Pottsville’s defense has overwhelmed the opposition at times this season.
That was the case Wednesday night.
The Crimson Tide’s intensity on defense allowed Pottsville to overcome an early deficit and roll to a 59-31 victory over Mahanoy Area in the Schuylkill League boys’ basketball semifinals at Martz Hall.
Travis Blankenhorn had 12 points and Jordan Abdo came off the bench to score 10 as the Crimson Tide (23-0) reached the title game for the sixth consecutive year.
Pottsville will take on Division I wild card Tamaqua (19-4) for the championship at 8 p.m. Friday at Martz Hall. The Raiders beat Division II champ Minersville 59-53 in Wednesday’s other semifinal.
It will be third meeting between the Crimson Tide and Tamaqua this season. Pottsville won 57-40 on Jan. 5 and 53-26 on Jan. 27.
“It is always good to play at Martz Hall,” said Pottsvile senior Connor Hinchliffe, who had eight points Wednesday. “There is nothing better than playing at Martz Hall with everyone here and are looking forward to seeing us play.”
The Crimson Tide’s 45-44 loss to Mahanoy Area during last year’s title game denied Pottsville a fifth straight league title. Avenging that loss provided a little extra motivation Wednesday.
“Mahanoy is a good team,” Pottsville’s Ty Painter said. “We came in with a chip on our shoulder and we wanted to make sure we got back to the finals again.”
It was a little shaky early for the Crimson Tide as the Golden Bears (18-5) hit their first four shots to take an 11-2 lead 3:21 into the game.
The rest of the night belonged to Pottsville.
The Crimson Tide, the Division I champs, tied the game at 13 early in the second quarter, starting a 21-4 scoring advantage in the period to give Pottsville a 32-17 halftime advantage.
Division III champion Mahanoy Area got to within 34-22 midway through the third quarter, but the Crimson Tide put the game away with a 19-2 run that lasted into the fourth.
A big factor was Pottsville’s man-to-man defensive intensity.
After the Golden Bears’ early lead, the Crimson Tide put the clamps on Mahanoy Area. Pottsville made it difficult for the Golden Bears to get any kind of rhythm going in their half-court sets. Mahanoy Area rushed what shots it did get and finished the
night 12-for-41 (29 percent) from the floor. The Golden Bears also committed 25 turnovers.
The defensive effort started with Painter, who was matched up on Mahanoy Area point guard Mike Joseph.
“They have great players all around,” Painter said. “He’s a good ball-handler. We just kept putting pressure on them, don’t let them catch the ball and keep it up defensively.”
Hinchliffe added nine rebounds and three steals on the night. He also hit some big buckets in the first half.
Hinchliffe had a 3-pointer with 23 seconds in the first quarter from the corner on a kick-out pass from Eli Nabholz that pulled Pottsville to within 13-11.
After a reverse, baseline layup by Nabholz early in the second quarter tied the game at 13, Hinchliffe gave the Crimson Tide the lead for good on their next possession when he scored off a Jordan Melochick missed 3-pointer. Hinchliffe hit another 3 with 4:08 left in the first half from the top of the circle to make it 22-13.
Hinchliffe, who came in averaging 4.5 points per game, has seen his offense pick up the last couple of games. He 16 points combined during Crimson Tide wins over Lehighton and Jim Thorpe last week.
“I think early in the year it was just kind of a confidence issue,” Hinchliffe said. “Not many 3s were going in, but I think I just needed to get that first good game to stay confident. Now, when I get an open shot, I feel confident I am going to knock it down.
Matt Yedsena had 10 points to pace the Golden Bears, while Joseph added eight.
A turnaround jumper in the lane by Miller on Mahanoy Area’s opening possession, followed by a 3-pointer by Joseph and back-to-back 3s by Miller and Yedsena gave the Golden Bears their early 11-2 led. But Mahanoy Area didn’t score again in the first quarter until a Mike Wronski layup with 45 seconds left.
Their next field goal of the game came with 1:04 remaining in the first half, making it 29-17 Pottsville.
“The first quarter, we did everything we talked about the last two days,” Mahanoy Area coach Scott Hudson said. “ We boxed out perfectly, ran our sets, set hard screens. But they picked up their defense and sort of shut us down a little bit at the guard position and sort of gave us some problems.
“Give them credit, their defense picked it up.”
Game Summary
Schuylkill League Boys’ Semifinal
At Martz Hall
POTTSVILLE (59) — Hinchliffe 3 0-0 8, Gerchak 0 0-0 0, Painter 2 0-1 3, Blankenhorn 3 6-6 12, Thomas 0 0-0 0, Dunkel 2 0-0 4, Melochick 2 5-5 9, Shuman 0 0-0 0, Witman 1 0-0 2, Abdo 5 0-0 10, Nabholz 3 2-2 6, Coyle 1 0-0 3, Renninger 0 0-0 0, Schenck 1 0-0 2, O’Pake 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 13-14 59.
MAHANOY AREA (31) — Erbe 0 0-0 0, R. Derr 0 0-0 0, Yedsena 4 0-0 10, M. Derr 0 0-0 0, Styka 1 0-0 2, McGee 0 0-0 0, Wronski 2 0-0 5, Fedor 0 0-0 0, Miller 2 1-2 6, Joseph 3 0-0 8. Totals 12 1-2 31.
Pot (23-0) 11 21 14 13 — 59 Mah (18-5) 13 4 9 5 — 31
3-point FGs: Hinchliffe 2, Painter, Coyle, Yedsena 2, Wronski, Miller, Joseph 2