From defense to rebounding to scoring, Pottsville seemed to have everything working for them on Friday night. They defeated Minersville 50-43 to secure the Schuylkill League Boys Basketball Championship on Friday night at Martz Hall.
Letrel Montone carried Pottsville with 20 points. Christian Alvarez scored 11, and Ryder Bowers netted six for the Crimson Tide. Other scorers include Juju Bainbridge (5), Derek Watkins (5), and London Ivy (3). Shazier Bethea scored 15 for Minersville along with Dawsyn Manning netting nine points. Bradley Kostishak contributed with seven points. Other scorers were Jordan Bowers (6), Logan Hutsko (4), and Dante Carr (2).
The first quarter was close as Pottsville was up 14-10 with a fast start to the game on both ends of the floor. In the second frame, the Crimson Tide started to break away from Minersville as they went up 24-18 at halftime. Pottsville went on a 7-3 scoring run in the first three minutes of the third quarter. Bowers and Manning brought the game closer at the end of the quarter as the Miners only trailed by two going into the fourth quarter, 35-33. With Minersville creeping back into the game, Coach Dave Wartella of Pottsville just told his team to finish the job. Montone scored four points in less than a minute to start the fourth quarter for Pottsville. Alvarez scored for Pottsville and that was basically the end of the game once Minersville started fouling.
Coach Dave Mullaney of Minersville said before he wanted to send Manning off the right way, with a gold medal. He is not eligible to play in the postseason as he transferred from Tri-Valley, so this was his final game as a high school basketball player. Wartella said pregame that they needed to rebound and be physical on defense, which they did.
After the game, Montone said they had to push Minersville out. He knows both teams run a similar style of basketball. Wartella was an assistant when Mullaney was at Pottsville. To win the championship in front of a passionate crowd at the home court of Pottsville meant everything for them. Montone has been waiting since his freshman year to win another Schuylkill League Championship.
Both teams will now try to make a run in District XI playoffs with Minersville in the 3A bracket. They are the two-seed in their classification, so they’ll most likely get a bye along with Mahanoy Area, but that’ll be confirmed once the district releases the bracket. Pottsville will make their case in the 5A tournament. The Crimson Tide are on top of their classification where they along with Bangor. Pottsville and Bangor will most likely get a bye too, but we will find out once the bracket is released.
The Schuylkill League tournament is one of the best and intense times for players and fans across the league, and this tournament proved that statement. Congrats to all teams who made it into the tournament, but an extra congrats to Pottsville and Minersville for making it to the championship game. Hopefully next season’s playoffs will be just as fun if not more.
