POTTSVILLE - In order to beat a perfect team, you need to come up with a perfect game plan.

Friday night at Martz Hall, Tamaqua's unorthodox strategy almost worked to perfection, and the Blue Raiders almost shocked the basketball world by pulling off one of the biggest upsets in Schuylkill League Championship history.However, like they have all season long, Pottsville has perfected the art of winning basketball games, and with a 33-28 overtime victory, the Crimson Tide escaped Martz Hall with their perfect record still intact and with their fifth Schuylkill League Championship in the last six years.After being bludgeoned by Pottsville in their two regular season meetings, Tamaqua head coach Caszy Kosciolek knew that his team's only chance to change the outcome was to change the way the game was played.And so he did ...For the entire first quarter and for the majority of the first half, Tamaqua played a game of keep-away, as the Blue Raiders were content with holding the ball and stalling the pace of play.The first quarter almost ended in a scoreless tie, but a Travis Blankenhorn jumper from the left baseline with one second left gave the Crimson Tide a 2-0 lead in a frame which featured just as many turnovers (5) as shot attempts (5)."We lost by 17 points at home and then we came up here and they beat us up (losing by 27)," noted Kosciolek's of his team's previous two performances against Pottsville. "Their defense is probably the toughest defense on this side of the state (giving up just 31.86 points per game), so I just thought if we could just spread them out and be patient, we'd give ourselves the best chance to compete."Obviously we want to try to score, but if we can't, we just want to keep the offense moving, spread them out and try to make them vulnerable. By us holding the ball on offense, we're not giving them the opportunity to score and do the things that they like to do. We're not into moral victories, but no one has taken this team to overtime, let alone have the chance to win the game at the end."Of Pottsville's 24 victories this season, Tamaqua joins Berks Catholic as the only teams to come within 15 points of the Crimson Tide (24-0) on the scoreboard.The Blue Raiders converted their first three shots of the second quarter to take a brief 7-6 lead, but Pottsville came back to take a 10-7 lead into halftime."I don't like to use the term 'stalling' but slowing the game down that much took us out of what we wanted to do offensively," stated Pottsville head coach Dave Mullaney. "Tamaqua obviously wanted to minimize possessions tonight and they did a great job of doing that. I haven't seen a dribble spread in a long time and I don't think our kids have ever seen it."In the first half, we allowed them to get in the middle of the floor and you can run that all day if you allow them to do it. We made some adjustments at halftime and I think our kids did a good job in responding."After Tamaqua closed the deficit to 13-11 midway through the third quarter, Pottsville sophomore Jordan Abdo sent the Crimson Crazies into a frenzy with back-to-back three-pointers in a 47-second span, which gave Pottsville a 19-11 lead."Tamaqua had a good strategy defensively as well, as they weren't giving us many outside shots," added Mullaney. "Those two shots from Jordan were absolutely huge and it gave us a little bit of a cushion to work with."However, that cushion didn't last long, as Bo Rottet converted two three-point plays in a span of 30 seconds to bring Tamaqua within one point with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. A Thad Zuber layup gave Tamaqua a brief lead and a Russell Blaker three-point bomb eventually knotted the game at 24-24 with 1:12 left. Pottsville held the ball for a final shot, but Blankenhorn's long jumper at the buzzer hit off the rim forcing overtime.In the extra session, Pottsville made both of its field goal attempts and shot 5-for-6 from the free throw line, while Tamaqua faded by shooting just 1-for-6 from the field.For Tamaqua (19-5), Bo Rottet led the way with 10 points and eight rebounds."We challenged the heck out of them and I can't ask more from this group than what they gave us tonight," concluded Kosciolek. "I love the character of this team. They have the will to win and the drive to succeed. We certainly respect Pottsville, but we don't fear them, and I think that came out loud and clear tonight."TAMAQUABlaker 1-0-0-3, Miller 2-0-1-4, Rottet 4-1-1-10, Zuber 1-0-0-2, MacDonald 0-1-2-1, Skripko 0-0-0-0, Kosciolek 2-2-2-8. TOTALS: 10-4-6-28.POTTSVILLEHinchliffe 1-0-0-2, Painter 0-2-2-2, Blankenhorn 4-3-4-11, Dunkel 0-0-0-0, Melochick 0-3-6-3, Shuman 0-0-0-0, Witman 0-0-0-0, Abdo 2-0-0-6, Nabholz 2-5-6-9. TOTALS: 9-13-18-33.Tamaqua 0 7 6 11 4 - 28Pottsville 2 8 9 5 9 - 33Three-Pointers: Tamaqua - Kosciolek 2, Blaker 1, Rottet 1; Pottsville - Abdo 2.