Mahanoy Area's Jace Yedsena (right) is guarded by Notre Dame-Green Pond's Isaiah Miles (left) during a D-11 Class 3A 3rd place consolation game Saturday at Martz Hall. The Golden Bears defeated the Crusaders 65-56 (photo by Eli Doyle).

POTTSVILLE — It felt like the Golden Bears came back out of hibernation.

A trio of Mahanoy Area players scored in double digits as the Golden Bears defeated Notre Dame-Green Pond 65-56 in a District 11 Class 3A boys’ basketball consolation contest that was the first of three district playoff games Saturday at Martz Hall.

“It was a good game, (Mahanoy Area) listened to the game plan,” Golden Bears coach Teddy Styka said. “They executed.

“We had a rough little patch there, emotionally,” Styka added. “They’re crawling back now.”

Before this game, that wasn’t the story for Mahanoy Area (21-5).

The Golden Bears were outscored 115-80 combined in their last two games, a Schuylkill League semifinal loss to Pottsville and a District 11 Class 3A semifinal loss to Catasauqua.

Saturday, Jace Yedsena netted a game-high 24 points, Tanner Zawada chipped in 20 and Ryan Zilker added 17 as the Golden Bears seemingly broke the offensive funk that plagued Mahanoy Area of late.

It was a back-and-forth contest to begin the first quarter and turnovers haunted the Bears. Mahanoy Area committed five turnovers in the frame, but was able to remain tied 13-13 with the Crusaders (20-6). The Golden Bears exposed Zilker’s size mismatch in the frame as the 6-foot-5 junior center, netted eight of his 17 points in the frame.

“Through the first 17 games, he was eating,” Styka said about Zilker. “The last few games of the season he hasn’t been getting the ball or touches and we told (the team), that is the key to win. And that is what they did, they listened.”

In the second quarter, it was Yedsena’s time to shine.

Yedsena, a senior guard, collected 10 points on a trio of 3-pointers and a free throw. Yedsena was scoreless coming into the second after picking up two quick fouls, but quickly knocked down his first 3 on an assist from Zawada with 7:22 on the clock. Zawada chipped in five points in the frame and the Bears outscored Notre Dame 15-10.

Leading 28-23 at the half, Mahanoy Area was poised for a standout third quarter.

The Golden Bears went on a 9-0 scoring run to close the third quarter as Yedsena added two more 3’s and another free throw, while Zawada added the final points of the run on a strong layup. Yedsena, Zawada and the Bears outscored the Crusaders 19-10 in the frame.

Mahanoy Area led 47-33 going to the final quarter and cleaned up their turnovers.

In the fourth quarter, Notre Dame-Green Pond left everything it had on the floor in order to keep the game close. The Crusaders tallied 23 points in the final frame, but were plagued by fouls. The Golden Bears shot 12-for-14 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, with 11 of those coming off the bonus.

Zawada shot an impressive 11-of-12 from the line alone, and a perfect 6-for-6 in the fourth. Yedsena went 3-for-4 from the stripe in the fourth and Zilker chipped in two of his own.

The victory puts Mahanoy Area in the state tournament for the third straight year. The Golden Bears will take on the District 12 Class 3A runner-up Saturday, March 8, at a site and time to be announced.

“We have to play defense and keep playing together,” Styka said.

Game Summary

District 11 Boys’ Basketball
Class 3A Consolation
At Martz Hall

NOTRE DAME-GREEN POND (56) — Manning 5 2-5 13, Car. Diaz 4 2-2 11, Driscoll 4 2-2 12, Miles 6 0-1 14, C.J. Diaz 0 0-0 0, Murphy 1 0-0 2, Bohn 0 0-0 0, Levy 1 0-0 3, Boyd 0 1-2 1, Arkie 0 0-0 0, Stirba 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 7-12 56.

MAHANOY AREA (65) — Zawada 4 11-12 20, Mayberry 1 1-2 4, Yedsena 7 5-9 24, Sendatch 0 0-2 0, Zilker 7 3-5 17, Gallagher 0 0-0 0, Oblas 0 0-0 0, Bowman 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 20-30 65.

NDPG (20-6) 13 … 10 … 10 … 23 — 56

Mah (21-5) 13 … 15 … 19 … 18 — 65

3-point FGs: Manning, Car. Diaz, Driscoll 2, Miles 2, Levy, Zawada, Yedsena 5, Mayberry

Officials: McKenna, Groody, Cordero