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."