by DUSTIN HALUSKA
staff writer
dhaluska@republicanherald.com
ORWIGSBURG — Pottsville did everything it could to break the press and screen off Mifflinburg’s defense.
The Wildcats never went away.
Allowing just 13 points in the first half, Mifflinburg won 51-38, ending Pottsville’s magical season in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA state playoffs Friday night at Blue Mountain.
“I think we just missed too many early shots and turned the ball over too many times. We dug ourselves a hole and maybe lost some confidence doing that,” said Pottsville leading scorer Nick Schlitzer, who was held to just one field goal and four points in the first half.
Mifflinburg (23-3) advances to the second round of the state playoffs to take on Abington Heights, a 58-28 winner over East Pennsboro.
Back-to-back turnovers after the opening tip off indicated how Pottsville’s night would go offensively.
The Wildcats never left a man defense that reminded Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney of his own with their quickness.
“I brag about our guys sometimes with their quickness laterally on defense, and this team was great with that,” Mullaney said. “The way they moved their feet and played team defense was very good.”
Despite shooting 2-of-12 from the field in the first quarter, the score was tied at 8.
Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, the struggles continued into the second quarter. Pottsville went just 1-for-5 from the field and turned the ball over four times, leading to a 22-13 halftime deficit.
Every time Pottsville set a screen, another Wildcat defender helped.
“Corey (Murtha) had the assignment obviously, anytime they set a pick, the kids just did exactly what we told them to do throughout the week,” Mifflinburg coach Eldon Hoy said. “Again just another great team defensive effort.”
Schlitzer, who drained seven 3-pointers in the Tide’s district title win over Allentown Central Catholic, was blanked from beyond the arc in his 17-point effort.
“You just have to have the confidence to keep shooting, but I struggled tonight, couldn’t find the basket,” Schlitzer said.
Added Mullaney: “They were switching everything, so we couldn’t utilize our screens. We knew they had a bunch of good defenders coming in. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy to score, but knowing that, we still missed a bunch of shots early on.”
Pottsville’s best spurt came in the third quarter.
The Tide ripped off seven straight points out of the break, highlighted by Josh Whalen’s 3-pointer that made the score 22-20.
At the 2:15 mark of the third quarter, Schlitzer’s drive to the hoop once again pulled Pottsville within two points of Mifflinburg.
The bucket ignited a crowd that was hungry for a second Tide comeback in a span of a week.
They were silenced from that point forward.
Pottsville was held scoreless for the next 5-plus minutes as Mifflinburg extended its lead again.
This time, the Tide couldn’t counter as Mifflinburg point guard Zac Hoy continously blew past defenders to earn frequent trips to the line. Hoy finished his night with a game-high 21 points, while icing the game by netting 10 straight free throws at the end of the game.
“I’m disappointed in the way we played because we did so many things wrong,” Mullaney said. “I never get disappointed about missing baskets, but we turned the ball over. I don’t even want to use that word (disappointed) with these guys.
“If you were going to tell me we were 23-5, win the Schuylkill League and win a district title, I don’t know what I would have said. I love being around them every day and I think I’m more upset that I’m not going to be around these guys than I am that we lost.”

ORWIGSBURG ---- Nick Schlitzer scored a game-high 26 points, Josh Whalen added 18 and Eric Leymeister dumped in 15 as Pottsville used a big second half to defeat Allentown Central Catholic 63-58 in the District 11 Class AAA championship game at Blue Mountain High School.

Pottsville trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half before rallying for its first District 11 crown since 1990.

