Tamaqua, PV, Weatherly set for state basketball tourney openers

The Tamaqua boys basketball team opens PIAA State Tournament play tonight while the Panther Valley boys and Weatherly girls will be in action Saturday.

PIAA OPENING ROUND

BOYS CLASS 4A

District 2 No. 1 Scranton Prep (20-5)

vs. District 11 No. 2 Tamaqua (18-7)

TIPOFF: Friday, March 9 at Marywood, 7:30 p.m.

COACHES: Tamaqua - Jim Barron (3rd year), Scranton Prep – Andrew Kettel

LEADING SCORERS: Tamaqua – Thad Zuber (14.84), Lucas Gregoire (12.8), Braydon Knoblauch (10.26), Gabe Gregoire (6.04), Darian Stianche (4.76); Scranton Prep – Leo O’Boyle (21.0), Wes Simons (11.48), Brian Boland (6.72), Greyson Schermerhorn (4.92).

GAME NOTES ... Scranton Prep bounced back from a five-point halftime deficit to defeat Valley View last week to earn the D2 4A title, 54-46 … During the win, 6-8 junior Leo O’Boyle dropped 32 points, including 14 of his team’s 17 points in the first half ... Tamaqua head coach Jim Barron called the Cavaliers as a “physical team,” with O’Boyle leading the charge … Scranton Prep and Tamaqua had one common opponent this season. The Cavaliers earned a 52-49 overtime victory over Pottsville on Feb. 3. Tamaqua played Pottsville twice, losing by 33 and 19 points ... Tamaqua’s Thad Zuber is currently 13th on the Raiders’ all-time scoring list with 1,001 points. The senior has a chance to climb even higher on the Blue Raider scoring list as he currently sits six points behind Dave Evans, nine points behind Ray Kinder, 16 points behind Dan Smith, and 30 behind Dennis Pastucha … Tamaqua is fresh off a 67-62 win over Wilson at Martz Hall last Saturday in the D-11 consolation game ... The Raiders have won six of their last seven games. They ended the regular season on a four-game win streak and won two of three District 11 games ... Tamaqua’s leading rebounder is Lucas Gregoire, who rips down just over six per game. Tamaqua will need a collective effort on the glass to deal with the length and physicality of the Cavaliers … Sharpshooting sophomore Braydon Knoblauch missed six games and still drained 39 three-pointers this season, which is 19 more than any other Raider.

QUOTABLE: “The last couple of weeks, we’ve been playing some of our best basketball. We had high expectations coming into the beginning of the year and we knew we would be a pretty good team. We thought we could make a good run at districts. Scranton Prep is a big, physical team and whose guards also have good size. Fundamentally, they don’t make many mistakes. They’re a really solid team that does everything well. They play a tough matchup zone, so we’re going to have to move the ball and make shots off that. This is one of the best teams we’ve played this year, so we have a tough task ahead of us.” – Tamaqua head coach Jim Barron

PIAA OPENING ROUND

BOYS CLASS 2A

District 12 No. 1 Math, Civics and Sciences (14-13)

vs. District 11 No. 2 Panther Valley (15-9)

TIPOFF: Saturday, March 10 at 5 p.m. at Abraham Lincoln High School in Philadelphia.

COACHES: Math, Civics and Sciences – Dan Jackson; Panther Valley – Pat Crampsie

LEADING SCORERS: MCS – Jihad Watson (15.0), Kwahzere Ransom (11.4), Sermaj Mills (11.3); PV – Rene Figueroa (18.88), Tristan Blasko (13.84), Eric Marchorro (6.88), Allan Perez (6.54).

