Blue Mountain's Aidan Grace (Photo by Brook Koch-Guers).

The 2024-25 Schuylkill League boys’ basketball schedule gets under way tonight with a full slate of games.

Tonight’s card features Blue Mountain at Pottsville, Panther Valley at North Schuylkill, Pine Grove at Mahanoy Area, Tamaqua at Minersville, Marian at Weatherly, Schuylkill Haven at Nativity, Lourdes at Shenandoah Valley, Williams Valley at Tri-Valley.

CAPSULE PREVIEWS: Get a breakdown of all 16 Schuylkill League boys’ basketball teams here https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2024/12/05/schuylkill-league-boys-basketball-preview-capsules-24-25/

What are some of the hot topics entering the 2024-25 campaign? What is new? Who are the teams to watch?

Let’s break it all down:

League realignment

The first major topic of the new season is the Schuylkill League’s realignment.

The departure of Lehighton and Jim Thorpe for the Colonial League left the Schuylkill League with 16 boys’ basketball teams and forced an even split of two, eight-team divisions based on enrollment.

Mahanoy Area and Minersville move up to Division I, joining Blue Mountain, North Schuylkill, Panther Valley, Pine Grove, Pottsville and Tamaqua.

The remaining small-school teams comprise Division II: Lourdes, Marian, Nativity, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah Valley, Tri-Valley, Weatherly, Williams Valley.

Each school will play 14 league games — there are no crossovers — and have eight non-league games to fill their 22-game schedule.

The boys will play their league contests Mondays and Thursdays through Jan. 9, then switch to a Tuesday/Friday format for the second half of the league schedule, beginning Tuesday, Jan. 14.

The top three finishers in each division will qualify for the six-team league playoffs. The two division champions will earn byes to the semifinals. The Schuylkill League boys’ basketball quarterfinals are slated for Saturday, Feb. 8, at Martz Hall.

Back-to-back Bears?

Without a doubt, the most dominant Schuylkill League boys’ basketball small-school team over the years has been Mahanoy Area.

Since the Anthracite League merged with the Schuylkill League for the 1982-83 season to form the current setup, the Golden Bears have won six overall league titles (1991, ’99, 2005, ’06, ’14, ’24) and lost in the finals three other times. In the 42 seasons since the merger, the only other small schools to win the Schuylkill League boys’ basketball title were Lourdes (1988, 1990) and Nativity (2021).

Last season, Mahanoy Area downed Blue Mountain 66-51 in the title game en route to a 28-1 season that included a District 11 Class AA title and a trip to the second round of the PIAA Class AA playoffs.

Can the Bears do it again?

Mahanoy Area returns two of the league’s electrifying players in seniors Jace Yedsena and Tanner Zawada, who could both reach the 1,000-point mark for their careers tonight against Pine Grove. Yedsena needs two points to hit 1,000, while Zawada needs 13.

Moving from the small-school Division III to the big-school Division I makes things tougher for Mahanoy Area. Teddy Styka’s club also must replace big man Brady Alansky, guard Kadin Styka and the complimentary pieces that surrounded those top four players last season.

“We’ll be alright. We’ll be in the mix,” Teddy Styka said. “We’ll be competing in Division I this year.

“It will be good for us. We’ll get an extra game on Martz Hall’s floor, which will be good for the kids to experience before actually going to the playoffs, if we make it.”

Balanced Division I

The addition of Mahanoy Area and Minersville to Division I makes that bracket a gauntlet every night.

Last year’s Division I co-champions, Blue Mountain and Pottsville, both return strong clubs. Guards Tyeirre Meade and Aidan Grace are back for Blue Mountain, while the scoring trio of Derek Watkins, Letrel Montone and Christian Alvarez leads a deep and balanced Pottsville lineup.

Capsule previews of all 16 Schuylkill League teams accompany this story at

www.t102sportsnow.com/2024/12/05/schuylkill-league-boys-basketball-preview-capsules-24-25/

Minersville returns four starters, while Tamaqua and Panther Valley should field competitive squads and Pine Grove should be much improved. North Schuylkill faces a rebuilding year after losing stars Jack Keiter and Zane Zulkowski, among others.

