HS Boys’ Basketball: Bowers, Montone guide Pottsville past Minersville

MINERSVILLE — Pottsville was dialed in on both ends of the floor.

Ryder Bowers collected a game-high 18 points and Letrel Montone chipped in 16 as Pottsville defeated Minersville 54-44 in a Schuylkill League Division I contest Tuesday at the Thomas Fitzpatrick Gymnasium.

Bowers was electric all game offensively for the Crimson Tide (12-5, 8-2), connecting on five 3-pointers and adding a perfect 3-for-3 from free throw line for his game-high 18 points.

“That is the frustrating part,” Pottsville coach Jake Wartella said on the Tide’s shooting effort. “We know we have very good shooters on our team. Some games it doesn’t look that way, but we just preach confidence with our kids. Stay aggressive and keep shooting, and on a night like tonight we had some guys make some big shots.

“I thought we spaced the floor very well. We moved very well and that is what we’ve been preaching these last couple weeks at practice. The kids are getting better one day at a time. That is all we can do.”

Pottsville was feeling good from the jump as Christian Alvarez and Montone each added an offensive rebound before Ryder Bowers hit his first 3 to kick off a 7-0 Tide scoring run. Alvarez scored two points in the paint before Derek Watkins went coast-to-coast for two more on a steal.

Minersville (13-3, 8-2) didn’t get on the board until the 3:22 mark in the first quarter after Dante Carr found Dawsyn Manning for a slashing two points. Manning added two more and Carr added another assist in the same fashion to Shazier Bethea to cut Pottsville’s lead to 7-6.

The Crimson Tide defense held the Battlin’ Miners empty on three possessions and Pottsville’s JuJu Bainbridge and Colin McGinley each knocked down a 3 to push the Tide ahead 13-6 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was a chess match Pottsville totaled its biggest lead of the night 15-6 after Alvarez netted two free throws to open the frame. Minersville show off its ability to spread the ball out after an 8-0 scoring run that pulled the Miners back with one point trailing 15-14. Bradley Kostishak, Jordan Bowers, Bethea and Manning each had two points during the run.

Minersville’s Carr and Pottsville’s Max Clews each got on the board with two points before Ryder Bowers added another triple to push the Crimson Tide ahead 20-16. McGinley added another 3 before Watkins threw a no-look pass to a wide-open Ryder Bowers alone in the corner for this third 3 of the game.

Bethea collected four points for the Battlin’ Miners to cut Pottsville’s lead to 26-20 at halftime.

But no matter how well the Crimson Tide shot the ball, Minersville just kept finding its way back in the game.

Carr hit two 3’s for the Miners and Montone got on the board with his first three buckets for Pottsville to begin the second half. Ryder Bowers, a junior, connected for another triple for the Tide and later Jordan Bowers added a 3 for the Miners to cut the deficit to 36-33 with Pottsville still on top as the third quarter commenced. Minersville outscored the Crimson Tide 13-10 in the frame. Montone had seven of Pottsville 10 points in the quarter after going scoreless through the first half.

Montone and Ryder Bowers turned up the intensity as the fourth quarter began. Montone added another layup and a steal that led to Ryder Bowers’ fifth 3-pointer of the game. The junior completed the four-point play after being fouled on the shot.

The Crimson Tide and Battlin’ Miners went back-and-forth as time ticked away in the final frame of regulation. Pottsville led 46-41 before going on another big run that effectively closed out the contest. Montone shot 5-for-8 from the free throw line, Ryder Bowers went 2-for-2 and Watkins split a pair as the Tide outscored Minersville 8-3 in the final 2:30 of the contest to secure the win.

Carr scored a team-high 16 points for the Miners.

Pottsville and Minersville a tied in Division I at the No.2 spot behind unbeaten Mahanoy Area (17-0, 10 in D-I). Both the Crimson Tide and Battlin’ Miners have clinched their way into the Schuylkill League playoffs.

“Our league is very tough as all the coaches will tell you,” Wartella said. “Every night is a dogfight; we said that from day 1. We show up to a tough place to play against a team who’s playing really, really good basketball, and I’m just really proud of our guys’ effort on both ends of the floor. It was just a true team effort. Some guys stepped up and hit some really big shots, but I was really happy with our defensive effort tonight.”

POTTSVILLE (54) — Alvarez 2 2-2 6, R. Bowers 5 3-3 18, Montone 5 6-12 16, Watkins 1 1-4 3, Bainbridge 1 0-0 3, McGinley 2 0-0 6, Clews 0 2-2 2. Totals 16 14-23 54.

MINERSVILLE (44) — Hutsko 3 0-0 6, Zimerofsky 0 0-0 0, Manning 3 0-0 6, Bethea 2 2-2 6, Kostishak 1 0-0 2, Halford 0 0-0 0, Carr 6 1-2 16, J. Bowers 3 0-0 8. Totals 18 3-4 44.

Potts (12-5, 8-2)   13 … 13 … 10 … 18 — 54

Min (13-3, 8-2) 6 … 14 … 13 … 11 — 44

3-point FGs: R. Bowers 5, Bainbridge, McGinley 2, Carr 3, J. Bowers 2