The Tamaqua boys clinched a berth in the Schuylkill League playoffs, while Marian failed to punch its ticket to the league’s postseason on Saturday.

The Blue Raiders defeated Panther Valley and secured the wild card spot.

Meanwhile, the Colts dropped a close contest to Nativity, forcing a tie in the Division 3 standings. The two teams will play again tonight to decide the division title.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Panther Valley-Tamaqua

Tamaqua rebounded from a slow start and rolled to a 71-44 Schuylkill League victory over Panther Valley.

The Blue Raiders (16-6; 11-3) clinched the Division 1 wild card earlier in the day when Blue Mountain lost to Pine Grove.

Nate Boyle scored seven points in the second quarter to lead a 23-6 period that erased an early deficit.

Brayden Knoblauch paced the winners with 15 points, while Nicko Bollentino and Barron Stauffenberg both added 14. Lucas Gregoire also chipped in with 11.

For the Panthers (11-11; 4-10), Blake White finished with a team-high 15 points.

PANTHER VALLEY

Marchorro 4-0-1-11, Gutierrez 3-0-0-8, Stilitino 2-0-0-5, Krapf 0-0-2-0, Kindt 0-0-0-0, Pascoe 0-0-0-0, Eidle 0-0-0-0, Roig 0-0-0-0, Hoben 0-0-0-0, Roth 1-0-0-2, White 6-1-2-15, Juracka 1-0-0-3, Turner 0-0-0-0, Hood 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-1-5-44.

TAMAQUA

Taras 0-0-0-0, Coleman 0-0-0-0, Knoblauch 5-2-2-15, Bollentino 4-2-2-14, Boyle 4-0-0-9, Sherry 0-0-0-0, Smith 2-1-1-5, N. Gregoire 0-0-0-0, L. Gregoire 4-1-2-11, Stauffenberg 6-0-1-14, Lavine 0-0-0-0, Van Buskirk 1-1-2-3. TOTALS: 26-7-10-71.

Panther Valley 16 6 13 9 - 44

Tamaqua 13 23 23 12 -71

Three-pointers: Panther Valley - Marchorro 3, Gutierrez 2, White 2, Stilitino 1, Juracka 1; Tamaqua - Bollentino 4, Knoblauch 3, Stauffenberg 2, L. Gregoire 2, Boyle 1.

Marian-Nativity

Kegan Hertz scored a game-high 27 points to help lead Nativity to a 64-60 Schuylkill League victory over Marian.

The victory by the Hilltoppers (16-6; 10-3) forced a tie atop the Division 3 standings. The two teams will meet tonight at Minersville to decide the division championship.

The Colts (18-4; 10-3) received a team-high 22 points from Tyler Fritz, while Chris Ritsick and Dante Agosti both finished with 16. Fritz also added seven rebounds and six assists.

Marian lost the JV game, 45-40, despite 18 points from Mason Gibson.

MARIAN

T. Fritz 7-8-10-22, Ritsick 6-0-0-16, Agosti 5-2-2-16, L. Fritz 2-0-0-4, Malarkey 0-2-3-2, Goff 0-0-0-0, Cerullo 0-0-0-0, Eroh 0-0-0-0, Hnat 0-0-0-0, Gibson 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-12-15-60.

NATIVITY

Chiplonia 0-3-6-3, Walborn 1-1-4-4, Piccioni 0-0-0-0, Spolski 0-0-0-0, Kuperavage 2-0-1-5, Hoffman 5-3-7-14, Miller 2-2-2-6, Sipes 0-0-0-0, Ratcliff 0-5-10-5, Hertz 11-4-4-27. TOTALS: 21-18-34-64.

Marian 11 17 15 17 - 60

Nativity 16 18 15 15 - 64

Three-pointers: Marian - Ritsick 4, Agosti 4; Nativity - Walborn 1, Kuperavage 1, Hoffman 1, Hertz 1.

N. Schuylkill-Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe closed it season on a winning note, defeating North Schuylkill 58-51 in a Schuylkill League contest.

Adam Lauer scored a team-high 18 points for the Olympians (7-15; 5-9), going 10-of-11 at the foul line. Chris Condly aided the cause with 13 points.

The Spartans (5-17; 2-12) received a game-high 23 points from Jack Flynn.

NORTH SCHUYLKILL

Weikel 5-5-8-16, Flynn 8-2-2-23, Todd 1-1-3-4, Groody 1-0-0-2, Scott 1-2-4-4, Fischer 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 17-10-17-51.

JIM THORPE

Condly 6-1-4-13, Richards 1-0-0-2, Hurley 1-2-5-4, Hendricks 0-0-0-0, Ivey 3-0-0-7, Adames 1-4-8-7, Lauer 3-10-11-18, McHugh 0-0-0-0, Herron 1-2-2-5, Marykwas 0-2-2-2. TOTALS: 16-21-32-58.

