Jim Thorpe, Pleasant Valley and Palmerton all sent two wrestlers into the quarterfinal round of the Coal Cracker Tournament on Friday, while Northwestern advanced one.

Three area boys basketball teams — Tamaqua, Marian and Weatherly — all posted wins, as did the Palmerton girls.

BOYS WRESTLING

Coal Cracker

Tournament

Seven area wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinal round of the prestigious Coal Cracker Wrestling Tournament, being held at Lehighton.

Northwestern’s Luke Fugazzotto, a two-time Times News are Wrestler of the Year, turned in the most impressive showing of the local grapplers, while Palmerton’s Derek King posted his 100th career victory at the tourney.

Fugazzotto, a junior, registered three first-period pins to reach the quarters of the 191-pound eight class. He posted falls of 11 and 19 seconds before needing 1:30 to dispose of his third opponent.

King, at 154, also turned in a quick pin of 37 seconds in the first round before gaining a 7-2 decision and an 11-2 major.

Others to reach Saturday’s quarterfinal rounds include Jim Thorpe’s Stephen Korte and Nikolas Schwartz, Pleasant Valley’s Evan Gillespie and Andrew Mihalichko, and Palmerton’s Dillon Lombardi.

PV’s Mihalichko matched Fugazzotto with three pins. The Bears’ 285-pounder recorded his falls in 1:00, 2:46 and 3:57 to advance.

Mihalichko’s teammate, Gillespie, also moved on with relative ease. Competing at 215, earned a 16-second pin before gaining a first-period tech fall (17-1 inn 1:32). He then reached the quarters with a pin in 1:29.

Thorpe’s Schwartz collected two pins and a tech fall to remain alive for the title at 174. Falls of 1:55 and 3:51 preceded a 15-0 tech fall at the 3:09 mark.

Fellow Olympian Stephen Korte racked up the points during his 135-pound matches. Korte posted a 22-6 tech fall in 1:08 in his first bout and then earned a 24-8 tech fall at 3:41. In his third win, he gained a 24-14 major decision.

Lombordi of Palmerton pulled out an 11-8 sudden victory in his third match of the day to make the 174-pound quarterfinal round. Earlier, the Bomber collected a pair of tech falls — 16-1 in 2:29, and 18-3 in 1:38.

The quarterfinals are scheduled this morning at 10 a.m. with the semifinals slated to start at 12:15 p.m. The finals will begin at 4 p.m.

A total of 58 teams are competing in the annual event, which attracts top wrestlers from across the state.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Marian-Lourdes

Marian rallied in the fourth quarter to force overtime and then used five points from Jacob DeLa Cruz in the extra period to gain a 72-69 Schuylkill League overtime win over Lourdes.

Gregory Tirpak scored 11 of his 18 points in the final period of regulation to help the Colts erase a 10-point deficit.

DeLa Cruz finished with a team-high 19 points for the winners, who snapped a three-game losing skid. Rocco Griguoli added 16 points, while Dominic Catrone chipped in with eight.

The Red Raiders’ Brighton Sciccitano led all scorers with 31 points.

MARIAN

Catrone 3-2-6-8, Nunez 1-0-0-3, Ju. DeLa Cruz 2-0-0-5, Ja. DeLa Cruz 6-2-2-19, Griguoli 6-4-9-16, Osoria 0-1-2-1, Tirpak 7-0-0-18, Acosta 0-0-0-0, Rodino 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 26-9-20-72.

LOURDES

Sciccitano 13-2-4-31, Renn 4-0-0-9, Baranosky 1-0-0-2, B. Rishel 3-3-4-9, Moore 4-0-2-10, Williams 2-0-2-6, J. Rishel 1-0-0-2, Sandri 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 28-5-12-69.

Marian 16 15 9 21 11 - 72

Lourdes 12 21 16 12 8 - 69

Three-pointers: Marian - Ja. DeLa Cruz 5, Tirpak 4, Nunez 1, Ju. DeLa Cruz 1; Lourdes - Scicchitano 3, Moore 2, Williams 2, Renn 1.

Records: Marian (8-9; 5-6); Lourdes (4-12; 3-7).

Pine Grove-Tamaqua

Tamaqua snapped a five-game losing streak by gaining a 69-56 Schuylkill League victory over visiting Pine Grove.

Noah Mateyak hit six three-pointers and finished with a team-high 19 points for the Blue Raiders, who used a 19-5 second quarter to take control.

The winners, who had four players in double-figure scoring, also received 16 from Luke Kane and 12 from Ace Schickram, while Cooper Ansbach chipped in with 10.

Quinn Brommer tallied a game-high 24 points for the Cardinals.

PINE GROVE

Schneck-Haines 0-0-0-0, Kimmel 0-0-0-0, Herber 1-0-0-2, Felty 8-2-3-20, Brommer 8-4-5-24, Dubbs 0-0-0-0, Snyder 2-2-4-6, Lions 2-0-2-4. TOTALS: 21-8-14-56.

TAMAQUA

Ansbach 2-6-6-10, McCabe 2-3-3-7, Mateyak 6-1-4-19, Vecolitis 1-0-3-2, Schickram 3-3-6-12, Kane 5-5-8-16, Frohnheiser 0-0-0-0, Tamagini 0-3-4-3, Davis 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-21-34-69.

Pine Grove 15 5 18 18 - 56

Tamaqua 15 19 17 18 - 69

Three-pointers: Pine Grove - Felty 4, Brommer 2; Tamaqua - Mateyak 6, Schickram 3, Kane 1.

Records: Pine Grove (6-13; 3-8); Tamaqua (6-13; 3-8).

