Tamaqua kept asking questions.

But Blue Mountain always had an answer.

In a critical basketball game for both teams, the Eagles soared a little higher than the Blue Raiders, posting an impressive 69-58 Schuylkill League victory on Thursday.

The victory gave Blue Mountain the Division I wild card spot for next week’s Schuylkill League playoffs, which get underway Wednesday at the fabled ‘Mecca’ — Martz Hall in Pottsville.

Tamaqua seemed to face an uphill battle the entire game. The Raiders fell behind by as much as 11 points to open the game, before rallying to cut the deficit to 19-13 after one quarter.

Spurred on at the onset of the second quarter, thanks in large part to Brayden Knoblauch who had a hand in all of the 10 second-quarter points, either scoring or assisting. With the Raiders trailing by six to open the period, Knoblauch sank one of two technical foul shots, went back door for a layup off a pass from Lucas Gregoire, and then returned the assist favor to his 6-3 junior center who posted up for two more points.

“That sequence was big for us,” said Jim Barron the Tamaqua coach. “But we just couldn’t sustain enough of those plays. They’re a tough team to defend with how long they are.”

That quick runoff brought Tamaqua to within a point, 19-18, but the firepower the Eagles bring to the table just kept eating at the Raiders. If Gavin Conway wasn’t draining outside shots, Nate Nabholtz was using his wide body (6-5, 230) to muscle inside. That showed up in the middle of the period when Blue Mountain worked itself into a 26-20 lead and settled for a 28-23 lead on a buzzer-beater from Nabholtz.

“Tamaqua is a relentless team and Jimmy (Barron) does a good job of getting them to play,” said Blue Mountain coach Dustin Werdt.

Werdt knew his team needed stoppers of all sorts to quell the one-two punch of Knoblauch and Gregoire.

“That isn’t easy to do,” said Werdt when asked about the Tamaqua scorers. “They’re tough to handle. I thought we got a great defensive effort form Jason Dean and Gavin (Conway). They had to work hard.”

Blue Mountain rang up a 38-27 lead halfway through the third quarter. But Tamaqua once again countered. The Raiders went on a 10-3 run behind the inside play of Gregoire, and two triples from feisty Mike Bonetsky. The spurt ended on a Derian Stianche mid-range jumper.

Yet that wasn’t enough to keep Blue Mountain at bay.

The Eagles once again built a comfortable advantage before one last Tamaqua run pulled them to within 56-51 midway through the final quarter. Devon Zehner dropped in three points and Knoblauch hit a sweet trey from the top of the key during the Raiders’ final surge.

Finally, the Eagles were able to seal it, going on a 13-5 run to close the game.

“I looked up late and saw the score, and I was totally surprised that we were up that many points,” said Werdt. “It felt a lot closer than the final score indicates.”

CHARTING IT … Tamaqua had a slight edge in rebounds, 29-26. Gregoire was outstanding despite giving away height to the Eagles as he hauled in 14 boards. Dean led the Eagles with nine rebounds.

SHOOTING IT UP … Blue Mountain was 23-for-44, while Tamaqua was 22-for-51.

PAVING THE WAY … Tamaqua had four players hit for double figures, Gregoire and Knoblauch shared team honors with 13 points; Bonetsky had 11 and Stianche 10. Conway pumped in 18 to lead Blue Mountain.

BLUE MOUNTAIN

Conway 7-2-4-18, Nabholtz 5-3-3-14, Ketch 5-1-1-13, Carr 3-2-2-8, Grace 1-3-4-6, Lipko 2-0-0-5, Keenan 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-14-20-69.

TAMAQUA

Gregoire 6-1-5-13, Knoblauch 5-1-2-13, Bonetsky 3-3-4-11, Stianche 3-3-4-10, Zehner 3-1-4-7, Agosti 1-0-0-2, Griffin 0-0-0-0, Gutierez 0-0-0-0, Stauffenberg 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-6-15-56.

Blue Mountain 19 9 13 18 - 69

Tamaqua 13 10 14 19 - 56

Three-pointers: BM - Conway 2, Ketch 2, Nabholtz 1, Grace 1; T - Bonetsky 3, Knoblauch 2, Stianche 1.