Tamaqua was able to push unbeaten Blue Mountain to the limit because Brayden Knoblauch did what Brayden Knoblauch does.

But the Blue Raiders were able to pull out the win because Knoblauch got a lot of help from his friends.

Trailing by five points midway through the final quarter, and with Lucas Gregoire — its leading rebounder and second-leading scorer — on the bench with five fouls, Tamaqua could have easily folded.

But instead, the Raiders exploded.

Tamaqua closed the game on a 19-7 run to pull out a 70-63 Schuylkill League victory.

“The last three years we had our chances against Pottsville and Blue Mountain — and haven’t been able to get that breakthrough win,” said Tamaqua coach Jim Barron. “They have been the top teams in the division during that span, and we knew that if we had any chance of making the league playoffs we had to find a way to get over that hurdle against those teams.

“Losing to Pottsville earlier in the week made this game all the more important. So tonight’s win was absolutely huge for our team and our entire program.”

Knoblauch — who finished with a game-high 23 points — was outstanding once again for the Raiders. But his big game wouldn’t have been enough without some big contributions from his teammates.

“The difference tonight was our supporting cast really stepped up, especially down the stretch,” said Barron. “Nicko (Bolletino) and Nathan (Gregoire) both hit huge shots, and we also got big plays from Barron Stauffenberg and Nate Boyle. Everybody contributed.”

Tamaqua led for all but 19 seconds during the game’s first three quarters.

That changed in the final period, however, as Blake Lipko sparked an 8-2 Blue Mountain run that gave it a 56-51 lead with less than four minutes remaining.

Trailing 56-54, Tamaqua called time out and set up a play for Knoblauch, who buried a three-pointer to regain the lead for the Raiders with 2:52 left.

The Eagles answered with a Kade Henninger basket, but back-to-back three-pointers from Nathan Gregoire and Bolletino gave Tamaqua a 63-58 lead. Bolletino followed his triple with a driving layup, a pair of free throws, and a couple of huge defensive rebounds in the final minutes as Tamaqua gradually extended its lead.

“I’m normally not counted on to score a lot, but with Lucas on the bench, I knew we all had to step up and help out a little more offensively,” said Belletino. “I’m confident when I get open looks that I can knock them down, and I’m happy I was able to help us out by doing that tonight.”

With the win, Tamaqua improves to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the league. Blue Mountain is now 9-1 overall and 3-1 in league play.

“This win was huge for us,” said Knoblauch. “One of our goals is to qualify for the Schuylkill League playoffs, and losing tonight would have made doing that a lot harder.

“This feels really good. We got contributions up and down the lineup, which is going to be important going forward if we’re going to accomplish the goals we have set for ourselves.”

SWEET STROKE ... Knoblauch was 6-for-7 from three-point range in the game and scored his 23 points despite sitting out almost a quarter of the game in foul trouble. “Brayden is one of the best players in Schuylkill County,” said Blue Mountain coach Dustin Werdt. “I thought we defended him pretty well on that three he hit late in the fourth quarter to put them ahead, but I’m not surprised he made it. He’s an outstanding player.”

FOUL PROBLEMS ... Tamaqua wasn’t alone when it came to foul problems of its top players. Blue Mountain’s Jason Dean fouled out with over four minutes left and Alex Ketch fouled out with two minutes remaining.

BLUE MOUNTAIN

Cryts 6-4-6-16, Henninger 2-3-4-9, Lipko 4-0-1-8, Devitt 0-0-0-0, Ketch 2-0-0-6, Dean 5-7-9-17, Carr 2-3-6-7, Hensley 0-0-0-0, Caufield 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 21-17-26-63.

TAMAQUA

Knoblauch 7-3-4-23, Bolletino 4-4-6-14, Boyle 1-6-10-8, N. Gregoire 2-2-4-7, L. Gregoire 3-5-6-11, Stauffenberg 3-1-3-7, Lavine 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-19-33-70

Blue Mtn. 17 15 16 15 - 63

Tamaqua 20 14 15 21 - 70

Three-pointers: BM - Henninger 2, Ketch 2; Tamaqua - Knoblauch 6, Bolletino 2, N. Gregoire 1.