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Susquehanna Township eliminates Pottsville by kevin keating (CORRESPONDENT kkeating@republicanherald.com) Published:
March 11, 2014 READING - Trailing by 10 early in the third quarter and with its
season beginning to slip away, Pottsville stuck with its game plan. In just
two minutes, the Crimson Tide nearly completely erased Susquehanna Township's lead. The go-ahead score never came for Pottsville. Susquehanna Township's
sibling duo of Gabe and Bud Mack helped the Indians close out a 52-45 victory over the Tide in the second round of the PIAA
Class AAA boys' basketball state tournament Tuesday night at the Geigle Complex, ending Pottsville's successful postseason
run. The District 3 champion Tribe (21-7) advance to face Lancaster Mennonite,
a 68-64 winner over Chartiers Valley, in Friday's state quarterfinals. Pottsville
(24-6) refused to fade quietly into the warming March air even after falling behind by 10 to start the second half. The Tide played their hallmark stingy man-to-man defense, containing the Tribe throughout.
Offensively, shots weren't finding their way through the twine in the early going as Pottsville hit just 4-of-22 from the
field in the first half. Something clicked early in the third quarter, though,
as the Tide used an 11-2 run to pull within a point at 26-25. "I was
really proud of the way we just continued to believe in our game plan the entire time," Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney
said. "First half, we had some open looks that didn't fall. We knew if we just stuck with the game plan and defensive
rebounding. That was so crucial to us, and our kids did an absolutely great job. We knew some shots would fall late." Pottsville had several open looks draw iron in the fourth quarter and harmlessly bounce
into the hands of Susquehanna Township rebounders to stifle the Tide's late runs. "I
knew Pottsville was solid," Hanna coach Vince Rogers said. "Their record speaks for itself. I knew they were going
to be ready. "They were physical and strong. They battled. They battled
with us. Those kids don't have anything to hang their heads down on." Eli
Nabholz delivered another huge performance for the Tide, finishing with a team-high 21 points and six rebounds. Nabholz had
some success in the post, then moved outside and drained four 3-pointers to help Pottsville's comeback bid. Defensively, Nabholz had to contend with 6-foot-6 center Quintin Ward, while the Tide's guards were busy trying to
deal with both Macks on the perimeter and driving to the rim. "Eli …
he's played so big for us down the stretch," Mullaney said. "His ability to score inside and out is such a difficult
guard for people. We probably don't give him enough credit on the defensive end. He does a great job on that end. He's grown
so much in that regard. Obviously, his rebounding has been tremendous all year." The Macks proved to be the difference, especially down the stretch. Bud
Mack finished with a game-high 22 points, knocking down 6-of-8 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. Gabe Mack added
11 points, with all 11 coming in the final stanza. "I really believe
that it was (numbers) 3 and 4 (Bud and Gabe Mack)," Mullaney said. "They're great players and their ability to make
tough shots. I was really proud of our defensive effort. We forced them to take shots, but they're that good. They made them." Travis Blankenhorn added 15 points for Pottsville, which loses just one senior - reserve
forward John Toomey - to graduation. "John symbolizes everything that
we want from a Pottsville basketball player," Mullaney said. "I think the best compliment that I can give him is
he's just as good a teammate as I've ever been around. We will miss him a lot." The Crimson Tide return all five starters next season. The first victory in states since 1974 are certainly steps
to build on for 2014-15. "I think tonight, obviously we're disappointed
with the loss, but we definitely showed that we belong with the top teams in the state," Mullaney said. "I think
our guys, with some of the teams that we played down the stretch, it's really going to carry over to the next year." Pottsville (45) Hinchliffe 2 0-0 6, Painter 0 0-0 0, Blankenhorn 7 0-0 15,
Toomey 0 0-0 0, Melochick 1 1-1 3, Nabholz 5 7-8 21. Totals 15 8-9 (45) Susquehanna Township (52) Blair 1 0-0 2, Milberry 1 0-0 2, Mack 5 9-12 22, Mack 3 5-6 11, Turner 0 0-0 0, Marshall
3 0-2 6, Ward 4 1-2 9, Letterlough 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 15-22 (52) Pottsville (24-6)
8 6 14 17 --- (45) Susquehanna (21-7) 13 7 14 18 -- (52) 3-point FG's: Hincliffe 2, Blankenhorn, Nabholz 4, B. Mack 3
Pottsville tames Lions to advance to 2nd round of state playoffs by kevin keating (correspondent kkeating@republicanherald.com) Published: March 7, 2014 ORWIGSBURG - Eli Nabholz doesn't really concern himself
with making matchups in the post "personal." Sure, Pottsville's 6-foot-5
big man embraces the challenge of playing better around the rim than his opposing defender. Nabholz just tries to let his opportunities come to him within the Crimson Tide's offensive sets. That's usually a good thing, since Pottsville does its best to work the ball inside-out on the offensive end. In Friday's PIAA Class AAA first-round playoff game, Nabholz received plenty of chances to flourish in the paint
and capitalized on most of them. Nabholz tallied a game-high 25 points, helping
Pottsville to a 58-38 rout of Lower Moreland at Blue Mountain High School to advance in the state playoffs for the first time
in 40 years. "I don't know if it was any different. It's something that
we stress every game, working inside-out," Nabholz said. "Today instead of passing the ball out of the post, I just
had opportunities to score today. "I try to not get personal," he
continued. "I try to focus on the things we work on as a team - working inside-out, getting the ball in the post. If
I have a chance to make a move, I make a move. If not, I find somebody. I wouldn't say it's personal, but I definitely take
it as a challenge to be better than my opponent." The victory puts the
District 11 runner-up Crimson Tide (24-5) into Tuesday's second round against District 3 champion Susquehanna Township, a 65-47
winner over Imhotep Charter, at a site and time to be determined. Nabholz was
a major reason for Pottsville's success against District 1 runner-up Lower Moreland (16-10). The junior connected on 9-of-13 shots from the field, scoring 14 points in the first half to give Pottsville a 33-17
lead at intermission. "Definitely with Eli, we wanted to get him the ball
as much as possible," Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said. "But also I thought we were driving the ball, too, and
that was creating open looks for us." It certainly was. Travis Blankenhorn amped up the scoring for Pottsville in the second quarter, knocking down a jumper and a driving
layup before hitting two 3-pointers to help extend the Tide's lead from 10-8 after a quarter to double digits by the 2:44
mark of the second period. "They didn't really have anything to answer Eli,"
Blankenhorn said. "He did a great job, so we kept on giving it to him. "They
were doubling down on Eli then. He was kicking it back out." Defensively,
the Tide locked down on the Lions. Jordan Melochick and Ty Painter kept Lower
Moreland point guard Danny Duffy in check, holding the 5-9 sophomore point guard to just four points. "Overall, I was pretty happy with our defensive effort," Mullaney said. "In particular I thought Jordan
Melochick did a good job on (Duffy). Their point guard is very good, averaging about 14 points and over eight assists a game.
I thought Jordan really did a great job on him along with Ty Painter." Pottsville
also kept 6-5 center Phil Madden and 6-4 forward Nick Cerruti in check as well. "I
think our defense in the first half, we played fairly well," Nabholz said. "I think that got us going more offensively.
It definitely helped out with the pace of the game and that kind of stuff." The
Crimson Tide used a 14-0 run that started with a free throw by Nabholz at the 1:21 mark of the second and finished with a
Melochick 3-pointer with 4:43 left in the third to bury the Lions. From there,
the Tide controlled the clock to secure the program's first state playoff win since 1974. "It's taking that next step as a program," Mullaney said. "We'd love to be recognized on a state level,
and this is definitely a step in the right direction. "This has been a great
group to be around," Mullaney added. "They're all close friends, which makes it that much better. We're excited
for the next challenge. We know Tuesday's going to be difficult whether it's Susquehanna Township or Imhotep - they're both
very talented teams. We're going to approach it the same way and hopefully get a win on Tuesday."
Pottsville (58) Hinchliffe 1 0-0 2, 3 0-0 8, Blankenhorn
7 2-2 18, Toomey 0 0-0 0, Dunkel 0 0-0 0, Melochick 2 0-0 5, Shuman 0 0-0 0, Witman 0 0-0 0, Nabholz 9 6-8 25, Coyle 0 0-0
0, Hampford 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 8-10 (58) Lower Moreland (38) Cerutti 3 2-2 9, Titus 1 0-0 2, Turelsky 0 0-0 0, Zaubroulis 5 4-4 14, Madden 2
0-0 4, Duffy 2 0-0 4, Fazio 0 0-0 0, Millian 0 0-0 0, Rhoades 0 0-0 0, Cerutti 2 1-2 5, Smelda 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 7-8 (38) 3 Point FG's: Cerutti, Painter 2, Blankenhorn 2, Melochick, Nabholz
ACC rolls past Tide in AAA final by kevin keating (correspondent kkeating@republicanherald.com) Published: February 28, 2014 Abdur-Rahkman played every bit like the Division I basketball player that he has the offers and potential to become. The 6-foot-4 senior knocked down a pair of 3-pointers from the top of the key to kick start the unbeaten Vikings,
who dominated the Crimson Tide on their way to a fourth straight district title with a 64-34 victory at Bethlehem Freedom's
Joseph McIntyre Gym. Abdur-Rahkman finished with a game-high 34 points, increasing
his career total to 2,052 points to pass Billy McCaffrey as the Vikings' all-time leading scorer. Both teams advance to the PIAA Class AAA state playoffs, which begin March 7. ACC (27-0) meets District 3 sixth-place
West York, while Pottsville (23-5) will await the loser of today's District 1 final between Holy Ghost Prep and Lower Moreland. Pottsville, one of the top defensive teams in the Schuylkill League, had no answer for Abdur-Rahkman, who scored
from beyond the arc, inside the paint and added a two-handed flush on a breakaway following a steal in the second quarter
that brought the crowd to its feet. It wasn't a case of the Tide giving up what
they could to Abdur-Rahkman and trying to lock down the rest of the Vikes. "I
wish that was the case," Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said. "We were actually trying to ... we actually sunk and
were supposed to be helping every time he caught the ball. I don't think we did a great job of that. But at times, he's that
good that it doesn't matter if you're helping or not. He can play. He can score." In reality, Abdur-Rahkman had plenty of help from his mates, especially from the perimeter, as ACC bagged 10-of-20
3-point attempts. Zay Jennings hit three triples, Brian McCarthy added two, Ben
Pratt drilled one and Abdur-Rahkman knocked down four. Pottsville was able to
limit 6-8 center Brendan Wagner to just 10 points, and 6-5 forward Jean Lee Baez left the game with an injury in the first
half. However, Wagner contributed 14 rebounds as the Vikings outrebounded the Tide 35-16. "I always think playing a team like that is going to help you moving forward," Mullaney said. "I can't
think of too many positives. "I think as far as us defending in the post,
we did what we wanted to do," he continued. "You're always going to give up something against a team of that caliber.
We though we'd give up some outside shooting. Unfortunately, they made everything." Travis Blankenhorn led Pottsville offensively with 16 points, while Eli Nabholz added 10. Nabholz had the Tide's
only two 3-pointers as Pottsville went 2-of-13 from beyond the arc and finished 13-of-43 from the field. Fortunately, it's not the end of the road for Pottsville. Mullaney and his staff rallied their troops in the locker
room with the intention of refocusing the Tide for next week's game, which could land at Blue Mountain's gym. "We were just talking about that with our guys. We'll get a game at Blue Mountain next Friday," Mullaney
said. "A game that, if we play our game, we could get a victory. We've just got to come back, refocus and get ready for
next week." Pottsville
(34) Hinchliffe 0 0-2 0, Painter 1 0-0 2, Blankenhorn 7 2-2 16, Toomey 1 0-0 2, Dunkel 0 0-0 0, Melochick 1 2-4 4, Shuman
0 0-0 0, Witman 0 0-0 0, Nabholz 3 2-4 10, Hampford 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 6-10 (34) Allentown Central Catholic (64) Baez 0 0-0 0, Maley 0 0-0 0, Vaughan 0 0-0 0, Abdul-Rahkaman 14 2-3 34, Pratt 1 0-0
3, McCarthy 2 0-0 6, Kohli 1 0-0 2, Guensch 0 0-0 0, Shephard 0 0-0 0, McKee 0 0-0 0, Stevens 0 0-0 0, Nosovitch 0 0-0 0,
Wagner 5 0-0 10, Jennings 3 0-0 9. Totals 26 2-3 (64) Pottsville (23-5) 7 8 10
9 --- (34) Allentown CC (27-0) 15 16 17
16 --- (64) 3-point Fg's:
Nabholz 2, Abdul-Rahkman 4, Pratt, McCarthy 2, Jennings 3
District XI - CLASS AAA
First round
Tuesday,
Feb. 18
Saucon Valley 72, Northern Lehigh 39
Wednesday, Feb. 19
Lehighton 85, Tamaqua 59
Quarterfinals
Friday, Feb. 21
Allentown C.C. 80, Saucon Valley 52
Bethlehem Catholic
73, Salisbury 66
Blue Mountain 67, Southern Lehigh 51
Pottsville 69, Lehighton 33
Tuesday’s scores
Semifinals
ACC
81, Bethlehem Catholic 68
Pottsville 56, Blue Mountain 42
Friday, Feb. 28
Championship
No. 2 Pottsville (23-4) vs. No. 1 Allentown Central
Catholic (26-0), Freedom High School, 7 p.m.
Consolation
No. 3 Blue Mountain (20-6) vs. No. 5 Bethlehem Catholic (12-13), Martz Hall, 4:30 p.m.
By Mike
Carnahan Herald Sports Writer Following
Pottsville’s 56-42 victory over Blue Mountain in the District 11 Class AAA semifinal Tuesday, coach Dave Mullaney talked
a little bit about the Crimson Tide getting to their first championship game since 2010.
“We had some inexperienced
guys (at the start of the season) but we knew we had some pretty good athletes,” he said. “At the beginning of
the year we talked about having three (Travis Blankenhorn, Eli Nabholz, Jordan Melochick) we thought who would be consistent
scorers and to find some other guys and those other guys are stepping up.”
One has been Connor Hinchliffe. The
other has been Ty Painter.
Painter might never be the offensive
threat Blankenhorn, Nabholz, Melochick, all of whom are averaging in double figures, and, to a lesser extent, Hinchliffe have
become. But Painter has certainly improved as the season has gone on.
For starters, he appears to be gaining more confidence
offensively and is taking more shots than he did earlier in the year.
He scored six points Tuesday. He drove to the
hoop twice early in the game, missing his first shot inside but scoring on the second. He was fouled in the process and hit
the free throw for a three-point play, giving the Crimson Tide the lead for good at 4-3 5 minutes into the game. Painter added
a 3-pointer early in the third quarter, one of the seven 3s Pottsville hit in the game, on a kick-out pass from underneath
by Nabholz. The Crimson Tide led at that point 35-23.
“Ty can shoot the ball, we all know that,” Nabholz
said. “We all have confidence in him and now he has confidence in himself that he can step up and shoot. It opens up
a lot of other things for other people.”
Painter added three assists and also came up with two other key plays.
Pottsville turned the ball on its first possession on a steal by the Eagles’ Kyle Slane, who appeared to be headed
in for a layup. But Painter got back on defense and blocked the attempt.
Then in the fourth quarter with Blue Mountain
attempting to get back in the game with full-court pressure, Painter looked to be trapped in a double team near the half-court
line. But he somehow got the ball to the other side of the court to Blankenhorn, who then drove to the hoop on scored. It
gave Pottsville a 53-40 advantage with 2:34 left in the game.
