Schuylkill League Standings

Schuylkill League champoinship edition

By Mike Carnahan, Republican-Herald Sports Writer
Mahanoy Area’s thrilling 45-44 win over Pottsville in the Schuylkill League boys’ basketball final Friday was victory No. 611 in the coaching career for Mickey Holland.
The title was the Golden Bears’ first league championship since 2006 and eighth overall.
It is also a testament to what boys’ basketball has meant to Mahanoy Area under Holland. for no small school in the league has had more success in league playoffs than the Golden Bears.
Since 1985, the only non-Division I team to win an overall league title other than Mahanoy Area was Lourdes (1988, 1990). There have been plenty of non-Division I schools that have made it to league championship game since 1985, most notably Mahanoy Area (1991, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2014) and Schuylkill Haven (1988, 1989, 1993, 1996, 2006), but, outside of the Red Raiders, only the Golden Bears (1991, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2014) have won titles.
“There is no shortcut, we work at it,” Holland said. “We put the time in.”
That includes playing plenty of basketball over the summer. Most of if not all of Holland’s current players compete together in summer leagues and he felt a big difference to the Golden Bears this season was competing in the Pottsville Summer League last summer with adults.
Foul-shooting woes?
If the Golden Bears want to make a long run in the both the District 11, and even possibly the PIAA, Class A playoffs again, one area that might need addressed is foul shooting.
Mahanoy Area came into Friday’s championship game at 59 percent (125-for-212) on the season and free-throw struggles almost cost them the game Friday.
Mahanoy Area was just 9-for-19, including a 6-for-13 showing in the fourth quarter, as Pottsville rallied from a 40-25 deficit with 2:28 left reaming to tie the game at 44 with 11 seconds remaining on a layup by Eli Nabholz. It was a free throw, however, by Dylan Mahamod that gave the Golden Bears the lead for good with 8.9 seconds left.
Late-quarter success
Pottsville might be one of the best teams in the Schuylkill League as scoring points at the end of quarters.
The Crimson Tide did it again during Friday’s championship game. Twice.
Travis Blankenhorn scored with a 1 second left in the first half, dribbling up the court and hitting a 3-pointer, pulling Pottsville to within 17-12 at halftime. The Tide’s Jordan Melochick then scored at the end of the third quarter, hitting a jumper from the corner as the buzzer sounded, cutting Mahanoy Area’s lead to 27-17.
District playoff teams set
With the Schuylkill League season now over, it is time to look ahead to districts.
Ten teams from the Schuylkill League are headed to the postseason: Pottsville, Blue Mountain and Tamaqua in Class AAA; North Schuylkill, Williams Valley and Minersville in Class AA and Mahanoy Area, Nativity and Marian in Class A. Lourdes has also qualified in District 4 Class A, while Upper Dauphin in going in District 3 in Class AA.
Mahanoy Area will be the top seed in Class A, with Pottsville No. 2 and Blue Mountain No. 3 in Class AAA.

By Mike Carnahan, Republican-Herald Sports Writer
It’s the final night of the regular season for Schuylkill League boys’ basketball. Here are five things to look for tonight:

The Division I title may or may not decided and comes down to two games, North Schuylkill at Blue Mountain and Pottsville at Jim Thorpe. Both Blue Mountain and Pottsville enter tonight tied for first at 10-1, both have clinched league playoff berths and have split their two games this season. If Pottsville wins and Blue Mountain loses, the Crimson Tide will win the division. It Blue Mountain wins and Pottsville loses, the Eagles will win the division. If both Blue Mountain and Pottsville win, there will a tie-breaker game between the two Saturday at Minersville at 7 p.m.
Panther Valley (10-11) needs to beat Tamaqua to qualify for the District 11 Class AAA playoffs
Lourdes (10-10) needs to beat Williams Valley to qualify for the District 4 Class A playoffs. The Red Raiders could still qualify with a loss, provided they beat Gillingham Charter School in their regular-season finale Monday
Marian (6-6 Division III) needs to beat Weatherly to qualify for the District 11 Class A playoffs with a .500 of better division record
Tamaqua junior Brett Kosciolek needs 22 points to hit 1,000 for his career