Every high school sports program has its ups and downs, it's and peaks and valleys. There are not many programs out there that consistently qualify for the postseason year in and year out.

For instance, before the 2012-13 season and this current season, the Tamaqua boys basketball program certainly had its struggles. Lately, however, the Raiders' basketball program has been on the rise.Tamaqua qualified for districts a year ago, which was the first time since 2004 and fought through some adversity this season to get back yet again. Not only are the Raiders headed back to the playoffs, but they also accomplished something they haven't been able to do in nearly 20 years.Junior Brett Kosciolek was able to add another milestone for this special group of Raiders, breaking the 1,000-point plateau. Kosciolek is the first Raider to score 1,000 points since Joe Ligenza did it during the 1994-95, once again backing up the notion that Tamaqua basketball is relevant once again."Brett scoring 1,000 points says a lot about where this program is headed," said Tamaqua coach Caszy Kosciolek. "We have taken huge strides over the last two seasons and the credit has to go to our kids. They've dedicated their time to get where we are and as a coach you recognize that."Kosciolek is a challenge for any team to stop defensively. His 6-8 frame allows him to shoot over the opposition along with his ability to play both inside and outside. Of course, Kosciolek's individual talent helped him reach the 1,000-point plateau, but he'll be the first to tell you that his teammates are just as important to his success."I've definitely upgraded my game, playing a lot more inside this season, but there's no way I could've done this without my teammates," said Brett Kosciolek. "They always do a great job of getting me the ball. This is just as much a testament to them."Kosciolek isn't the only prolific scorer on the Raiders this season. Junior point guard Bo Rottet is having a fantastic season, averaging 15.3 points per game. Rottet runs the show for the Raiders and stepped up big time when Kosciolek missed six games after suffering a concussion."We have a lot of guys that have played well this season, but Bo has played exceptional basketball for us," said coach Kosciolek. "He arguably has had a better year than Brett and he's probably the most underrated player in the area. He sacrifices a lot of his own offense for the betterment of the team and that's a quality you always want in a point guard."Rottet and Kosciolek form a one two punch that is only rivaled by just a handful of teams in the Schuylkill League. However, it's the Raiders all together team effort that has gotten them to back-to-back postseason appearances."My teammates are the best," said Brett Kosciolek. "We have a strong group of guys here and we have gained a lot of experience over the years. I'm especially proud of the way they kept us in contention while I was out. It's now time for us to do some damage in the playoffs and take the next step towards being a consistent program."Tamaqua, who is the No. 10 seed in the District 11 playoffs will face the No. 7 seed Lehighton at Lehighton High School on Tuesday.*******FAB FIVE - In last Thursday night's 62-59 boys basketball victory over East Stroudsburg South, all five Lehighton starters scored in double-figures for the third time this season. Anthony Rossino led the way with 19 points, Jordan Knappenberger scored 11. Vince Mele, James Farano and Tyler Crum all added 10 points apiece to pace the Indians.*******THREE-POINT HONOR ROLL - As the high school basketball regular season concluded this week, the last two names were added to the final installment of the three-point honor roll, which recognizes area players with five or more three-pointers in a game. Last Thursday, Marian's Nick Kubishin came off the bench to bury five treys in a 44-32 victory over Weatherly, while on Monday night, Weatherly's Brett Kelly drained five triples in a 60-53 victory over Moravian Academy. It was the first time Kubishin and Kelly were named to the honor roll this season.*******AN UNLIKELY HERO - Speaking of Nick Kubishin, the Marian sophomore had a game to remember last Thursday night against Weatherly. Kubishin scored 17 points, including five three-pointers, in Marian's 44-32 victory over the Wreckers, which put the Colts into the District 11 Class A playoffs. However, the real story was that prior to that contest, Kubishin only saw limited minutes in six varsity games all season and hadn't recorded a varsity point all year. Kubishin was mainly a junior varsity player this season where he averaged 6.4 points per game, but you certainly couldn't tell that from last Thursday's breakout performance.