Balance attack, early 3-pointers lift Crimson Tide past Blue Mountainby mike carnahan (staff writer mcarnahan@republicanherald.com) Published: February 25, 2014 MINERSVILLE - The ability to knock down 3-pointers has been a big part of Pottsville's offense this season. That certainly has been the case when the Crimson Tide have faced rival Blue Mountain. Tuesday was no different. Four first-half 3-pointers helped
No. 2-seeded Pottsville build an early lead it never lost in a 56-42 victory over the No. 3 Eagles in a District 11 Class
AAA semifinal at Thomas Fitzpatrick Gymnasium. Eli Nabholz paced a balanced offensive
attack with a game-high 16 points for Pottsville (23-4), which advances to the district game for the first time since 2010.
The Crimson Tide face undefeated Allentown Central Catholic in Friday's title game at 7 p.m. at Bethlehem Freedom The top-seeded Vikings (26-0), who are currently No. 3 in the state in Class AAA in the most recent PennLive.com
rankings, beat No. 5 Bethlehem Catholic 81-68 in Tuesday's other semifinal. The
victory also means Pottsville is headed to the PIAA Tournament for the first time since 2011, when the Tide qualified in Class
AAAA after beating Pocono Mountain West in the consolation game. "It is
absolutely an amazing feeling, especially after the last two years not being able to," Nabholz said. "We're in the
running to obtain two of our goals this year, which is win a district championship and make a run in the state playoffs. We
are on course." Will Bornstein had 14 points to lead the Eagles (20-6),
who will take on Bethlehem Catholic (12-13) in Friday's consolation game at 4:30 p.m. at Martz Hall, with the winner heading
to states. Tuesday was the fourth meeting between the Crimson Tide and Blue
Mountain this season, with Pottsville winning two of the three, including a 51-42 victory in the Schuylkill League Division
I tiebreaker Feb. 8. In its previous two wins over Blue Mountain, Pottsville
hit a combined 14 3-pointers. In its lone loss to the Eagles, 51-33 on Jan. 27, it had three. The Crimson Tide finished the night 7-for-12 (58 percent) from beyond the arc Tuesday. The 3s opened up the
right of the Crimson Tide's offense as they ended up shooting 19-for-32 (59 percent) from the floor on the night, including
an 11-for-13 (85 percent) performance in the second half. What made Pottsville
even more dangerous was that all five starters hit at least one 3. Connor Hinchliffe and Travis Blankenhorn had two apiece,
while Ty Painter, Jordan Melochick and Nabholz each had one. Blankenhorn and
Melochick each finished with 13 points. "I think just having five guys on
the court that are comfortable shooting the ball, it just fits into our offense," Nabholz said. "If that is how
the game ends up starting and gets us off and running, it is a good thing for us." Pottsville
knocked down three 3s in the first quarter, while Painter added a three-point play, to build a 13-8 lead after eight minutes.
A bucket inside and a 3-pointer from Nabholz, followed by a foul-line jumper from Hinchliffe after he pumped-faked a defender
into the air and moved for a more open shot, got the Crimson Tide out to a 20-10 advantage with 4:59 left in the first half. "We don't really talk about that, but obviously we just keep preaching the same thing: We want to try
and get as many inside outs as we can," Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said of the first-half 3s. "We want to get
the ball, post touches on drives and if that resulted in a 3, then that's great." Nabholz
scored all of his points during the second and third quarters, including a buzzer-beating tip-in off a missed shot at the
first-half buzzer to make it 24-19. Pottsville then opened the second half on
an 18-4 run to go up 42-23 with 2:03 left in the third quarter. Blue Mountain
tied to crawl back in the game in the fourth, getting to within nine points twice, the final at 49-40 after two foul shots
by Skyler Panchari at 3:40. But that was as close as the Eagles got. Pottsville pushed the lead back to double digits on spin
move by Melochick and layup from Blankenhorn. The Crimson Tide's defense played
a big role in Tuesday's win, too. Pottsville controlled the tempo and took away the Eagles' transition game. Blue Mountain's
only transition points came from Kyle Slane in the fourth quarter. "The
tempo of the game was in our favor absolutely," Mullaney said. "That is all we preach. If we can hold them down
in transition, we have a good chance to win." Pottsville (56)
Hinchliffe 3 0-1 8, Painter 2 1-1 6, Blankenhorn 5 1-3 13, Toomey 0 0-0 0, Melochick 3 6-7 13, Nabholz 6 3-3 16. Totals 19
11-16 (56) Blue Mountain (42) Stramara 0 0-0 0, Bornstein 5 3-4 14, Kerstetter
0 0-0 0, Harding 0 0-0 0, Slane 2 0-0 5, Grapsy 3 0-0 8, Chelius 3 0-2 6, Panchari 3 3-4 9. Totals 16 6-10 (42) Pottsville (23-4) 13
11 20 12 (56) Blue Mountain (20-6)
8 11 9 14 (42) 3-Point
FG's: Borstein, Slane, Grapsy 2, Painter, Blankenhorn 2, Melochick, Nabholz
-----------------------------Class
AAA---------------------------- | Tues Feb 18 | Fri Feb 21 | Tues Feb 25 | Fri Feb 28 |
| | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
1 Allentown Central Catholic | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | @Allen 7:30 |
1 Allentown Central Catholic 80 - 52
| | | | 8 Saucon Valley | | | | | | | 8 Saucon Valley 72 - 39 | | | | | @7:00 | | | | | | 9 Northern Lehigh | | | | | | | | @Allen 7:30 | 1
Allentown Central Catholic 81- 68 | | | | | | | | | | 4 Salisbury | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | @Allen 6:00 | 5 Bethlehem Catholic 73-66 | | | | | | | | | | | 5 Bethlehem Catholic | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | @ Freedom 7:00 | | | | | | | | | | 2 Pottsville | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | @ Blue Mt 7:30 | 2 Pottsville 69 - 33 | | | | 7 Lehighton | | | | | | Wed Feb 19 | 7 Lehighton 85 - 59 | | | | | @7:00 | | | | | | 10 Tamaqua | | | | | | | | @ Minersville 7:00 | 2 Pottsville 56 - 42
| | | | | | | | | |
3 Blue Mt | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | @ Martz Hall 7:30 | 3 Blue Mt 67 - 51 | | | | | | | | | | | 6 Southern Lehigh | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 Bethlehem Catholic | | | |
| | @ Martz Hall 4:30 | 3rd place | | 3 Blue Mt | |
-----------------------------Class AAA---------------------------- Tues Feb 18 | Fri Feb 21 | Tues
Feb 25 | Fri Feb 28 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | 1 Allentown Central Catholic | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | @Allen
7:30 | | | | 8 Saucon Valley | | | | | | | 8 Saucon Valley 72 - 39
| | | | @7:00 | | | | | 9 Northern
Lehigh | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 Salisbury | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | @Allen 6:00 | | | | | | | | | | | 5 Bethlehem Catholic | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 Pottsville | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | @ Blue Mt 7:30 | | | | 7 Lehighton | | | | | Wed Feb 19 | | | | | @7:00 | | | | | 10 Tamaqua | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 Blue Mt | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | @
Martz Hall 7:30 | | | | | | | | | | | 6 Southern Lehigh | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Mahanoy Area captures Schuylkill League boys' crown
by mike carnahan
(staff writer mcarnahan@republicanherald.com) Published: February 14, 2014 Dylan Mahmod turned in one of his best offensive games of the season to help Mahanoy Area build a big
lead. Then Mahmod and teammate Larry McNeil made two of the biggest defense plays of night with under 10 seconds to
go. After walking off the Martz Hall floor disappointed last year, the Golden Bears didn't want to leave it Friday night. Mahmod
poured in a game-high 21 points, and Mahanoy Area's defense came up big late to lift the Golden Bears to a thrilling 45-44
victory over Pottsville in the Schuylkill League boys' basketball championship game. After the Crimson Tide won last
year's title game over Mahanoy Area 35-21, Friday's victory by the Golden Bears (22-2) denied Pottsville (21-4) its fifth
consecutive league championship. The league title was the first for Mahanoy Area since 2006, and the program's seventh
overall. "Honestly, there is no better feeling than this," Mahmod said as he clutched the championship trophy.
"Coming in here, knowing that they are four-time, back-to-back-to-back-to-back champs, it just feels amazing. We felt
that everybody was against us. That's how we like it, I guess, that why we like it. We like being the underdogs." McNeil
added 11 points and three steals for Mahanoy Area, which built a 27-12 advantage midway through the third quarter, led 29-17
at the end of the third and had a 40-25 cushion with 2:26 remaining. But Pottsville turned up the pressure defensively,
started hitting shots and turned the rout into a thriller. The Crimson Tide tied the game at 44 with 11 seconds left when
John Toomey spotted Eli Nabholz open underneath for a layup. Mahmod gave the Golden Bears the lead for good, hitting
the second of two foul shots in a double-bonus situation with 8.9 seconds left. Mahanoy Area was 6-for-13 from the
foul line in the fourth quarter, but finally sealed the victory with its defense. Trailing by one point, Pottsville
had a chance for victory. Blankenhorn dribbled up the court and drove to the basket, but Mahmod swatted his shot out of bounds
with 3.7 seconds to go. After a Mahanoy Area timeout, Pottsville attempted to get the ball into Blankenhorn underneath.
But McNeil got his hands up to steal the ball, and then was fouled with 1.5 seconds remaining. He missed both ends of
the double bonus, but all Pottsville could get was a heave down court by Nabholz that fell short as the Bears' celebration
began. "I knew the ball was going to Blankenhorn," said McNeil, who gave credit to assistant coaches Robert
Killian and Scott Hudson for scouting what was coming. "He's a great scorer and a great player. I knew the ball was going
to him. I was like 'Just play defense, play my butt off for these last seconds and get this win.' They lobbed it and I was
in the right spot at the right time." After the Golden Bears were awarded their medals, the student section sang
the alma mater to them. Then the players went up into stands to celebrate with the fans. "To come out of this with
a 'W,' I am on cloud nine," Mahanoy Area coach Mickey Holland said. Mahmod scored 15 of his points over the first
three quarters, including seven in a 10-0 Golden Bears' run to open the third quarter. Mahmod opened the third with
a 3-pointer from the wing, then used a pump fake to get his defender up in the air and drive in for a layup. After McNeil
hit a 3 on a cross-court pass from Jason Richmond, Mahmod scored on a hard drive down the lane. He missed the foul shot to
complete the three-point play, but the Golden Bears had their biggest lead of the night up to that point at 27-12 with 3:23
left in the third. "Basically, I didn't think about it," Mahmod said. "The main thing coming in here,
we weren't even thinking about offense, we just knew we had the confidence to score. We just had to play good solid defense." Travis
Blankenhorn led Pottsville with 15 points, while Jordan Melochick and Nabholz added 13 apiece. Nabholz scored 10 of his points
in the fourth quarter and Melochick nine as Pottsville hit 10-of-17 from floor in the fourth after going 7-for-30 over the
first three. The win was extra special for McNeil, who missed last year's championship game with a broken wrist. He
returned for the Golden Bears' District 11 Class A championship run. "It is greatest feeling," McNeil said.
"To come back and play this year, playing through this and help us win this, it is just amazing." Game Summary Pottsville
(44) Hinchliffe 0 0-0 0, Painter 1 0-0 3, Blankenhorn 6 2-2 15, Toomey 0 0-0 0, Melochick 5 2-3 13, Shuman 0 0-0 0, Nabholz
5 0-0 13: Totals 17 4-5 (44) Mahanoy Area (45) Richmond, McNeil 3 4-9 11, Mahmod 7 4-8 21, Miller 1 0-0 2, Cavenas 0
1-2 1, Kuzma 3 0-0 6: Totals 16 9-19 (45) Mahanoy (22-2) 9 8 12 16
(45) Pottsville (21-4) 7 5 5 27 (44) 3
Point FG's: McNeil, Mahmod 3, Painter, Blankenhorn, Melochick, Nabholz 3 Pottsville shoots for 5th straight title in rematch vs. Golden Bearsby mike carnahan (staff writer mcarnahan@republicanherald.com) Published:
February 14, 2014
 andy matsko/staff photo Pottsville's Travis Blankenhorn leads his team
in scoring at 18.7 points per game. As a result, he will be a focal point of the Mahanoy Area defense during tonight's Schuylkill
League title game.
Here we go again. For the second time in the
past five years, and just the third time since 1985, there is a rematch for the Schuylkill League boys' basketball championship. This
time, Division I champ Pottsville (21-3) is taking on Division III champ Mahanoy Area (21-2) again in tonight's title game
at 7:30 at Martz Hall. The Crimson Tide are going for their fifth consecutive league championship, winning last year
over the Golden Bears 35-21. Pottsville also beat Pine Grove in both 2011 and 2012. The other rematch championship
game was in 1997, with Shamokin beating Schuylkill Haven after winning the year before. Pottsville downed Williams Valley
56-30 in Tuesday's semifinal, while Mahanoy Area beat Blue Mountain 49-35. The Golden Bears haven't won a league title since
2006, beating Schuylkill Haven, and are the last "small school" team in the league to win a championship. There
are plenty of similarities between the teams: - Both have played plenty of basketball during the offseason, no doubt
helping both get to this point; - Both have averaged around the same amount of points per game, with the Golden Bears
at 58.2 points per game and the Crimson Tide at 55.2; - To that end, both are balanced offensively, too, as each has
three players averaging double figures in scoring; - Both are also known for their defense. Mahanoy Area has allowed
32.7 points per game and Pottsville 35.7, ranking them first and second in the league. For Mickey Holland, who currently
has 610 career wins in his 33 years as Golden Bears' coach, he believes containing Pottsville means containing junior guard
Travis Blankenhorn, who has emerged as the Crimson Tide's leading scorer. He finished the regular season second in the league
in scoring behind Nativity's Jeff Yordy and enters tonight averaging 18.7 points per game, including 52 3-pointers. "Blankenhorn
is a major concern," Holland said. "He is probably overall the best player in the league. But then you have to take
into consideration the other weapons they have and balance everything up." Junior center Eli Nabholz is averaging
11.8 points per game for Pottsville, while sophomore forward Jordan Melochick is at 10.0. Senior guard Dylan Mahmod
leads the Golden Bears at 13.1 points per game, followed by senior guard Larry McNeil (11.8) and senior center Tyler Cavenas
(11.0). Mahanoy Area has also hit 160 3-pointers as a team this season, with McNeil (42), Mahmod and junior point guard Jason
Richmond (31) leading the way. "I think the way they position themselves on the offensive end," Pottsville
coach Dave Mullaney said on what concerns him the most. "They really spread you out. They obviously have Cavenas in the
middle, which we have to give a lot of attention to. At the same time, while you are providing your attention in there, they
have very capable 3-point shooters and that makes it really difficult." Holland believes winning tonight is going
to come down to the basics and isn't making any changes to what the Golden Bears have done all season. "All the
tweaks and stuff that you make, it makes a difference and they make a huge difference, but not as big a difference as the
fundamentals you go over with your guys year in and year out," he said. "They are going to run some stuff that is
going make that harder and harder to do. But if you stay solid, stay solid, stay solid, you are going to stay true to yourself
and not try and go and make huge wholesale changes all over the place." Mullaney isn't expecting a repeat of last
year's title game when the Crimson Tide jumped out to a 23-9 halftime lead, forcing 14 first-half turnovers. "It
is going to be a tight game," he said. "I really believe it is going to be a close game and it might come down to
more things like turnovers and rebounding. "They are too talented. They are not going to have 21 points, I can
tell you that." A victory tonight would benefit Pottsville much more than Mahanoy Area in seeding for the District
11 playoffs. The Crimson Tide are currently No. 2 in the Class AAA behind Allentown Central Catholic (23-0) and if the Crimson
Tide win tonight and the Vikings lose to Parkland in Saturday's Lehigh Valley Conference title game, Pottsville would move
up to No. 1. The Golden Bears have locked up the No. 1 seed in the Class A playoffs.
