The Panther Valley boys’ and Pleasant Valley girls’ basketball teams secured spots in the District 11 playoffs with wins on Friday. The Pleasant Valley boys basketball team also picked up a win.

In wrestling action, seven area athletes advanced to the semifinals of the Coal Cracker Tournament.

BOYS BASKETBALL

N. Schuylkill-Panther Vy.

A hot start sparked Panther Valley in a 60-29 Schuylkill League win over North Schuylkill.

Brandon Stilitino had 13 of his 21 points in the first quarter as the Panthers (11-7) jumped out to a 22-1 lead. Erik Marchorro and Blake White added 13 points apiece.

Jack Flynn’s 16 points paced the Spartans (4-12).

NORTH SCHUYLKILL

Burges 0-0-0-0, Brown 0-0-0-0, Zahodnick 0-0-0-0, Weikel 1-0-2-2, Balicki 0-0-0-0, Flynn 5-4-7-16, Todd 0-0-0-0, Groody 1-0-0-2, Conti 1-0-0-2, Scott 2-0-0-4, Fisher 0-0-0-0, Miller 1-0-0-3, Davis 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-4-11-29.

PANTHER VALLEY

Marchorro 6-0-0-13, Gutierrez 1-0-0-3, Stilitino 8-0-0-21, Krapf11-0-0-2, Eidle 2-0-0-4, Pascoe 1-0-0-2, Hadley 0-0-0-0, Hoben 0-0-0-0, White 5-2-3-13, Kindt 0-0-0-0, Juracka 0-0-0-0, Turner 1-0-0-2, Hood 0-0-2-0, Roth 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-2-9-60.

North Schuylkill 1 5 13 10 - 29

Panther Valley 22 13 17 8 - 60

Three-pointers: North Schuylkill - Flynn 2, Miller 1. Panther Valley - Stilitino 5, Marchorro 1, Gutierrez 1, White 1.

ES North-Pleasant Vy.

Noah Mitchell exploded for 32 points to lead Pleasant Valley to a 64-46 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference victory over East Stroudsburg North.

Marcus Arce added 11 points and Sebastian Pizcatowski chipped in nine for the Bears (6-11, 5-8).

For the Timberwolves (1-18, 0-13), Rhasaan Jacobs led the way with 12 points.

ES NORTH

Azemi 2-3-4-7, Dyola 3-0-0-6, Freeman 1-2-4-5, Patterson 4-1-1-9, John 0-0-0-0, Jacobs 5-0-0-12, Ampah 1-0-0-2, Ukidi 0-0-0-0, Perez 2-1-2-5, Hawkins 0-0-0-0, Harmon 0-0-0-0, Runntree 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-7-11-46

PLEASANT VALLEY

Hearns 0-4-6-4, Rommel 2-0-0-4, Wynn 0-0-0-0, Arce 3-3-4-11, Ratti 1-0-2-2, Pizcatowski 4-1-4-9, Mitchell 11-10-13-32, Keesler 1-0-0-2, Moore 0-0-0-0, Francis 0-0-0-0, Dixon 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-18-29-64.

ES North 13 7 10 16 - 46

Pleasant Vy. 18 12 17 17 - 64

Three-pointers: ESN - Jacobs 2, Freeman 1. PV - Arce 2.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

ES North-Pleasant Valley

A big third quarter helped Pleasant Valley pull away in a 48-28 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference win over East Stroudsburg North.

Alyssa Wagner had eight of her game-high 15 points in the third, as the Bears (11-6) took a commanding 38-22 advantage. Madison O’Neil added 11 points.

ES NORTH

Costache 3-0-0-8, Azemi 2-1-1-5, C. Jeanlouis 1-0-4-2, John 1-1-3-3, Gesicho 0-0-0-0, Atiram 0-1-2-1, Arthurton 1-0-0-2, Blake 0-0-0-0, S. Mayes 1-1-3-3, O. Mayes 1-2-4-4. TOTALS: 10-6-17-28.

PLEASANT VALLEY

R. Wagner 2-1-2-5, Caffrey 3-0-0-8, O’Neil 4-1-2-11, A. Wagner 5-5-8-15, Williams 0-0-0-0, Rosenberg 0-0-0-0, Muir 1-0-0-2, Arndt 0-0-2-0, Morgan 0-1-2-1, Merklin 2-0-2-4, Mattson 1-0-0-2, Boyne 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-8-18-48.

ES North 2 11 9 6 - 28

Pleasant Vy. 8 12 18 10 - 48

Three-pointers: ES North - Costache 2. Pleasant Valley - Caffrey 2, O’Neil 2.

WRESTLING

Coal Cracker Tournament

The first night of the Coal Cracker Tournament at Lehighton ended with seven Times News area wrestlers in the semifinals.

Tamaqua led the way with three, as Aaron Coccio (138), Nate Wickersham (182) and Bronson Strouse (285) all advanced to the semis.

Jim Thorpe’s Derek Hunter (285), a champion at the event last season, advanced to the semis and might be on collision course with Strouse on the other side of the bracket. Strouse earned a 3-1 decision over Hunter in the 285-pound final at last week’s Schuylkill League Tournament.

Palmerton’s Dennis Lombardi (132) – who pinned top seed Michael Bluhm of Lackawanna Trail in :50 – Northwestern’s Mason Brensinger (138) and Lehighton’s Brett Gasker (220) also punched their tickets to the semifinals on the opening night of the event.

Gettysburg led the team standings with 173 points ahead of Carlisle (144.5), Faith Christian Academy (136.5), Hazleton (131.5) and Lackawanna Trail (108.5). Tamaqua (94) was seventh out of 41 teams, while Lehighton (64) was 12th, Northwestern (62) 13th and Jim Thorpe (61) 14th.

The following wrestlers are still alive in the consolation bracket: Jim Thorpe - Ridge Snyder (106), Will Schwartz (113), Gabe Heaney (126), John Newhall (170), Caleb McDermott (182); Lehighton - Lukas Ferguson (120), Lucas Sangiuliano (132), Jon Ahner (152), Richard Fronheiser (170), Alex Zeigenfuss (182), Gauge Hartney (220), Mike Yeakel (285); Northern Lehigh - Brenden Smay (106), Josh Schaffer (285), Trevor Amorim (145), Matt Frame (195); Northwestern - Jake Dellicker (120), Ben Griffith (132), Lucas Miller (145), Harrison Bernhard (145), Ryan Haverkamp (182), Isaiah Johri (220); Palmerton - Matt Lalik (160), Shawn Gardner (160), Aidan Melber (170); and Tamaqua - Devin Schlier (126), Randy Steigerwalt (132), Caleb Sell (145), Cole Eberts (152), Carson Krell (170).