POTTSVILLE — Sometimes the third time’s the charm.

But it just wasn’t meant to be for the Tamaqua’s girls basketball team Tuesday night, as the Blue Raiders fell to North Schuylkill 39-38.

It was the third matchup of the season between the teams, as they faced off in the Schuylkill League semifinals at Martz Hall for the second straight year.

With North Schuylkill entering the game undefeated in the league, and having won the two previous games against Tamaqua this season, the Raiders were looking to take down the Spartans where it mattered most — and also avenge last year’s playoff defeat in the process.

That didn’t come to pass, as North Schuykill’s defensive press forced 19 Raider turnovers in the first half, which helped the Spartans take a 21-12 lead at the intermission.

“Our first 16 minutes were very uncharacteristic (compared to) how we typically play a basketball game, especially in a big game like this,” said Tamaqua head coach Erika Davis. “It just appeared that everybody was afraid of the ball, or afraid to handle the ball.”

Mya Conti shined for the Spartans, as she tallied eight first-half points.

But the Raiders came out firing in the second half.

A 12-0 Tamaqua run to open the half saw the Raiders come back and take a 24-21 lead. Kolbe Robb put up all six of her points in the third quarter, and also finished with six assists.

After the Spartans’ Gianna Capone drained back-to-back three-pointers to slow Tamaqua down, North Schuylkill responded early in the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run to grab a 37-31 lead.

Led by Lauren Ligenza, the Raiders refused to go away as they scored the next seven points, including a go-ahead field goal from Sam Plasha to take a 38-37 lead with nine seconds remaining.

Ligenza finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

However, on the Spartans’ next possession, Hannah Kane, who appeared to have been injured on a previous play in the final minute, came back and hit the game-winning basket on a fade-away with three seconds remaining to send North Schuylkill to the Schuylkill League championship game.

“I wasn’t sure what happened down there,” Spartan head coach Rich Wetzel said about Kane. “She was limping off. I know at that point in time, I said to my guy ‘We’ve got to get her out of there, sit her down, and find out what’s wrong with her.’ I called my timeout. She said ‘I’m ready to go in,’ and that play, we run that play at practice.

“It’s an unorthodox shot, but she shoots that shot all the time and it goes in. I wouldn’t teach anybody to do it like that, but she can do it.”

It was a disappointing result for Tamaqua, but a contest that showed the Raiders are ready to fight until the finish.

“This one’s tough to swallow,” said Davis. “We made a few adjustments, and just imagine if we would have started off the game like that. There’s a lot of what ifs and should have beens, could have beens and it takes a full 32 (minutes) to beat a North Schuylkill team.”

Despite the sting from the loss, Davis is focused on refocusing the team in preparation for its district quarterfinal matchup against Allentown Central Catholic.

“First and foremost, we’ve got to clean a few things up, and then we’ll start breaking down some film on ACC,” she said. “We’re looking forward to learning from this.

“We have to learn from this and persevere to the next game that we have. We’re only guaranteed one more.”

MARTZ MADNESS … This was the second game of a doubleheader at Martz Hall as Schuylkill Haven defeated Marian 41-39 earlier in the other semifinal matchup.

DAVID VS. GOLIATH … North Schuylkill remains undefeated in the Schuylkill League (15-0) and will play in the league championship game against Schuylkill Haven, which has never been to the final before.

TAMAQUA

Robb 2-2-2-6, M. Black 3-2-3-8, Scott 0-0-0-0, Plasha 2-0-0-4, Ligenza 5-3-7-13, Miller 3-0-2-7, L. Black 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-7-14-38.

NORTH SCHUYLKILL

Selgrade 1-3-4-5, Conti 4-0-0-10, Monahan 3-0-0-7, Capone 4-0-0-11, Balicki 0-0-0-0, Ja. Stitzer 0-1-2-1, Kane 2-1-2-5. TOTALS: 14-5-8-39.

Tamaqua 7 5 15 11 - 38

North Schuylkill 12 9 6 12 - 39

Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Miller 1; North Schuylkill - Capone 3, Conti 2, Monahan 1.

Records: Tamaqua (18-6); North Schuylkill (18-5).