District XI AAA Standings 2/6/2014
| Rank | School | W | L | T | | 1 | Allentown
Central Catholic | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0.859232 | | 2 | Pottsville
Area | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0.746970 | | 3 | Blue Mountain | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0.736810 | | 4 | Salisbury Township | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0.683814 | | 5 | Bethlehem
Catholic | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0.641091 | | 6 | Lehighton Area | 12 | 9 | 0 | 0.601593 | | 7 | Southern Lehigh | 13 | 8 | 0 | 0.601253 | | 8 | Saucon
Valley | 13 | 9 | 0 | 0.600665 | | 9 | Northern Lehigh | 12 | 9 | 0 | 0.572394 | | 10 | Tamaqua Area | 13 | 8 | 0 | 0.559094 | | 11 | Wilson
Area | 9 | 12 | 0 | 0.479131 | | 12 | Panther Valley | 10 | 12 | 0 | 0.445900 | | 13 | Palisades
| 6 | 15 | 0 | 0.381540 | | 14 | Northwestern Lehigh | 5 | 16 | 0 | 0.353479 | | 15 | Palmerton
Area | 2 | 18 | 0 | 0.287614 | | 16 | Jim Thorpe Area | 2 | 20 | 0 | 0.275707 |
Crimson Tide Rolls To Easy Win Over
Jim Thorpe The Crimson Tide rolled to a 62-22 victory over
Jim Thorpe. The Tide was lead by The "Big Easy" Eli Nabholz's 21 points and Travis "Money" Blankenhorn's
17 points. The Tide jumped out to a 46-7 half time lead. The Tide then pushed it to a 57 - 18 score after three periods. The
Tide's Travis" Money" Blankenhorn needs 21 points to reach the 1000 points scored for his career. Hopely, he will
reach that in the one game playoff against Blue Mountain on Saturday For The Division I Title Game. Pottsville (62) Hinchliffe 2 0-1 4, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Painter 1 0-0
3, Blankenhorn 6 5-6 17, Toomey 2 0-0 4, Dunkel 0 0-0 0, Melochick 3 0-2 6, Shuman 1 0-0 2, Witman 0 0-0 0, Nabholtz 8 5-5
21, Coyle 1 0-0 3, Hampford 1 0-0 2: Totals 25 10-14 (62) Jim Thorpe (22) Carroll 1 0-0 3, Miechiche 3 3-4 11, Micciche 2 0-0 6, McElmoyle 1 0-0 2: Totals 7 3-4 (22) Pottsville(19 -3, 11-1) 22 24 11
5 (62) Jim Thorpe (1-11)
2 5 11 4 (22) 3 Point FG's: Carroll, Miechiehe 2, Micciche 2, Painter, Coyle
Crimson Tide Pounds The Panthers The Crimson Tide pounded Panther Valley by the score of 60-20 at Martz
Hall. The Tide's well rounded night was led by Travis "Money" Blankenhorn's 15 points, followed by the "Big
Easy" Eli Nabholz's 11 points. All of the team played tonight on Senior Night, The Tide's Two Seniors are John
Toomey and Damarr Jackson, who played their last Schuylkill League Regular Season game at Martz Hall. Ty Painter added two
3 pointers and scored a total of eight points in his best shooting night. The Tide at one point went on a 35 point scoring
streak to put the game away. The Tide will travel to Jim Thorpe on Thursday night to close out the regular season. Pottsville (60) Hinchliffe 3 0-0 6, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Painter 3 0-0
8, Blankenhorn 6 2-2 15, Toomey 2 0-0 4, Dunkel 1 0-0 2, Melochick 3 0-1 6, Shuman 2 1-2 6, Witman 0 0-0 0, Nabholz 3 5-6
11, Coyle 0 0-0 0, Hampford 1 0-0 2: Totals 24 8-11 (60) Panther Valley (20) Szcercina 2 3-3 8,Stano 0 1-2 1,Hudicka 1 0-0 2, Ferryman 1 2-2 4, Vermillion 1 0-0 2, Weng 1
0-0 3: Totals 6 6-7 (20) Pottsville (18-3, 10-1)
21 21 13 5 (60) Panther
Valley (10-11, 4-7) 7 0 6 7 (20) 3 Point Fg's: Szczecina, Weng, Painter 2, Blankenhorn, Shuman
By Mike Carnahan, Republican-Herald Sports Writer
It wasn’t exactly the type of bounce-back
game that Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney was expecting.
Still, a game-high 24 points from junior Travis Blankenhorn,
as well as a big second quarter, were enough to lift the Crimson Tide to a 55-39 victory over North Schuylkill in a Schuylkill
League Division I contest Wednesday at Martz Hall.
“We are happy that we won but we are not very good right now,”
Mullaney said.  Pottsville's Travis Blankenhorn drives to the basket as North Schuylkill's Bobby Grigas (15) and
Matt Manbeck (12) defend during Wednesday's Schuylkill League Division I contest at Martz Hall. (Jacqueline Dormer/Republican-Herald
Photo) Pottsville (17-3, 9-1 D-I) was coming off a 51-33 loss to Blue Mountain on Monday, snapping its 51-game
division winning streak that dated to 2010. That loss makes every game a must win for the Crimson Tide in order to force a
potential one-game playoff for the division title with the Eagles and to get the opportunity to go for their fifth consecutive
league title.
That was a message Mullaney was trying to get across to the Crimson Tide in his talk between the first
and second quarters Wednesday. Pottsville responded and outscored the Spartans (12-5, 7-3) 14-5 in the quarter, turning a
17-14 lead into a 31-19 halftime advantage.
“We could have played a lot better than we did (in the first quarter),”
Blankenhorn said. “I just felt we came together as a team. We just played our hearts out.”
Blankenhorn grabbed 11 rebounds to complete a double-double. He also had four assists. Eli Nabholz added 12 points, five rebounds
and three blocks for Pottsville, which won the earlier season meeting against the Spartans 55-44 on Janaury 8, while Ty Painter
had four assists. Matt Manbeck had 10 points and seven rebounds to lead the Spartans, while Major Jordon
added nine points and five boards. The loss, all but ended North Schuylkill's hopes for for a chance at a three way tie for
the Division Title with Pottsville and Blue Mountain. The Spartans still have an outside shot at earning a tie for
the division wild card, but need to win thier final two league games against Pine Grove and Blue Mountain and get some help.
"Second quarter, we didn't get back a few times, didn't point out, didn't find our guys," Curt Ziegmont said. "They
hit some shots. Offensively, we didn't make it easy on ourselves. We missed some shots inside the paint, missed our foul shots
throughout the quarters. "I'm proud of our guys. We played our hearts out. We went after them for
32 minutes, 90 some feet, forced them into some turnovers and some spots that normal teams don't do against them." The
Spartans shot 2 for 13 from the floor in the second quarter, while Pottsville was 5 for 7. Connor Hinchliffe
who had nine points in the game, opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer for the Tide. After Boby Grigas scored on a baseline
jumper for North Schuylkill, Blankenhorn hit a 3 from the top of the circle off a pick, while Nabholz hit two foul shots to
make it 25-16 at 5:05. Manbeck knocked down a 3 on the Spartans' next possesion, their final field goal
of the half as Pottsville finished on a 6-0 run. Nabholz scored on a transition lay-up from Blankenhorn, Blankenhorn scored
on another fast break lay-up off a dish from Painter. Blankenhorn then scored on a drive with 1:10 remaining, making
it 31-19. "A lot of my points come from my teammates," he said. "That definitely gets me open. I owe a lot
of credit to them." The Spartans cut the deficit to none midway through the Third quarter, but Pottsville
was able to build its lead up to 47-31 after Blankenhorn hit two key 3's later in the quarter. His first came with 1:13 remaining,
and he hit a fall-awey trey just before the buzzer. "Blankenhorn is a stud," Ziegmont said. "He is a big time
player who hit some big time shots." After shooting 12 for 37 durning Monday's loss to Blue Mountain,
Pottsville hit 20 for 33 (61 percent) on Wednesday. However, the Crimson Tide also turned the ball over 18 times against the
full-court pressure North Schuylkill used most of the game.
Tide Rolls past North Schuylkill The Crimson Tide got back to it's winning ways with a 55-39 victory over
the North Schuylkill Spartans. The Tide improves it's record to 17-3 for the season. The Tide were lead by Travis "Money"
Blankenhorn's 24 points, followed by Eli "Big Easy" Nabholz 12 points and Connor "The Hitman" Hinchliffe
9 points with Jordon "Melo" Melochick added 8 points for a well balanced game. The Tide lead 31-19 at the half and
47-31 at the end of the third quarter. The Tide will take on Panther Valley on Monday night at Martz Hall and close out the
regular season against Jim Thorpe away. If the Tide wins those two games, there will be a one game playoff against Blue Mountain
for the Division 1 Title and then on to the Schuylkill League Playoffs. Pottsville (55) Hinchliffe 3 1-2 9, Painter 0 0-0 0, Blankenhorn 6 7-8 24, Toomey 1 0-0 2, Melochick
4 0-0 8, Shuman 0 0-0 0, Nabholtz 5 2-2 12. Totals 19 10-12 (55) North Schuylkill (39) Ennis 1 1-1 3, Marlow 0 0-0 0, Hillibish 0 2-2 2, Murray 1 6-10 8, Manbeck 4 1-2 10, Grigas
3 0-2 7, Damiler 0 0-0 0, Mazeika 0 0-0 0, Jordan 3 3-6 9. Totals: 12 13-23 (39)
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| Photo Coursey Of Pottsville Republican/Dave McKeown |
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| Photo Coursey Of Pottsville Republican/Dave McKeown |
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| Photo Coursey Of Pottsville Republican/Dave McKeown |
Blue Mountain knocks off Pottsville by mike carnahan (staff writer
mcarnahan@republicanherald.com)Published: January 27, 2014
ORWIGSBURG - For Blue Mountain boys' basketball senior starters
Will Bornstein, Skyer Panchari, Kyle Slane and Shane Grapsy, this was a long time coming.It's been more than five years since the Eagles had beaten their bitter
rivals. Monday, Blue Mountain not only did it, but did so in impressive fashion.Bornstein remained hot offensively, scoring 14 of his 20 points in the second half
as Eagles got the tempo up their liking and rolled by Pottsville 51-33 in a Schuylkill League Division I contest.After a first-half slugfest, Blue Mountain
(15-2, 9-1 D-I) was able to get out and run more in the second half. That, coupled with a solid defensive effort from the
start, turned a 21-18 Eagles halftime lead into a blowout, as Blue Mountain outscored the Crimson Tide 30-15 over the final
16 minutes.When the final buzzer
sounded, the Eagles' student section emptied and ran across the gymnasium floor to celebrate with the Eagles."It means a lot," said Bornstein,
who has reached double figures in scoring in his last nine games. "We wanted it really bad. That's a good team and we
wanted to go out there and win."The victory snapped Blue Mountain's 11-game losing streak against Pottsville (16-3, 8-1), the four-time defending division
and overall Schuylkill League champ. The Eagles' last win over Pottsville before Monday was a 54-36 victory on Dec. 12, 2008.The Tide won the first meeting of the season
53-36 on Jan. 4.Blue Mountain's
victory also snapped the Crimson Tide's 51-game division winning streak that dated to a loss to Jim Thorpe on Jan. 15, 2010.The victory put the Eagles into first place
in the division, and if they and Pottsville both win their remaining league games, the two will play a tie-breaker game for
the division title.Both still
have to face third-place North Schuylkill (12-4, 7-2), a 81-33 winner over Jim Thorpe on Monday. The Tide host the Spartans
on Wednesday, while Blue Mountain hosts North Schuylkill on Feb. 6."If feels great to do it in front of our home crowd," Panchari said. "That
was nuts, getting the win, bleachers clearing. What more can you ask for?"Slane added eight points, six rebounds and four assists for Blue Mountain, while
Grapsy contributed eight rebounds and six assists.Travis Blankenhorn led Pottsville with 20 points.Blue Mountain's win Monday started with defense. The Eagles came in allowing 39.6 points
per game and Blue Mountain coach Dustin Werdt thought the Crimson Tide's guards bullied the Eagles inside during the first
meeting of the season. This time around, the Eagles took that away, forcing Pottsville into more contested 3-pointers."We pressured the ball well and we contested
most shots," Werdt said. "They didn't have very many clean looks. Overall, defensively the kids just played a great
game."The Crimson Tide were
held to 12-for-37 (32 percent) from the floor Monday, including a 3-for-19 performance from 3-point land."We wanted to defend the 3-pointer," Bornstein said.
"We didn't want them to get a lot of open shots. Help defense, we wanted to help in the post because they like to post
our guys up and we did."Offensively,
Blue Mountain finished 17-for-27 (63 percent), including 10-for-15 (67 percent) in the second half as the Eagles got out in
transition more in the half.After
Blankenhorn hit two foul shots to make it 23-22 Blue Mountain at 5:57 of the third quarter, the Eagles went on a 13-4 run
to finish the third quarter.Bornstein
scored seven of his points in the run, hitting a short jumper, completing a three-point play on a cut inside and later grabbing
a defensive rebound and taking the ball to the other end of the court to score on a layup.Panchari finished off the quarter, scoring on a fast-break layup off
a pass from Grapsy, making it 36-26.The Eagles opened the fourth quarter on a 13-2 run to put the game away as Bornstein scored on a full-court, in-bounds
pass from Grapsy to make it 49-28 with 2:11 left in the game.
