SL Boys’ Basketball Playoffs: Pottsville capitalizes on turnovers, punches ticket to league final

Pottsville's Derek Watkins (left) defends Mahanoy Area's Tanner Zawada (right) during the second game Wednesday's Schuylkill League boys' basketball semifinals doubleheader at Martz Hall. The Crimson Tide defeated Mahanoy Area 54-44 to advance to the championship game (Photo by Danie Mae Photography).

POTTSVILLE — The turnover battle proved to be costly.

Derek Watkins scored a team-high 16 points, Christian Alvarez added 13 and Pottsville won the turnover battle as the Crimson Tide defeated Mahanoy Area 54-44 in a Schuylkill League boys’ basketball semifinal game Wednesday at Martz Hall.

The win propels the Tide to Friday’s championship game against Minersville at 7:30 p.m. at Martz Hall. It marks Pottsville’s first trip to the title game since 2022, where the Crimson Tide defeated Jim Thorpe 52-38. Pottsville has made 15 league championship appearances since 2000 and won 11 titles.

“(Pottsville) really bought into the gameplan,” Crimson Tide coach Jake Wartella said. “We had two great days of practice. We’re always stressing force turnovers and run the court, and we actually did that tonight. We stole some buckets in transition, but our defense had (Mahanoy Area) flustered and we forced a lot of turnovers, which we love to see.”

Tanner Zawada found Peyton Sendatch slashing for a layup to start the contest for the Golden Bears (20-3). Alvarez hit a 3-pointer and, a few empty possessions later, Ryder Bowers one of his own for Pottsville (17-6) as the Crimson Tide took an early 6-2 advantage. Ryan Zilker split a pair of free throws to cut Mahanoy Area’s deficit to three.

Then the game took a momentum shift in favor of Pottsville.

The Crimson Tide defense came up big as the Golden Bears had multiple empty possessions and two turnovers as Pottsville went on an 8-0 scoring run to increase its lead to 14-3. Letrel Montone scored two off a drive, Alvarez saw a putback fall, JuJu Bainbridge had key steal and assist to London Ivy slashing on the baseline and Ivy capped the run with his second bucket in the paint.

Zilker added a steal for Mahanoy Area and scored off a give-and-go with William Mayberry, but Montone closed the quarter with another slashing finish at the rim as the Crimson Tide shocked the Golden Bears and went up 16-5 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was neck-and-neck and both teams ended up in the bonus by the final buzzer.

Points were hard to come by early until Watkins collected a steal for Pottsville and went coast-to-coast for two points at the 5:13 mark. Zawada made the most of three appearances at the line in the frame for Mahanoy Area. Zawada shot 5-of-6, while Jace Yedsena netted a 3 and split a pair of free throws for the Bears’ nine points in the second. Even as Zawada and Yedsena tried to power Mahanoy Area back into the contest, the Crimson Tide outscored the Golden Bears 11-9 in the frame. Watkins and Alvarez each collected a 3 for Pottsville in the quarter.

Going into the half, the Crimson Tide led 27-14 and won the turnover battle with six compared to Mahanoy Area’s 11.

In the second half the physicality went up and turnovers were tuned down.

Each squad started with an empty offensive possession before Ivy and Zawada each got their respective teams on the board. Zawada carried the Golden Bears offensively in the third quarter with four points in the paint and two 3’s for eight of Mahanoy Area’s 16 points in the frame, and matching its first half total.

Pottsville clung to an eight-point lead, 38-30, by the end of the third as Yedsena threw up a deep triple for the Bears at the buzzer that didn’t connect.

The pace quickened as the fourth quarter was under way. Montone split a pair of free throws and Watkins got an around the world layup to fall following an empty Mahanoy Area offensive possession.

“We have senior guards that we rely on,” Wartella said about Watkins. “He made some great plays tonight and covered one (Mahanoy Area’s) best players and did a great job there. Derek made some great plays on offense and gave us energy all night. Again, senior guards at this time of year are good to have and we’re going to rely on ours.”

Yedsena, the Golden Bears leading scorer on average with 18 ppg, obtained his 5th foul with 6:23 left in regulation, but there was no quit in Mahanoy Area.

A few possessions later Zawada connected with a triple and Ryan Zilker completed a 3-point-play for the Golden Bears after being fouled in the paint as Mahanoy Area cut Pottsville’s lead to 42-38 with under 5:00 left to play in the fourth.

Montone split a trip to the line before nearly 2:00 of scoreless time ticked away. The Golden Bears collected five team fouls as Watkins went 2-for-2 from the line and Alvarez split a pair for Pottsville down the stretch.

Ivy added another strong bucket in the paint for Pottsville before William Mayberry answered with a three for Mahanoy Area to cut the Tide’s lead to nine, 50-41, with 1:36 on the clock. Bainbridge and Watkins each put two more points on the scoreboard for Pottsville and Zawada added a last gasp triple as time expired. The Crimson Tide limited themselves to 11 turnovers, while Mahanoy Area turned the ball over 17 times and Pottsville was able to capitalize multiple times and roll to a 54-44 victory in the semifinals.

Zawada finished with a game-high 22 for Mahanoy Area.

“We’re happy with the effort tonight,” Wartella said. “We really bought into the gameplan and had two great days of practice. We’re enjoying the win tonight and going into the locker satisfied. We’re hoping to win a championship on Friday against a really good Minersville team. We are going to do our best tomorrow to prepare for them and Friday should be a fun game.”

Game Summary

Schuylkill League Boys’ Basketball

League Semifinals

At Martz Hall

POTTSVILLE (54) — Bainbridge 0 2-2 2, McGinley 0 0-0 0, Watkins 6 3-4 16, Alvarez 4 3-8 13, Montone 2 5-8 9, Bowers 2 0-0 6, Clews 0 0-0 0, Ivy 4 0-0 8. Totals 18 13-22 54.

MAHANOY AREA (44) — Sendatch 2 0-0 2, Mayberry 1 0-0 3, Yedsena 3 1-2 9, Zawada 6 6-7 22, Oblas 0 0-0 0, Zilker 3 2-3 8, Gallagher 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 9-12 44.

Potts (18-6)   16 … 11 … 11 … 16 — 54

Mah (20-3)  5 … 9 … 16 … 14 — 44

3-point FGs: Watkins, Alvarez 2, Bowes 2, Mayberry, Yedsena, Zawada 4

Officials: Lopez, Melusky, Palmer