Tamaqua may start three freshmen, but these Raiders know how to rise to the occasion.

Tamaqua entered Friday night's game at Lehighton knowing it was one victory away from punching a ticket to the District 11 playoffs.Coach Erika Davis' squad then went out and played like it was on a mission.The Raiders (11-9, 6-6) connected on eight of 12 shots from the floor and built a huge first quarter advantage on their way to a 60-43 Schuylkill League win over Lehighton."Within our division and within our schedule, wins are hard to come by," said Davis. "So anytime we can get a win, it's pretty big and it gives us momentum and confidence."In the first eight minutes, all five Tamaqua starters scored as it built a 23-8 lead. Freshman Jamie Zuber led the Raiders with 11 points in the period and classmate Emma Kuczynski added eight."We've been emphasizing getting out early," Davis said. "There have been games where we come out flat and dug ourselves a hole. The past two games, we've gotten early starts and it's been nice to get that tempo going the way we want to play."Meanwhile, Lehighton connected on only three of 14 field goal attempts in the opening quarter."It continues to be a bad habit for us to come out in the first and not execute," Lehighton head coach Eric Gidney said. "We're only averaging nine points in the first quarter this season."I'm going to take responsibility for it because we definitely didn't play like a team that had its backs up against the wall. I've got to find a way to get them motivated at the start of games."The loss eliminated Lehighton (7-12, 2-11) from District 11 playoff contention."Tamaqua wanted it more tonight," Gidney said. "They've been the better team both times that we've played them. They have executed better, worked harder and have deserved to win."Skylynn Faust found her rhythm and rattled off 12 of Lehighton's 14 second-quarter points, but Tamaqua still managed to incease its lead to 39-22 at halftime.In the third quarter, three jumpers by Emily Titus helped Tamaqua maintain a comfortable lead and the Indians never seriously threatened the rest of the way."Clinching tonight is a special moment for us," Davis said. "I don't think a lot of people thought that we would be there."With a young team, and going 2-20 last year, we still found a way and the girls believed in themselves. It's nice."DIAPER DANDIES ... Tamaqua freshmen - Zuber, Kuczynski, and Titus - combined for 48 points. Zuber led the way with 19 points, Kuczynski scored 17, and Titus added 12.SKY HIGH ... Faust poured in a game-high 24 points for Lehighton. She also had 13 rebounds and five assists.TAMAQUAHoffman 3-0-0-7, Zuber 5-5-5-19, Hromyak 0-0-0-0, Jones 1-3-6-5, Titus 4-4-4-12, Frederickson 0-0-0-0, Kuczynski 6-5-6-17. TOTALS: 19-17-21-60.LEHIGHTONBrown 0-0-0-0, Frey 2-0-0-4, Long 1-0-0-3, Whiteman 1-1-2-3, Blasiak 3-0-3-7, Miller 1-0-0-2, Faust 10-3-5-24, Buchinsky 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-4-10-43.Tamaqua 23 16 11 10 - 60Lehighton 8 14 8 13 - 43Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Zuber 4, Hoffman 1; Lehighton - Blasiak 1, Long 1, Faust 1.