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| Photo Coursey Of Pottsville Republican/Dave McKeown |
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| Photo Coursey Of Pottsville Republican/Dave McKeown |
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| Photo Coursey Of Pottsville Republican/Dave McKeown |
Blue Mountain Tops the Crimson Tide Blue Mountain defeat the Crimson Tide at Blue Mountain's home court
by the score of 51-33. It is the Crimson Tide's, first loss in the Schuylkill League in over four years. The loss stop's the
Tide's streak at 68 concessive league games in a row. Travis Blankenhorn led the Tide with 20 points,
followed by Jordan Melochick's 8 points. The score was 21-18 Blue Mountain at the half, but Blue Mountain put together a 15-8
run in the Third quarter to pull away from the Tide. The Tide were off their game all night and a well played game by
Blue Mountain lead to the defeat. Pottsville and Blue Mountain are tied atop the Division I standings, if both teams,
win the rest of their games, there will be a playoff for the Division Title at a neutral site, to determined the Division
Chanps, with the loser gaining the wild card spot. Pottsville
(33) Hinchliffe 1 0-0 3, Painter 0 0-0 0, Blankenhorn 6 6-7 20, Toomey 0 0-0 0, Melochick 4 0-0 8, Shuman 0 0-0 0, Witman
0 0-0 0, Nabholz 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 6-8 (33) Blue Mountain (51)
Bornstein 7 5-7 20, Harding 0 0-0 0, Slane 4 1-1 11, Grapsy 0 0-0 0, Chelius 1 2-3 4, Donvan 0 0-0 0, Panchari 5 6-6 16. Totals:
17 14-17 (51)
District XI AAA Standings 1/27/2014
| Rank | School | W | L | T | | 1 | Allentown
Central Catholic | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0.851585 | | 2 | Pottsville
Area | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0.758766 | | 3 | Blue Mountain | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0.728782 | | 4 | Salisbury Township | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0.684773 | | 5 | Southern
Lehigh | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0.628489 | | 6 | Bethlehem Catholic | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0.627355 | | 7 | Lehighton
Area | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0.593623 | | 8 | Northern Lehigh | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0.585387 | | 9 | Saucon
Valley | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0.574005 | | 10 | Wilson Area | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0.528371 | | 11 | Tamaqua
Area | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0.519851 | | 12 | Panther Valley | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0.484104 | | 13 | Palisades
| 4 | 11 | 0 | 0.377484 | | 14 | Northwestern Lehigh | 4 | 13 | 0 | 0.354060 | | 15 | Palmerton
Area | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0.281623 | | 16 | Jim Thorpe Area | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0.280922 |
"Tide runs over the Blue Raiders" The Crimson Tide scored a 43-24 victory over Tamaqua Blue Raiders. The
victory was the Crimson Tide's 68th victory in a row over Schuylkill League teams. The Tide was led by Travis "Money"
Blankenhorn's 23 points, followed by Eli "Big Easy" Nabholz 10 points and Jordan "Melo" Melochick
added 7 points. The Tide jumped out to a 29-7 half time lead, and a 40-16 spread after 3 quarters. The Tide improved to 16
- 2 for the season. The Tide will face it's biggest game of the season on Monday Night at Blue Mountain, this game is for
the Division 1 lead and top playoff spot for the Schuylkill League Championships. Pottsville (43) Hinchliffe 1 0-0 2, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Painter 0 0-0 0, Blankenhorn 9 1-3 23, Toomey 0
1-2 1, Dunkel 0 0-0 0, Melochick 3 0-0 7, Shuman 0 0-0 0, Witman 0 0-0 0, Adams 0 0-0 0, Nabholz 4 2-3 10, Coyle 0 0-0 0,
Hampford 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 4-8 (43) Tamaqua (24)
Blaker 2 0-0 5, Rottet 4 0-0 8, Frantz 2 0-0 5, Macdonald 1 0-2 2, Marcin 1 0-0 2, Van Buskirk 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 0-2 (24)
Crimson Tide Clips the Cardinals Wings The Crimson Tide breezed to an Easy Victory over Pine Grove with a 52 -17
win. The Tide was led by Eli "Big Easy" Nabholz with 9 points and Conor "The Hitman" Hinchliffe also with
9 points. The "Big Easy" returned after missing a couple of games for the Tide. The Tide came out quickly to a 27-7
half-time led and never looked back. Ten of Pottsville players add points to the totals. This was Pottsville 67th win in the
row against Schuylkill League teams. The Tide plays Tamaqua on Thursday and then to the Big Game against Blue Mountain.
Pottsville (52) Hinchliffe 4 0-0 9,
Jackson 1 0-0 2, Painter 2 0-0 4, Blankenhorn 2 0-0 4, Toomey 2 0-0 4, Dunkel 1 1-3 3, Melochick 2 0-0 4, Shuman 3 0-0 7,
Witman 3 0-0 6, Adams 0 0-0 0, Nabholz 2 5-8 9, Coyle 0 0-0 0, Hampford 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 6-11 (52) Pine Grove (17) Rossi 1 0-2 2, Blankenhorn 0 0-0 0, White 2 0-0 4,
D'Agostino 1 1-2 3, Snedden 1 0-0 2, Weinus 1 2-2 4, Fidler 1 0-0 2. Totals: 7 3-6 (17) 3-Point FG's: Hinchliffe, Shuman
| 1/21/2014 | | | | | Team - Offense | Games Played | PF | PPG | | Blue Mountain | 10 | 600 | 60.0 | | Mahanoy Area | 11 | 643 | 58.5 | | Pottsville | 13 | 751 | 57.8 | | Tamaqua | 12 | 691 | 57.6 | | Nativity | 9 | 509 | 56.6 | | Williams Valley | 10 | 551 | 55.1 | | North Schuylkill | 10 | 542 | 54.2 | | Upper Dauphin | 11 | 585 | 53.2 | | Minersville | 11 | 554 | 50.4 | | Panther Valley | 12 | 568 | 47.3 | | Marian | 11 | 501 | 45.5 | | Weatherly | 9 | 398 | 44.2 | | Jim Thorpe | 12 | 490 | 40.8 | | Shenandoah Valley | 11 | 449 | 40.8 | | Lourdes | 12 | 487 | 40.6 | | Hamburg | 13 | 510 | 39.2 | | Tri-Valley | 11 | 423 | 38.5 | | Pine Grove | 14 | 503 | 35.9 | | Schuylkill Haven | 10 | 316 | 31.6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Team - Defense | Games Played | PA | PPG | | Mahanoy Area | 11 | 367 | 33.36 | | Williams Valley | 10 | 362 | 36.20 | | Pottsville | 13 | 509 | 39.15 | | Minersville | 11 | 435 | 39.55 | | Blue Mountain | 10 | 396 | 39.60 | | Lourdes | 12 | 492 | 41.00 | | Tamaqua | 12 | 495 | 41.25 | | North Schuylkill | 10 | 418 | 41.80 | | Tri-Valley | 11 | 489 | 44.45 | | Marian | 11 | 526 | 47.82 | | Schuylkill Haven | 10 | 506 | 50.60 | | Nativity | 9 | 465 | 51.67 | | Shenandoah Valley | 11 | 572 | 52.00 | | Panther Valley | 12 | 645 | 53.75 | | Pine Grove | 14 | 773 | 55.21 | | Upper Dauphin | 11 | 607 | 55.18 | | Jim Thorpe | 12 | 677 | 56.42 | | Weatherly | 9 | 518 | 57.56 | | Hamburg | 13 | 800 | 61.54 | | | | | | | | | | | | Team 3-PT. Shooting | Games Played | 3's | 3/GP | | Mahanoy Area | 11 | 84 | 7.64 | | Pottsville | 13 | 76 | 5.85 | | Panther Valley | 12 | 69 | 5.75 | | Weatherly | 9 | 50 | 5.56 | | Upper Dauphin | 11 | 57 | 5.18 | | Williams Valley | 10 | 48 | 4.80 | | Tamaqua | 12 | 55 | 4.58 | | Shenandoah Valley | 11 | 47 | 4.27 | | Marian | 11 | 42 | 3.82 | | Jim Thorpe | 12 | 44 | 3.67 | | Blue Mountain | 10 | 36 | 3.60 | | Tri-Valley | 11 | 38 | 3.45 | | North Schuylkill | 10 | 35 | 3.50 | | Schuylkill Haven | 10 | 34 | 3.40 | | Hamburg | 13 | 42 | 3.23 | | Minersville | 11 | 34 | 3.09 | | Nativity | 9 | 26 | 2.89 | | Lourdes | 12 | 34 | 2.83 | | Pine Grove | 14 | 19 | 1.36 | | | | | | | Team - Foul Shooting | FTM | FTA | PCT. | | Tamaqua | 98 | 133 | 0.737 | | Blue Mountain | 112 | 157 | 0.713 | | Pottsville | 111 | 160 | 0.694 | | Williams Valley | 121 | 193 | 0.627 | | Upper Dauphin | 92 | 147 | 0.626 | | Nativity | 99 | 159 | 0.623 | | Mahanoy Area | 73 | 118 | 0.619 | | Weatherly | 42 | 68 | 0.618 | | Pine Grove | 140 | 232 | 0.603 | | North Schuylkill | 101 | 171 | 0.591 | | Shenandoah Valley | 74 | 130 | 0.569 | | Hamburg | 78 | 139 | 0.561 | | Marian | 107 | 193 | 0.554 | | Minersville | 94 | 176 | 0.534 | | Schuylkill Haven | 34 | 64 | 0.531 | | Jim Thorpe | 74 | 143 | 0.517 | | Lourdes | 85 | 165 | 0.515 | | Tri-Valley | 55 | 107 | 0.514 | | Panther Valley | 69 | 137 | 0.504 | | | | | | | | | | | | Individual Scoring | GP | TP | PPG | | Yordy - Nativity | 9 | 215 | 23.89 | | Blankenhorn
- Pottsville | 13 | 255 | 19.62 | | Kosciolek - Tamaqua | 11 | 205 | 18.64 | | D'Agostino - Pine Grove | 14 | 232 | 16.57 | | Szczecina - Panther Valley | 12 | 197 | 16.42 | | Ney - Upper Dauphin | 11 | 176 | 16.00 | | Rottet - Tamaqua | 12 | 185 | 15.42 | | Manbeck - North Schuylkill | 10 | 153 | 15.30 | | Sedesse - Williams Valley | 9 | 127 | 14.11 | | Mackornick - Shenandoah | 11 | 151 | 13.73 | | McNeil - Mahanoy Area | 11 | 150 | 13.64 | | Rautzhan - Williams Valley | 10 | 128 | 12.80 | | Nabholz - Pottsville | 13 | 165 | 12.69 | | Agosti - Marian | 11 | 137 | 12.45 | | Panchari - Blue Mountain | 10 | 120 | 12.00 | | Reiner - Weatherly | 8 | 95 | 11.88 | | Rodichok - Williams Valley | 10 | 111 | 11.10 | | Kaledas - Nativity | 9 | 100 | 11.11 | | Melochick - Pottsville | 13 | 141 | 10.85 | | Cavenas - Mahony Area | 10 | 108 | 10.80 | | Kisha - Hamburg | 13 | 138 | 10.62 | | Murray - North Schuylkill | 10 | 106 | 10.60 | | Storm - Shenandoah | 11 | 116 | 10.55 | | Miller - Upper Dauphin | 11 | 114 | 10.36 | | Barter - Hamburg | 13 | 134 | 10.31 | | Mahmod - Mahanoy Area | 9 | 92 | 10.22 | | Czeponis - Lourdes | 12 | 120 | 10.00 | | Micciche - Jim Thorpe | 12 | 120 | 10.00 | | Bornstein - Blue Mountain | 10 | 100 | 10.00 | | Chelius - Blue Mountain | 10 | 100 | 10.00 | | | | | | | | | | | | Individual Scoring - 3 Points | GP | TOT | 3/PG | | Blankenhorn
- Pottsville | 13 | 32 | 2.5 | | McNeil - Mahanoy Area | 11 | 28 | 2.5 | | Rottet - Tamaqua | 12 | 29 | 2.4 | | Szczecina - Panther
Valley | 12 | 28 | 2.3 | | Herb - Shenandoah | 9 | 17 | 1.9 | | Kelly - Weatherly | 8 | 15 | 1.9 | | Reiner - Weatherly | 8 | 15 | 1.9 | | Micciche - Jim Thorpe | 12 | 22 | 1.8 | | Richmond- Mahanoy
Area | 11 | 20 | 1.8 | | Agosti - Marian | 11 | 18 | 1.6 | | Trently - Upper
Dauphin | 11 | 16 | 1.5 | | Miller - Mahanoy Area | 11 | 15 | 1.4 | | Figas - Weatherly | 9 | 13 | 1.4 | | Stano - Panther
Valley | 12 | 15 | 1.3 | | Miller - Upper Dauphin | 11 | 14 | 1.3 | | Blugis- Schuylkill
Haven | 10 | 13 | 1.3 | | Kisha - Hamburg | 13 | 16 | 1.2 | | Ferryman - Panther
Valley | 12 | 14 | 1.2 | | Ney - Upper Dauphin | 11 | 13 | 1.2 | | Yearsley - Tri-Valley | 11 | 13 | 1.2 | | Yordy - Nativity | 9 | 11 | 1.2 | | Paweilizyk - Lourdes | 12 | 13 | 1.1 | | Miller - Williams
Valley | 10 | 11 | 1.1 | | Slane - Blue Mountain | 10 | 11 | 1.1 | | St. Hill - Jim Thorpe | 9 | 10 | 1.1 | | Sedesse - Williams
Valley | 9 | 10 | 1.1 | | Kalesas - Nativity | 9 | 10 | 1.1 | | Masser - Tri-Valley | 8 | 9 | 1.1 | | Fobia - Lourdes | 12 | 12 | 1.0 | | Mussoline - Marian | 11 | 11 | 1.0 | | Ridichok - Williams
Valley | 10 | 10 | 1.0 |
Pottsville Defeats Muhlenberg Travis Blankenhorn had a game high 27 points, including eight of his team's 15 feild
goals, as The Crimson Tide claimed a non-league victory over the Muhls at Martz Hall. Pottsville grabbed a 26-14 halftime lead, but Muhlenberg trimmed the deficit to 34-29 at the end of the third quarter.
However, Pottsville held a 12-11 scoring edge in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win. Jordan"Melo" Melochick added 10 points for the Crimson Tide. Jalen Flynn led Muhlenberg with 20 points. Pottsville (46) Hinchliffe 2 0-0 4, Painter 1 0-0 3, Blankenhorn 8 7-9 27, Toomey
1 0-1 2, Melochick 3 4-6 10, Shuman 0 0-0 0, Witman 0 0-0 0, Hampford 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 11-16 (46) Muhlenberg (40) Brown 0 0-0 0, Flynn 9 0-0 20, Chantz 0 0-0 0, Benjamin 0 0-0 0,
Stinson 4 0-0 8, Fidler 0 0-0 0, Richard 3 0-0 7, Rangel 1 0-0 2, Hine 1 0-0 3. Totals: 18 0-0 (40) Pottsville (14-2) 17 9 8
12 (46) Muhlenberg (4-12)
7 7 15 11 (40) 3-Point
Fg's: Flynn 2, Richard, Hine, Blankenhorn 4, Painter
Pottsville Routs Jim Thorpe 73-25 Travis Blankenhorn and
Jordan Melochick had 16 points apiece as the Crimson Tide posted a dominating Division I win over the Olympians. Kevin Hampford added 12 points and Connor Hinchliffe chipped
in with 10 for Pottsville, which opened the game on a 21-8, first-quarter run. The Crimson Tide improves it's record to 13-2
and the 65th straight victory against Schuylkill League teams.
Pottsville
(73) Hinchcliffe 4 2-3 10, Jackson 0 0-0, Painter 2 1-2 5, Blankenhorn 7 0-0 16, Toomey 1 1-2 3, Dunkel 0 0-0 0, Melochick
7 2-3 16, Shuman 1 0-0 2, Witman 0 0-0 0, Adams 3 0-0 6, Coyle 1 0-0 3, Hampford 5 0-0 12. Totals: 31 6-10 73 Jim Thorpe (25) Carroll 1 0-2 3, Micciche 1 0-0 2,
Carroll 1 0-0 2, Lawarence 0 0-0 0, Micciche 5 0-0 11, Green 0 0-2 0, Mcelmoyle 0 0-0 0, Sinsky 0 0-0 0,Jefferson 0 0-0 0.
