PIAA CLASS AAA STATE PLAYOFFS

OPENING ROUNDTamaqua (21-6; D-11, 3rd place) vsSteelton-Highspire (22-5; D-3, 1st place)TIP OFF: Friday, March 6th at 7:30 p.m. at Milton Hershey High SchoolCOACHES: Tamaqua- Caszy Kosciolek, Steel-High- Rick BinderLEADING SCORERS: Tamaqua - Bo Rottet (Sr, 16.6 ppg, Brett Kosciolek (Sr, 16.4 ppg), Russell Blaker (Jr, 8.8 ppg), Nate MacDonald (Sr, 5.6 ppg), Tyler Skripko (Sr, 3.2 ppg); Steel-High - Dee'Quan Fleming (Sr, 20.2 ppg), Jaqui Jenkins (Jr, 16.2 ppg), Kavon Jackson (Sr, 10.1 ppg), Jaki Bowman (Sr, 9.3 ppg), Jaron Grayer (Jr, 7.8 ppg)GAMES NOTES: Steelton-Highspire stunned Bishop McDevitt in the District 3 championship en route to a 70-67 victory. Steel-High junior Jaron Grayer, who averages just 7.8 points per game, scored a career-high 26 points during the Rollers' District 3 title win. The victory marked the program's 15th district title ... Tamaqua defeated Salisbury in the District 11 consolation game, 53-47. Bo Rottet and Brett Kosciolek combined for 40 of the Raiders' 53 points during the victory ... This is Tamaqua's first state playoff appearance in 20 years … Expect to see a lot of three-point attempts in this one, as both teams light it up from three-point land. Tamaqua has eclipsed 100 three-pointers made this season. Steelton's Kavon Jackson and Jaqui Jenkins have combined for 114 three-pointers made this season by themselves, as the team has totaled 183 … Of the Rollers' 27 games, 12 have been decided by single digits … The Rollers own a 7-4 record on neutral courts. Tamaqua is 3-2 at neutral sites … Tamaqua's Brett Kosciolek is just two-points shy of tying Todd McLaughlin for third on the school's all-time scoring list … The Raiders have held 17 of their opponents to under 50 points this season … Steelton-Highspire's losses have come against Bishop McDevitt (twice), Harrisburg, Camp Hill and Oxford. McDevitt, Harrisburg and Camp Hill are all in the state playoffs ... According to Tamaqua head coach Caszy Kosciolek, junior guard Russell Blaker is recovering from an injury sustained during last week's game against Salisbury and his status for tomorrow's game is questionable.QUOTABLE: "Steel-High has beaten some really talented teams. Rick Binder has an excellent coaching resume he's a legendary coach. They have a bunch of kids around 6-foot and who can all really play. They're all lightning quick. They're first to getting loose balls and fast defensively. They have phenomenal guard play and can beat you in many ways."The key to our game is being able to handle their pressure and take care of the ball. We need to limit their transition offense. I expected them to speed up the game and get in our face as much as they can. It felt great last week playing in the Lehigh Valley and getting a win down there. The last six games or so we've played have been critical. I'm optimistic and confident because we've came through in a ton of big games. It feels like there's still work left to do." - Tamaqua head coach Caszy Kosciolek