Pottsville's Connor Hinchliffe wasn't exactly sure what his role was going to be this year when basketball practice started in November.
It turned out he's had a key role in the Crimson Tide's continued success this season.
He certainly did Tuesday night.
Hinchliffe, a junior, scored nine of his game-high 13 points in the first quarter, helping Pottsville build an early lead en route to a 56-30 victory over Williams Valley in a Schuylkill League boys' basketball semifinal at Martz Hall.
Hinchliffe's start helped the Division I-champ Crimson Tide (21-3) get out to 17-9 lead after the first quarter, which grew to 23-12 early in the second. Once the Crimson Tide had a double-digit advantage, they never lost it and finished the night holding the Division II-champion Vikings (18-4) to 10-for-41 (24 percent) from the floor, while forcing 16 turnovers.
"We took them out of a lot of what they wanted to do and that was probably the difference," Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said.
The victory gives Pottsville the opportunity to win its fifth consecutive league title. The Crimson Tide will face Division III champion Mahanoy Area, a 49-35 winner over Blue Mountain in Tuesday's other semifinal, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Martz Hall.
The contest is a rematch of last year's championship, which Pottsville won 35-21.
Hinchliffe played for the Crimson Tide last season, but this is his first year as a starter.
"It means a lot because coming into this year, I really wasn't expecting to have that big of a role on the team," Hinchliffe said. "It feels nice to come in, have a big role on the team and now the team is in the championship for the fifth straight time."
Hinchliffe's night was part of balanced offensive attack for the Crimson Tide.
Eli Nabholz added 12 points and five rebounds for Pottsville, while Travis Blankenhorn had 10 points, eight boards and five assists.
It was also a milestone night for Blankenhorn, who went over 1,000 points for his career on drive down the lane at the 6:48 mark of the second quarter.
Jordan Melochick also had nine points for the Tide and Ty Painter tallied eight, all in the second half.
"I thought overall it was a good team effort," Mullaney said. "We didn't just rely on our 1-2-3 to score and everybody got involved. It was a good team win."
Ben Rautzahn had 10 points and six rebounds for Williams Valley, which was missing starter Brendan Miller, who broke his right hand last Thursday against Lourdes. With Jared Matter starting in Miller's place, Vikings' coach Denny Kasper came out in a 3-2 zone instead of his usual 2-3, with Stephen Sedesse playing up top.
"We thought it might make us a little stronger top to bottom," Kasper said. "The last couple of practices, we had we felt it gave us the best chance."
The zone had the desired affect of slowing the game down and it gave the Crimson Tide some trouble. But Pottsville's defense made it tough for Williams Valley to find any consistent rhythm on offense.
"The physicality ... that is the most physical team we've played all year," Kasper said.
Although Pottsville didn't have a good night from beyond the 3-point line, hitting 3-of-16, the Crimson Tide still were 20-for-43 (47 percent) overall on the evening.
Pottsville opened the game on a 9-0 run, as Hinchliffe hit a 3-pointer on the Crimson Tide's first possession. Nabholz later scored on a putback, then hit two foul shots, while Hinchliffe scored on a fast-break layup to finish off the run.
"It gave me a lot of confidence," Hinchliffe said of hitting a 3-pointer right off the bat. "It you have an open look, you should shoot it. The open the shots, you have to take them, and to hit a 3 in the beginning really put in a good start in beginning."
The Vikings battled back and cut the deficit to 11-9 after a 3-pointer by Matter at 2:01. But Hinchliffe hit a jumper from the corner, then grabbed a long rebound and went in for a layup with 56 seconds left.
Melochick finished off the quarter on a steal and layup, making it 17-9.
"They do a good job in their 2-3," Mullaney said. "They took away some of the things we were trying to get and they made us more of a perimeter-shooting team. Sometimes when you are hitting those shots, the offense looks great and when you are not, it doesn't look so good."