*******PLAYOFF TICKET PUNCHED - The Marian boys basketball team became the eighth and final TIMES NEWS basketball team to claim a District 11 playoff berth with a 44-32 victory over Weatherly last Thursday night. The Colts finished with a 9-13 overall record, but finished over .500 in the Schuylkill League (7-6) to earn their bid. As of right now, Marian is the only team in this year's District 11 playoff field with a losing record. The Notre Dame-Green Pond girls will join the Colts with a sub .500 record should they lose their final regular season game against Carbondale (which was postponed by this week's inclement weather). Marian joins the Lehighton boys, Northern Lehigh boys, Tamaqua boys, Pleasant Valley girls, Northwestern girls, Palmerton girls and Marian girls in year's postseason tournament. It is the ninth straight season the Colts have advanced into the District 11 Class A playoffs. By virtue of Tri-Valley losing to Halifax on Friday (68-48), Marian has earned the seventh-seed and will play second-seed Pius X in the quarterfinals. The Royals defeated Marian by a final score of 68-21 earlier this season.*******A GRAND PERFORMANCE - As mentioned in today's basketball notebook feature story, Tamaqua's Brett Kosciolek became the 11th player in Tamaqua boys basketball history to score 1,000 points for his career. Needing 22 points heading into Thursday's Schuylkill League contest at Panther Valley, the Blue Raiders junior scored exactly 22 points in a 59-40 Tamaqua victory. On Saturday, Kosciolek added 14 more points in a loss to Palmerton, which boosted his career total to 1,014 points heading into Tamaqua's first round District playoff game against Lehighton. Kosciolek currently sits in ninth place on the all-time Tamaqua boys basketball scoring list. In 16 games this season, Kosciolek scored 300 points and averaged 18.75 points per game (tops in the TIMES NEWS coverage area). If he averages those same numbers next season, Kosciolek can climb up to fourth place behind Joe Ligenza (1,722 points), Ed Titus (1, 537 points) and Todd McLaughlin (1,479 points).*******GOING ALL IN - In the final year of the Mountain Valley Conference, all seven of its schools were represented in this year's MVC boys and girls basketball playoffs. In the boys playoffs, Pocono Mountain West, Lehighton, Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg North qualified, while the girls tournament featured Pocono Mountain West, East Stroudsburg South, Pocono Mountain East and Pleasant Valley. Pocono Mountain West was the top seed in both the boys and girls tournaments. Meanwhile, the Lehighton boys qualified for the Mountain Valley Conference playoffs for the first time in school history.*******GOING FOR GOLD - Two TIMES NEWS area girls basketball teams will be playing for League Championships this weekend. On Tuesday night, Northwestern advanced to the Colonial League championship with a 53-36 victory over Bangor. The top-seed and North Division champion Lady Tigers (22-1) will take on second-seed and South Division champion Southern Lehigh (18-5) in the Colonial League championship game on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at Freedom High School. Marian also advanced to the Schuylkill League championship game with a 31-28 victory over North Schuylkill on Wednesday evening. The Division III champion Fillies (21-1) will take on Division II champion Minersville (22-1) tonight at 6:00 p.m. at Martz Hall in Pottsville.*******LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE - Aside from our two local teams playing for league championships this weekend, the rest of the schedule is as follows: In the Colonial League boys championship, second seed Catasauqua (16-7) will play fourth seed Notre Dame-Green Pond (14-9) on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. at Freedom High School. In the Schuylkill League boys championship, Division I champion Pottsville (20-3) will be playing for its fifth consecutive Schuylkill League Title when it meets Division III champ Mahanoy Area (21-2) at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Martz Hall in Pottsville. In the Mountain Valley Conference, Pocono Mountain East (14-8) will play Pocono Mountain West (16-7) for the girls championship on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Pleasant Valley High School, while Stroudsburg (14-9) will play Pocono Mountain West (19-4) for the boys championship on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Pleasant Valley High School.