Totals 11 2-8 25 Jim Thorpe (2-11), (1-5)
8 6 7 4 -- (25) Pottsvile (13-2) (6-0) 21 17 17 18 -- (73) 3 Point FG': Micciche, Blankenhorn 2, Coyle, Hampford 2
District XI AAA Standings 1/18/2014
| Rank | School | W | L | T | | 1 | Allentown Central Catholic | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0.858456 | | 2 | Pottsville
Area | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0.764463 | | 3 | Blue Mountain | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0.705710 | | 4 | Salisbury Township | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0.695986 | | 5 | Southern
Lehigh | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0.627597 | | 6 | Bethlehem Catholic | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0.620230 | | 7 | Lehighton
Area | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0.608342 | | 8 | Northern Lehigh | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0.605016 | | 9 | Tamaqua
Area | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0.584335 | | 10 | Saucon Valley | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0.583138 | | 11 | Panther
Valley | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0.552666 | | 12 | Wilson Area | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0.514762 | | 13 | Northwestern
Lehigh | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0.431055 | | 14 | Palisades | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0.399069 | | 15 | Jim
Thorpe Area | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0.313000 | | 16 | Palmerton Area | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0.296240 |
Pottsville outlast
Shamokin
 charlie roth/times - shamrock photo Pottsville's Jordan Melochick,
right, pressures Shamokin's Ryan Sebasovich during Monday's non-league game. The Crimson Tide downed the Indians 43-38. COAL TOWNSHIP - If Pottsville and Shamokin
go on to win their respective league and district titles, they'll both look back on the Crimson Tide's 43-38 win in a non-league
matchup Monday at Shamokin as a key game. The road is likely to be a little tougher
for the Indians, though. Shamokin (10-1), which lost for the first time, will likely
have to spend several weeks, if not the rest of the season, without its leading scorer and rebounder, Austin Stine, who went
high for a rebound in the first two minutes of the game and landed awkwardly. Stine was taken for X-rays and, according to
Shamokin coach Chris Zimmerman, may have broken bones in his wrist or wrists. Even
without Stine, the Indians and the Tide, who were playing without Eli Nabholz (concussion), battled each other tooth and nail
on every possession for 32 minutes. Shamokin, which made just 3-of-21 shots in
the first half, managed to hang tough and trailed by just one point at 39-38 with 29.5 seconds left when Pottsville called
timeout after a Shamokin basket. Jordan Melochick then sank four straight foul shots on two possessions, making him 9-for-9,
to clinch the win for Pottsville (11-2). Travis Blankenhorn, with 19 points and
eight rebounds, was too much inside for Shamokin without Stine. Blankenhorn scored 12 of the Tide's 24 points in the first
half. Melochick finished with 15. "We've had to adapt our game a little without
Eli Nabholz," Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said. "He gives us another scorer, but we feel we have three guys who
can score, especially in the halfcourt. "I think both teams played extremely
hard. This was probably our best overall defensive effort of the year, and I can't say enough about how hard Shamokin played.
They're coached really well. Playing here tonight was like us playing at Blue Mountain. That's what it was like." Shamokin understandably took some time to get going after Stine's injury. The Indians shot 1-of-10
from the field in the first quarter as Pottsville took a 12-5 lead, but Shamokin only trailed 24-17 at halftime and 31-24
after three quarters. Pottsville went up by nine, 35-26, early in the fourth quarter,
but Shamokin quickly came back with a 3-pointer. That set up a battle of wits and timeouts between the teams and coaches the
rest of the way. Dan Delbaugh and Jakob Weaver scored 13 and 10 points, respectively,
to lead the Indians. "Our kids played with a lot of heart and so did theirs,"
Zimmerman said. "It wasn't the prettiest game to watch on both ends, but when you play as hard as both teams did, that's
what's going to happen sometimes. That's the name of the game. "Their defense
is as good as anybody we play. If anybody we play plays better half-court defense, I want to know where they are."
Pottsville (43) Hinchcliffe 1 1-3 3, Painter 1
2-3 4, Blankenhorn 7 4-4 19, Toomey 1 0-0 2, Melochick 3 9-9 15, Dunkel 0 0-0 0, Witman 0 0-0 0, Hampford 0 0-1 0. Totals:
13 16-20 (43) Shamokin (38) Sebasovich 2 1-1
5, Weaver 3 2-2 10, Delbaugh 3 5-9 13, Stine 0 0-0 0, pappas 2 0-0 4, Dirienzo 0 0-0 0, Reiprich 1 0-0 2, Taylor 1 0-0 2,
Moyer 1 0-0 2, Donahue 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 8-12 (38) Pottsville
(11-2) 12 12 7 12 -- (43) Shamokin (10-1) 5 12 7 14 -- (38) 3Point FG's: Bankenhorn, Weaver 2, Delbaugh
Tide Losses To Salisbury Pottsville clinched a spot in the District 11 Class AAA playoffs Friday. Saturday, the Crimson Tide got a look at a potential district postseason opponent. That look showed Pottsville it has some work to do if the Crimson Tide want to make a long playoff run. Austin Uhl had a double-double, while Salisbury's quickness got the better of Pottsville in
the Falcons' 56-46 non-league victory at Martz Hall. Uhl finished the game with
13 points and 13 rebounds. Eddie Sanchez added 11 points for Salisbury (9-3), while Justin Aungst, the Falcons' leading scorer
at 16.6 points per game, tallied 10. Pottsville (11-2), which had its 10-game winning
streak snapped with the loss, clinched a district berth with Friday's 66-34 rout of Panther Valley. Salisbury beat the Crimson Tide 45-39 in last season's District 11 Class AAA consolation game. After Saturday's
contest, Pottsville and Salisbury are now ranked second and third, respectively, behind Allentown Central Catholic in the
Class AAA power ratings. "I don't know if we are ready to beat a team that
is that consistent, that well coached and has that talent level," Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said. "We don't
do things consistently to beat a team like that. Hopefully in another month things will be different." Travis Blankenhorn had a game-high 20 points and Jordan Melochick scored 17 for Pottsville, which played from behind
most the game. The Falcons built an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter
at 16-5, but Pottsville battled back to go up 26-25 at halftime. Salisbury then went up 41-31 at the end of the third quarter
before the Crimson Tide cut the deficit to 47-46 after a steal and layup by Blankenhorn with 3:39 left in the game. The Falcons, however, responded. On his team's next
possession, Brendan Reichenbach hit his second 3-pointer of the game on a kick-out pass from Sanchez, making it 50-46 at 3:14.
Salisbury then iced the game from the foul line, going 6-for-9 over final 1:36. "I
start five seniors and I have guys who are experienced," Salisbury coach Jason Weaver said. "We've been in these
situations before and I don't think they are intimated by anybody, which is a good thing. We respect everybody, but we have
seniors who are playing well together." The Crimson Tide also learned they
will likely be without center Eli Nabholz for a few games. Nabholz was knocked in the head during a foul as made a move inside
early in the second quarter. At first, it was believed Nabholz had just a bloody
nose, but after the game, Mullaney said Nabholz suffered a concussion and wasn't sure how much time he'd miss. "We going to have to find a way to play without him," Mullaney said. "That obviously
had an effect on the game, too." Pottsville couldn't overcome the Falcons
quickness, especially defensively, and it lead to plenty of Salisbury baskets in the paint. The Falcons ended up shooting
20-for-35 (57 percent) from the floor, while the 56 points was just second time this season Pottsville had allowed more than
50 in a game. The other was 58 against Wilson West Lawn on Dec. 11. "They
have a lot of guys who are good at penetrating off the dribble," Mullaney said. "We didn't do a good job of keeping
people in front and our help defense is nowhere where it needs to be. They opened our eyes tonight." Offensively, the Crimson Tide shot 16-for-44 (36 percent) and turned the ball over 12 times, while the 46 points
were a season low. Still, Pottsville had its chances to pull closer late in the
game. With 1:36 to go, Aungst missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Pottsville couldn't control the rebound and the ball
went of bounds. Sanchez was eventually fouled and hit both ends of his 1-and-1, making it 52-46. Pottsville then turned the ball over on its next possession. Naveed Hadian was fouled, hit the first of a double-bonus
situation, but the ball went off Pottsville on the miss after the second attempt. Hadian was fouled again and hit both ends
of the double bonus to put the game away. Weaver was glad to finally win a tight
contest after losing to Emmaus 53-49 on Jan. 4. The Falcons' other two losses this season were to Blue Mountain (62-51 on
Dec. 6) and Parkland (69-52 on Dec. 30). "We knew the physicality of those
guys," Weaver said. "We knew what to expect up here are far as physicality and I think my guys responded to it."
Pottsville (46) Hinchcliffe 1 12 4, Painter 0
0-0 0, Blankenhorn 7 3-3 20, Toomey 0 0-0 0, Melochick 6 4-7 17, Witman 0 0-0 0, Nabholz 2
0-0 5. Totals 16 8-12 (46) Salisbury (56) Hadian 2 5-7
9, Sanchez 4 2-2 11, Reichenbach 3 1-2 9, Vangeli 0 2-2 2, Aungst 5 0-1 10, Uhl 6 1-3 13, Fairclaugh 1 0-0 2, Totals 21 11-17
(56) Pottsville (11-2) (5-0)
5 21 5 15 (46) Salisbury (9-3)
16 9 16 15 (56) 3-Points FG's: Sanchez, Reichebach, 2, Hinchcliffe, Blankenhorn 3, Melochick
Crimson Tide Rolls To "Easy"
Win over Panther Valley The Tide rolled
to a Easy 66-34 win over Panther Valley. The Tide was led by Eli "Big Easy" Nabholz with 18 points, followed by
Travis "Money" Blankehorn 13 points and Connor "The Hitman" Hinchcliffe 10 points. The Tide jumped out
to a first quarter lead of 19 to 8 and led at half time 38-12. The Tide poured it on in the third, outscoring the Panthers
15 to 6 to lead, 53-18 after three periods. The defense were once again led by Jordan "Melo" Melochick tough defense.
Jordan always draws the task of defending the best player on the other team. That task, he fulfilled by limiting the Panther's
star player to 4 points durning the first three quarters.The starters would play no more, leaving the fourth quarters to some
well earn playing time for the rest of the team. Christian Witman turned in his best game of the year by adding 8 points for
the Tide.
Pottsville (66) Hinchcliffe 4 0-0 10, Jackon
1 0-0 2, Painter 1 0-0 2, Blankenhorn 5 1-3 13, Toomey 0 1-2 1, Dunkel 2 0-0 4, Melochick 2 1-1 5, Shuman 0 0-0 0, Witman
4 0-0 8, Adams 1 0-0 2, Nabholz 7 3-3 18, Coyle 0 0-0 0, Hampford 1 0-0 3. Totals 27 6-9 (66) Panther Valley (34) Dubosky 2 1-2 5, Szczecina 5 0-2 14, Keo 1 0-0 2, Kusko 1
0-0 3, Stano 1 0-0 2, Owens 1 0-0 3, Ferryman 2 0-0 5, Nase 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 1-4 (34) Pottsville (11-1) (5-0) 19 19
15 13 (66) Panther Valley (7-4) (1-3)
8 4 6 16 (34)
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| Photo Courtsey of Pottsville Republican & David McKeown |
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| Photo Courtsey of Pottsville Republican & David McKeown |
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| Photo Courtsey of Pottsville Republican & David McKeown |
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| Photo Courtsey of Pottsville Republican & David McKeown |
Pottsville outlasts North Schuylkill in key division
battle Posted on January 9, 2014 by mcarnahan By Mike Carnahan, Republican-Herald Sports Writer
FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — North Schuylkill figured to be the last team to give Pottsville
a challenge during the first half of the Schuylkill League Division I schedule.
The Spartans did for a half. But then
the Crimson Tide took control of the game and now have control of the division.
Travis Blankenhorn led a another balanced
offensive attack with a game-high 16 points as Pottsville pulled away in the second half for a 54-44 victory over North Schuylkill
on Wednesday.
Coming off a 53-36 win over Blue Mountain on Saturday, the Crimson Tide (10-1, 4-0 D-I) entered the game
tied with the Spartans (6-3, 3-1) for the division lead. Leading 29-23 at halftime, Pottsville used a 19-9 scoring advantage
in the third quarter to put the game away.
The Tide extended their lead to 18 points early in the fourth quarter en
route to their ninth straight win and 47th consecutive Division I victory.
“I was really happy with the team effort,”
Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said.
It seemed like everybody contributed something for the Tide. Jordan Melochick added 13 points, while Eli Nabholz netted 12 for Pottsville. The Tide were crisp and efficient
on offense, working the ball around for high-percentage shots inside the paint. The
Crimson Tide finished the night 22 for 40 (55 percent) from the floor, with six players having at least two assists. John
Toomey,Nabholz,Melochick, and Blankenhorn dished out three assists apiece. Nabholz also grabbed six rebounds and four blocks,
while Blankenhorn collected five boards. “We have some
smart guys and they made some nice adjustments with what North Schuylkill was doing” Mullaney said. “They are
so intense defensively and so well coached, you have to do everthing 100 percent and do them the right way to have any chance
of scoring.” Tevin Murray had a double-double for the Spartans with
11 points and 11 rebounds, while Matt Manbeck and Jake Damiter added eight points apiece.
North Schuylkill led 17-16 early in the second quarter after Manbeck scored on a putback, was fouled and converted
the three point play. But, after a good offensive start, the Spartans finished the night 13-for-43 (30 percent) from the floor. “I was very happy with the first quarter,” North Schuylkill coach Curt Ziegmont
said “Everybody knows how smothering their defense can be at times, so I was pretty pleased with that.” Offensive rebounding also kept North Schuylkill in the game in the first half. The
Spartans grabbed seven offensive boards over the first 16 minutes, resulting in nine second-chance points. But North Schuylkill had just two offensive rebounds in the second half, both coming
with under 1:20 left in the game when the outcome was decided. “I just think we got
worn down a little bit,” Ziegmont said. “In a game like this, the atmosphere, we can’t go as deep as we
normally do every night, which I think started to wear our guys down.
“But give credit to Pottsville, when they make you earn everything offensively and then they work you defensively
by running their motion they do so well, they just wear you down.”
One player who
stood out for Mullaney was Melochick, who scored Pottsville’s first six points of the second half and tallied eight
in the third quarter. He got the inbounds pass from the side to start the half, drove to the hoop and scored. Melochick then
scored on a cut inside and put in another two when Ty Painter outhustled a North Schuylkill player for an offensive rebound
and dished to Melochick for a layup. Melochick finished
off the third quarter by knocking down a jumper just before the buzzer, putting Pottsville up 48-32. “He does so much for us,” Mullaney said. “With some of the things
they were doing switching on defense, I thought he made some nice reads. He’s just a smart player.” Pottsville (54) – Hinchcliffe 2 0-0 6, Painter 1 0-0
3, Blankenhorn 7 0-0 16, Toomey 2 0-0 4, Dunkel 0 0-0 0, Melochick 6 1-2 13, Shuman 0 0-0 0, Witman 0 0-0 0, Adams 0 0-0 0,
Nabholz 5 1-2 12, Coyle 0 0-0 0, Hampford 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 2-4 54
North Schuylkill (44) – Carney 0 0-0 0, Marlow 0 0-0 0, Hillibish 1 0-0 3, Murray 4 3-3 11, Manbeck 3
2-3 8, McDonald 0 0-0 0, Damiter 2 3-6 8, Mazeika 2 3-3 7, Karlonis 0 0-0 0, Heaton 0 0-0 0, Jordan 3 0-0 7. Totals 15 11-15
44 Pottsville (10-1), (4-0) -- 16
13 19 6 -- (54) North
Schuylkill (6-3), (3-1) 14 9 9
12 -- (44) 3-point FG’s: Hinchlife 2, Painter, Blankenhorn
2, Nabholz, Hillibish, Damiter, Jordan
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| Photo Courtsey of Pottsville Republican & David McKeown |
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| Photo Courtsey of Pottsville Republican & David McKeown |
Crimson Tide Rolls Past North Schuylkill The Crimson Tide defeated North Schuylkill on their home floor 54-44. The Tide rolled to a 20 point,
3rd quarter lead and then coasted to it's 64th win in a row against Schuylkill League Teams. The Tide was led by Travis "Money"
Blankenhorn with 16 points, followed by Jordan "Melo" Melochick with 13 points and the "Big Easy" Eli
Nabholz 12 points. The Tide led 29-23 at the half. The Tide then applied it's usual tough Defense to start the second half
and pulled away from the Spartans. The Tide travels to Panther Valley, this Friday, in it's quest for its five straight league
championship.
