CLASS 4A BOYS QUARTERFINALS

No. 3 Lehighton (16-6) vs.No. 6 Jim Thorpe (12-10)TIPOFF:Friday, Feb. 24 at Pleasant Valley, 7:30 p.m.COACHES:Lehighton - Rich Oertner (16th season) ; Jim Thorpe - Jason McElmoyle (3rd season)LEADING SCORERS:Lehighton - Andrew McDowell (10.0), Damian Mele (9.14), Addison Howland (8.95), Caine Carpenter (8.86), Donnie Buchinsky (8.73) Jim Thorpe - Chris Micciche (13.36), Matt Elmore (12.55), Brendan Carroll (9.55), Aaron Joyce (4.55)GAME NOTES:Lehighton's last D11 title was in 1987, while Thorpe last won in 1972. The Olympian have five total district championships … Thorpe has now had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2010 … The Indians' have the highest margin of victory (5.05 points) of any team in the area … Lehighton is shooting 69 percent from the line this season, which is also best in the area …JT's Chris Micciche and Matt Elmore rank seventh and ninth in the area, respectively, in scoring … Jim Thorpe lost to Lehighton during both meetings this season, but only by a total of eight points … Oertner has led the Indians to a .500-or-better record in five of his six seasons with the program … Thorpe's Matt Elmore has attempted a team-high 100 free throws this year.QUOTABLE:"I'm just happy for the kids. These seniors went 2-20 as freshmen and they've continued to work and get better. It's exciting for the program, but I'm more happy for them. We're excited for the challenge against Lehighton." - Jim Thorpe head coach Jason McElmoyle."We both had a lot of time to prepare for each other. It's weird that we have a lot of time off; we've been playing two games a week for the longest time. We've been working on Jim Thorpe a little bit every day. I guess it's good playing someone you know. It's going to be a tight game, no doubt about it. We know what they do, they know what we do. It's going to come down to who makes some shots." - Lehighton head coach Rich Oertner.CLASS 4A BOYS QUARTERFINALSNo. 5 Tamaqua (13-9) vs.No. 4 Saucon Valley (13-9)TIPOFF:Friday, Feb. 24 at Pleasant Valley, 6 p.m.COACHES:Tamaqua - Jim Barron (2nd year); Saucon Valley - Matt BrownLEADING SCORERS:Tamaqua - Thad Zuber (11.90), Brayden Knobauch (10.95), Josh Inama (7.91), Zeke Wassell (7.00); Saucon Vy. - Cam Allen (17.6), Josh Snead (14.9), Will Smith (12.5), Jake Nichols (4.4)GAME NOTES:The Raiders are 2-2 against teams from outside the Schuylkill League this season … Tamaqua is just 7-17 against Colonial League opponents over the last 10 years, but they haven't faced Saucon Valley during that time frame … The only Schuylkill League opponent Saucon Valley has played over the last 10 years is Lehighton, and the Panthers own a 1-1 record against them …The Raiders were the third-best defensive team in the TN area this year, holding opponents to 48.59 points per game …The Panthers qualified for the CL playoffs, but dropped their quarterfinal round game to Notre Dame … Saucon's Cam Allen has scored over 30 points in a game twice this year. Josh Snead is the deep-threat for the Panthers, having drained 49 three-pointers on the year. Tamaqua's Brayden Knoblauch has 48. As a team, the Raiders were second in the area with 108 three-pointers made … Thad Zuber and Knoblauch rank 12th and 14th, respectively, in points per game in the Times News area.QUOTABLE:"They're a really good team with some really good guards that can score.We're not really going to try and change a whole lot of what we do, I think we match up well, so it should be a pretty good up and down game. We played pretty well down the stretch. We had some games here or there where we weren't locked in defensively. But on nights we gave our best effort, we've played well. We're also excited that they're taking four teams from our district into the state playoffs. If you lose you go home, and if you win, you're guaranteed three more games." - Tamaqua head coach Jim Barron.CLASS 3A GIRLS QUARTERFINALSNo. 