SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Schuylkill County's top senior basketball players took to the hardwoods one final time Friday night in the 41st Annual Senior Charity Bowl held at the Penn State Schuylkill campus

Eleven TIMES NEWS area athletes donned the blue jerseys of the North squad, comprised of players from Marian, Panther Valley, Tamaqua, Mahanoy Area, Minersville, North Schuylkill and Shenandoah Valley. Marian was represented by Abbey Whildin and Nick Wesner, while Panther Valley was represented by Macey Markovich, Taylor Vance, Chad Dubosky and Ethan Vermillion. Making the trip for Tamaqua were Vanessa Solt, Brett Kosciolek, Bo Rottet and Nate MacDonald. Tamaqua's Paige Demetriades was also a member of the North contingent, but wasn't in attendance due to prior commitments. Coaching the North boys was Tamaqua's Caszy Kosciolek and J.C. Dietz.The South squad consisted of players from Blue Mountain, Nativity, Pine Grove, Pottsville, Schuylkill Haven, Tri-Valley and Williams Valley.For the third consecutive year, the North prevailed in both contests, with the girls winning 53-48, and the boys posting a 68-66 victory, on a night where playing defense was optional, but having fun was mandatory.GIRLS GAMEIn postseason all-star games, there is usually no shortage of points, as offenses typically run wild. However, for the first eight minutes of last night's game, the North did its best to dispel that theory. The South raced out to a 12-0 lead, and it wasn't until Panther Valley Macey Markovich buried a three-pointer with 12:06 remaining in the first half that finally put the North on the scoreboard."I think it just took us a little bit of time to get used to playing with each other and getting in the groove," stated Marian's Abbey Whildin, who contributed eight points (on 3-of-4 shooting), five rebounds and two steals. "But the game was awesome and I had so much fun. I never thought I'd be friends with half of these guys because we hated each other all through high school, but it was really great to be able to get to play with them all one last time."Markovich's three-pointer put her team on the scoreboard, but she certainly wasn't finished. The Panthers sharp-shooter added two more treys and led the North with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting."I haven't played basketball since the season ended, so it was great to put on the uniform one last time," added Markovich. "I love shooting three-pointers and it's what I'm good at, so I'm just happy they went in and I was able to help the team."After trailing 24-19 at halftime, it was three-point shooting that ultimately rallied the North to the five-point victory. Led by Markovich's three bombs, the North drained nine three-pointers, while the South only tallied one trey on the night.Whildin tied the game up at 32-32 with a long-distance shot, which was followed by a Taylor Vance layup to give the North their first lead of the game (34-32). A Vanessa Solt three-pointer kept the momentum going, as the North went on a 13-0 run to take a commanding 42-32 lead, en route to the 53-48 victory."I think we all had a lot of fun out there and it seemed like we all worked well together," added Solt. "A lot of the girls don't really know each other off the basketball court, so it was just really nice to play together one last time."Vance scored four points on the night, while Solt added three of her own. Schuylkill Haven's Emma Schweigert scored a game-high 16 points to pace the South.BOYS GAMEBo Rottet came up clutch for Tamaqua all season long, and last night, the senior guard came through for the North with a game-winning three-pointer in the closing seconds that gave his team a 68-66 victory.With the North leading 30-26 at halftime, the South mounted a furious second half rally and eventually took a 63-60 lead with under two minutes remaining in regulation. A Brian Miller (Mahanoy Area) three-pointer knotted the game at 63-63, but Pottsville's Connor Hinchliffe answered with a three-point bomb of his own, which put the South back ahead 66-63.Brett Kosciolek closed the deficit to within one (66-65) with 42-seconds left, which set the stage for Rottet's game-winning three-pointer with 14 seconds remaining."Tonight was all about just going out and having fun. It was a great feeling to hit that three and finally beat the Pottsville kids on the basketball court," joked Rottet. "I was also able to shoot some deep threes tonight without getting benched, but in all seriousness, it was great to play one last game with Brett (Kosciolek) and Nate (MacDonald) in addition to having coach (Caszy) Kosciolek there on the bench with us."Rottet ended the night with 14 points, including four three-pointers (all in the second half), while also contributing four rebounds, two steals and two blocks.Meanwhile, Brett Kosciolek added eight points, eight rebounds, one steal and one slam dunk."These kids played against each other for their whole careers and now they got an opportunity to play together in what might be their last time playing organized basketball," noted North head coach Caszy Kosciolek. "It was a fun night all around for a good cause."Panther Valley's Chad Dubosky scored four points, while teammate Ethan Vermillion, Tamaqua's Nate MacDonald and Marian's Nick Wesner were held scoreless. However, Wesner chipped in five rebounds with two steals."Tonight we competed with all of the kids we spent the entire year competing against, which made things really fun and interesting," concluded Wesner. "Getting the win was a pretty nice feeling too."North Schuylkill's Justin Heaton led the North with 15 points, while Travis Blankenhorn paced the South with 12 points.