Pottsville (54) Hincliffe 2 0-0 6, Painter 1 0-0 3, Blankenhorn 7 0-0 16, Toomey 2 0-0 4, Melochick
6 1-2 13, Nabholtz 5 1-2 12, Dunkel 0 0-0 0, Witman 0 0-0 0, Adams 0 0-0 , Coyle 0 0-0 0, Hampford 0 0-0 0 Totals: 23 2-4
(54) North Schuykill (44) Hillbish 1 0-0 3, Murray 2 4-6
8, Mannbeck 3 2-3 8, Dainikes 3 - 3-4 10, Karlonis 2 3-3 7, Jordan 3 0-0 7 Totals 14 12-16 (44)
| Team - Offense | Games Played | PF | PPG | | Tamaqua | 10 | 588 | 58.8 | | Pottsville | 10 | 585 | 58.5 | | Blue Mountain | 8 | 461 | 57.6 | | Nativity | 7 | 400 | 57.1 | | Mahany Area | 9 | 505 | 56.1 | | North Schuylkill | 8 | 447 | 55.9 | | Upper Dauphin | 9 | 500 | 55.6 | | Williams Valley | 8 | 422 | 52.8 | | Minersville | 10 | 501 | 50.1 | | Panther Valley | 9 | 435 | 48.3 | | Weatherly | 7 | 319 | 45.6 | | Marian | 9 | 398 | 44.2 | | Hamburg | 10 | 432 | 43.2 | | Jim Thorpe | 10 | 421 | 42.1 | | Shenandoah Valley | 10 | 406 | 40.6 | | Lourdes | 9 | 358 | 39.8 | | Tri-Valley | 10 | 374 | 37.4 | | Pine Grove | 11 | 410 | 37.3 | | Schuylkill Haven | 8 | 248 | 31.0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Team - Defense | Games Played | PA | PPG | | Mahanoy Area | 9 | 292 | 32.4 | | Williams Valley | 8 | 278 | 34.8 | | Pottsville | 10 | 375 | 37.5 | | Minersville | 10 | 386 | 38.6 | | Lourdes | 9 | 352 | 39.1 | | Tamaqua | 10 | 400 | 40 | | North Schuylkill | 8 | 329 | 41.1 | | Blue Mountain | 8 | 338 | 42.3 | | Tri-Valley | 10 | 426 | 42.6 | | Marian | 9 | 411 | 45.7 | | Nativity | 7 | 346 | 49.4 | | Schuylkill Haven | 8 | 428 | 53.5 | | Shenandoah Valley | 10 | 536 | 53.6 | | Panther Valley | 9 | 484 | 53.8 | | Upper Dauphin | 9 | 485 | 53.9 | | Jim Thorpe | 10 | 553 | 55.3 | | Pine Grove | 11 | 640 | 58.2 | | Weatherly | 7 | 409 | 58.4 | | Hamburg | 10 | 595 | 59.5 | | | | | | | | | | | | Team 3-PT. Shooting | Games Played | 3's | 3/GP | | Mahanoy Area | 9 | 64 | 7.1 | | Weatherly | 7 | 42 | 6 | | Pottsville | 10 | 58 | 5.8 | | Upper Dauphin | 9 | 49 | 5.4 | | Panther Valley | 9 | 47 | 5.2 | | Williams Valley | 8 | 40 | 5 | | Tamaqua | 10 | 45 | 4.5 | | Shenandoah Valley | 10 | 42 | 4.2 | | Jim Thorpe | 10 | 40 | 4 | | Blue Mountain | 8 | 30 | 3.8 | | North Schuylkill | 8 | 30 | 3.8 | | Hamburg | 10 | 36 | 3.6 | | Schuylkill Haven | 8 | 29 | 3.6 | | Marian | 9 | 30 | 3.3 | | Minersville | 10 | 32 | 3.2 | | Tri-Valley | 10 | 30 | 3 | | Lourdes | 9 | 25 | 2.8 | | Nativity | 7 | 19 | 2.7 | | Pine Grove | 11 | 16 | 1.5 | | | | | | | Team - Foul Shooting | FTM | FTA | PCT. | | Tamaqua | 85 | 108 | 0.787 | | Blue Mountain | 93 | 129 | 0.721 | | Panther Valley | 117 | 165 | 0.709 | | Pottsville | 95 | 135 | 0.704 | | Williams Valley | 86 | 137 | 0.628 | | Mahanoy Area | 63 | 101 | 0.624 | | Nativity | 73 | 123 | 0.593 | | Pine Grove | 114 | 195 | 0.585 | | North Schuylkill | 81 | 139 | 0.583 | | Upper Dauphin | 81 | 140 | 0.579 | | Hamburg | 70 | 122 | 0.574 | | Lourdes | 69 | 121 | 0.57 | | Marian | 84 | 150 | 0.56 | | Schuylkill Haven | 27 | 50 | 0.54 | | Minersville | 77 | 143 | 0.538 | | Shenandoah Valley | 60 | 112 | 0.536 | | Weatherly | 23 | 44 | 0.523 | | Jim Thorpe | 59 | 116 | 0.509 | | Tri-Valley | 48 | 97 | 0.495 | | | | | | | | | | | | Individual Scoring | GP | TP | PPG | | Yordy - Nativity | 7 | 177 | 25.3 | | Blankenhorn - Pottsville | 10 | 206 | 20.6 | | Kosciolek - Tamaqua | 10 | 203 | 20.3 | | Ney - Upper Dauphin | 9 | 162 | 18 | | D'Agostino - Pine Grove | 11 | 187 | 17 | | Szczecina - Panther Valley | 9 | 152 | 16.9 | | Manbeck - North Schuylkill | 8 | 126 | 15.8 | | Maskornick - Shenandoah | 10 | 140 | 14 | | Sedesse - Williams Valley | 7 | 94 | 13.4 | | Nabholz
- Pottsville | 10 | 130 | 13 | | McNeil - Mahanoy Area | 9 | 114 | 12.7 | | Reiner - Weatherly | 6 | 76 | 12.7 | | Rottet - Tamaqua | 10 | 126 | 12.6 | | Rautzhan - Williams Valley | 8 | 101 | 12.6 | | Kisha - Hamburg | 10 | 124 | 12.4 | | Barter - Hamburg | 10 | 115 | 11.5 | | Panchari - Blue Mountain | 8 | 91 | 11.4 | | Storm - Shenandoah | 10 | 108 | 10.8 | | Murray - North Schuylkill | 8 | 86 | 10.8 | | Melochick
- Pottsville | 10 | 106 | 10.6 | | Micciche - Jim Thorpe | 10 | 106 | 10.6 | | Chelius - Blue Mountain | 8 | 85 | 10.6 | | Ferryman - Panther Valley | 9 | 94 | 10.4 | | Agosti - Marian | 8 | 92 | 10.2 | | | | | | | | | | | | Individual Scoring
- 3 Points | GP | TOT | 3/PG | | Blankenhorn - Pottsville | 10 | 25 | 2.5 | | McNeil - Mahanoy Area | 9 | 20 | 2.2 | | Kelly - Weatherly | 6 | 13 | 2.2 | | Szczecina - Panther Valley | 9 | 19 | 2.1 | | Rottet - Tamaqua | 10 | 20 | 2.0 | | Reiner - Weatherly | 6 | 12 | 2.0 | | Micciche - Jim Thorpe | 10 | 19 | 1.9 | | Herb - Shenandoah | 8 | 14 | 1.8 | | Trently - Upper Dauphin | 9 | 14 | 1.6 | | Figas - Weatherly | 7 | 11 | 1.6 | | Kisha - Hamburg | 10 | 15 | 1.5 | | Blugis- Schuylkill Haven | 8 | 12 | 1.5 | | Ney - Upper Dauphin | 9 | 13 | 1.4 | | Richmond- Mahanoy Area | 9 | 13 | 1.4 | | Miller - Mahanoy Area | 9 | 13 | 1.4 | | Agosti - Marian | 9 | 12 | 1.3 | | Slane - Blue Mountain | 8 | 10 | 1.3 | | Sedesse - Williams Valley | 7 | 9 | 1.3 | | Miller - Williams Valley | 8 | 10 | 1.3 | | Stano - Panther Valley | 9 | 11 | 1.2 | | Ferryman - Panther Valley | 9 | 11 | 1.2 | | St. Hill - Jim Thorpe | 9 | 10 | 1.1 | | Yearsley - Tri-Valley | 10 | 11 | 1.1 | | Miller - Upper Dauphin | 9 | 10 | 1.1 |
| Rank | School | W | L | T | | 1 | Allentown Central Catholic
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0.872997 | | 2 | Pottsville Area | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0.763817 | | 3 | Blue
Mountain | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0.695156 | | 4 | Salisbury Township | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0.688600 | | 5 | Lehighton
Area | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0.652665 | | 6 | Northern Lehigh | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0.651777 | | 7 | Southern
Lehigh | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0.600342 | | 8 | Panther Valley | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0.598804 | | 9 | Bethlehem
Catholic | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0.579917 | | 10 | Tamaqua Area | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0.565190 | | 11 | Saucon
Valley | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0.529089 | | 12 | Palisades | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0.446503 | | 13 | Wilson
Area | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0.439577 | | 14 | Northwestern Lehigh | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0.433776 | | 15 | Palmerton
Area | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0.327578 | | 16 | Jim Thorpe Area | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0.322482 |
Balanced
Tide upend Blue MountainBY MIKE CARNAHAN (STAFF WRITER mcarnahan@republicanherald.com) Published: January 4, 2014 Pottsville's
trademarks during its current four-year Schuylkill League championship run are its man-to-man defense and the play of superstar
players such as Nick Schlitzer and Brandon Bridy. That tough defense is still there, but this season's Crimson Tide
offense might be the most balanced they've had the past few years. Saturday was a perfect example, especially when Travis
Blankenhorn missed a good part of the second half with an injury. Junior Eli Nabholz paced three Pottsville players
in double figures with a game-high 19 points, including 14 in the second half, as the Crimson Tide pulled away for a 53-36
Division I victory over rival Blue Mountain at Martz Hall. Pottsville (9-1, 3-0 D-I) came into the game with three players
averaging double figures in scoring - Blankenhorn (21.6 points per game), Nabholz (12.3) and Jordan Melochick (11.2). Saturday
it was Nabholz's turn to shine as his 19 matched his career high that he scored in the season-opener against Danville. Connor
Hinchliffe, who entered averaging 6.0 ppg, added a career-high 13 points for Pottsville, with 10 coming in the first half,
while Blankenhorn had 12. The Crimson Tide also hit seven 3-pointers in game, as Blankenhorn and Nabholz had two apiece,
while Ty Painter, Melochick and Hinchliffe each had one. Painter had four assists, while Melochick grabbed six rebounds and
Blankenhorn five. "I think, as far as half-court offense, I think it is maybe the best team that we've had because
we have multiple guys who can do things," Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said. Saturday's victory was eighth straight
for the Crimson Tide, while their Division I winning streak extends at 46. Pottsville joins North Schuylkill (6-2, 3-0)
as the lone remaining unbeaten teams in the division following the Spartans' 69-31 victory over Jim Thorpe on Saturday. North
Schuylkill travels to Pottsville on Tuesday. Mark Chelius led the Eagles (6-2, 3-1) with 14 points and three assists.
Skyler Panchari also grabbed six rebounds for Blue Mountain, which lost its second straight after opening the season 6-0. "We
talked about defending the 3s," Eagles coach Dustin Werdt said. "They hit seven 3s and that's too many. And they
got contributions from some people who aren't their leading scorers, typically, and got some shots from other kids." Blankenhorn
went down to the court awkwardly at 6:26 of the third quarter when he collided with Panchari after dishing the ball to Nabholz
for a layup. Blankenhorn was helped across Martz Hall to the trainer's room. He came out of the room early in the fourth quarter
and returned with 5:19 left in the game. "Obviously we were a little worried," Nabholz said. "He's our
best player, but we got together as a group. We just said we have to keep playing hard and that just means we have to play
harder. We came out until he got back in there, we really busted it." Pottsville did, increasing its 25-18 halftime
lead to 43-30 at the end of the third quarter. Nabholz scored eight of his points in the third, hitting a 3-pointer,
scoring off Blankenhorn's assist and finish off his quarter by muscling his way inside for a layup. He was fouled on the bucket
and completed the three-point play. After shooting 10-for-25 (40 percent) in the first half, the Crimson Tide was 10-for-14
(71 percent) from the floor in the second half. "Those were critical moments of the game," Mullaney said.
"I know we have other guys who can play, but anytime a guy like that goes down, you worry. I thought our guys really
stepped up at that point. "I think Connor Hinchliffe had a great game for us, I think Ty Painter had a great game
for us, along with the guys who always play well for us. Different guys stepped up in this game when they needed to." The
Eagles cut the deficit to 44-36 early in the fourth after Kyle Slane and Shane Grapsy hit back-to-back 3s. But Pottsville
finished the game on a 9-0 run. "Pottsville's good at controlling runs," Werdt said. "You make a little
mini run and they find a way to stop what you were doing. They hit some shots. We turned the ball over too much (nine in the
game) and we gave up too many 3s."
The "Big Easy" leads the Crimson
Tide to a win over rival Blue Mountain" Eli "Big
Easy" Nabholz led the Crimson Tide to a victory of Blue Mountain at Martz Hall 53-36. Eli led the team with a game high
19 points, followed by Connor Hinchcliffe's 13 points and Travis Balnkenhorn's 12 points. The Tide were without Travis "Money"
Blankenhorn for almost a quarter, as Travis suffered a banged up knee. Travis later returned to play in the game. All members
of the team stepped up to fill the gap and increased the led over Blue Mountain. Jordan "Melo" Melochick clamped
down on one of Blue Mountain best players and held him to 4 points for the game. It was a great all around effort for
the Tide who extended it's Schuylkill league streak to 63 straight games against Schuylkill league teams. Pottsville (53) Hinchliffe 5 2-4 13, Painter 1 1-2 4, Blankenhorn5 0-0 12, Toomey 0 0-0 0, Melochick 2 0-0 5, Nabholtz
7 3-4 19 Totals: 20 6-10 (53) Blue Mountain (36) Stramara 0 0-0 0, Bornstein 1 1-4 4, Harding
0 0-0 0, Slane 3 0-0 8, Grapsy 2 0-0 6, Chelius 6 1-1 14, Panchari 2 0-0 4, Totals 14 2-5 (36)
Pottsville rolls past Nativity in Battle of the Hills
by mike carnahan (staff writer mcarnahan@republicanherald.com) Published:
December 30, 2013
Pottsville's Travis Blankenhorn never gauges how he is going to shoot in a game by the pre-game warm-up. Monday was no different. "It was OK," he said. "It wasn't my best but
it felt good in the game." Indeed it did. Blankenhorn continued
his hot start to the season, pouring in a game-high 27 as Pottsville turned it on in the second half and pulled away for a
59-25 victory over Nativity in the annual Battle of the Hills at Martz Hall. Blankenhorn came
in averaging 20.9 points per game and he rarely missed Monday. Blankenhorn finished the game 9-for-13
from the floor, including a 5-for-8 showing from 3-point land. Three of his 3-pointers came over the first 11 minutes of the
game as the Crimson Tide (8-1) slowly built an 18-11 lead early in the second quarter. Blankenhorn
was also 4-of-5 from the foul line in the game. The performance was Blankenhorn's second highest
of the season. His career, and season high, was 33 at Williamsport on Dec. 17. The outside shooting
helped carry Pottsville's offense in the first half as the Crimson Tide had trouble getting it inside against the Hilltoppers'
2-3 zone. "It was a team effort," Blankenhorn said. "They played a tough zone.