7 Jim Thorpe (13-9) vs.No. 2 New Hope-Solebury (24-0)TIPOFF:Friday, February 24, 7 p.m. at New Hope-SoleburyCOACHES:Jim Thorpe - Rob Kovac (10th season); New Hope - Andy KrasnaLEADING SCORERS:Jim Thorpe - Kayley Kovac (26.43), Payton Kovac (8.95), Devon Lignore (4.86), Natalia Richards (4.76).GAME NOTES:Thorpe's Kayley Kovac is the TN area's leading scorer this season … Alana Davidson (6-2) is the big threat in the paint for New Hope. She scored her 1,000th-career point on Feb. 4 and will play Division 1 basketball at Davidson College … New Hope topped Jenkintown to earn the Bicentennial League championship, 37-30 … The Olympians are 9-2 this season when Payton Kovac hits double-figures … Kayley Kovac has seven games of at least 30 points this year … Jim Thorpe finished the season winning five of its last six games … The Olympians are 3-1 against non-Schuylkill League teams this year.QUOTABLE:"December was a nightmare, we weren't healthy. It was a different lineup every night. Maybe the first or second week of January, we finally got everyone back to practice and ready to play. Fortunately for us, we found a cohesive lineup. We played pretty good basketball the second half of the season, and I wish we didn't have the long layoff. We are pretty fortunate to have New Hope on film, and we had a chance to see them live last Saturday. We know their personnel. They're undefeated, and a team like that is obviously doing something right. They're committed to their 6-2 kid in the middle and they have a real nice point guard, who does a nice job of dictating tempo. They want to play slow. One key will be to try to speed things up and make it ugly in transition. When you have a good big and a good point guard, things fall into place. It's a tough spot to play on their home floor, but I think we're battletested. We played a tough schedule this year and our kids have faced adversity in hostile environments, and I certainly think we're prepared. Our kids will be ready to play." - Jim Thorpe head coach Rob Kovac.CLASS 1A GIRLS QUARTERFINALSNo. 5 Weatherly (9-13) vs. No. 4 Nativity (9-13)TIPOFF:Friday, Feb. 24 at Martz Hall, 5 p.m.COACHES:Weatherly- Kevin Kringe (3rd season); Nativity - Scott Forney (First season)LEADING SCORERS:Weatherly - Emily Zoscin (19.62), Megan Pfeiffer (9.05), Lindsey Hoffman (6.67), Christina Caravella (3.10); Nativity - Mallory Sanders (10.00)GAME NOTES:Weatherly will make its second straight District 11 appearance ... Nativity is 14-1 against Weatherly since 2007. The Wreckers topped the Golden Girls on Dec. 14, 2015 … Weatherly's Emily Zoscin is the area's second leading scorer. She has hit double figures in every game except two this year. She poured in a career-high 37 against Notre Dame in December. Zoscin has attempted more free throws (176) than four-area teams have made this season … Nativity swept the Wreckers in both regular season games this season by a combined margin of 46 points.QUOTABLE:"We had a big run in the second half. We had to fix some things, and we did to the girls' credit. We worked hard and went back to the basics a little bit and we started to believe in ourselves. Some of the kids settled into what we were trying to do. The jump to the varsity level was a little much for some of them in the beginning. We're on the verge of doing some good things. The only two games we kind of laid an egg in were Lourdes and Mahanoy. Every other game, we were sort of in it, which is good-we were feisty down the stretch. Nativity is big and physical, so we have to make it a fast-paced game. We're going to try to get them a little excited, and hopefully our press will wear them down and get into their depth. They're going to pound us inside, so we have to be prepared to box out and rebound. We need to make good decisions off their half-court trap. I'm just glad we got in. We've been here already and we just want to take that next step." - Weatherly head coach Kevin Kringe.