Blindfold Tamaqua's Bo Rottet and Russell Blaker and they could probably still find their way to the basket.

Blessed with quickness and the ability to maneuver through opposing defenses, the talented guard-tandem can provide valuable scoring even when the Blue Raiders' perimeter game is struggling.On Tuesday night, in an important Schuylkill League Division 1 matchup with Blue Mountain, the duo did just that in helping their team post a 51-39 victory.The win not only improved Tamaqua's overall record to 12-2 but it also allowed Caszy Kosciolek's club to take over sole possession of the league's wild-card spot with a mark of 6-1."I thought we were at our best running transition in the first quarter," said Kosciolek. "We got a lot of transition buckets. Russell and Bo did a tremendous job of running the floor and finishing shots. They did a real nice job."This game was huge. It was for the lead in the wild-card race ... But the road ahead is really difficult. Every one of our games in the league, excpet for Pine Grove, in the second half is on the road."With Rottet and Blaker in the driver's seat, the trip might not be so bad.After falling in a quick 6-0 hole, the Blue Raiders settled in defensively and their guards reached another gear.Blaker hit three straight shots going to the basket to start a 27-7 run that gave the host team a 14-point advantage. Included in that stretch were a couple of Rottet bursts to the bucket."That's a huge part of our game," said Rottet, who finished with a game-high 15 points. "We started slow and shots weren't falling outside, but we were able to get to the basket and the foul line."Russell did a great job tonight. Our assistant coach (J.C. Dietz) really stresses to us to get to the basket. We try to do that and stay in control. Sometimes we get a little out of control, but for the most part we're able to get to the basket. If we have a shot, we take it. If we don't, we dish it out."In all, 12 of the Raiders' 16 field goals were within five feet of the basket. Nate MacDonald added a couple at close range near the end of the third quarter to give Tamaqua its biggest lead at 40-25.While the Eagles (7-5; 5-2) were able to get the advantage under 10 points on three separate occasions in the final frame, the winners held on by slowing things down offensively and shooting 9-of-10 from the foul line."This is a mature team with basketball smarts, and they play really hard," said Kosciolek. "We did a real nice job of taking time off the clock without turning the ball over. We took very few poor shots."I never felt like the game was in hand. They were always there, right around that 10-point mark. Give credit to us, though, we never let the lead get below eight. The kids were just focused on that next possession. That's the mark of a mature, smart team. That's what I like about this team."Blaker finished right behind Rottet with 14 points while the team's leading scorer, Brett Kosciolek, tallied 11. Ironically, the 6-8 senior center only had one of the team's 12 baskets inside the paint although he did pull down 10 rebounds. MacDonald contributed nine points and 11 boards.For Blue Mountain, Mark Chelius had 14 points.BLUE MOUNTAINStramara 1-5-6-8, Kerstetter 1-0-0-2, Barton 0-0-0-0, Lewis 2-2-2-6, Donovan 0-0-0-0, Chelius 5-2-2-14, Albertini 2-4-4-9, Zerbe 0-0-0-0, Biever 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-13-14-39.TAMAQUAShilko 0-0-0-0, Blaker 4-6-7-14, Miller 1-0-0-2, Rottet 4-6-6-15, Zuber 0-0-0-0, MacDonald 4-1-4-9, Skripko 0-0-0-0, Kosciolek 3-4-4-11. TOTALS: 16-17-21-51.Blue Mountain 10 10 8 11 - 39Tamaqua 18 13 11 9 - 51Three-pointers: Blue Mountain - Chelius 2, Stramara 1, Albertini 1; Tamaqua - Rottet 1, Kosciolek 1.