POTTSVILLE - After a wait of more than 20 years, what's another 16 minutes?

Tamaqua's long anticipated return to the Schuylkill League playoffs didn't get off to the best of starts on Wednesday night at Martz Hall.But they say good things come to those who wait, and after waiting two decades and two quarters, good things finally started to happen for the Raiders.Behind huge second half performances by standouts Bo Rottet and Brett Kosciolek, Tamaqua rallied for a 59-53 victory over Minersville.The Raiders' reward for their comeback victory is a third meeting this season with undefeated Pottsville, a 59-31 winner over Mahanoy Area in the nightcap of the semifinal doubleheader. The teams will meet on Friday at 7:30 at Martz Hall for the Schuylkill League title."We were totally outplayed by Minersville in the first half," said Tamaqua coach Caszy Kosciolek. "They outworked us, they out-rebounded us, and they played better defensively than we did."But it was a tale of two halves and we were able to turn things around and really get after it in the second half."There were a lot of reasons why Tamaqua (19-4) was able to turn a 24-19 halftime deficit into a victory, but none stood out more than the play of senior leaders Rottet and Kosciolek.Rottet scored seven third quarter points on a variety of slashes and cuts to the basket to help the Raiders pull even at 35-35 heading to the final quarter.Kosciolek took over to start the fourth quarter, scoring six of Tamaqua's first eight points as it opened a 43-38 advantage."I thought we did a nice job on Rottet and Kosciolek in the first half," said Minersville coach Cliff Woodford. "But they're two very talented basketball players and they made some plays in the second half."Rottet hurt us with his penetration and even though I thought we did a good job defending Kosciolek, he was able to get his points as well."Despite his team's sluggish first half, coach Kosciolek said he never lost confidence."We have some great kids and it's a tribute to their character that we were able to bounce back in the second half and play as well as we did," said Kosciolek. "Bo and Brett are our leaders and when you're struggling like we were, you need your leaders to step up and lead by example and that's what they did."They've played a lot of big games in their high school careers - both in basketball and baseball - so they know what it takes to deliver in the big games. I thought they did that tonight."After Brett Kosciolek helped Tamaqua open up its lead early in the final quarter, Rottet supplied both the dagger and the insurance. First, he buried a deep three-pointer to give the Raiders their biggest lead of the night (48-40). Then, he made sure it stood up by burying six of eight free throws down the stretch."We realized we didn't play well in the first half," said Rottet. "But we talked before the third quarter and made sure everyone knew what it was going to take to turn things around."We are an extremely close team so no one gets mad at anyone else. Everyone took it upon themselves to step up their game."Brett Kosciolek added, "I thought we picked up our energy level in the second half. We did a much better job on the boards and also getting the loose balls."We also were more patient offensively and got a lot better shots."Rottet finished with a game-high 23 points and six rebounds. Kosciolek added 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.Outstanding performances by Rottet and Kosciolek are something Tamaqua fans have seen a lot of this season.A Schuylkill League playoff win is something that Tamaqua fans hadn't seen in over 20 years.Wednesday night they got to see both.MINERSVILLEMcBreen 3-0-0-7, Stephen 0-0-0-0, Hashin 1-2-3-4, Leshko 4-3-3-13, Graham 6-3-3-16, Brennan 1-0-0-2, Tobin 5-0-0-11. TOTALS: 20-7-9-53.TAMAQUABlaker 2-1-3-6, Miller 0-0-0-0, Rottet 5-12-15-23, Zuber 1-2-2-4, MacDonald 2-3-5-7, Skripko 0-1-2-1, Kosciolek 7-4-5-18. TOTALS: 17-23-32-59.Minersville 15 9 11 18 - 53Tamaqua 13 6 16 24 - 59Three-pointers: M - Leshko 2, McBreen 1, Graham 1, Tobin 1. T - Blaker 1, Rottet 1.