This season hasn't been kind to the Pine Grove Cardinals, who are still winless after their 11th match. Their tough 61-39 loss to Tamaqua on Thursday might stick with them for a while. Pine Grove was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as Tamaqua apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in January of 2023.
Tamaqua's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Noah Mateyak led the charge by scoring 19 points along with five rebounds and three steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Mateyak has scored at least 25% of Tamaqua's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Cooper Ansbach, who scored 16 points along with eight rebounds.
Pine Grove bumped their record down to 0-11 with that defeat, which was their seventh straight at home. As for Tamaqua, they now have a winning record of 6-5.
Pine Grove will head out on the road to face off against Lehighton at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Lehighton presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Pine Grove in Pennsylvania (Lehighton is ranked 280th, while Pine Grove is ranked 636th). As for Tamaqua, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Notre Dame at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Notre Dame will be coming into the matchup with an undefeated record on the line.
