ORWIGSBURG - Mahanoy Area had been idle since defeating Pottsville in the Schuylkill League championship 10 days ago.
Pounding the paint on both sides of the floor knocked off any rust in a hurry during Tuesday night's District 11 Class A semifinal.
Led by 6-foot-5 center Tyler Cavenas, who scored 13 of his game-high 16 points in the first half, the Golden Bears opened up a double-digit margin less than 12 minutes into the game and never looked back in a 59-32 win over Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg at Blue Mountain High School.
For the third straight season, Mahanoy Area will square off against Pius X for the district title at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Martz Hall. The two teams have split title games the last two years - with both games being decided by two points - and split their two meetings this season.
"I was scared going into tonight, because it was a layoff," Mahanoy Area head coach Mickey Holland said.
"Sunday and Monday I was stressed, and I am not a real fun guy when I am stressed. I was hoping I didn't over do it with them, but this is a very tough group of kids."
The top-seeded Golden Bears (23-2) responded to what Holland described as two scrimmages and a taxing practice during the layoff with toughness around the basket.
Outside of Cavenas, Mahanoy Area gave up size to Spartans and answered the challenge by limiting its opponent to just one shot.
Cavenas finished the night with 13 rebounds as he countered the bigger Spartans.
"I saw them last week and I thought they were a dangerous team because they are taller than us and they are athletic," Holland said. "We did a great job on the boards and that was important for us since they were bigger than us."
What Cavenas was able to do offensively put the Golden Bears on par for its season average of 57 points per game.
The senior scored 10 points in the second quarter and became the favorite target of guard Dylan Mahmod. Mahmod, who finished the night with eight assists, pounded the ball inside to Cavenas four times in the second quarter.
Cavenas scored three of Mahanoy Area's final four buckets in the final 3:42 of the first half, while Mahmod added a 3-pointer to give the Golden Bears a 29-15 lead. Mahmod finished with 14 points.
"Tyler has been terrific. He is the anchor and he's a pretty athletic guy for his size," Holland said.
"It was very important that it just didn't come down to him defensively in the paint. Just in case he had to help out on guards, and they got second shots."
Larry McNeil had the biggest chore defensively for Mahanoy Area against thrasher Tyerell Mann.
In the first quarter, Mann made several driving attempts at the basket, drawing a pair of fouls in the opening four minutes. Mann scored seven points in the game's opening 8:30, but was held to just seven more the remainder of the game.
McNeil also contributed offensively for the Golden Bears, scoring seven of his 13 points in the second half.
"Larry did a nice job on Mann. You aren't going to stop that kid because he is a nice player, but Larry played really well defensively," Holland said.
Pius X 71 Nativity 50
STROUDSBURG - Kyle Kaledas recorded a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds, but the Hilltoppers fell to the Royals in a District 11 Class A semifinal at Stroudsburg High School.
Jeff Yordy led Nativity with a game-high 22 points, but the Hilltoppers never recovered after falling behind 20-4 after one quarter.
Nick Brotzman drained five 3-pointers and scored 17 points for Pius X, while Anthony Holmes netted 16 and Eric Marbury and John Goffredo each scored 14. The Royals shot 28-for-58 (48 percent) from the field and hit nine 3-pointers.