Magical night at Mahanoy: Yedsena, Zawada both reach 1,000 in win over Cardinals
MAHANOY CITY — Mahanoy Area seniors Jace Yedsena and Tanner Zawada wasted no time giving the packed house at the Mickey Holland Gymnasium what they came to see.
William Mayberry then made sure they went home happy with a win.
Yedsena and Zawada each scored the 1,000th point of their high school careers in the first half of Thursday’s 64-44 victory over Pine Grove.
But it wasn’t until Mayberry drained five 3-pointers as part of a 21-3, second-half run that allowed the Golden Bears to pull away from the pesky Cardinals in the Schuylkill League Division I opener for both teams.
“It was a great night to win,” Mahanoy Area coach Teddy Styka said. “We need to keep moving in the right direction. Any win is a good win.”
Yedsena entered the game needing just two points to join older brother and 2016 graduate Matthew (1,085) in Mahanoy Area’s 1,000-point club.
It came in typical Yedsena fashion, as he slammed home a dunk off a turnover at midcourt just 2:03 into the game. He was presented a celebratory ball and poster by his brother in a brief ceremony after the dunk.
Yedsena’s aunt, Meggan, is the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,751 points.
“It felt great,” Yedsena said. “A lot of people think that’s all I can do, but I got it done. I was just happy I could get it in front of my home crowd.
“It felt good (to get it out of the way) because there was a lot less pressure. I was just happy everyone was here to see it.”
Zawada, meanwhile, needed 13 points to reach the magic mark. With the Bears trailing 15-13 early in the second quarter, the senior guard scored eight straight points to hit 1,000.
Zawada scored No. 1,000 from a familiar place, the foul line, a place he’s been nearly automatic from throughout his high school career.
“I always know foul shots are big. I work on them every day,” Zawada said. “I just told myself, ‘You’re in the backyard again, just hit these and let’s start getting a lead.’
“Knowing the situation we were in … we were in a little foul trouble. Going back to last year, just closing out games, doing my job.”
Zawada joins his grandfather and former Mahanoy Area girls’ coach Joseph Alansky (1963, 1,088) and uncle Scott Alansky (1991, 1,014) in the family tree of 1,000-point scorers. Yedsena and Zawada became the 18th and 19th boys’ players to reach the milestone. Zawada was presented a ceremonial ball and poster by his mother, Natalie, after the free throw.
Both players said they were thrilled to accomplish such a feat on the same night, in the same game, something that is extremely rare.
“It was special,” Zawada said. “Playing with him since kindergarten, growing up, being on these teams since we were 6 years old, it was nice.”
Added Yedsena: “It’s very special. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else or in front of anyone else.”
With the pomp and circumstance complete, all that was left to do was win the game, Mahanoy Area’s first as a member of Division I.
For more than two quarters, Pine Grove (2-1, 0-1 D-I) made that difficult. The Cards trailed just 25-23 late in the first half and were behind 31-25 at intermission.
Hayden Felty had 10 of his team-high 12 points in the opening half for Pine Grove. Quinn Brommer would finish with 11.
Mahanoy Area (2-0, 1-0 D-I) pushed the lead to double digits at 40-29 with 2:38 left in the third, but a free throw by Chase Sarge and a 3-pointer by Brommer sliced it to 40-33 with 39.8 seconds left in the frame.
From there, it was all Mahanoy.
Let’s correct that … it was all Mayberry.
The senior guard scored on a layup off a feed from Yedsena with 5 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Bears a 43-33 lead.
After a Wyatt Snyder free throw for Pine Grove, Mayberry hit 3-pointers on four consecutive possessions, then added another one a minute later. When the smoke cleared, Mahanoy Area was up 61-36.
Mayberry finished with a career-high 19 points. Zawada also had 19, while Yedsena tallied 10.
“We expected them to go triangle-and-two and we worked on that stuff,” Styka said of Mayberry. “I told Jace and Tanner, if that’s the case, you have got to get your teammates open and sacrifice. They were on board.
“They took all the attention away and Mayberry shined. He’s a great shooter. He’s a sniper. It’s good to get him shots.”
