Boys’ Basketball: Mahanoy Area runs past Minersville, remains undefeated

Mahanoy Area's Tanner Zawada (right) drives past Minersville's Shazier Bethea (left) in a Schuylkill League Division I game at the Mickey Holland Gymnasium (Photo by Kelly Wiley).

MAHANOY CITY — There was no rest for Mahanoy Area.

Tanner Zawada topped all scorers with 16 points and Jace Yedsena poured on 14 as Mahanoy Area rolled past Minersville 47-30 in a Schuylkill League Division I boys’ basketball game Monday at Mickey Holland Gymnasium.

The Golden Bears (7-0, 4-0 D-I) used two offensive surges to begin each half and some intense, physical defense throughout the game to remain unbeaten.

“My assistant coaches made a great gameplan with the defensive assignments,” Mahanoy Area coach Teddy Styka said. “Kudos to them because it worked out great.

“I’m looking forward to giving our guys about two days off in a row here a couple times. But we have to keep the fundamentals going, and keep working on us.”

The Golden Bears jumped ahead 10-0 to begin the game after William Mayberry hit two 3-pointers, and Zawada and Yedsena each added a layup. Mahanoy Area led 12-6 at the end of the first quarter after scoring all 12 points following five Battlin’ Miners’ turnovers.

Mayberry totaled nine points all coming off quick-release 3’s.

“He’s an amazing kid,” Styka said. “He did his time on JV for three year and he knows its now his time to shine. He took lumps for us for three years and now its his time. He is a great shooter.”

Minersville (4-2, 3-1) tried to find some rhythm in the second frame, but Mahanoy Area ran with them step-for-step. Shazier Bethea netted five of his team-high nine points for Minersville in the second quarter. On the opposing side, Zawada collected seven of his 16 points in the frame and led Bears on to outscore Minersville 12-11 before halftime.

Mahanoy Area led 26-17 at the half and was seemingly preparing for another offensive flurry.

Zawada opened the second half with a strong layup and Yedsena followed with a 3 on the next Bears’ possession. Mahanoy Area went on a 12-0 scoring run to begin the third quarter, highlighted Yedsena knocking down two 3-pointers and later tipping in his own missed layup attempt.

The Battlin’ Miners didn’t net a bucket till 3:41 left to play in the third after Bethea hit a pull-up jumper on the elbow. But again Minersville flashed signs of life. The Miners’ answered the Bears with an 11-0 scoring run to round out the third quarter. Bethea had five points, Chase Zimerofsky added four and Logan Hutsko netted two.

It was too little, too late for Minersville as Mahanoy Area was ready to slam the door in the fourth quarter. The Golden Bears outscored the Battlin’ Miners 9-2 in the final frame. Yedsena capped the the game with a steal and coast-to-coast slam dunk that lit up the gym, and Zawada shot 2-for-4 from the free throw line under the final 2:00.

Mahanoy Area held Minersville to 30 points, 22 points under the Battlin’ Miners average of nearly 53 points through its first five games. The Bears defense was ferocious, holding the Miners’ leading scorers, Bethea (18 ppg) and Dante Carr (13.2 ppg), quiet throughout the contest.

The Golden Bears head to Tamaqua for a Division I clash against the Blue Raiders Thursday at 7 p.m. Minersville hosts Panther Valley Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

MINERSVILLE (30) — Hutsko 1 0-0 2, Zimerofsky 2 1-2 4, Manning 1 0-0 2, Bethea 4 2-2 9, Kostishak 2 2-2 6, Halford 0 0-0 0, Carr 1 0-2 2, Bowers 3 0-0 5. Totals 11 5-8 30.

MAHANOY AREA (47) — Sendatch 1 1-2 3, Mayberry 3 0-0 9, Yedsena 8 0-0 14, Zawada 6 5-10 16, Bowman 0 0-0 0, Oblas 0 0-0 0, Zilker 2 1-2 5. Totals 23 7-14 47.

Min (4-2, 3-1)   6 … 11 … 11 … 2 — 30

Mah (7-0, 4-0)  12 … 14 … 12 … 9 — 47

3-point FGs: Zimerofsky, Bethea, Bowers, Mayberry 3, Yedsena 2, Zawada