Tamaqua needed one more win with just two games remaining to punch its ticket to the District 11 4A playoffs, as the Raiders headed into what is always an energized environment at Panther Valley’s “black hole” on Friday night.

A 23-8 first quarter by Tamaqua gave it the started it needed to do exactly that, as the Raiders came away with a crucial victory, qualifying for the postseason with a 72-52 Schuylkill League win over the Panthers.

“We knew we had to get out to a good start. We came out fired up and ready to go,” said Tamaqua head coach Jimmy Barron. “Offensively, we were clicking, but defensively I thought we were just as good. We got hands on their shooters, and held them to 16 points in the first half, which was huge. I also think a big key for us early was that we executed. We ran our sets, we were unselfish, and we knocked down open shots.”

The Raiders pillaged and plundered PV from the start, getting out to a quick 11-3 lead. Triples by Cooper Ansbach and Connor Dillon got the Tamaqua offense going, and a minute later, the Raiders would go on an even bigger run - a 12-0 surge - extending their lead to 23-5. Noah Mateyak caught fire for Tamaqua during that span, scoring nine consecutive points.

The Raiders shot an impressive 9-for-15 from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first.

“Give Tamaqua credit. They hit a ton of big shots tonight. We just didn’t communicate enough. We knew we had to do our best to contain Mateyak and Dillon, we wanted to make somebody else beat us and not let those two guys get free,” said Panther Valley head coach Pat Crampsie. “We started off man and when they set screens we wanted to double them, but they were still sneaking free. And any time we were able to mount any kind of momentum, we could never sustain it, because they were able to get free and hit big shots.

“Tonight, we just got killed on the toughness stats. They beat us on the boards, we had some opportunities to take some charges and we didn’t. That is something we need to turnaround. We all need to work to get better and that starts with me as well.”

Neither team played particularly effective offense in the second quarter, as both squads combined to shoot just 4-for-22 from the field, with Tamaqua still holding a 30-16 advantage at the break.

But in the third, the Raiders found their rhythm once again on offense. Early in third, PV was able to play its best basketball of the night, cutting the Tamaqua lead to 10 (33-23) with around six minutes to go in the quarter.

The Panthers would keep that deficit around that margin until around the three-minute mark in the frame, when the Raiders would go on another convincing run. A 9-0 Tamaqua boost would put it back in command with a 51-29 advantage late in the quarter. The run was once again sparked by Mateyak, who hit two three-pointers during the flurry and netted 26 points through the first three quarters of play.

“Noah is a shooter. And when teams go zone against us, we are looking for Mateyak and Dillon. Dillon got us going early and then Mateyak really got hot for us,” said Barron. “We told our guys at half time that they have shooters and they were going to make some shots and go on a run, and we weathered their run in the third. And then we didn’t panic, we responded and finished the quarter strong.”

PV would outpace Tamaqua 22-17 in the fourth, but it would never get closer than 17 points down the rest of the way.

“We haven’t been to the playoffs since 2020, when COVID-19 shut the state tournament down. It’s fantastic to get back and we’re excited,” said Barron “We’re going to continue to work. We have a big one to finish the season against Blue Mountain, and then we’re going to focus on facing one of these good teams in 4A.”

LEADERS

… Mateyak scored a game-high 32 points for the Raiders. Dillon added 14 and Michael Styka helped out with 10. For PV, Chase Weaver scored 15, Logan Fisher added 12 and Stephen Hood finished with 10.

THE RECORDS

… Tamaqua improved to 11-10, and is currently the No. 7 seed in the District 11 4A ratings. The Panthers are now 11-9 and they are in the No. 7 spot in 3A.

TAMAQUA

Ansbach 3-2-2-8, McCabe 1-0-0-2, Mateyak 12-2-4-32, Vecolitis 0-0-0-0, Styka 5-0-2-10, Kane 1-1-2-3, Fronheiser 1-0-0-3, Dillon 5-2-3-14, Karmant 0-0-0-0, Tamagini 0-0-0-0. Totals: 26-7-13-72.

PANTHER VY.

Kokinda 1-2-3-5, Weaver 5-2-2-15, Fisher 5-2-2-12, Penberth 0-1-4-1, Jones 0-0-0-0, Wehr 0-0-0-0, Hood 4-0-0-10, Buyce 2-0-0-5, Maynard 2-0-0-4, Goida 0-0-0-0. Totals: 19-7-11-52.

Tamaqua 23 7 23 17 - 72

Panther Vy. 8 8 16 22 - 52

Three-pointers: T - Mateyak 6, Dillon 2, Fronheiser 1; PV - Weaver 3, Hood 2, Kokinda 1, Buyce 1.