When there’s good rhythm, there’s usually a good band.

On Tuesday, Tamaqua’s band of girls basketball players found their rhythm in the second quarter and went on to orchestrate a convincing 60-25 Schuylkill League victory over Panther Valley.

The Panthers - despite a roster depleted by health issues - kept the game close for the first eight minutes while playing mostly sophomores and juniors.

Maddison Maynard’s left-handed layup with 2:00 to go in the opening frame cut the Blue Raiders’ lead to 10-9, and the Panthers (1-6) eventually found themselves down by just three moving into the second period.

That’s when Tamaqua (4-4) found its rhythm. Trenyce Wingler’s bounce pass to Lorelei Plasha underneath for a layup was the front-end of a three-point play that spearheaded a 14-3 Raider run. What was to become a 17-point halftime lead was aided by two threes from McKenna Meckes, and another from Sarah Hope.

Raiders head coach Erika Davis wanted her team to turn its defensive play into offensive points, and she got exactly what she asked for as her “D” forced 19 PV turnovers in the first half.

The third period was a quick-scoring spree from Plasha and Meckes. With 20 seconds gone, Meckes found Plasha underneath for a layup.

Sixteen seconds later, Meckes scored on another layup off a turnover. A second layup by Plasha was followed by a Meckes three-pointer, and a bucket banked off the glass by Plasha completed an 11-3 run and a 44-19 advantage for the Raiders.

Makayla Yuricheck’s long bank shot for PV was answered by Tamaqua’s Ashley Jones’ driving layup to put the visiting team up by 31 going into the final eight minutes.

The postgame message from Panthers coach Rob Kovac to his young team focused on the positives.

“It’s been a tough week missing three of our top six players, but with that said, I liked how we attacked their defense in the first half,” Kovac said.

“We executed, but we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket. Coach Davis does a nice job coaching her team, and you could tell they were more accomplished. Then, we just ran out of gas in the second half.”

Davis had set a team goal to commit fewer than 15 turnovers per game. After turning the ball over five times in the first period, the Raiders committed just five more for a total of 10.

She remarked on how her team found its stride and offensive rhythm after the first period.

“We stressed being quick,” said Davis. “Play quick. Take care of the ball and take control,” she said. “I thought we did just that after the first few minutes. We still need to finish our shots around the basket, and get better from the foul line.”

The Raiders’ scoring leader was Lorelei Plasha with 20, while Maynard paced the Panthers with 11.

LONG RANGE RAIDERS ... Tamaqua was adept at scoring from beyond the arc. Meckes dropped four treys for 12, and Wingler scored nine of her 11 from downtown.

UP NEXT ... The Panthers travel to Jim Thorpe tonight to take on the undefeated Olympians. Tamaqua hosts North Schuylkill on Thursday at 7 p.m.

TAMAQUA

L. Plasha 9-2-3-20, Meckes 6-0-0-16, Wingler 4-0-3-11, Hope 1-0-0-3, K. Robb 1-0-0-2, A. Jones 1-0-0-2, Streisel 1-0-0-2, S. Plasha 1-0-0-2, S. Jones 1-0-3-2, Thomas 0-0-0-0, C. Fannock 0-0-0-0, Giuliano 0-0-0-0. G. Robb 0-0-0-0. Scott 0-0-0-0, Werner 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-2-9-60.

PANTHER VALLEY

Maynard 5-1-2-11, Yuricheck 3-1-2-7, O’Brien 2-0-0-4, Krapf 1-0-0-3, Shreffler 0-0-0-0, Kattner 0-0-0-0, Eidle 0-0-0-0, McGuillen 0-0-0-0, Bochicchia 0-0-0-0, McAndrew 0-0-0-0, Benack 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-2-6-25.

Tamaqua 12 21 21 6 - 60

Panther Vy. 9 7 7 2 - 25

Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Meckes 4, Wingler 3, Hope 1; Panther Valley - Krapf 1.