GAME NOTES ... Math, Civics and Sciences is coming off a thrilling last second victory over the 2A No. 1 ranked team in state, Constitution, in the District 12 2A title game. PV, which made it to the District 11 2A championship for the first time since 1986, lost to Moravian Academy by 34 without Figueroa and Perez. Both players will be back for the Panthers state playoff game … The Panthers main objective will be to take care of the basketball. The Mighty Elephants like to pressure in both the full-court and half-court, which they use to bolster their transition offense. They are averaging seven steals per game. Ransom and Mills are the dangerous duo in that department as they lead the team with 1.5 steals per game … The Panthers, who will be undersized at the guard spots, will need to shoot the ball well from the outside. The three-point shot has been good to PV this season as it has hit 123 triples. Figueroa leads the team with 47, Turner (24), Stilitino (22) and Marchorro (21) have also shot the ball well from outside the arc … The last time Panther Valley appeared in the state tournament was in 1990. In 1986, Panther Valley advanced to the PIAA Eastern Final where it lost to Wilkes-Barre GAR.

QUOTABLE: “The key for us will be to stop their transition game. We need to do our best to make them play in the halfcourt. When their transition game gets going, that’s when they can put up points in bunches. Slowing down their transition game all stems from us taking care of the ball. We have to limit turnovers against their pressure.” – Panther Valley head coach Pat Crampsie.

PIAA OPENING ROUND

GIRLS CLASS 1A

District 11 No. 1 Weatherly (16-8) vs.

District 1 No. 3 The Christian Academy (15-9)

TIPOFF: Saturday, March 10 at Blue Mountain HS, 4:30 p.m.

COACHES: Weatherly: Kevin Kringe; The Christian Academy: Jason Wilt

LEADING SCORERS: Weatherly - Emily Zoscin (Jr., 18.54 ppg), Megan Peifer (Jr., 9.70), Lindsey Hoffman (Jr., 8.21), Ashley James (Fr., 6.63), Tabby Hinkle (So., 5.04); The Christian Academy - Lindsay Haseltine (Sr., 10.5 ppg), Hannah Sareyka (Sr.), Britney Dike (Jr.), Grace Gormley (Sr.), Dejah Burley-Chambers (Sr.),

GAME NOTES ... Weatherly returns to the PIAA State Tournament for the first time in over three decades. The Wreckers last state playoff appearance was 1986 … On the other hand, The Christian Academy is returning to the State Tournament for the second year in a row. Last season, it suffered a 46-34 opening round loss to District 11 champ Pottsville Nativity … The Christian Academy is the No. 3 seed from the District 1/12 subregional … The Crusaders fell to No. 1 seed Jenkintown 66-30 in the semifinals. The No. 4 seed Crusaders earned some momentum for States with a 49-20 win over Phil-Mont Christian in the consolation game. In that game, Haseltine led the Crusaders with 18 points, while Burley-Chambers chipped in with 11 points … In the month of February, The Christian Academy was 4-0 when they scored 40-plus points. posting wins over Philadelphia Montgomery Christian (49-20), Friends Select (48-25), New Hope Solebury (40-35) and Chichester (47-15). Meanwhile, the Crusaders lost all six games during the month when they scored under 40 points … “They have a nice guard in Haseltine, who is pretty quick and can shoot the three really well,” Kringe said. “They also have two ‘bigs’ in Burley-Chambers and Dike that they really try to get the ball to. They are not too big but have long wingspans. They are patient and will pass it around until they get a shot inside or a kick out for a wide-open shot.” ... The Crusaders rely heavily on man-to-man defense but tend to mix it up with some 1-2-2 zone defense. Kringe said the Wreckers game plan is to make it a fast-paced game and make TCA dip into their bench.

QUOTABLE – “We are flying high right now and think we are more confident now that we’ve done something that hasn’t been done in a long time. I hope we can keep the run going as long as possible. I really love coaching these girls and every day is fun working with them. I don’t want it to end. They are a special group and if we can play smart and impose our will on our opponents I could see us doing some damage in the state tourney. We need everyone to do their part in order to advance. It’s win or go home now so we got to be all in mentally, physically, and emotionally. Maybe we can make some more history before we are through.” - Weatherly coach Kevin Kringe.