The balance should make Division I worth watching every night. It was reflected in the inaugural T102 Sports Now Schuylkill League Boys’ Basketball Division I Coaches’ Poll, as Mahanoy Area and Pottsville tied for the top spot with 52.5 points with Blue Mountain right behind at 52 points.

“Talking with all the coaches, we all agree … It’s going to be a dogfight every night,” Pottsville coach Jake Wartella said. “It’s going to be a challenge day in, day out.”

Who wins Division II?

With Mahanoy Area and Minersville up in Division I, it leaves the battle for the Division II crown up for grabs.

Nativity, which returns two-time leading scorer Trey Keating (23.9 ppg), was the top overall pick in the inaugural T102 Sports Now Schuylkill League Boys’ Basketball Division II Coaches’ Poll, but the Hilltoppers figure to be challenged by Tri-Valley and Williams Valley.

Defending Division II champion Schuylkill Haven and Marian were both hit hard by graduation, while Shenandoah Valley and Weatherly should be improved.

There are a lot of unknowns in Division II, which will be fun to watch as the season develops.

“I don’t see any complete standouts, but on the same token, who knows in our division,” Nativity coach Mike Walborn said. “It’s for anybody to take.

“We’re going to have a little different lineup this year. We’re going to be a lot smaller than we have been in the last couple of years. We’re going to have to play a completely different style, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.

“I think we’ll be in the mix. We have enough guys to be really competitive. We’re athletic and we have Trey back, so we have that long-ball threat.”

District 11 Shake-up

The start of the new two-year PIAA enrollment cycles always brings change to classifications for the district playoffs.

This year, however, might be off the charts.

An influx of small-school private schools across the state has forced several area teams to bump up a level, including defending Class AA champion Mahanoy Area to Class 3A and Blue Mountain and Pottsville to Class 5A.

Here’s a breakdown of the Schuylkill League teams that compete in District 11, with the total number of schools in parentheses:

Class A (8, subregional with District 2) — Nativity, Weatherly

Class AA (4) — Marian, Schuylkill Haven, Tri-Valley … (Moravian Academy is the other)

Class 3A (11) — Mahanoy Area, Minersville, Shenandoah Valley, Williams Valley. … Note: Perennial powerhouse Executive Education is in this bracket, but barred from the district playoffs.

Class 4A (12) — North Schuylkill, Panther Valley, Pine Grove, Tamaqua

Class 5A (9, subregional with District 4) — Blue Mountain, Pottsville

We’ll have more on the District 11 playoffs as far as structure, etc., as the season progresses.

Broadcast Schedules

As is has done for more than 50 years, WPPA 1360 AM and A-106 (105.9 FM) will broadcast Pottsville Crimson Tide boys’ basketball games. This season, WPPA will broadcast all 14 of Pottsville’s Schuylkill League games.

Meanwhile, T-102 has established a preliminary broadcast schedule for the 2024-25 season. Boys’ games on the schedule include:

Mon., Dec. 16 — Minersville at Mahanoy Area

Thurs., Dec. 19 — North Schuylkill at Blue Mountain

Thurs., Jan. 9 — Mahanoy Area at Blue Mountain

Tues., Jan. 14 — Minersville at Tamaqua

Fri., Jan. 17 — Nativity at Marian

Fri., Jan. 24 — Schuylkill Haven at Williams Valley

Tues., Jan. 28 — Minersville at Panther Valley

Fri., Jan. 31 — Nativity at Shenandoah Valley

Tues., Feb. 4 — Blue Mountain at Mahanoy Area

The schedules are subject to change, with game times varying by location.

You can get links to the live broadcasts in the upper right-hand corner of the T102SportsNow home page, with all of the broadcasts (football and basketball) available in the archive section of the website.

Odds and Ends

** The league does not have any new head coaches this season, which is a rarity.

** The Williams Valley boys will face Northern Lebanon at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia in a non-league game Friday, Jan. 10. The WV-NL girls will square off at 1 p.m., with the boys to follow. The Philadelphia 76ers play the New Orleans Pelicans later that night.

** This season’s WQLV (Love 99) Tournament will be held Dec. 27-28 at Williams Valley and feature Tri-Valley, Upper Dauphin, Millersburg and the host Vikings.

Pine Grove and Marian will also hold holiday tournaments that weekend.

For complete coverage of the Schuylkill League boys’ basketball circuit, follow www.t102sportsnow.com