The difference makers for Tamaqua's boys' basketball team didn't show up all the time in the boxscore, Tuesday evening here against Schuylkill League Division I rival Pine Grove.

Make no bones about the way sophomore Thad Zuber and senior Russell Blaker stoked the fires with the former draining 20 points and the later 18 to help elevate the Blue Raiders to a 53-38 win. But the effort brought forth from sophomore Gabe Gregoire turned the tables on the defensive side of the ball for the winners.Gregoire had to figure a way out to keep strongman Taylor Routledge in check. Both players were aggressive, but late in the contest, it was Gregoire who figured out the best way to fend off the Pine Grove center."Gabe had his hands full until he fronted him," said first-year Tamaqua coach Jim Barron. "(Routledge) was pretty tough and the way he kept posting up, Gabe came up with some great steals to help turn it around in our favor."Barron was right on point, for Gregoire had four straight steals as the game hung in the balance. When the Cardinals attempted a wing pass to Routledge for a possible post up with the score 37-35 in favor of the Raiders, Gregoire made the first of his steals, and the turnover ended up in a bucket off the break to spring Tamaqua out to a 40-35 lead.Back came the Cardinals, and again they tried posting Rutledge, and again Gregoire came from the backside and moved in front for another steal."Those were two big plays for us at that end of the basket," Barron said. "We didn't seem all that excited. Pine Grove came in here without a good record and we seemed to take things for granted."Pine Grove surged in front 12-9 just before the close of the first quarter, but Blaker drained a triple from the corner the first of his five on the contest to tie the game at 12-12. Tamaqua quickly seized the momentum to open the second period, when Gregoire made an inside move for two points, Zuber slapped in a threeball of his own, and Gregoire hit for two more inside to spring the Raiders out to a 19-12 lead. However the advantage shrank just before the half when Dawson Iberra rang up two buckets, Andrew Griffiths hit for two more points and Colin Griffiths poured in a pair of free throws to narrow the halftime deficit, 23-21."We didn't attack the basket the way we are capable of," explained Barron. "That allowed them to make the run near the end of the first half."If that didn't shake the Raiders nerves, the Cardinals went on a 9-2 run to open the second half with Iberra and Jake Leininger fueling the rally for the visitors before Barron called a much needed time out.Then it was Tamaqua's turn to take control, and it did right into the fourth chapter. Dylan Scott, Blaker and Mitch Kurek delivered the offense, with the latter two stuffing in triples for a 33-31 lead.And before the Cardinals could catch wind, Tamaqua was about to set sail on a 17-4 run to salt the contest away. Zuber spotted up for seven of the winners points in the rally, Blaker knocked down two triples and the unsung player of the night, Gregoire had four in the run."This was a good win for us," Barron said. "Hopefully we can build on this one."TOP GUNS. …The Raiders had balance in their attack led by Zuber and Blaker along with Gregoire.BLAKER DOUBLES. … Blaker had a double double with 11 of his team's 33 rebounds. Pine Grove was tough off the glass with 32 retrieves.JV SWEEPS. … The Blue Raiders 59-33 win in the opener. Gregoire had 21 points in the win, followed by Mike Bonetsky with 11 and Casey Rother 10.PINE GROVEIberra 6-0-0-12, Leininger 3-2-5-9, A. Griffiths 2-0-0-5, C. Griffiths 1-2-2-4, Routledge 2-0-0-4, Wolff 1-1-2-4, Kreiser 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-5-9-38.TAMAQUAZuber 6-6-7-20, Blaker 6-1-2-18, Gregoire 3-2-3-8, Scott 1-2-4-4, Kurek 1-0-0-3, Bates 0-0-0-0, Rother 0-0-0-0, Wassell 0-0-0-0, Murphy 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-11-16-53.Pine Grove 12 9 10 5 - 38Tamaqua 12 11 10 20 - 53Three-pointers: Pine Grove - A. Griffiths, Wolff, Leininger. Tamaqua - Blaker 56, Zuber 2, Kurek.