The Tamaqua boys’ basketball team didn’t want any more blue tunes to listen to this Christmas Season.

So instead, the Blue Raiders finally produced some good music on Monday against Jim Thorpe.

Riding the strong play of a trio of standouts, the Raiders kicked down the door early in the third quarter to slice and dice their way past the Olympians 53-29 in a Schuylkill League Division I matchup.

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for Tamaqua, which used superb shooting from a pair of underclassmen to turn the trick.

Sophomore Connor Dillon exploded with a career-best 19 points, while junior Steven Hoffman knocked down 14. Tamaqua also got strong play from its inside horse Nathan Gregoire, who chimed in with nine points and 11 rebounds.

“It was just a matter of us coming around, taking good shots and protecting the basketball,” said Raider coach Jim Barron. “I know that we are capable of playing good basketball. But in our early losses, we just didn’t do a very good of job of showing that.

“Whether it was shot selection or a lack of concentration ... we just didn’t play up to our abilities. But tonight, we showed much better patience on offense, and it paid off. Now, we need to build on it.”

While the Tamaqua offense was improved, the Olympians’ offense struggled.

“It’s all in our heads right now,” Jim Thorpe coach Jason McElmoyle said after he watched his team fail to convert numerous shots from point-blank range. “I mean, we should be making those shots ... they’re not difficult shots.”

The Raiders slid in front 15-11 after one quarter behind Dillon (five points) and Parker Coleman (four points). Meanwhile, the Olympians tried to stay close behind the play of 6-5 Bryson Heydt.

After Dillon buried a corner triple and Luke Kane spun inside for a bucket, the Raiders had a 20-12 lead. Thorpe called a quick timeout, but to little avail, as Gregoire returned to the court and buried a pair of long-range bombs to give his team to a 26-12 lead.

Thorpe made a mini-run behind Kaiden Herron and Derryl Fisher to end the half within striking distance at 26-17.

However, Tamaqua’s adrenalin was about to percolate as Hoffman scored three quick points to start the second half. Dillon tickled the twines for a pair of three-balls later in the period as Tamaqua built its lead to 37-25 after three quarters.

The Olympians went ice cold in the final quarter, managing just two buckets from the field. On the other hand, Tamaqua was starting to strike up the band with a “Here Comes Santa Clause” tune of its own. Doing the singing by way of their play on the court were the quartet of Dillion, Kane, Gregoire and Hoffman who all had a hand in helping the Raiders pull away.

“I knew it was just a matter of time until we started to come together,” Barron said.

FLINGING IT UP … The Raiders (2-4, 1-1) let loose from behind the arc with five triples in the first half, and eight in the game.

DIFFERENCE MAKER … Tamaqua played strong on the defensive side, as it dictated tempo and forced Thorpe to take poor shots at times.

THEY HAVE GAME … Thorpe (2-3, 1-1) can’t be overlooked, as they have some talent. The shot chart saw them miss 14 shots in the paint, which cost them 28 points.

BY THE NUMBERS … The Raiders shot a crisp 20-for-53, and had a big advantage off the glass, 41-24. The Olympians went 11-for-41 from the field.

JVs … The Raiders won the opener 54-38. Taking bows for Tamaqua was Luke Kane with 17, Cooper Ansbach with 12 and Noah Mateyak with eight. Thorpe was led by Josh Spruill’s 11 points, while Clarence Watts added 10.

JIM THORPE

Herron 8-0-0-16, Richards 0-0-0-0, McHugh 0-0-2-0, Fisher 1-3-4-5, DiSanto 0-0-0-0, Bradley 0-0-0-0, Craigie 0-0-0-0, Selby 0-0-0-0, Heydt 2-4-12-8. TOTALS: 11-7-18-29.

TAMAQUA

Ansbach 1-0-0-2, Hoffman 5-3-4-14, Milot 0-0-0-0, Kane 1-0-2-2, Fannock 0-0-0-0, Dillon 7-0-1-19, Valentine 0-0-0-0, Ligenza 0-1-2-1, Sherry 0-0-0-0, Andrews 0-0-0-0, Gregoire 3-1-2-9, Mateyak 0-0-0-0, P. Coleman 3-0-0-6. TOTALS: 20-5-11-53.

Jim Thorpe 11 6 8 4 - 29

Tamaqua 15 11 11 16 - 53

Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Dillon 5, Gregoire 2, Hoffman 1.