Three Times News Area teams will be in action tonight and tomorrow when they open District 11 basketball playoff action.

Lehighton opens up Boys AAA play tonight at Saucon Valley, while Jim Thorpe heads to North Schuylkill tomorrow.The Pleasant Valley girls are also in action tonight in a AAAA game at Whitehall.CLASS AAA BOYSFIRST ROUNDNo. 10 Jim Thorpe at No. 7 North SchuylkillTIPOFF:Wednesday, Feb. 17 at North Schuylkill, 7 p.m.COACHES:Jim Thorpe - Jason McElmoyle (2nd season); North Schuylkill - Ty Wartman (1st season)RECORDS: Jim Thorpe (13-9); North Schuylkill (14-8)LEADING SCORERS:JT - Rayan Green (F/C, Sr., 13.59), Brendan Carroll (G, Jr., 10.00), Matt Elmore (F, Jr., 9.59), Chris Micciche (G, Jr., 8.59); NS - Tevin Murray (F, Sr., 16.9), Jonathan Smith (F, Sr., 12.9), Major Jordan (G/F, Jr., 9.2), Bobby Grigas (G, Sr., 8.1).GAME NOTES:These teams met twice this season, with each team winning a game on their home floor... Both teams were missing key players in each of their losses to each other. The Spartans were missing leading scorer Tevin Murray when they lost to the Olympians on the road, while Thorpe was missing point guard Brendan Carroll when they faced the Spartans in Fountain Springs.. The Olympians will travel to North Schuylkill for this match-up. On the road this season, JT is 4-6. North Schuylkill is 9-2 at home, including a six game win streak on its home floor. The last time North Schuylkill lost at home was back on Dec. 18, which was a defeat to Pottsville.. This game will likely be won inside the paint, as both teams haven't turned to the three ball all that much this season. North Schuylkill is averaging 4.1 three-pointers per game, while Jim Thorpe is averaging 3.5 triples per contest.. Often in a playoff game, late game foul shooting becomes very important. The Olympians are shooting 59 percent from the charity stripe, while the Spartans shoot just a tad better at 63 percent.QUOTEABLE:"I think it's vital for us to first take care of the ball, and then I also think we need to try and push the ball and get transition buckets. North Schuylkill is a good half court team and they're very physical. In the half court they play great defense too, and really take away a lot of the things you like to do. It's just great to be back in the postseason after a five or six year hiatus, and we're excited to see if we can make some noise." -Jim Thorpe head coach Jason McElmoyle.CLASS AAA BOYSFIRST ROUNDNo. 9 Lehighton at No. 8 Saucon ValleyTIPOFF:Tuesday, Feb. 16 at Saucon Valley, 7 p.m.COACHES:Lehighton - Rich Oertner (Fifth year); Saucon Valley Matt Brown (15th year)RECORDS:Lehighton - (13-9 overall; 6-8 Schuylkill League Division I); Saucon Valley (13-9 overall; 13-5 Colonial League)LEADING SCORERS:Lehighton - Hunter Greene (12.32 ppg), Nick Chambers (10.76), Damian Mele (9.18 ppg), Steven Jackson (8.91 ppg), Tanner Zwetolitz (8.82 ppg); Saucon Valley - Mike Kane (14.5 ppg), Josh Snead (9.9 ppg), Pat Gilmore (8.6 ppg), Kyle Cyphers (7.9 ppg)GAME NOTES:This is the fourth year in a row that Lehighton has qualified for the district playoffs under Oertner's guidance ... The Indians have only suffered one loss outside of Schuylkill League Division 1 and that was to Northampton. The Indians are a perfect 6-0 against Colonial League teams. The locals have knocked off Palmerton twice, Pen Argyl, Northern Lehigh, Catasauqua and Northwestern ... Saucon Valley is 5-1 against the same CL teams Lehighton has faced this season. It beat Palmerton, Pen Argyl twice, Northern Lehigh and Catasauqua while losing to Northwestern ... Oertner said he heard Kane had shoulder surgery Monday to correct an injury suffered during football season. If that's true, it would leave the Panthers without the sparkplug to their offense, their only double figure scorer, and someone who has scored over 1,000 points in his career ... The last time Oertner faced Matt Brown was when he was at Northern Lehigh. The Bulldogs won the Colonial League back in 2009-10, only to end up losing to the Panthers in districts ... If the Indians win, their second round game will be against league rival Pottsville.QUOTEABLE:"We think Kane is out and if that's the case, we're going to want to try to keep them outside and try not to let the ball get inside. Hopefully, the only way they can beat us is by making a lot of shots from the outside."Lehighton head coach Rich Oertner.CLASS AAAA GIRLSFIRST ROUNDNo. 11 Pleasant Valley at No. 6 WhitehallTIPOFF:Tuesday, Feb. 16 at Whitehall, 7 p.m.COACHES:Pleasant Valley - Nadia Gauronsky (Seventh year); Whitehall - Dwight Repsher (Second year)RECORDS:Pleasant Valley (11-11 overall; 8-8 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference); Whitehall (14-8 overall; 10-6 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference)LEADING SCORERS:Pleasant Valley - Renee Milos (10.09 ppg), Masani Francis (8.14 ppg), Mackenzie Borger (7.14 ppg), Kiki Russell (6.80 ppg), Joyce Sullivan (5.94 ppg); Whitehall - Taylor George (12.1 ppg), Ivanna Jones (10.0 ppg), Taylor Rummel (5.1 ppg), Jillian Kreglow (4.6 ppg), Alix Buskirk (4.7 ppg)GAME NOTES:After missing out on the district playoffs last year by a single game, Pleasant Valley put together a late season run to return to "The Dance" this year. The Bears won six of their last seven games to finish at .500 and clinch a berth in districts ... It will be the fifth time in Gauronsky's seven years with the program the Bears have reached the postseason ... Although the teams play in the same conference, Pleasant Valley didn't get the chance to face Whitehall. They did however have two common foes in East Stroudsburg North and Colonial League power Northwestern. The Bears lost to Northwestern once and ES North twice. The Zephyrs were able to beat both teams ... Although Gauronsky has only seen the Zephyrs on film once this season, she feels the Bears have a height advantage, and plans on utilizing it to their strength by working the ball inside. Gauronsky said the Bears have a challenge ahead of them containing Whitehall's "really quick guards."QUOTEABLE:"I think it's really important that our girls showed that they're resilient and they can come back with vengeance to make the playoffs. I think it's exciting for them considering we have a very tough schedule in the EPC, which means a lot to them,"Pleasant Valley head coach Nadia Gauronsky.