Pottsville's Christian Alvarez being introduced in the starting lineup pregame. Alvarez had a game-high 20 points as the Crimson Tide defeated Souther Lehigh 55-36 (Photo by Eli Doyle).

ORWIGSBURG — Christian Alvarez and the Pottsville boys’ basketball team have been dialed in.

Alvarez, a junior forward, netted a game-high 20 points as Pottsville rolled by Southern Lehigh 55-36 in a District 11 Class 5A boys’ basketball semifinal contest Tuesday at Blue Mountain High School.

Coming off an impressive run through the Schuylkill League playoffs that saw the Crimson Tide (20-6) capture the league title, Pottsville has been executing its game plans on another level.

“I couldn’t ask for better start,” Crimson Tide coach Jake Wartella said. “That all starts at practice the last couple days. The kids bought into the game plans and came out fired up. When you start fast like that; it puts us in a good place to win the game.”

Pottsville jumped ahead 20-0 as Alvarez collected nine points on the Tide’s opening run in the first quarter. Letrel Montone, JuJu Bainbridge, Derek Watkins and London Ivy each added buckets, while Ryder Bowers chipped in a 3-pointer. Joseph Plessi collected all five of the Spartans’ first-quarter points on 3-pointer and a pair of free throws. Pottsville led 20-5 at the end of the frame.

In the second quarter, Southern Lehigh’s offense found more success and added 13 points, but it wasn’t enough to match the Crimson Tide. Pottsville tallied 15 points in the second as Alvarez piled on five more to bring his total to 14 points at the half.

The Tide also found scoring success elsewhere as a spread attack on offense saw six players collect buckets in the frame. The Crimson Tide increased the lead to 17 points by halftime and led the Spartans 35-18 at the break.

“It was a true team effort,” Wartella said. “You mentioned Letrel, Derek and Christian, they’ve been great for us all year and they’re continuing to shine in the playoffs. You need guys like that to win playoff games and they’re stepping up at the right time.”

Southern Lehigh (11-12) was able to minimize turnovers in the second half, but the empty possessions continued to stack up against Pottsville’s man defense.

Alvarez continued to terrorize Southern Lehigh’s defense and rattled off six more points as part of an 8-0 Tide scoring run early in the third quarter. Bowers nailed his third triple of the game for Pottsville over halfway through the frame and Max Clews added two points off the bench as a fresh face for the Crimson Tide. Pottsville continued to rotate players and only slowed down minimally on offense, while tacking on 13 points in the quarter and leading the Spartans 48-23 going into the fourth quarter.

The Crimson Tide substituted a fresh platoon with 5:00 left in the fourth leading 53-28. Colin McGinley split a pair of free throws as Pottsville went on to secure the victory over Southern Lehigh and advance to the championship round.

The win also clinches a berth in the PIAA Class 5A Tournament.

Bainbridge finished with 10 points for the Tide, while Bowers added nine.

Pottsville will face Bangor (17-8) for the D-11 Class 5A title at 6 p.m. Friday at Blue Mountain High School. The Slaters defeated East Stroudsburg North 62-40 in the other semifinal game Tuesday.

“(Bangor’s) a big team,” Wartella said. “Rebounding is a concern. They’re very similar to us, but we’re going to prepare our best in two days to hopefully win a district championship.”

Game Summary

District 11 Boys’ Basketball

Class 5A Semifinals
At Blue Mountain

SOUTHERN LEHIGH (36) — Ruggeri 1 1-1 3, DeRewal 1 0-0 2, Plessi 1 2-2 5, McMenamy 1 0-0 3, Fistner 1 0-0 3, Brogan 0 0-0 0, Helms 1 0-1 2, Fry 2 2-2 7, Boensch 0 0-0 0, Adams 2 1-1 5, Spigelmeyer 1 0-0 2, Hallman 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 7-9 36.

POTTSVILLE (55) — Alvarez 9 1-2 20, Montone 2 0-0 4, Bowers 3 0-0 9, Watkins 2 0-0 4, Bainbridge 4 1-1 10, Ivy 2 0-0 4, McGinley 0 1-2 1, Flucker-White 0 1-2 1, Clews 1 0-0 2, A. Allen 0 0-0 0, Herndon 0 0-0 0, Hobbs 0 0-0 0, M. Allen 0 0-0 0, Leskin 0 0-0 0, Kunstek 0 0-0 0, Viars 0 0-0 0, Kimber 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 4-7 55.

SL (11-12)      5 … 13 … 5 … 13 — 36

Potts (20-6) 20 … 15 … 13 … 7 — 55

3-point FGs: Plessi, Fry, Fistner, Alvarez, Bowers 3, Bainbridge

Officials: McWhite, Lopez, Peterson