by DUSTIN HALUSKA
staff writer
dhaluska@republicanherald.com
ORWIGSBURG — Pottsville’s biggest nightmare came true in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s District 11 Class AAA semifinal game.
Gone was a double-digit lead that was built on the foundation of a defensive masterpiece in the first-quarter.
Two key shots and resurgent defense kept the title dream alive.
Second-half 3-pointers by Saige Spece and Bobby Schappell proved to be pivotal in Pottsville’s 55-46 victory over Jim Thorpe at Blue Mountain High School.
“Both 3s were huge. After Bobby Schappell’s 3-pointer, I was pretty confident that we would win,” Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said.
Pottsville (22-4) advances to its second straight District 11 Class AAA championship game to face Allentown Central Catholic (13-11) at 7 p.m. on Friday at Blue Mountain High School. The Vikings defeated Saucon Valley 55-40.
Arguably the best quarter of defense played by Pottsville in a very longtime was a distant memory in the second half.
Jim Thorpe, which trailed by as many as 16 points and were blanked in the first quarter, cut the lead to just one at the 4:37 mark of the third quarter on P.J. Coleman’s bucket.
Coleman netted nine straight points for the Olympians in the third quarter and led an up-tempo game that knocked Pottsville out of sync.
The final two points of that spurt from Coleman kept Jim Thorpe within one with 3:34 to go in the third. At that point, Pottsville had yet to net a field goal in the second half.
Spece changed that with 2:38 remaining in the third with a 3-pointer that extended the Tide lead to four points.
The big 3-pointer only bought the Tide a little time however, as an inside bucket by Epps with 59 seconds to go in the third tied the game at 34.
“We actually played some sloppy basketball in the second and third quarters,” Mullaney said. “Their defensive pressure, they put a hand on our chest everytime and they put us out of our comfort zone.”
Added Jim Thorpe coach Brian Carroll, ““They knew that the season was on the line and they felt confident because we beat them last year twice, we beat them this year and with the senior leadership it was all them. They didn’t want their season to end.”
Neither did Pottsville which even through the anxious moments, never stopped defending.
The Tide never allowed Jim Thorpe to take a lead, and at the 2:23 mark of the fourth quarter, Schappell served up a dagger with his second long-range bomb of the game.
Though Schappell’s 3-pointers were key, his defense helped set the table for Pottsville early.
The Tide tossed a shutout in the first quarter by holding Jim Thorpe to 0-of-10 from the field and five turnovers. Jim Thorpe didn’t score until the 6:39 mark of the second quarter.
“We played with so much energy defensively, you could see that we were just feeding off our crowd,” Mullaney said. “That was a great quarter for us.”
Schappell held Sam Lux to just six points, while the interior defense led by Eric Leymeister held Rashid Epps to only eight. Johnson (11) and Dean Dibonifazio (10) were the only players to score in double figures for Jim Thorpe.
“That’s probably the first in the three years I’ve been coaching that we had a zero,” Carroll said.
Lost in the mix of the first-quarter shutout and Jim Thorpe’s furious comeback was a 20-point effort from Nick Schlitzer.
Schlitzer earned that game-high total down the stretch with several contact drives to the hoop.
“He struggled at times, but he’s so confident. It’s easy for me as a coach to keep calling his number because I know he may miss three or four in a row, but I want the ball in his hands the next time,” Mullaney said.

MINERSVILLE --- Nick Schlitzer scored a game-high 26 points and Josh Whalen added 17 as Pottsville downed Panther Valley 61-49 in a District 11 Class AAA quarterfinal Saturday afternoon at Minersville High School.

Schlitzer scored 10 of his points in the first half as the Crimson Tide (21-4) stormed out to a 28-13 halftime lead.

Logan Stano led the Panthers with 19 points, while Zack Stanko added 11 and Brock Mitchell scored 10.

The victory advances top-seeded Pottsville to Tuesday's semifinals where the Tide will face Jim Thorpe, a 55-45 winner over Blue Mountain.

The Pottsville Crimson Tide are back on top of the Schuylkill League boys' basketball circuit.

dustin haluska
staff writer
dhaluska@republicanherald.com
Martz Hall rocked.
Pottsville rolled.
Led by Nick Schlitzer’s game-high 24 points the Crimson Tide cruised past Williams Valley 54-35 in the Schuylkill League semifinal round Wednesday night at Martz Hall.
“It was very important for us to get off to a good start,” Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said. “They have a talented team. They scared me because they were so long and athletic.”
Pottsville (19-4) takes on Marian, a 62-46 winner over Jim Thorpe, at 7:45 p.m. on Friday at Martz Hall for the league title.
Pottsville’s last trip to the Schuylkill League finals was in 2004 when the Tide defeated Pine Grove.
The Crimson Tide began to carve their way into the league championship game at halftime when Bobby Schappell’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave them a 34-15 lead.
It was the fifth 3-pointer of the first half for Pottsville. Josh Whalen added two, while Schlitzer and Sage Spece also got into the act from the perimeter.
Pottsville took what Williams Valley’s zone gave them in the first quarter.
After that, the Crimson Tide pretty much took what they wanted.
Pottsville’s patience and success from beyond the arc opened up lanes for Whalen and Schlitzer to attack the basket. The Tide used inside buckets and drew fouls to outscore the Vikings 16-6 in the second quarter.
“We hit some shots early and pushed the zone out which opened up some driving lanes,” Mullaney said.
“We just wanted to run the same stuff we ran all year and not just settle for 3-pointers.”
Schlitzer benefitted the most, netting 14 points in the first half.
The junior guard either converted a layup or drew contact every single time he attacked the Vikings front court.
“What impressed most about Nick was how he attacked off the dribble,” Mullaney said.
Williams Valley coach Denny Kasper was equally impressed.
“Great shooter. He’s very patient and he always looks for the good shot,” Kasper said.
“He’s the real deal.”
Whalen joined Schlitzer in double figures with 14 points.
Pottsville’s lead swelled to as many as 30 points in the second half, before the Vikings were finally forced to play man defense.
“When you don’t play a lot of guys it’s hard to play a lot of man,” Kasper said.
The Vikings (15-7), who played for the league title last season, lost four starters off last year’s District 11 Class A title squad.
Tyler Herb, the Vikings’ lone returning starter, finished the night with 16 points including a three slam dunks in the second half. Brent Wolfe added nine points for Williams Valley.
Kasper pointed out that one positive from Wednesday night’s game was getting his players experience in a playoff atmosphere like Martz Hall.
“A game like tonight will really help us,” Kasper said.