Weatherly-Shenandoah

Weatherly moved one step closer to Schuylkill League and District 11 playoff berths with a 50-43 Schuylkill League comeback win over host Shenandoah Valley.

Niko Saldukas scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the second half as the Wreckers erased a three-point halftime deficit. Ian McKeegan added eight of his 15 points in the final two frames to help Weatherly take over sole possession of third in Division 2 of the league.

For the Devils, David Burrows collected a team-high 10 points.

WEATHERLY

Adler 0-0-0-0, Kokinda 2-1-2-5, McKeegan 7-0-0-15, Stauffer 0-0-0-0, Saldukas 10-4-5-26, Davis 0-0-0-0, Wagner 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 21-5-7-50.

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Hernandez 0-0-0-0, Teter 3-0-0-6, Reyes 1-0-0-3, Burke 1-0-0-2, Bench 0-0-0-0, Burrows 3-4-8-10, Boris 3-0-0-8, Lopez 4-4-4-14, Castro 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-8-12-43.

Weatherly 9 12 12 17 - 50

Shenandoah 16 8 8 11 - 43

Three-pointers: Weatherly - Saldukas 2, McKeegan 1; Shenandoah - Boris 2, Lopez 2, Reyes 1.

Records: Weatherly (9-6; 7-4); Shenandoah (4-14; 2-9).

Panther Vy.-Blue Mtn.

Blue Mountain took a double-digit halftime lead and held on for a 66-56 Schuylkill League victory over Panther Valley.

Chase Baldwin netted a game-high 22 points, which included 13 in the first half as the Eagles built a 30-20 advantage.

Logan Fisher recorded a double-double for the Panthers with 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Danny Wehr added nine points and seven boards. PV also received eight points from both Conner Penberth and Chase McArdle.

PANTHER VALLEY

Fisher 6-4-4-16, Penberth 3-0-0-8, Jones 2-0-0-5, Breiner 0-2-2-2, Neziri 1-1-2-3, Wehr 2-4-6-9, Baneravage 2-0-0-5, Gjoca 0-0-0-0, McArdle 2-2-2-8, Thomas 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-13-16-56.

BLUE MOUNTAIN

Meade 8-1-2-17, Grace 3-0-0-8, Kirby 4-2-4-10, Baldwin 10-2-6-22, Gaddy 2-0-0-4, Brayford 1-2-4-5. TOTALS: 28-7-16-66.

Panther Vy. 9 11 20 16 - 56

Blue Mtn. 17 13 18 18 - 66

Three-pointers: Panther Valley - Penberth 2, McArdle 2, Jones 1, Wehr 1, Baneravage 1; Blue Mountain - Grace 2, Brayford 1.

Records: Panther Valley (11-7; 4-7); Blue Mountain (9-8; 6-5).

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Palmerton-Jim Thorpe

Palmerton raced to an early advantage and cruised to a 57-19 Colonial League victory over host Jim Thorpe.

Hailey Barry hit two three-pointers in the opening frame as the Blue Bombers opened up a commanding 21-1 lead.

Barry finished with a game-high 15 points, while Cate Morgan added 12. The winners, who rebounded from a loss in their game, also received eight from both Mikayla Pengelly and Courtney Connell.

For the Olympians, Ciara Lees had a team-high five points.

PALMERTON

Pengelly 4-0-0-8, Baumgardt 2-0-2-4, Rumfield 0-0-0-0, Schneider 3-0-0-6, Morgan 5-0-0-12, Wasilewski 0-0-0-0, Green 1-0-0-2, Barry 6-0-0-15, Getch 1-0-0-2, Connell 3-2-2-8. TOTALS: 25-2-4-57.

JIM THORPE

Snisky 0-1-2-1, Yeakel 1-2-2-4, Lees 1-2-4-5, Bos 0-0-0-0, Balliet 1-0-0-2, Scherer 0-0-0-0, Ress 0-0-0-0, Yuhas 1-2-2-4, Confer 1-0-2-3. TOTALS: 5-7-12-19.

Palmerton 21 11 21 4 - 57

Jim Thorpe 1 10 3 5 - 19

Three-pointers: Palmerton - Barry 3, Morgan 2; Jim Thorpe - Lees 1, Confer 1.

Records: Palmerton (16-4; 13-3); Jim Thorpe (3-15; 3-11).

Pleasant Vy.-PM East

McKenna Snyder scored eight of her game-high 15 points in the first quarter as Pocono Mountain East built a lead and went on to defeat Pleasant Valley 54-9 in EPC play.

The Cardinals, who led by 16 after the opening period and stretched the advantage to 28 by halftime, also received 13 points from Zanaiya Days.

Julianna Imhof and Farrah Shaheen both chipped in with 10 points for the winners.

PLEASANT VALLEY

Lanigan 0-0-2-0, Rothrock 0-0-0-0, Polazzo 0-2-2-2, Merklin 0-0-0-0, Knapp 0-0-0-0, Soucy 0-0-0-0, Shillady 1-0-2-2, Hower 0-0-0-0, A. Fuentes 0-2-4-2, K. Fuentes 1-1-2-3. TOTALS: 2-5-12-9.

PM EAST

Green 0-0-0-0, Snyder 6-2-3-15, Bilal 0-0-0-0, Mujaj 1-0-0-2, Insinga 2-0-0-4, Days 5-2-4-13, Hull-Goings 0-0-0-0, Imhof 3-4-4-10, Shaheen 4-1-2-10. TOTALS: 21-9-13-54.

Pleasant Vy. 5 1 0 3 - 9

PM East 21 13 16 4 - 54

Three-pointers: Pleasant Valley - None; PM East - Snyder 1, Days 1, Shaheen 1.

Records: Pleasant Valley (0-19); PM East (6-12).