We were a little confused in the beginning. We knew what we were supposed to be doing but they played good defense. It was
a good team effort to make our shots." Jordan Melochick added nine points for Pottsville,
while Eli Nabholz had eight points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. The win was the seventh consecutive
for the Crimson Tide. Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney wasn't all that happy with how the Crimson
Tide played in the first half, especially when it came to attacking the zone. The second half
was a different story. After shooting 8-for-20 (40 percent) in the first half, the Crimson Tide
were 14-for-22 (64 percent) from the floor in the second as they were able to get more easy buckets inside the paint. As a
team, Pottsville had 12 assists over the final 16 minutes. "I think we were more aggressive,"
Mullaney said. "I think we moved the ball better. I think we had more guys attacking and not being passive. Once we started
to do that, things started to open up." Jeff Yordy led the Hilltoppers (5-2) with 15 points
but the rest of Nativity's offense couldn't get much going. Melochick guarded Yordy, who came in averaging 27 points per game,
and held the junior guard to 6-for-15 shooting. Nativity came in averaging 62.5 points per game
and its pervious season low was 51 in the season opener against Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg on Dec. 11. "I thought Jordan did a great job all night," Mullaney said. "He took a lot of shots and a lot of
tough shots. And he made a lot of tough shots but that is all you can do, force shots into bad ones." Still, the Hilltoppers, who had their five-game winning streak snapped, hung with Pottsville. They were down 11-7
after the first quarter and 24-13 at halftime. Nativity head coach Kevin Kennedy was looking for
a much better start to the second half but instead, Pottsville opened on a 12-4 run to make it 36-17 after Blankenhorn hit
a 3-pointer from the wing at 3:48. "I felt confident coming into halftime that if we could
have went on a little bit of a run, right off the get-go and scored six or eight points, I think Pottsville would have known
they were in for a game," Kennedy said. "The complete opposite happened. We came out cold and they hit a couple
of buckets and built that lead. That was tough. Pottsville
(59) Hinchliffe 3 0-0 7, Jackson 1 0-0 2, Painter 1 0-0 3, Blankenhorn 9 4-5 27, Toomey 0-0-0 0, Dunkel 1 0-0 2, Melochick
3 2-2 9, Shuman 0 0-0 0, Witman 0 0-0 0, Adams 0 0-0 0, Nabholz 4 0-0 8, Coyle 0 0-0 0, Hampford 0 1-2 1 Totals: 22
7-9 59 Nativity (25) Hoppel 0- 0-0 0,Hunyara 0 0-2 0, Yordy 6 2-2 15, Kaledas 1 1-2 3, Palamar
1 1-2 3, Sabol 1 0-0 2, Mickey 0 0-0 0, Greco 0 0-0 0, DiNicola 0 0-0 0, Piccioni 0 0-0 0, McGovern 0 0-0 0 Totals:
10 4-4-25 Pottsville (8-1) 11 13 16
19 -- 59 Nativity (5-2) 7 6 9
3 -- 25 3-point FG's: Yordy, Hinchliffe, Painter, Blankenhorn
5, Melochick
Battle of the guards at the Battle of HillsPosted on December 30, 2013 by mcarnahan 0 Comments By Mike Carnahan, Republican-Herald Sports Writer
The annual Battle of Hills boys’
basketball contest between Nativity and Pottsville hasn’t been all that competitive recently.
Perhaps tonight’s
game at Martz Hall, which tips off at 7:30 p.m. following the girls’ game, will be different.
For certain, the
Hilltoppers (5-1) bring the strongest team into the contest that they have had in the past few years.
After losing to
Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg 56-51 in its season opener Dec. 11, the Hilltoppers have won five consecutive games. Outside of
a 73-70 overtime victory over Weatherly in the first round of the Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech Tournament on Dec. 20, their wins
haven’t been that close, with the average margin of victory 18.6 points per game. That included a 75-45 rout of Weatherly
last Friday.
Of course, Pottsville (7-1) is playing well, too.
After a 58-34 loss to Wilson West Lawn on Dec. 11,
the Crimson Tide have won six in a row, and their games haven’t been all that close, either. Their average margin of
victory during the winning streak has been 25.8 points per game, including a 73-39 victory over Hamburg on Saturday.
Tonight’s
game also features two of the hottest offensive players in the Schuylkill League in Nativity’s Jeff Yordy and the Tide’s
Travis Blankenhorn.
Yordy, who won the individual scoring title last season at 17.5 points per game, has picked right
up where he left off in spring. The junior guard is averaging 27 points per game so far and has cracked 30 points twice this
year, scoring 31 during a 65-37 victory over Shenandoah Valley on Dec. 19 and a season- and career-high 34 last Friday in
the win over the Wreckers.
After averaging 13.4 points per game last season – good for seventh in the league –
Blankenhorn, also a junior guard, is averaging 20.9 points per game. His season high, which is also a career high, was 33
in a 53-37 victory over Williamsport on Dec. 17.
The Crimson Tide will be the favorite again tonight and if Nativity
has any chance of pulling off the upset, a strong start is a must.
"Crimson Tide Hammers Hamburg" This afternoon the Crimson Tide continued its winning ways with an
73-39 victory over the Hamburg Hawks. The Tide was led by Travis "Money" Blankenhorn's 21 points followed by the
"Big Easy" Eli Nabholz and "Jordan "Melo" Melochick, each with 12 points a piece. Ty Painter put
up his best numbers of the season with 8 points. The Crimson Tide coasted in the second half with the starters not seeing
any action in the fourth quarter. The next game for the Tide is the "Battle of the hills" versus cross town rival
Nativity on Monday night. Pottsville (73)
Hinchliffe 3 0-1 7, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Painter 1 6-6 8, Blankenhorn 8 3-4 21, Toomey 0 2-3 2, Dunkel 0 0-0 0, Melochick
5 0-1 12, Witman 0 0-0 0, Adams 2 0-1 5, Nabolz 5 2-2 12, Coyle 0 0-0 0, Hampford 2 0-0 6, Totals 24 13-18 73 Hamburg (39) Fink 0 0-0 0, Barter 4 2-2 10, Siedel 1 0-0 2, Schlottman
2 2-2 7, Warner 2 0-0 4, Kisha 6 1-2 16, Lesher 0 0-0 0, Totals 15 5-6 39 Pottsville (7-1) 26 19 20 8 -- 73 Hamburg (1-8) 7 10 8 14 -- 39 3 point FG's: Blankenhorn 2, Melochick 2, Hampford 2, Adams, Hinchliffe, Kisha 3, Schlottman
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Defense lead Crimson Tide
past Tamaqua by mike carnahan (staff writer mcarnahan @republicanherald.com) Published: December 23, 2013
TAMAQUA - It's a story line that's been written plenty of times in the past,
and will be written plenty of more times in the future.
The Pottsville boys' basketball program under coach Dave Mullaney is all about man-to-man defense. "Coach Mullaney just appears to be a defensive guru,"
Tamaqua coach Caszy Kosciolek said. Monday
was no different. And the Crimson Tide may have found themselves two new defensive stoppers, too. Travis Blankenhorn (17 points), Jordan Melochick (16) and Eli Nabholz
(15) all hit double figures for Pottsville, but it was its defensive effort that led the way again in a 50-41 victory over
Tamaqua in Schuylkill League Division I contest at the Tamaqua Athletic Complex.
The victory was the 45th consecutive in the division for the Crimson Tide (6-1, 2-0
D-I). And despite four new starters, they have picked right up where they left off last year when they allowed 36.3 points
per game. In its first seven games this season, Pottsville
is giving up 39.2 points per game. The most it allowed in a game this year came during a 58-43 loss to Wilson West Lawn on
Dec. 11. "Great defensive effort, a great team
effort," the Crimson Tide's Ty Painter said. "Help on defense, we contested all their shots. They had to work for
everything they got. They are a good team. It was a good win for us."
Painter, a junior, and Melochick, a sophomore, are two of the new starters for Pottsville
this season. And both were the main defensive heros for the Crimson Tide on Monday, although everybody had a part. For most of the game, Melochick was responsible for guarding
the Raiders' 6-foot-7 forward, Brett Kosciolek, while Painter drew the assignment of Tamaqua point guard Bo Rottet. Rottet finished the night with 17 points, including eight
in the fourth quarter, while Kosciolek added 14. But it turned out to be a rough night for both. Almost every time Kosciolek got the ball, Melochick was right on
him and got help for a double- and sometimes triple-team on Kosciolek, who finished the night 4-for-17 from the floor. "I just really had to crowd him and make sure he had
to put the ball on the floor," Melochick said. "I didn't want him to put any 3s up so he had to put the ball on
the floor. I got help from my teammates." The Raiders were 14-for-41 (34
percent) from the floor Monday and a focus of the Crimson Tide's defense was shutting down the 3-pointer. The Raiders came
in averaging 6.2 3s per game but were 2-for-12 from beyond the arc Monday, Rottet, who knocked down seven 3s in Saturday's
69-43 rout of Hamburg, hit both. "Pottsville
does that to a lot of teams," Caszy Kosciolek said. "We didn't shoot it particularly well. They take you out of
what you want to do. They contest passes, they contest shots, and you got one shot and done." Offensively, Pottsville was 21-for-37 (57 percent) shooting Monday,
taking advantage of several opportunities inside off cuts to the basket and low-post moves. The key quarter turned out to be the third. The Crimson Tide led
24-19 at 7:36 after the Raiders' Zach Wargula scored on a cut inside. But Pottsville went on a 15-6 run from there, hitting
7-for-10 from the floor. Blankenhorn
started the run, scoring on a move inside. Melochick then put in layup off a back-side cut, Nabholz hit a jumper from the
top of the circle and Melochick put in his own miss to make it 33-23 Crimson Tide at 4:06 of the third. "We always stress that, coming out, first 4 minutes of the
third quarter," Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said. "We thought that if we could win the first four minutes, we
could win the game. And our guys came out really aggressive and we went back to turning our motion a little bit more and trying
to work inside out and get the ball in the post and getting a couple of easy ones like that got us going." Game Summary: Pottsville (50) Hinchliffe 1 0-0 2, Painter 0 0-1 0, Blankenhorn 5 5-6 17, Toomey 0
0-0 0, Melochick 7 1-2 16, Nabholz 6 2-2 15, Hampford 0 0-0 0 Totals 19 8-11 50
Tamaqua (41) Blaker 0 0-0 0, Wargula 1 2-2 4, Rottet 6 3-5 17, Frantz 1 0-2 2, Tr. Skripko 0 0-0 0, MacDonald 0 0-0
0, Marcin 1 0-0 2, Ty Skripko 0 0-0 0, Kosciolek 4 6-6 14, Ch Hartung 0-00 0 Totals:14 11-13 41 Pottsville (6-1, 2-0) 11 13 15 11 -- 50 Tamaqua (5-2,
0-2) 6 11 8 16 -- 41 3-point FG's:
Blankenhorn 2, Melochick, Nabholz, Rottet 2
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| Rank | School | W | L | T | | 1 | Allentown Central Catholic
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.836000 | | 2 | Blue Mountain | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.774379 | | 3 | Pottsville
Area | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0.729768 | | 4 | Salisbury Township | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.712794 | | 5 | Northern
Lehigh | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.693461 | | 6 | Tamaqua Area | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0.616618 | | 7 | Lehighton
Area | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0.586186 | | 8 | Southern Lehigh | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0.567851 | | 9 | Panther
Valley | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.565662 | | 10 | Wilson Area | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.481733 | | 11 | Bethlehem
Catholic | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0.469221 | | 12 | Northwestern Lehigh | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0.399245 | | 13 | Saucon
Valley | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0.396667 | | 14 | Jim Thorpe Area | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0.339153 | | 15 | Palisades
| 1 | 5 | 0 | 0.327394 | | 16 | Palmerton Area | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0.262305 |
OTHERS
TO WATCH: Archbishop Wood (12)2-2, Central Valley (7) 5-1, Crestwood (2) 5-1, Farrell (10) 6-0, General McLane (10)
4-1, Girard (10) 4-1, Glen Mills (1) 4-2, Honesdale (2) 6-0, Indiana (7) 6-1, Knoch (7) 6-0, Mars (7) 4-2, Montour (7) 4-0,
Pottsville (11) 6-1, Scranton Prep (2) 5-0, Sharon (10) 4-1, Steel Valley (7) 5-1, Susquehanna Twp (3) 4-2,
Thomas Jefferson (7) 7-1, West York (3) 6-0.