EMMAUS — Anthony Palencar posted 20 points, including 10 in the second quarter, to lift the Green Hornets over the Crimson Tide and into the District 11 Class AAAA playoffs.
Nick Schlitzer scored 15 points to lead Pottsville, which plays Williams Valley in the Schuylkill League semifinals Wednesday

DUSTIN HALUSKA
STAFF WRITER
dhaluska@republicanherald.com
JIM THORPE — In their first meeting this season, Rashid Epps pretty much scored as he pleased, while Nick Schlitzer and Josh Whalen never got on track.
What a difference a month made.
Saturday afternoon, Pottsville guarded Epps and got 40 total points from its 1-2 punch to down Jim Thorpe 58-49 and clinch the Schuylkill League Division I boys’ basketball championship.
“Winning the division was our goal at the beginning of the year, and to win it up here says a lot about our guys,” Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said.
Pottsville lost 59-47 to Jim Thorpe on Jan. 15 at Martz Hall.
The Crimson Tide (18-3, 10-2 D-I) now await the Division II champion (Williams Valley or Tri-Valley) in Wednesday’s Schuylkill League semifinals.
For Jim Thorpe, things could get a little more complicated.
The Olympians can clinch the league wild-card berth and meet Marian in Wednesday’s semifinals with a win over Blue Mountain today. A Jim Thorpe loss today would force a wild-card tiebreaker game with the Eagles.
“Unfortunately there are still games that need to be played, and it just made our work a little harder for us,” Jim Thorpe coach Brian Carroll said.
It was clear from the start that Pottsville wasn’t going to allow a re-run of its January meeting with Jim Thorpe.
Nick Schlitzer set the tone by scoring 10 of his team’s 12 first-quarter points. Schlitzer, who scored 14 points in the first outing, drained back-to-back 3-pointers to start the game.
“He came out on fire tonight, which he didn’t do last time. He was probably motivated by the last game,” Carroll said.
Schlitzer finished with 22 points, while Josh Whalen added 18.
The majority of Whalen’s points came in the transition as Pottsville countered Jim Thorpe’s up-tempo play several times.
“They (Schlitzer and Whalen) take what the defense gives them,” Mullaney said. “I think we were selective offensively, I wanted to push the ball, but if we didn’t have something, I think our guys made good decisions in transition.”
Pottsville’s offense was essential, but its defense won Saturday afternoon’s battle.
Epps, who netted 23 points in the first meeting, was denied the basketball by a Crimson Tide defense that shadowed him from every angle in the paint.
A few of the buckets Epps did manage came off the Olympian forward’s hard work on the offensive glass. He finished with 10 points.
Other than that, Pottsville mainly relied on the bullish frame of 6-foot-1 forward Eric Leymeister to get physical with the 6-4 Epps.
“Eric is huge for us. He was huge for us in the run we made last year. He’s a very good athlete, tough kid and he plays more like he’s 6-foot-3 instead of 6-1,” Mullaney said.
Added Carroll: “They pretty much took away Rashid inside, but we helped them by not moving the ball and trying to make a pass that wasn’t there.”
The combination of Pottsville’s offense and defensive efforts really came together in the second half as the Tide opened a double-digit lead.
The Tide led by as many as 12 while weathering several Jim Thorpe runs that got it as close as seven in the fourth quarter.
A Bobby Schappell 3-pointer and several key defensive plays prevented the Olympians from sustaining any serious threats in the second half.
“I always tell our guys it’s about 100 little things in a basketball game. We have started doing those things better,” Mullaney said.
“We are starting to play with a lot more confidence right now.”

Josh Whalen netted a team-high 18 points to lead Pottsville to a 54-36 victory over Panther Valley in a Schuylkill League Division I game.

Nick Schlitzer just missed a triple-double, scoring 19 points, pulling nine rebounds and dishing out eight assists as the Crimson Tide defeated the Spartans in a Division I game at Martz Hall.

Schlitzer had six of his assists in a 17-1 run in the second half that broke open a tie game. The victory clinches a Schuylkill League playoff berth for the Crimson Tide.