After a year’s absence, Pottsville is back on top of the Schuylkill League in boys’ basketball.
The way the Crimson Tide had to do it made it all the more memorable.
Eli Nabholz scored five of his nine points in overtime as Pottsville was finally able to put away Tamaqua for a thrilling, 33-28 victory in Friday’s league championship game at Martz Hall.
“It was stressful, but it was a lot of fun,” Nabholz said.
The Crimson Tide (24-0) kept their undefeated season alive, but it was far from easy. Still, in what was a rare close game for Pottsville this season, the Tide found a way to get it done in crunch time.
The championship was the fifth in the past six years for the Crimson Tide, who lost 45-44 in last year’s championship game to Mahanoy Area.
Pottsville avenged that loss with a 59-31 rout of the Golden Bears in Wednesday’s semifinals. Now, Pottsville went out a winner in what will be its final game this season at Martz Hall.
“It was very exciting and very close,” Travis Blankenhorn said. “It was a good team win. We played a good team game.”
Pottsville, the Division I champ, won the
two regular-season meetings against the Raiders by double digits, including a 53-26 blowout Jan. 27 at Martz Hall. The third go-around was far different.
A spread offense by Tamaqua (19-5), the Division I wild card, frustrated Pottsville a little bit and kept the game close. Just when the Crimson Tide appeared to be pulling away, Tamaqua rallied in the fourth quarter and tied the game on a 3-pointer by Russell Blaker with 1:12 remaining in regulation.
But overtime belonged to Pottsville, especially Nabholz.
Not only did the 6-foot-5 center give the Crimson Tide the lead for good on their first possession, he was 3-for-4 from the foul line and grabbed three defensive rebounds in the extra session to help seal the victory.
“It is just the will to win,” Nabholz said of his overtime performance. “After last year we had a bitter taste in our mouth. I just wanted to pull my weight and make sure I did whatever I could to help us win and so did everybody else.”
Nabholz finished the game with five rebounds and two blocks. Blankenhorn led the Crimson Tide with 10 points.
Bo Rottet had 10 points and five rebounds to pace the Raiders, who were playing in their first league championship game since beating Marian for the title in 1994. He scored six of his points in the fourth quarter as Tamaqua rallied from a 20-13 deficit to force overtime.
Brett Kosciolek added eight points and four rebounds for the Raiders.
The Crimson Tide won their previous 23 games this season by an average margin of 30.3 points per game. Their closest victory was a 49-46 win Jan. 28 at Berks Catholic.
Friday was new territory for Pottsville, but nobody ever seemed rattled.
“I think we had confidence the whole game,” Blankenhorn said. “We knew that if we stuck together as a team, we would be all right.”
Blankenhorn set up Nabholz on the Crimson Tide’s first possession when he kicked out the ball to the wing after penetration. Nabholz, his foot on the 3-point line, knocked down the jumper to make it 26-24.
After Nabholz grabbed a Tamaqua miss, he quickly got the ball out to Blankenhorn, who ended up scoring a transition layup to make it 28-24.
The Raiders got back to within 1 on their next possession when Kosciolek knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner.
Pottsville then sealed the game from the foul line.
Ty Painter hit both ends of a 1-and-1 situation with 1:28 to go. After Nabholz rebounded another miss, he was fouled and hit the second of a double-bonus situation with 54.5 seconds left.
Nabholz rebounded another Raiders’ miss, was fouled again, and hit both ends of the double-bonus to make it 33-27 with 38.6 seconds remaining.
Tamaqua missed three shots in its final possession. Eventually, Nate MacDonald grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and hit the first of a 1-and-1 with 2.5 seconds left. He missed the second and the clock ran out as the teams scrambled for the rebound.
The Martz Hall crowd of 3,215 people then erupted one last time as the Crimson Tide rushed to the center of the court to celebrate a championship.
“It is just a blessing to come out, especially here in front of so many people,” Nabholz said. “The crowd was great tonight both ways. Tamaqua had a great game plan. We always say we need to come out and play our game. It took us a little bit to get into our game but we did. Hats off to Tamaqua, they played a great game.”
The victory gave Pottsville the No. 1 seed for the District 11 Class AAA playoffs and settled Tamaqua into fourth. The Blue Raiders open district play with a quarterfinal game next Saturday against North Schuylkill, while Pottsville will face the winner of Tuesday’s first-round game between Lehighton and Blue Mountain.
Game Summary
Schuylkill League Boys’ Championship
At Martz Hall
TAMAQUA (28) — Blaker 1 0-0 3, Miller 1 0-1 2, Rottet 4 1-1 10, Zuber 1 0-0 2, MacDonald 1 1-2 3, Skripko 0 0-0 0, Kosciolek 2 2-2 8. Totals 10 4-6 28.
POTTSVILLE (33) — Hinchliffe 1 0-0 2, Painter 0 2-2 2, Blankenhorn 4 3-4 11, Dunkel 0 0 0-0 0, Melochick 0 3-6 3, Shuman 0 0-0 0, Witman 0 0-0 0, Abdo 2 0-0 6, Nabholz 2 5-6 9. Totals 9 13-18 33.
Tam (19-5) 0 7 6 11 4 — 28 Pot (24-0) 2 8 9 5 9 — 33
3-point FGs: Blaker, Rottet, Kosciolek 2, Abdo 2
2014-15 — Potttsville
2013-14 — Mahanoy Area
2012-13 — Pottsville
2011-12 — Pottsville
2010-11 — Pottsville
2009-10 — Pottsville
2008-09 — N. Schuylkill
2007-08 — Shamokin
2006-07 — Blue Mountain
2005-06 — Mahanoy Area
2004-05 — Mahanoy Area
2003-04 — Pottsville
2002-03 — Blue Mountain
2001-02 — Shamokin
2000-01 — Shamokin
1999-2000 — Pottsville
1998-99 — Mahanoy Area
1997-98 — Shamokin
1996-97 — Shamokin
1995-96 — Shamokin
1994-95 — Pottsville
1993-94 — Tamaqua
1992-93 — Pottsville
1991-92 — Shamokin
1990-91 — Mahanoy Area
1989-90 — Lourdes
1988-89 — Pottsville
1987-88 — Lourdes
1986-87 — Pine Grove
1985-86 — Panther Valley
1984-85 — Pottsville
1983-84 — Pottsville
1982-83 — Pottsville
1981-82 — Saint Clair
1980-81 — Pottsville
1979-80 — Pottsville
1978-79 — Mahanoy Area
1977-78 — N. Schuylkill
1976-77 — N. Schuylkill
1975-76 — Tamaqua
1974-75 — Blue Mountain
1973-74 — Blue Mountain