North Schuylkill 15 7 12 17 - 51

Jim Thorpe 10 21 14 13 - 58

Three-pointers: North Schuylkill - Flynn 5, Weikel 1, Todd 1; Jim Thorpe - Lauer 2, Ivey 1, Adames 1, Herron 1.

Shenandoah-Weatherly

Weatherly snapped a four-game losing streak with a 59-52 Schuylkill League victory over Shenandoah Valley.

Scotty Zoscin scored a team-high 16 points for the Wreckers (9-12; 3-10), who avenged a 29-point loss to the Devils earlier in the season. The winners also received 15 points from Antonio Colecio.

Shenandoah (4-18; 3-10) was led by Owen Kosar’s game-high 19 points.

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Alvarez 0-0-0-0, Maksimik 0-0-0-0, Karvois 4-4-4-14, Matta 4-0-0-10, Kosar 5-4-4-19, Mikita 2-1-2-6, Boris 1-0-0-3, Versasis 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-9-10-52.

WEATHERLY

Colecio 6-0-0-15, E. Derr 3-0-0-6, Gerhart 1-2-2-4, Zoscin 5-3-4-16, Obert 1-0-1-2, Broskoskie 3-0-0-6, Willis 1-0-0-2, Tomkins 0-1-2-1, Lowman 3-0-0-7, Hines 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-6-9-59.

Shenandoah 11 15 17 9 - 52

Weatherly 18 12 17 12 - 59

Three-pointers: Shenandoah - Kosar 5, Karvois 2, Matta 2, Mikita 1, Boris 1; Weatherly - Colecio 3, Zoscin 3, Lowman 1.

Lehighton-Pottsville

Pottsville finished its Schuylkill League season undefeated by cruising to a 72-34 victory over Lehighton.

Mason Barnes tallied a game-high 25 points for the Tide (18-4; 14-0), who will play in the league semifinals on Wednesday.

The Indians (8-14; 4-10) received a team-high 11 points from Zach Hunsicker, while Noah Wolverton added 10.

LEHIGHTON

Hunsicker 4-0-0-11, Lorenz 1-0-0-2, Wolverton 4-2-2-10, Smith 0-0-2-0, Costenbader 1-1-2-3, Yturrino 2-1-5-5, Schatz 1-0-0-3, Beatty 0-0-0-0, E. Lutz 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-4-11-34.

POTTSVILLE

Schenk 5-0-0-11, Heimbaugh 1-0-0-3, Barnes 8-6-6-25, Yost 4-0-0-9, McCuller 4-0-0-8, Boris 2-0-0-5, Stanton 1-0-0-3, Snowell 4-0-0-8, Salata 0-0-0-0, DiCello 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 29-6-6-72.

Lehighton 8 5 11 10 - 34

Pottsville 21 26 13 12 - 72

Three-pointers: Lehighton - Hunsicker 3, Schatz 1; Pottsville - Barnes 3, Schenk 1, Heimbaugh 1, Yost 1, Boris 1, Stanton 1.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Tamaqua-Tri-Valley

Emma Kuczynski had her second straight triple-double to lead Tamaqua to a 74-32 non-league victory over Tri-Valley.

Kuczynski finished with a game-high 24 points, and also pulled down 12 rebounds and collected 11 steals. Kuczynski upped her career point total to 1,930 to pass Amy Zehner for third place on the program’s all-time scoring list.

The Raiders (18-4) also received 21 points from Emily Titus.

Tamaqua won the JV game, 48-18, behind 18 points and 14 rebounds from Serena Jones.

TAMAQUA

Meckes 0-0-0-0, Kane 0-0-0-0, Zuber 2-2-2-7, Hromyak 1-0-2-3, Jones 0-0-0-0, Boyle 3-0-0-7, Titus 9-2-2-21, Wingler 1-0-0-3, Hope 0-0-0-0, Frederickson 0-2-2-2, Kuczynski 10-4-5-24, Reinhardt 3-1-2-7. TOTALS: 29-11-15-74.

TRI-VALLEY

Adams 1-0-0-2, Kazmarczik 2-0-0-4, F. Colahan 1-0-0-3, Snyder 1-0-1-2, Poletti 3-6-8-13, Connell 1-0-0-2, Canfield 2-2-4-6, Clouser 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-8-13-32.

Tamaqua 23 18 15 18 - 74

Tri-Valley 10 7 10 5 - 32

Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Zuber 1, Hromyak 1, Boyle 1, Titus 1, Wingler 1; Tri-Valley - F. Colahan 1, Poletti 1.