard), Le’ Mar Lester (Jr., Guard), Isaac Brantley (Sr., Guard), Makhi Jones (Sr., Forward); Tamaqua - Brayden Knoblauch (17.3 ppg), Lucas Gregoire (17.2), Barron Stauffenberg (7.6), Nathan Gregoire (6.4), Nate Boyle (5.3).
GAME NOTES: Susquehanna Township is coming off a 64-54 upset victory over District 2 champion Scranton Prep in the opening round of the PIAA Class 4A state tournament ... Tamaqua will be trying to build on the momentum of a come-from-behind 48-42 victory over Danville in the opening round. In the win, the Blue Raiders saved their best for last with a 27-point final frame to secure their first PIAA state playoff win in 37 years … The win over Danville marked the first time this season the Raiders scored under 50 points and won. The last time Tamaqua scored fewer points and won was Feb. 6, 2018 when it topped Jim Thorpe, 47-35 ... This season, the Blue Raiders are 18-0 when they score more than 55 points, and 2-8 when they manage 55 or less ... Lucas Gregoire has scored at least 10 points in every game this season; he is one of only two area boys (Marian’s Tyler Fritz the other) to accomplish that ... Tamaqua’s last state playoff victory prior to this season was in 1983, when it reached the state semifinals before dropping a 64-54 decision to Wilkes-Barre GAR. The victory over Danville ended an eight-game state playoff game losing streak for Tamaqua. The Blue Raiders also made it to the state playoffs in 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2015 and 2018, but lost its first round game in all of those years … The winner of the Tamaqua-Susquehanna Township game gets the winner of the Allentown Central Catholic (District 11, No. 1 seed) vs. Pope John Paul II (District 1, No. 1 seed) game. That contest will be the opening game of the doubleheader at the Governor Mifflin Intermediate School Tuesday night ... The Indians own a 17-11 record, one that Blue Raiders’ coach Jim Barron feels is a little misleading. “They’re a really good team. Their record is kind of deceiving, because they play in a tough league (Mid-Penn Conference). I think they lost to Lancaster Catholic twice, they lost to Bishop McDevitt, and they lost to some good schools down in the Harrisburg Area.” … Susquehanna Township entered the District 3 tournament as a No. 4 seed with a 14-7 record. It opened with a 68-45 win over No. 5 seed Littlestown, but ended up dropping a close 48-46 setback to No. 1 seed Lancaster Catholic in the semifinals. In the D-3 consolation game, the Indians were routed 71-45 by No. 3 seed ELCO (Eastern Lebanon County) ... “They have some size (Kevin Coleman is 6-8 and Brantley is 6-4) on their team,” Barron said. “Brantley does a good job underneath. He blocks a lot of shots inside. Their guards are a little longer and are super-fast. They like to press you, and they’re a team that’s quick to go the other way. They get down the court in a heartbeat.” … Barron said controlling the tempo will be key, stressing that live ball turnovers that lead to easy baskets in transition must be limited.
QUOTE: “Tamaqua hasn’t advanced this far in a long time. This was the first state playoff win since 1983, so everybody is excited. It was one of our goals to make it here, but we’re not satisfied yet. We’re going to push this as far as we can,” - Tamaqua head boys basketball coach, Jim Barron.
PIAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND
CLASS 3A BOYS
D-11 No. 1 Panther Valley (14-11) vs.
D-12 No. 2 High School of the Future (17-11)
TIPOFF: Wednesday, March 11 at Geigle Complex, Reading at 7:30 p.m.
COACHES: Panther Valley – Patrick Crampsie; High School of the Future – David Morine
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Panther Valley - Brandon Stilitino (14.2 ppg.), Erick Marcharro (11.6), Aaron Gutierrez (11.4), Blake White (9.7); High School of the Future – Ali Brown (5-10, So., Guard, 14.3), Aleem Lee (6-4, So., Forward, 12.1), Isaiah Ennis (6-4, Jr., Forward, 10.7).
GAME NOTES: The High School of the Future rolled to a 71-46 victory over Columbia High School, who was the No. 3 seed out of District 3, in the opening round of the PIAA State playoffs. Yaasir Muhammad led the Jaguars with 21 points, while Ali Brown (13 points), Themere Simmons (11 points), and Hadir Boswell (10 points) also played well … Panther Valley is coming off a 61-40 first round win over Dobbins Tech. It was the Panthers’ first win in the state playoffs since 1986 … The Panthers are 7-1 when they hold opponents to under 50 points, and 7-10 when they allow 50-or-more ... PV is 6-1 on Saturdays, and 8-10 on other days ... Stilitino has hit at least one three-pointer in 23 of the Panthers’ 25 games ... PV has hit 163 treys, an average of 6.5 per contest. It has a 10-3 record when it totals more threes than its opponent, and a 3-7 mark when its opponent makes more threes ... Wednesday’s game will be the Panthers second straight against a District 12 team (Dobbins Tech was the the No. 5 seed from the district) ... “One of the tough things is it’s not easy to get information on District 12 teams,” said Crampsie about the Philadelphia-based district. “A lot of those teams don’t record their games. It’s not as easy to get film on them as it is other teams. But based on what we do have, the nice part for us is they appear to play a similar style to Dobbins in the type of defense they play and offense they play. So, that part kind of works to our advantage … The High School of the Future is a Charter School from the Philadelphia area. Like Dobbins, they are a member of the highly-touted Philadelphia Public League … The Jaquars haven’t limited their games to the Public League, however. This season, they have faced opponents from five different states. The out-of-state games have been against Newark (Delaware), Bountiful (Utah), Pasadena (California), Foothill (Nevada) and Arbor View (Nevada). Bountiful, Pasadena, Foothill and Arbor View were all games from the Tarkanian Classic at Desert Oasis High School in Nevada … The Jaguars beat Dobbins (78-75) earlier this season … “They’re extremely athletic, and they’re big,” Crampsie said. “They’ve got a lot of size across the board, which is concerning.”
QUOTE: “The last two-and-a-half weeks have just been an awesome experience for our kids and our community. We don’t want it to end. Nobody does. Our players don’t. Our coaches don’t. Our school. Our community. It’s such a fun ride. We want to keep it going, and we want to keep winning.” – Panther Valley head coach, Patrick Crampsie.
