Mike Bonetsky, Tamaqua’s 5-6 guard, turned out to be the team’s good luck charm Thursday evening.

With the Blue Raiders-Kutztown boys’ basketball game hanging in the balance, Bonetsky came up like the biggest man on the floor down the home stretch.

Bonetsky drilled a three-pointer at the onset of the final quarter, stole two passes in a matter of two minutes and did a blow by for another basket with 56 seconds remaining, which enabled the Blue Raiders to rally past the Cougars 60-55 in this non-league contest.

Bonetsky finished with a game-high 20 points and was one of three Tamaqua players in double digits. Teammates Braydon Knoblauch and Lucas Gregoire were also instrumental in the victory. Knoblauch drained 19 points. Gregoire, who had a silent first half, awoke with a rumble to add 14 points.

As much as the offense was the highlight, the keys were two-fold on the defensive side. Coach Jimmy Barron knew his club would be tested against one of the top shooters in Kutztown senior forward Lorencz Jean-Baptiste.

“He’s a great player, and we needed two guys to defend him,” said Barron about using a Box-and-1 with Derian Stianche or Barron Stauffenberg covering the Cougars’ star. They combined to hold Jean-Baptiste to 14 points.

“We need to get used to that type (of defense),” said Cougars coach Ed Yapsuga. “Give (Tamaqua’s) kids credit, they never let him get any easy shots. We tried running our man defense, but that didn’t work either.”

The Blue Raiders were disciplined enough to play four square.

“Our whole game plan was to take (Jean-Baptiste) out of the game,” said Barron. “He’s a player. The two guys that guarded him did a great job. Also, the four guys in the box did a fantastic job of having their hands up and deflecting passes.”

Tamaqua didn’t light it up in the first half, scoring just 22 points, and trailed by three.

Where the Raiders came to the fore centered on 6-4 junior Gregoire.

“He didn’t have a very good first half, but he hunkered down in the second half,” said Barron

Gregoire scored 12 of his 14 in the second half and pulled down five rebounds in that time span.

What fueled the Raiders (2-1) was a mini-blitz in a matter of a minute and 16 seconds as Gregoire tied the game at 32-32 with 5:40 left, then watched the Cougars (2-2) roar to a five-point lead thanks in part to Marlon Creech, who drilled a bucket and a triple in the rally.

Then Tamaqua came up big as Bonetsky fueled the uprising. He hit a triple, and after Gregoire added a trey, Bonetsky darted into the heart of the Kutztown defense for two quick goals. By quarter’s end Tamaqua seized a 47-45 edge.

Kutztown turned to Justin Sheetz, who bagged his fourth straight basket for a 49-48 lead. That was the final time the visitors led.

The outcome was still in the balance even after Gregoire completed a three-point play, and Bonetsky scored off an assist from Stianche for a 57-51 lead.

Kutztown answered on a Creech basket with 2:21 to play, before Bonetsky responded with a basket off a turnover, followed by two Knoblauch free throws.

LETTING IT FLY … Tamaqua shot 23-of-43 from the floor, while Kutztown went 22-of-54. The visitors had five more rebounds (36-31), but Gregoire had a game-high 11. The Raiders committed nine first-half turnovers, but had just three in the second half. The Raiders had four steals in the fourth quarter.

SWEEPING CLEAN … Tamaqua topped the Cougars in the JV game with a 67-41 win. Stauffenberg led the way with 18 points. Nicko Bolletino and Aaron Gutierrez both scored 14.

KUTZTOWN

Jean-Baptiste 6-0-1-14, Fegely 3-4-6-12, Floyd 5-0-1-10, Scheetz 3-0-0-7, Creech 3-0-0-7, Gehris 2-0-0-5, Graff 0-0-0-0. Totals 22-4-8-55.

TAMAQUA

Bonetsky 8-0-3-20, Knoblauch 7-2-3-19, Gregoire 5-3-3-14, Stauffenberg 1-0-0-3, Agosti 1-0-0-2, Stanchie 1-0-0-2, Griffin 0-0-0-0, Zehner 0-0-0-0, 23-5-11-60.

Kutztown 13 12 21 9 - 55

Tamaqua 10 12 25 13 - 60

Three-pointers: K - Fegely 2, Jean-Baptiste 2, Scheetz 1, Creech 1; T - Bonetsky 4, Knoblauch 3, Gregoire 1, Stuaffenberg 1.