Step inside an empty Martz Hall.

Stop. Look. Listen.

Can you hear a basketball bouncing through the noisy foot stomping of 4,100 fans, many who sit in the original upper deck wooden bleachers? Is that an all-star basketball team you now see ready to bring the ball up the court or is this just a scene spiritually forced upon your imagination by the hallowed place where you stand?

Like the field of dreams, Martz Hall is a heaven of hardwood. Instead of baseball players from the past coming out of a cornfield in Iowa, all star basketball players step out from a locker room into a gymnasium in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

Game on. Let the magic of Martz and your imagination have some fun.

Kobe Bryant, from Lower Merion High School takes the inbounds pass from Gerry McNamara from Bishop Hannan. Bryant dribbles through a ghostly defensive full court press, He rifles a cross-court pass to Carlisle’s Billy Owens, who splits a midcourt trap and finds Matt Carroll of Hatboro-Horsham at the top of the key. Carroll bounce passes the ball to Bryant who sets up for a baseline jumper. He pump fakes once and tosses the ball over the defenders into the low post to Lebanon’s Sam Bowie, Bowie goes up over the wispy arms of the defenders and slams the ball through the rim.

You look up. Is that a number two you see blazing from the gymnasium’s overhead scoreboard?

Before they went on to continue their outstanding careers, those five legendary players from Pennsylvania high schools showcased their talents in big time PIAA tournament games at Martz Hall.

Bryant, the first guard to ever be drafted directly from high school, won five NBA championships as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. McNamara won an NCAA national championship with Syracuse University in 2003. Owens, also an Orangeman, was a first-round draft choice of the Sacramento Kings. Carroll, who starred at Notre Dame, played briefly with the Portland Trail Blazers, and Bowie, famous for being drafted ahead of Michael Jordan, was an All American at Kentucky before he donned the uniforms of the Trail Blazers, the Nets, and the Lakers during a ten-year career in the NBA.

This magnificent arena is across the street from Pottsville High School and from the outside, looks like a typical high school gymnasium. Inside, Martz Hall overwhelms both player and spectator with its vastness that surrounds what appears to the eyes to be larger than a regulation size basketball court.

The gymnasium, built in 1970 and called “The Mecca” by the locals, is the go-to site for the Schuylkill League playoffs, the District 11 playoffs, and for PIAA State Tournament games.

While the gym has hosted numerous games between teams representing some of the largest school districts in Eastern Pennsylvania, it is probably best known as the top arena in the state when it comes to playoff games between the best small-school teams in the East. As a matter of fact, many a coach has said over the years that the road to a State Championship will almost always run through Martz Hall.

Martz Hall is not all about high school basketball. The Harlem Globetrotters have entertained audiences there frequently. The late comedian, Bob Hope and country western star Jerry Reed held performances at Martz. Rock concerts, roller derbies, and professional wrestling matches have attracted thousands more.

And yet, the fabled venue is most known for classic high school basketball.

Current Pleasant Valley coach, Nadia Gauronsky played for Panther Valley in a District 11 championship game.

“Martz Hall is an incredible atmosphere for basketball,” she said. “The games are always intense and you can see the best teams in the Schuylkill League, District 11, and even the State compete there.

“The place has a magic to it.”

Tamaqua coach Erika Davis knows that well, having competed there as a player. It’s something she wants her team to experience.

“It’s the best atmosphere in the world, to play, to go watch a game, to play a game,” said Davis. “Those are the opportunities you can’t get back.

“I try to explain that through, how when I played, and when our coaching staff played — we’re all Schuylkill League players. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Not everybody has that arena around.”

That magic is taken to another level when the Mecca host state semifinal games, formerly known as Eastern Finals. Some of the most memorable moments in Martz’s history were when the floor was showered with Hershey Kisses after an area team punched its ticket to the Hershey Arena to play for a state championship.

With the postseason just around the corner, its almost time for Martz Hall to once again to step into the spotlight.

Ask anyone who has played there, or coached there, or watched a game there and you’ll understand that Martz Hall is a privileged place to experience the best of Pennsylvania high school basketball.

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MARQUEE MATCHUP ... With Marian’s boys OT win over Mahanoy Area, the Colts can gain a share of first place in the Schuylkill League’s Division 3 if they defeat Panther Valley (12-7) this Thursday following the Panthers’ four point loss to Tri Valley one week ago.

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STAYIN’ ALIVE ... Speaking of the playoffs, the Palmerton boys moved within one game of qualifying with their win over Southern Lehigh last Friday, The Bombers can clinch with a home game win over Northern Lehigh tomorrow night.

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INSPIRATIONAL VICTORY ... The Tamaqua Blue Raiders had extra incentive in their 61- 53 win over Lehighton last Friday before a packed home crowd. The night was dedicated to classmate, Carson Barron, who is battling osteosarcoma (bone) cancer.

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FAMILIAR FACES

... Thanks to Mother Nature and some scheduling conflicts, the Jim Thorpe girls’ basketball team ended up playing North Schuylkill twice in three days. On Jan. 31st, the Olympians traveled to Frackville to face the Spartans. Two days later, the Olympians welcomed North Schuylkill to their home court. Unfortunately for the Olympians, they ended losing both those games.

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WE CAN DO IT TOO

... It took a good part of the season, but Lehighton’s Julia Frey and Palmerton’s Casi Papay both recently reached doubles figures in scoring for the first time this season. Frey scored 12 points in a 59-55 win over Tamaqua, while Papay recorded a dozen in a 57-38 loss to Southern Lehigh. For both players, the scoring outbursts happened in their 19th games of the season.

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MILESTONES

... It seems like it has been a good year in the Times News area for basketball players hitting the 1,000 point milestone.

Skylynn Faust of Lehighton was the first to do so this season. Since then, Lehighton’s Aubrey Blasiak, Palmerton’s Linnaea Leister and Weatherly’s Emily Zoscin all accomplished the feat. Panther Valley’s Tristan Blasko is the only boy to net his 1,000 point career this season.

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TICKETS PUNCHED

... Six more area teams punched their tickets to the ‘Dance’ this week. The Pleasant Valley, Jim Thorpe and Marian boys, along with the Pleasant Valley and Tamaqua girls all clinched District 11 playoff berths.

That brings the number of area teams in the field to 13 — the Tamaqua boys/girls, Marian boys/girls, the Pleasant Valley boys/girls, the Northwestern boys/girls, the Panther Valley boys, the Jim Thorpe boys, the Northern Lehigh boys, the Lehighton girls, and the Weatherly girls.