Mahanoy Area’s version of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid surely can drive any boys basketball team dizzy.

You never know which one is going to pull the trigger and drop you for a loop.

Such was the case during Thursday evening’s Schuylkill League Division 1 matchup between Mahanoy Area and Tamaqua.

There was bad, ugly, and a lot of good by the time the final buzzer had sounded and the Golden Bears had finished off a 66-52 victory over the Blue Raiders.

Mahanoy — still undefeated at 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the league — turned Jace Yedsena loose down the home stretch as Butch Cassidy.

The senior broke a few ankles spinning, while flushing dunks to chalk up 17 points.

Meanwhile, the Sundance Kid — Tanner Zwada — fired in a game-high 24 points.

Zwada choreographed the entire show, draining eight field goals and hitting all seven of his free throws.

There were other supporting cast contributors, including fast-improving 6-6 junior Ryan Zilker, who finished with a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds). Payton Sendatch checked in with eight points, while senior William Mayberry added seven.

“It was a matter of time before our shots started to fall,” Zwada said about his team’s slow start, which saw the Bears shoot 4-of-16 during the first quarter. “Once we got things going, we knew we were good.”

His coach wasn’t taking anything for granted.

“They (Tamaqua) are a lot better team than their record shows. I have a lot of respect for them,” Mahanoy head coach and former Golden Bear standout Teddy Styka said. “Tanner and Jace are two great players, and they’ve been here for a few years, and the leaders. So, we expect that from them … the rest of our players are starting to learn from those two. I like the way we’re starting to come around.”

Come around? The defending league champs are chomping at the bit to defend their title. And the way theyve started this season makes them a good bet at being in Martz Hall on Valentine’s Day — the reserved date of the league championship game.

On the other side, it’s been frustrating thus far for the Raiders, who have come so close to pulling off wins over quality teams, but can’t seem to get over the hump.

“You’ve got to do the little things to win games like this,” said Tamaqua mentor Jimmy Barron.

There was enough firepower from the Blue Raiders, to be sure. Cooper Ansbach and Noah Mateyak both sunk 17 points, while teammate Luke Kane added 12.

It looked like Tamaqua was about to close in on the Bears when Ansbach let loose with a triple that brought the home crowd to their feet with 4:32 to play.

That bucket made things interesting as the Raiders came back from 50-36 right before the end of the third quarter.

Tamaqua was on a roll, and a horde of momentum had moved in its favor. Mahanoy Area got skittish with the ball, and came up nearly empty at the onset of the stretch run.

The Blue Raiders went on an 8-2 spurt before the Bears took charge, with Yedsena pulling off a dazzling display of basketball.

First, he raced to the bucket for an uncontested breakaway, then pulled off a terrific drive to the iron. He went between his legs, twisted full circle, went flying like a torpedo to the iron, and did one of his patented slams.

“I missed a couple of shots early, but then I got back on track,” Yedsena said. “I started to attack to get to the rim. We’re really a good defensive team, and that’s something we wanted to do from the start of the season.”

“He’s like a deer, so quick,” Styka said of Yedsena.

SHOOTING IT UP … Mahanoy shot 25-of-55 from the floor, and had a 40-24 rebounding edge, but committed 14 turnovers. The Raiders went 21-of-59 shooting and committed 13 turnovers.

JAYVEE .. The Tamaqua JVs won the opener 60-48. Landon Kamant led the way with 17 points, while Ace Schickram and Donovan Broadway both scored 15. The Bears’ Connor Bowman poured in a game-high 27 points.

MAHANOY AREA

Zwada 8-7-7-24, Yedsena 7-2-5-17, Zilker 5-0-0-10, Sendatch 3-1-1-8, Mayberry 2-2-2-7, Oblas 0-0-0-0, Gallagher 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-12-15-66.

TAMAQUA

Ansbach 7-2-4-17, Mateyak 6-1-2-17, Kane 6-0-0-12, Davis 2-1-1-5, McCabe 0-1-2-1, Temagami 0-0-0-0, Kamant 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 21-5-9-52.

Mahanoy Area 9 25 16 16 - 66

Tamaqua 16 8 14 14 - 52

Three-pointers: Mahanoy Area - Yedsena 2, Zwada 1, Sendatch 1, Mayberry 1; Tamaqua - Mateyak 4, Ansbach 1.

Records: Mahanoy Area (8-0; 5-0); Tamaqua (1-7).