Minersville Makes History at Martz Hall

POTTSVILLE – After last year’s attempt at a Schuylkill League title for Minersville was unsuccessful against Pottsville, they went into this season saying that the second time was the charm.

After losing last season, Minersville (23-1) came into Martz Hall and took home the program’s first Schuylkill League championship defeating Pottsville (18-7) 47-44 in overtime on Friday night. Both teams are under first year head coaches, Chris George for Minersville after Dave Mullaney resigned and Tyler Heffner for Pottsville when Jake Wartella stepped down. This victory kept the impressive winning streak going for the Miners, now at 20 games with their last loss on December 11th in a home game against the Crimson Tide.

Scoring

For the Battlin’ Miners, Camden Rogers and Shazier Bethea each had 14 points, and Jordan Bowers had 11. Other scorers include Chase Zimerofsky (5) and Brandon Adams (3). On the other side, Pottsville was led by Christian Alvarez who had a game high 21 points. Davey Kunstek was important inside for the Tide with his 14 points, and Ryder Bowers had 6. The only other scorer for Pottsville was Josh Kimber (3).

A Friday night for the history books

Let’s take you to Martz Hall on a cold Friday night in February. 

It was clear from the start of the game that this game was going to be a defensive battle as Jordan Bowers forced Alvarez out of bounds on the baseline on the opening possession of the night. One thing the Battlin’ Miners defense struggled with early was letting Kunstek and Alvarez get in the paint as they scored the first four points of the night. 

However, the Minersville offense did not let the Tide completely take this game away early as Rogers hit an important three pointer early, then Nolan Plesnarski found Jordan Bowers inside to give Minersville the 5-4 lead. Ryder Bowers then hit a three point shot of his own and Kunstek had an open lane to drive to the basket. Those two baskets gave them the 9-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

In the second frame, Bethea took two trips to the foul line and went four for four. After his (Bethea’s) first trip to the line, Alvarez swished a deep three pointer. Kunstek then found himself wide open underneath for two more Crimson Tide points. Alvarez then took a contested floater against Adams to increase their lead to 16-9. Right after that, Rogers responded back with his second three-pointer of the night. 

There were some empty attempts to score by both teams, but Ryder Bowers hit a needed three-pointer with a minute and a half left. Zimerofsky made his free throws on the other end. Then Alvarez swished another deep three on the opposite end. Adams swished his first made three point shot of the season from the corner. However, Kunstek was not boxed out and scored a layup at the buzzer to give the Crimson Tide the 24-17 lead at the half.

All season long, Minersville had typically started to come out of their shell in the third quarter according to Coach George. However, they gave up a contested layup to Christian Alvarez with Jordan Bowers and Plesnarski on him. Then, Rogers saved a ball from going out of bounds on the baseline, kicked it to Bowers at the midcourt, then Bethea was fouled driving to the rim as he made both free throws once again. On the next possession, Bowers hit a midrange jumper from the foul line to cut the Pottsville lead to 26-21. 

Once both defenses created turnovers, Jordan Bowers went coast to coast for a layup. Another set of missed scoring opportunities happened, and Alvarez swished another three point shot. Bethea missed a three pointer for the Miners, then Alvarez made both free throws for Pottsville. Bainbridge fouled Shazier (Bethea), and not surprisingly, he made both foul shots. After a minute and 40 seconds of good defense and some offensive foul calls on Shane Fessler (Minersville) and Josh Kimber (Pottsville), Bethea’s pair of free throws were the last points of the quarter, putting the score 31-25 in favor of the Tide.

Pottsville did a great job all night shutting Bethea down until he scored his first field goal of the contest as he cut to the basket for two points. Going to the other side of the court, Alvarez took on Adams inside as he drew a foul and made the layup too, but he missed the foul shot. After a missed three pointer by Rogers, Zimerofsky swished a three pointer of his own from the wing to make it a one possession game, 33-30. A blocking foul was called on Zimerofsky, and Kimber swished a corner three. But Minersville responded right back as Rogers swished another three-point shot from the opposite wing from where Zimerofsky made his moments before.

Ryder Bowers missed a three pointer for the Crimson Tide, and Jordan Bowers drove in and made a layup with contact from Kunstek to get the foul call, but he missed the free throw that would have tied the game up at 36. Instead, Pottsville led 36-35 with around four minutes and 20 seconds left. Alvarez responsed with a drive of his own for a made floater. Both teams were denied baskets on offense, but Rogers scored another three pointer from the corner to tie the game at 38, which would be the last points of regulation.

Five seconds into the overtime period, Bethea won the tipoff after miscommunication from three Pottsville players and cruised for a layup. I have said this a lot but after empty possessions, Plesnarski and Zimerofsky trapped Alvarez on the baseline where he committed a traveling violation to give the Battlin’ Miners the ball back. On the offensive end, Bowers found Bethea cutting to the basket for two more points. A foul on Plesnarski allowed Kunstek to make two free throws to cut the Minersville lead to 42-40. Alvarez then got fouled and missed both of his foul shots, which is rare for him. Bowers made another layup with contact and drew another foul on Kunstek, and he (Bowers) missed both free throws.

Zimerofsky got a steal on the other end and passed the ball to Bowers as he drew contact on Kunstek once again and made the layup for the foul call, and he made the layup. The Miners lead 45-40 with 1:18 left in this overtime period. After good defense with Adams and Zimerofsky near the half court line, Coach Heffner took a timeout to make sure they did not turn the ball over. After the break, Kunstek did a spin move to get to the foul line where he sank both free throws. Then Rogers was fouled trying to drain the clock and made both shots to make the score 47-42 with 40 seconds remaining in the game. 

For Pottsville, Kunstek was wide open in the post again where he added two more points to the stat sheet for himself. After Heffner called a timeout, Bowers was looking for Rogers at half court on the inbound but threw it away. Zimerofsky recovered the loose ball where he was fouled, but missed both shots at the charity stripe. Zimerofsky blocked Kimber’s shot, but Bethea caught the ball in the paint as Minersville made history, winning their first Schuylkill League title 47-44. 

Being a Schuylkill League champion “sounds pretty amazing” and is surreal to George. He also said to his players that it would be difficult to have Bowers and Bethea drive to the basket, and it showed tonight.

What’s next?

This win for Minersville (23-1) extends their win streak to 20 games while Pottsville falls to 18-7 on the year. Looking ahead to District 11 playoffs, the Battlin’ Miners will get the one seed in the 3A bracket. The Crimson Tide are still the first seed in the 5A tournament. It is unknown who they will play, but at least one of these teams will get another chance to play at Martz Hall, or as I call it, the pinnacle of high school basketball in Pennsylvania.

Final thoughts and looking to the future

The Schuylkill League tournament always creates a loud and passionate environment, no matter who you are cheering for. Playing at the 4,100 seat Martz Hall only adds to the top tier environment. Hopefully next year’s playoffs are just as exciting as this year’s were, and I think it is safe to say both of these teams will be back in the league playoffs again next year.

Photo credit to Kelly Wiley