Pottsville Rolls past Berwick The Crimson Tide rolls past Berwick Bulldogs 71-29 at Martz Hall. The Tide
improved their record to 5 - 1, With a well balanced attack, the Tide had four players in double digits with Kevin Hampford
scoring a career high of 16 points, followed By Travis"Money" Blankenhorn and The "Big Easy" Eli Nabholz,
each had 15 points and Connor Hincliffe also scoring a career high of 12 points. The Tide open up with a 15-11, first quarter
lead and pushed it to 37-14 half time led, with a 22-3 run. The Tide closed the second half with every player getting some
playing time to close out the game at 71-29. The Tide takes it's show on the road, Monday night to battle at Tamaqua,
the first big test in this young season. Pottsville
(71) Coyle 1 0-0 3, Toomey 0 0-0 0, Blankenhorn 7 1-1 15, Nabholz 4 7-8 15, Painter 0 0-0 0, Hinchcliffe 3 3-5 12, Jackson
1 0-0 2, Melochick 2 0-0 4, Witman 1 0-0 2, Adams 1 0-0 2, Hampford 4 2-2 16 Berwick (29) Edwards 1 0-0 3, Melito 1 3-4 5, Reigel 1 2-4 4, Evans 1 6-7 8, Dalio 0 4-6 4, Roberts
2 0-0 4, Goddard 0 1-2 1, Pierce 0 0-0 0, Woodeschnk 0-0-0 0, Balliet 0 0-0 0, Divalero 0-0-0 0 Totals 6 16-23 29 Pottsville (5-1) 15 22 21 13 -- (71) Berwick ( ) 11 3 11 4 -- (29) 3 Point FG's- Hampford 2, Blankenhorn, Coyle
Crimson Tide Clips the Cardinals Wings The Pottsville Crimson Tide clipped the Pine Grove Cardinals wings
to the tune of 72-32 for the 60th straight Schuylkill league win. Travis "Money" Blankenhorn led all scorers with
23 points,including three 3-pointers, followed by Jordan "Melo" Melochick with 17 points and the "Big
Easy" Eli Nabholz scored 16 points. All the Tide players contribute to the win in one way or
another. Pottsville jumped out to a 16-7 lead after the first quarter, and extended that lead to 37-16 lead at the half. The Tide improved it's record to 4-1 on the season. Pottsville (72) Hinchliffe 1 2-3 5, Jackson 1 0-1 2, Painter 0 0-0 0, Blankenhorn 10 0-0 23, Dunkel 3 0-0 6, Toomey
0 0-0 0, Melochick 6 4-5 17, Witman 1 0-0 2, Adams 0 0-1 0, Nabholz 6 3-3 16, Coyle 0 0-0 0, Hampford 0 1-2 1, Totals: 28
10-15 72 Pine Grove (32) Rossi 0 0-0 0, Blankenhorn 1 2-2 4, A. White 1 0-0 2, Cataldo 0 0-0 0, T. White 0 1-3 1, J. White
0 0-0 0, D'Agostino 6 2-4 16, Weinus 1 4-5 6, Keefer 0 3-6 3, Mars 0 0-0 0 Totals: 9 12-20 32 Pottsville(4-1, 1-0) 16 21 14
21 -- (72) Pine Grove(1-5, 0-3) 7 9 9 7 -- (32) 3-Point FG's: Blankenhorn 3, Hincliffe, Melochick, Nabholz, D'Agostino 2 JV Score Pottsville 57-10
"Crimson Tide cashes in on Williamsport
Millionaires"
Travis "Money" Blankenhorn leds the Crimson Tide over Williamsport
53-37 Travis Blankenhorn had a monster night
with a career-high 33 points as Pottsville pulled off it's biggest win so far this season with a 53-37 victory over AAAA Williamsport
on Tuesday in a non-league basketball contest. Travis"Money" Blankenhorn was 6 for 6 from 3 point land in the game,
and added seven rebounds and three assists. His previous career high in points was 24 against Pine Grove last season. Eli
"Big Easy" Nabholz added nine points and four blocks for the Crimson Tide, while Jordan "Melo" Melochick
had six points and seven rebounds. Pottsville led 11-8 after the first quarter and 31-19 at the half. Isaiah Washington had 15 points for the Millionaires as Melochick kept
one of Williamsport's best players (and Penn State bound)under control. Pottsville
(53): Blankenhorn 11 5-7 33, Nabholz 4 0-0 9, Melochick 3 0-0 6, Painter 0 0-0 0, Hampford 0 0-0 0, Dunkel 0 0-0 0, Hinchliffe
2 0-2 5, Witman 0 0-0 0 Totals 20 5-9 53 Williamsport (37): Washington
4 5-11 15, Benjamin 1 0-0 2, Gardner 3 0-1 6, Gosley 3 0-0 6, Boone 2 2-2 6, Simmons 0 0-0 0, Harman 0 0-0 0, Manzitti 0 0-0
0, Smith 0 0-0 0, Johnson 1 0-0 2 Totals 14 7-14 37 Pottsville (3-1) 11
20 16 6 -- (53) Williamsport
(1-3) 8 11 11 7 -- (37) 3-point FG's:
Blankenhorn 6, Nabholz, Hinchliffe, Washington
Crimson Tide Rolls over Governor Mifflin Travis Blankenhorn poured in a game high 20 points to pace four Crimson
Tide players in double figures in their non-league victory over the Mustangs. Joradn Melochick added 14 points for Pottsville, while Eli Nabholz had 12 and Connor Hinchliffe had
10. The Tide got out to a 16-6 laed after the first quarter and led 26-19 t half. Pottsville (58) Blankenhorn 7 3-6 20 Hampford 0 0-0 0, Hinchliffe 3 3-5 10, Melochick 2 9-10 14, Nabholz
5 1-3 12, Painter 0 2-2 2 Whitman 0 0-0 0, Totals: 17 18-26 58 Governor Mifflin (44) Holf 3 6-10 12, Mckinight 0 0-0 0, Ovid 2 1-2 6, Peters 0 0-0 0, Pollack 0 0-0 0, Quigley
0 1-2 1, B. Rodriguez 3 1-2 7, S. Rodriguez 7 2-5 16, Willet 1 0-0 2, Totals 16 11-21 44 Pottsville:
16 - 10 - 16 - 16 - (58) Governor Mifflin 6 - 13
- 11 - 14- (44) 3 point FG's: Blankenhorn (3), Hinchliffe,
Melochick, Nabholz,
Division I All talk about Division I, and the Schuylkill League for that matter, starts with Pottsville. The
Crimson Tide won their fourth consecutive Schuylkill League title last February, and have won 43 consecutive Division I games. On
the downside, the Tide lost four starters to graduation, including 2012-13 Republican-Herald Player of the Year Brandon Bridy
(15.9 ppg), who is currently at Kutztown University, along with Ryan Coyle, Bobby Witman and Zach Wile. Pottsville finds
itself in a similar position to the one it was entering 2011-12 when Nick Schlitzer graduated and Bridy became the main scoring
threat. Now it is Blankenhorn's turn to become the leader. The 6-foot-2 junior guard was mostly a 3-point shooter
as a freshman. Last year he became more of a threat in transition and slashing to the basket. This season, he's added low-post
moves. What will give Pottsville a major boost inside is a healthy Eli Nabholz (5.0 ppg in 8 games). The 6-5 junior
showed plenty of potential as a freshman but due to two separate injuries, last year was pretty much a loss. Sophomore
Jordan Melochick (4.0) also saw plenty of time as a freshman and, along with Nabholz, should give Pottsville a solid inside
game. Still, the Crimson Tide don't have a lot of overall varsity experience, and that is the biggest concern for coach
Dave Mullaney. "We've had a great offseason, we really have," he said. "I am hoping with all that effort
in the offseason that the learning curve isn't too steep for us." Blue Mountain was the division runner-up and
league wild-card a year ago and returns three starters in Bornstein, Kyle Slane (12.0) and Shane Grapsy (6.2). Quick, athletic
guards allowed the Eagles to play an aggressive style last season on both ends of the floor and the plan is for more of the
same. The Eagles did lose their top 3-point shooter in Peter Harding (53 3s), but Slane (34 3s) and Grapsy (24 3s) both
showed they can hit from the perimeter last year. One new face who could play a major role is sophomore Mark Chelius,
who transferred from Wyomissing. Chelius was projected to be the Spartans' starting point guard this season before his move
to Blue Mountain. One team that should make a major move upward is Tamaqua, which last season reached the District 11
playoffs for the first time since 2004 and won its first district playoff game since 2001. The Raiders have four starters
back. In addition to Kosciolek, who is developing into one of the league's better all-around offensive players, junior Bo
Rottet (10.3 ppg) returns to run the point, while junior Zach Wargula (8.6) and senior Adam Frantz (6.2) are also back. This
is one of the more anticipated seasons for the Raiders in recent memory. In order for Tamaqua to contend for a division title,
the defense needs to improve after it allowed 50.2 points per game last year. That is also the case at Panther Valley,
which gave up 56.8 points per game in 2012-13. But there is experience back in addition to Szczecina, as seniors Luke Stano
(5.1 ppg), Kyle Ferryman (5.1 ppg) and Jake Kusko (2.3 ppg) return. North Schuylkill took a big graduation hit, with
senior Jake Damiter (10.7 ppg) the Spartans' lone returning starter. Damiter is 6-foot-4 and, along with 6-5 Matt Manbeck
and 6-5 sophomore Tevin Murray, gives the Spartans some size inside. Junior Kobe D'Agostino (11.4 ppg), last season's
Republican-Herald Rookie of the Year, returns for Pine Grove, while David Everitt (5.2) and Bryce Micciche (4.3) are the only
two players that have any significant varsity experience for Jim Thorpe. Blue Mountain Head coach: Dustin Werdt
(11th season) Last year: 18-6 overall, 10-2 D-I. Division I wild card, District 11 Class AAA qualifier Returnees:
Kyle Slane (sr., G), Will Bornstein (sr., G), Shane Grapsy (sr., F), Skyler Panchari (sr., C), Ian Donovan (soph., G) Newcomers:
Luke Harding (sr., F), Conner Eifert (sr., F), Dean Stramara (jr., G), Mark Chelius (soph., G, transfer from Wyomissing) Outlook:
With athletic guards, the same aggressive style of play the Eagles used last season will return. The hope is to establish
more depth. Will be in contention for the division title again. Jim Thorpe Head coach: Grant Whary (1st season) Last
year: 3-19, 1-11 D-I Returnees (positions not available): Bryce Micciche (sr.), David Everitt (jr.) Newcomers
(positions not available): Alex Heydt (sr.), Steven Principe (sr.), Deonte St. Hill (sr.), Todd Lawrence (sr.), Nick Acker
(sr.), Shane Snisky (jr.), Ryan Carroll (jr.), Jordan McElmoyle (soph.), Rayan Green (soph.) Outlook: The Olympians
lack varsity experience and defense might be the strong suit early as the offense attempts to find some consistent scorers
under a new coach. In a rebuilding mode. North Schuylkill Head coach: Curt Ziegmont (11th season) Last year:
15-8, 7-5 D-I. District 11 Class AA qualifier Returnee: Jake Damiter (sr., G-F) Newcomers: Brett Ennis (sr., G),
Matt Manbeck (sr., F), Ryan McDonald (sr., G-F), Connor Carney (jr., G), Justin Heaton (jr., F), Ryan Hillbish (jr., G), Chris
Karlonis (jr., F), Ryan Mazeika (jr. F), Jordan Marlow (soph., G), Alex Mazur (soph., G), Tevin Murray (soph., F), Major Jordan
(fr., G-F) Outlook: The Spartans were hit hard by graduation. They do have some size, and in order to for the Spartans
continue their winning tradition, they need to find some scoring. The goal is to quickly find an identity, and if that happens,
they could make noise in the division. Panther Valley Head coach: Patrick Crampsie (12th season) Last
year: 6-16, 4-9 D-I Returnees: Kyle Ferryman (sr., G), Jake Kusko (sr., G), Luke Stano (sr., F), Jake Szczecina (sr.,
G) Newcomers: Pat Owens (sr., G), Chad Dubosky (jr., F), Cee Keo (jr., G), Ethan Vermillion (jr., F), Matt Hudicka (soph.,
G-F), Charles Nase (soph., F), Anthony Miholick (fr., G) Outlook: The Panthers should be able to put the ball in the
net, especially from the outside. But the defensive toughness that was missing last season needs to be re-established. If
that happens, the Panthers could be competitive in the division and in the running for a district postseason spot. Pine
Grove Head coach: Frank D'Agostino (1st season) Last year: 6-16, 3-9 D-I Returnees: Jed Blankenhorn (sr.,
G), Ryan Keefer (sr., F-C), Mark Weinus (jr., F), Kobe D'Agostino (jr., G) Newcomers: Jon White (sr., C), Austin White
(sr., G), Nick Cataldo (sr., G), Ty Kiser (jr, C), Luke Rossi (jr., F), Brett Mars (jr., F) Outlook: The Cardinals look
to rebound under a new coach and new system. Their size might allow them to disrupt opposing offenses and get out on the fast
break. The goal is to qualify for districts. Pottsville Head coach: Dave Mullaney (7th
season) Last year: 21-6, 12-0 D-I. Division I champion, Schuylkill League champion, District 11 Class
AAA semifinalist Returnees: John Toomey (sr., F), Travis Blankenhorn (jr., G), Eli Nabholz (jr., F),
Ty Painter (jr., G), Jordan Melochick (soph., F) Newcomers: Pat Coyle (jr. G), Jed Dunkel (jr., F),
Kevin Hampford (jr., G), Connor Hinchliffe (jr., G), Derek Shuman (jr., G) Outlook: Blankenhorn is
the lone returning starter and the lack of varsity experience is a concern. Still, the Tide will compete for their fifth consecutive
division and overall league titles. Tamaqua Head coach: Caszy Kosciolek (3rd
season) Last year: 14-10, 6-6 D-I. District 11 Class AAA quarterfinalist Returnees:
Adam Frantz (sr., F), Chris Hartung (sr., C), Zach Wargula (jr., G), Bo Rottet (jr., G), Trevor Skripko (jr., F), Tyler Skripko
(jr., F), Brett Kosciolek (jr. G-F) Newcomers: Joe Marcin (sr., G-F), Dylan Van Buskirk (sr., C), Ben
Miller (jr., G), Nate MacDonald (jr., G), Connor Hartung (jr., F), Devin Murphy (jr., C), Russell Blaker (soph., G) Outlook:
After a district playoff berth last year, the anticipation for the Raiders this season is high. Should be solid offensively,
but the defense needs to improve in order to take the next step. This could be the year the Raiders become one of the division's
top teams.
Wilson defeats the Tide Wilson used the 3-pointer to outgun the Crimson Tide, as the Bulldogs scored
eight times from beyond the 3 point arc to send Pottsville to it's first loss. Sam Smith led the way for Wilson with 19 points,
including three 3-pointers. Matt Timochenko posted 11 points. The Tide was led by Travis Blankenhorn who scored 22 points for the Tide, Jordan"Melo" Melochick added
8 points for the Tide. Pottsville: (43) - Hinchliffe 3 0-0 6, Painter 1 0-0 2, Blankenhorn 8 5-5
22, Toomey 0 0-0 0, Melochick 2 3-6 8, Witman 0 0-0 0, Nabholz 2 1-1 5 Totals 16 9-12 43 Wilson: (58) - Templin
1 0-0 3, Smith 8 0-0 19, Connolly 0 0-0 0, Gaynor 0 0-0 0, Coad 5 2-2 13, Calloway 4 0-0 10, Rivera 0 0-0 0, Lubas 1 0-0 2,
Timochenko 2 6-8 11, Totals 21 8-10 58
Crimson Tide open with rout of DanvilleBY MIKE CARNAHAN (STAFF WRITER mcarnahan@republicanherald.com) Published:
December 6, 2013 Pottsville's Eli Nabholz battled a variety of injuries last winter
and missed most of the Crimson Tide's basketball season. If Friday
is any indication, the now-healthy junior forward could on the verge of a big year. Nabholz had a career-high 19 points,
while Travis Blankenhorn and Jordan Melochick also hit in double figures, as Pottsville opened its season with a 53-34 rout
of Danville at Martz Hall. Nabholz played in only eight games last season, missing the first 15 with a back injury.
In his third game back against Blue Mountain on Jan. 29, he injured his ankle and missed the next four contests. He then returned
for Pottsville's final five games. "It is amazing coming out, especially with the group of guys we have here,"
Nabholz said. "It is just so much fun to be back out and just play hard for a full game. It is a phenomenal feeling,
especially in Martz." Nabholz scored the Tide's first points of the game on a kick-out 3-pointer from John Toomey,
but had his best quarter in the second with eight points. He hit his second 3-pointer of the game, and then muscled his way
inside to score and complete the three-point play after he was fouled. Nabholz's final points of the quarter came on
a spin move in the lane. He added 12 rebounds and also had two blocks. "The key tonight was just my teammates getting
me the ball when I was open," Nabholz said. "I am not a guy who is going to create plays for myself or create plays
for other people. But I just try to be in the right spot and my teammates found me." Blankenhorn added 16 points
and three steals, while Melochick had 15 points, three assists and four steals as the Tide opened the game on an 8-0 run,
led 19-6 after the first quarter and 29-16 at the half. The Ironmen, who finished 19-5 last season and lost to Shikellamy
in the District 4 Class AAA semifinals, returned just one starter from last season in senior Zack Kozick. The Tide wasted
no time in jumping on Danville, forcing seven turnovers in the first quarter, with five on steals, and converting them into
transition points at the other end. It was a perfect start for Pottsville, which had four new starters in its lineup
following last year's fourth consecutive Schuylkill League championship. "We played good coming out and overall
we played solid defensively," Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said. "We have a lot of inexperienced guys and there
are things we are going to get better at. To start off first quarter, we were pretty solid." After Nabholz hit
his 3-pointer and Toomey hit 1-of-2 from the foul line, the Tide's defense took over. Melochick had three steals in the first
five minutes of the game as Pottsville converted all three into points. Melochick set up Blankenhorn after a steal
for a fast-break layup and then, after another steal, Blankenhorn set Melochick up for layup. After Phil Stemm scored the
first points of the game for the Ironmen, Melochick went in for a layup after a steal to give Pottsville a 10-2 lead. Later
in the first, Melochick scored off a baseline drive and competed a three-point play after he was fouled. Blankenhorn added
a layup and scored off an alley-oop from Melochick, while Nabholz scored another fast-break layup. "That was the
deciding factor, getting out ahead," Nabholz said. The Tide finished the game shooting 21-for-45 (47 percent) from
the floor and held Danville to 10-for-39 (26 percent) shooting. But Pottsville did commit 16 turnovers. "We were
good at times and I was happy," Mullaney said. "But we have so many things to clean up. We had so many unforced
turnovers and we are not going to beat too many good teams doing that."
" Coming Soon The 2013-2014 Season" The Drive For Five!!!
The "Mecca" Martz Hall
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