The Mahanoy Area Golden Bears will head out on the road to challenge the Pottsville Crimson Tide at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Mahanoy Area is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 61.5 points per game this season.
If Mahanoy Area beats Pottsville with 55 points on Friday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. Mahanoy Area walked away with a 55-44 win over Tamaqua on Tuesday. Given the Golden Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 49th, while the Blue Raiders are ranked 419th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 12/05/24 vs Pine Grove | 3 |
| 01/28/25 vs Tamaqua | 2 |
| 01/17/25 @ Panther Valley | 1 |
| 01/07/25 vs Pottsville | 1 |
| 12/19/24 @ Tamaqua | 1 |
Mahanoy Area got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Ryan Zilker out in front who went 7 for 11 en route to 15 points and five rebounds. What's more, Zilker also racked up two assists, the most he's had since back in December of 2024. William Mayberry was another key player, putting up 17 points.
Mahanoy Area smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Pottsville unfortunately witnessed the end of their seven-game winning streak on Tuesday. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 59-58 to Pine Grove. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Saturday (57), the Crimson Tide still had to take the loss.
Mahanoy Area will need focus on slowing down Christian Alvarez, one of several Pottsville players who made an impact when they last played. He made all 5 shots he took to post 22 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ryder Bowers, who posted 15 points.
Mahanoy Area's win was their 22nd straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 19-1. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.5 points per game. As for Pottsville, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 14-6.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Mahanoy Area and Pottsville are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Mahanoy Area hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 61.5 points per game. However, it's not like Pottsville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 56.5 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Mahanoy Area strolled past Pottsville when the teams last played on January 7th by a score of 62-47. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Alvarez, who made all 9 shots he took for 25 points. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Mahanoy Area still be able to contain Alvarez? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
