Tamaqua rolls over Thorpe
For the most of this season, Tamaqua has been flying under the radar screen.
Recently, however, the Blue Raiders are starting to stand up and be noticed.
It was hard not notice what Tamaqua did on Friday as it routed Jim Thorpe, 55-39, in Schuylkill League action.
The win keeps the Raiders in the thick of the Division I race as they improved to 5-1 in league play and 11-2 overall.
“They’re very athletic, very impressive and they keep charging at you,” said Jim Thorpe coach Jason McElmoyle.
What the Raiders are developing is a nine man rotation with size, speed and basketball smarts that prevents opponents from focusing on one individual.
Last night it was the play of Lucas Gregoire that stood out as he scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.
“Lucas has really giving us a big lift and tonight was just a perfect example of his value to our team,” said Tamaqua coach Jim Barron. “I thought we executed our (offense) pretty solid. We found the open man inside, we took some very good and smart shots and as team we played terrific on the defensive end.”
That defense stymied the Olympians (1-5, 5-7) despite the long range capability of 6-3 senior Justin Marykwas, who launched his share of threes and led his with 18 points.
“We struggled inside,” said McElmoyle. “But that’s a tribute to their athleticism. They sure can cause issues. They did a great job defensively.”
Tamaqua had balance up and down the lineup with three guys in twin figures besides Lucas Gregoire. Braydon Knoblauch and Thad Zuber both had 10 points, and Gabe Gregoire, brother of Lucas, tallied eight. Casey Rother added a solid rebounding performance.
“I like the way we’re starting to come together as a team,” said Barron. “We still don’t finish enough in the paint. We need to go hard to the basket and finish off those easy inside shots. But I like how we are playing.”
Thorpe ran off a late first quarter rally and seized what would be their only lead of the contest when Marykwas stroked home an NBA triple for a 12-11 edge.
But the Raiders settled into a smooth roll as Greg Gregoire buried a pair of buckets and Tamaqua gradually built a 27-16 halftime lead.
“There are times when we become complacent, and we’ve got to keep focused,” pointed out Barron. “I thought we played exceptionally well in the second and fourth quarters.”
It wasn’t as the coach made it seem; Tamaqua did lift the lever off the pedal after scurrying to a 34-25edge before Jim Thorpe got a foul conversion from promising frosh 6-4 Isiah Spruill and a deuce by Marykwas to cut the deficit to 36-28 and bucket by the latter to open the fourth chapter trimmed the lead to 36-30.
Tamaqua went on a 10-3 frenzy early in the third to salt it away.
“It’s a nice win, now we have to sustain it come next week,” said Barron.
SHOWDOWN ... Tamaqua travels to Pottsville on Tuesday in a battle between teams with just one league loss.
SHOOT ‘EM UP … The Raiders shot 20-for-47 while the Olympians struggled at 13-for-40.
HUSTLE AWARD … Derian Stianche and Rother were the unsung stars for Tamaqua as was Searfoss for Thorpe
JV THRILLER … Tamaqua won the opener, 48-45. Wesley Griffin (11) and Nicko Bolletino (10) led the Raiders. Caiden Hurley (11) and Adam Lauer (10) led Thorpe.
JIM THORPE
Marykwas 6-2-2-18, Searfoss 1-2-3-5, Spruill 2-1-2-5, Nic. Rosahac 1-1-4-3, Foreman 1-0-0-3, Burak 10-0-3, Boyle 1-0-0-2, L. Valdez 0-0-0-0, Connariato 0-0-0-0, Gorman 0-0-0-0, C. Valdez 0-0-0-0, Nat. Rosahac 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-6-11-39.
TAMAQUA
L. Gregoire 4-5-7-13, Zuber 3-2-2-10, Knoblauch 3-2-2-10, G. Gregoire 4-0-2-8, Bonetsky 1-3-4-5, Stanche 1-2-2-4, Rother 10-0-2, Griffin 1-0-0-2, Krurek 0-1-2-1, Mateyak 0-0-0-0, Boyle 0-0-0-0, Zehner 0-0-0-0, Agosti 0-0-0-0, Stauffenberg 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-13-21-55.
Jim Thorpe 12 4 12 11 – 39
Tamaqua 11 16 9 19 – 55
Three-pointers: Jim Thorpe - Marykwas 4, Forman 1; Tamaqua - Knoblauch 2.
