Basketball Game Preview: Minersville Battlin' Miners vs. Blue Mountain Eagles

The Minersville Battlin' Miners will venture away from home to challenge the Blue Mountain Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Minersville has seven straight wins, Blue Mountain has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Minersville is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Tamaqua: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Minersville blew Tamaqua out of the water with a 69-29 final score. The Battlin' Miners have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 21 points or more this season.

Dante Carr was his usual excellent self, going 11 for 14 on his way to 27 points along with six boards and three steals. Another player making a difference was Shazier Bethea, who went 6 of 13 en route to 14 points and seven assists.

Meanwhile, Blue Mountain came up short against Pottsville on Tuesday and fell 44-36. While losing is never fun, the Eagles can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 326th, while the Crimson Tide are ranked 132nd).

Blue Mountain's defeat dropped their record down to 4-6. As for Minersville, their victory bumped their record up to 11-2.

Minersville didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Blue Mountain when the teams last played back in December of 2024, but they still walked away with a 53-49 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Minersville since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.