ORWIGSBURG - Eli Nabholz doesn't really concern himself with making matchups in the post "personal."
Sure, Pottsville's 6-foot-5 big man embraces the challenge of playing better around the rim than his opposing defender.
Nabholz just tries to let his opportunities come to him within the Crimson Tide's offensive sets.
That's usually a good thing, since Pottsville does its best to work the ball inside-out on the offensive end.
In Friday's PIAA Class AAA first-round playoff game, Nabholz received plenty of chances to flourish in the paint and capitalized on most of them.
Nabholz tallied a game-high 25 points, helping Pottsville to a 58-38 rout of Lower Moreland at Blue Mountain High School to advance in the state playoffs for the first time in 40 years.
"I don't know if it was any different. It's something that we stress every game, working inside-out," Nabholz said. "Today instead of passing the ball out of the post, I just had opportunities to score today.
"I try to not get personal," he continued. "I try to focus on the things we work on as a team - working inside-out, getting the ball in the post. If I have a chance to make a move, I make a move. If not, I find somebody. I wouldn't say it's personal, but I definitely take it as a challenge to be better than my opponent."
The victory puts the District 11 runner-up Crimson Tide (24-5) into Tuesday's second round against District 3 champion Susquehanna Township, a 65-47 winner over Imhotep Charter, at a site and time to be determined.
Nabholz was a major reason for Pottsville's success against District 1 runner-up Lower Moreland (16-10).
The junior connected on 9-of-13 shots from the field, scoring 14 points in the first half to give Pottsville a 33-17 lead at intermission.
"Definitely with Eli, we wanted to get him the ball as much as possible," Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said. "But also I thought we were driving the ball, too, and that was creating open looks for us."
It certainly was.
Travis Blankenhorn amped up the scoring for Pottsville in the second quarter, knocking down a jumper and a driving layup before hitting two 3-pointers to help extend the Tide's lead from 10-8 after a quarter to double digits by the 2:44 mark of the second period.
"They didn't really have anything to answer Eli," Blankenhorn said. "He did a great job, so we kept on giving it to him.
"They were doubling down on Eli then. He was kicking it back out."
Defensively, the Tide locked down on the Lions.
Jordan Melochick and Ty Painter kept Lower Moreland point guard Danny Duffy in check, holding the 5-9 sophomore point guard to just four points.
"Overall, I was pretty happy with our defensive effort," Mullaney said. "In particular I thought Jordan Melochick did a good job on (Duffy). Their point guard is very good, averaging about 14 points and over eight assists a game. I thought Jordan really did a great job on him along with Ty Painter."
Pottsville also kept 6-5 center Phil Madden and 6-4 forward Nick Cerruti in check as well.
"I think our defense in the first half, we played fairly well," Nabholz said. "I think that got us going more offensively. It definitely helped out with the pace of the game and that kind of stuff."
The Crimson Tide used a 14-0 run that started with a free throw by Nabholz at the 1:21 mark of the second and finished with a Melochick 3-pointer with 4:43 left in the third to bury the Lions.
From there, the Tide controlled the clock to secure the program's first state playoff win since 1974.
"It's taking that next step as a program," Mullaney said. "We'd love to be recognized on a state level, and this is definitely a step in the right direction.
"This has been a great group to be around," Mullaney added. "They're all close friends, which makes it that much better. We're excited for the next challenge. We know Tuesday's going to be difficult whether it's Susquehanna Township or Imhotep - they're both very talented teams. We're going to approach it the same way and hopefully get a win on Tuesday."