CLASS AAA BOYS

CONSOLATION GAMENo. 4 Tamaqua (20-6, 11-3 SL) vs. No. 2 Salisbury (21-5, 9-1 CL)TIP OFF: Friday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. at FreedomCOACHES: Tamaqua - Caszy Kosciolek, Salisbury - Jason WeaverLEADING 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); Salisbury - Tevon Weber (Jr, 10.1 ppg), Bryce Fairclough (Sr, 9.4 ppg), Dylan Belletiere (Jr, 9.2 ppg), Brendan Reichenbach (Sr, 6.1 ppg), Chad Cooperman (Jr, 3.9 ppg)GAMES NOTES: Tamaqua defeated North Schuylkill, 39-33, in the quarterfinal round before falling to Pottsville, 50-35, in the semifinals. Salisbury downed Wilson, 49-31, in the quarters but then lost to Central Catholic, 59-48, in the semis. The winner of this contest will advance to the PIAA state playoffs along with Pottsville and Central Catholic from District 11. The last time the Blue Raiders reached the state playoffs was 1995 … Tamaqua has not played a Colonial League opponent this year. However, the Raiders are 3-1 against teams that do not compete in the Schuylkill League. Tamaqua was 0-3 against Colonial League schools a year ago, losing to Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh and Palmerton. The last time the Raiders played Salisbury was Dec. 28, 2011. The Falcons won that contest, 65-45 ... Salisbury is 1-1 against Schuylkill League teams this season, defeating Blue Mountain 61-47 in its season opener and losing to Pottsville, 58-32, on Dec. 20 … The Falcons will be without their leading scorer, Dasheen Reid, who was injured during the Colonial League championship game against Bangor. Reid averaged 13.8 points per game this season … Both teams enjoy shooting from beyond the arc, as both teams have eclipsed 100 three-pointers made this year … Salisbury's Tevon Weber will be battling with the Tamaqua 'bigs' inside, as the junior averages eight rebounds per game. Tamaqua's Kosciolek averages 12.0 rebounds per contest … Both teams won nine games in a row at one point this season … Tamaqua's 35 points against Pottsville on Tuesday was its third lowest single-game total this year. Both of the Raiders' lowest scoring outputs were also against Pottsville … Tamaqua's Brett Kosciolek is currently 21 points shy of taking over third place on the school's all-time scoring list … Bo Rottet continued his strong senior campaign, scoring 17 points during Tuesday's loss to the Crimson Tide. Rottet has hit double figures in every game except one this season ... Coaches Kosciolek and Weaver do have something in common. They both were the head coach at Lehighton. Weaver was in charge of the Indians two seasons (2001-02 and 2002-03) while Kosciolek guided the Tribe in three campaigns (2004-05-2006-07).QUOTABLE: "They're a quality team that is perimeter oriented. When you get to this point of the season, everyone is solid. We've just played two very good teams and we're now battle tested. If we come out with the same energy and execute a little better than we did against Pottsville, we'll be in a good position. We have kids who have played a ton of varsity basketball. These kids have been in big games in multiple sports and respond well on the big stage because they're on it so much. They do everything as well and as hard as they can. They are enjoying the experience. It's win and move on or lose and go home. A win would really put an exclamation on the season we've had." - Tamaqua head coach Caszy Kosciolek