Tamaqua was hoping to keep Pine Grove off the glass and play solid defense Thursday in its Schuylkill League contest.

It was also hoping to stay within reach of the front-runners in Division 1 and not slip too far back of the final league playoff berth.

With extra spots created in the Schuylkill postseason this year, even starting 1-3 - as the Blue Raiders did - doesn’t necessarily end a team’s dreams of advancing past the regular season.

A 59-49 victory over the Cardinals definitely helped their cause. It also allowed Tamaqua and head coach Jim Barron to take a step back and take a deep breath ... but not for too long. The Raiders return to division action Monday against Panther Valley.

“It was a very important win for us. It’s huge, it puts us back at .500,” said Barron, whose club is now 6-6 overall and 2-3 in league play.

After a disappointing first half in which Tamaqua allowed Pine Grove to fly up and down the floor en route to 30 points, the Raiders countered that by excelling at the defensive end over the final two quarters.

“We finally started to play (defense),” said Barron. “We didn’t let No. 3 (Garrett Brandt) and 4 (Brandon Unger) get open so much. We made some adjustments, and we started hitting the boards.”

Those changes also equated to a better rhythm on offense.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 13-8 first-quarter lead, and held a 23-16 advantage by riding the success of its dynamic shooting guards. Unger recorded 13 first-half points, while Brandt also sizzled on offense with 12.

Tamaqua, however, received a spark off the bench when sophomore Noah Mateyak dropped in seven points. That helped his team come to life.

Down by seven, Cooper Ansbach picked up a loose ball and sunk a deuce before Connor Dillion drained three straight foul shots. Moments later, Mateyak buried a triple.

Just like that, the Raiders had found their stroke and entered halftime with momentum.

That momentum carried over into the start of the second half as Dillon and Luke Kane both hit shots to give Tamaqua a quick 4-0 spurt and the lead.

Despite the Cardinals knotting the score at 32-32 after a Brandt breakaway, one could sense the Raiders were about to take control.

Thanks to the play of Mason Ligenza, Dillon and Kane, Tamaqua did just that. A late third-quarter run allowed the home team to grab a five-point advantage heading into the final period.

“I thought that was a big sequence,” Barron said about the third-quarter rally. “We made them turn it over a couple of times, because of (Lewis and Mateyak) defense.”

While the Raiders were now in front, the contest was far from being signed and sealed.

Ligenza extended the margin with an inside bucket, but Pine Grove was about to go on a triple-scoring frenzy.

Kane added another basket, but then the Cardinals started bombing away. They delivered four straight treys - with Unger and Brandt doing the damage.

But, as Barron noted, his team had an answer at the other end.

“Luckily, we were able to score as well,” he said.

Pine Grove got within 50-49 when its 6-6 player Carl Sarge hit another triple. Tamaqua stayed the course, though, and finished strong by scoring the game’s final nine points.

Lewis and Ligenza were key down the stretch, turning away any thoughts the Cardinals had of a comeback.

BY THE NUMBERS … Tamaqua had a big rebounding advantage, 39-23. Lucas Milot pulled down nine to lead the Raiders. The Tams shot 22-of-45 from the floor, while Pine Grove ended 18-of-52.

CLEAN SWEEP … Tamaqua breezed in the opener, 58-24. Manuel Gomez led the Raiders with 22, while Tony Ott and Mateyak each finished with 10.

PINE GROVE

Brandt 7-4-6-21, Garrett 8-0-0-22, Sarge 1-0-0-3, Tobin 1-0-0-2, Boomer 1-0-0-2, Skocik 0-1-2-1. TOTALS: 18-5-8-49.

TAMAQUA

Mateyak 6-1-2-15, Milot 4-2-7-10, Dillon 2-4-5-9, Kane 4-0-1-8, Ligenza 2-3-6-7, Lewis 2-2-3-6, Ansbach 1-0-0-2, Andrews 1-0-0-2, Klein 0-0-0-0, Styak 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-12-24-59.

Pine Grove 13 17 7 12 - 49

Tamaqua 8 20 14 17 - 59

Three-pointers: Pine Grove - Unger 4, Brandt 3, Sarge 1; Tamaqua - Mateyak 2, Dillon 1.