Jake Wartella, Pottsville’s head boys basketball coach, couldn’t preach it enough to his Crimson Tide team before taking on Tamaqua in their Schuylkill League Division 1 meeting.

“Don’t let their record fool you,” he told his players. “This is a very good team.”

Indeed, the Blue Raiders are going to be a tough out by the time Valentine’s Day hits the calendar.

Monday’s game went right down to the wire before the Tide fended off the hosts and pulled out a 64-59 victory.

“These kids are very resilient, they keep battling, their mentality is tough and they find a way to win,” said Wartella, whose team remained perfect at 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play. Tamaqua, meanwhile, fell to 0-4 and 0-2.

Pottsville rallied around the sharpshooting of Christian Alvarez, who kept draining treys in the first half like they were layups.

“He was really hot in that first half,” said Wartella about Alvarez.

Indeed, the junior was sizzling from beyond the arc. He nailed his first three shots from distance, scoring nine points in helping his team gain an 18-15 first-quarter lead.

While Alvarez was letting it fly, the Blue Raiders had answers of their own.

Luke Kane, Cooper Ansbach and Noah Mateyak all rose to the occasion.

Kane knocked down five points for his side to keep Tamaqua within arms-length. Every time the Raiders rallied, though, Alvarez was throwing up a roadblock for his side, as he nailed his fourth trey of the first half to send the Tide in front 23-21.

Latrel Montone then surfaced in the middle of the second period as Pottsville held onto a narrow advantage at 29-25.

When Tamaqua came back to take a 34-32 lead with 1:31 to play in the first half on a nifty downtown triple by Mateyak, the Tide showed the resiliency that Wartella talked about.

The visitors scored the final six points of the period to go ahead 38-34. The points were provided by a pair of threes, one each by Alvarez and Ryder Bowers.

“We had a lot answers in the first half, but you could sense Tamaqua was going to make a run the way they played in that first half,” Wartella said.

To be sure, the Raiders answered at full steam.

Tamaqua cranked up the heat — turning to Ansbach, Mateyak and Kane. The trio gave Tamaqua a shot in the arm, boosting it to a 51-49 lead after three quarters.

“We did some really nice things in the first three quarters,” said Raider head coach Jim Barron. “What we need is to find a way to finish off the game. That’s a really good Pottsville team. (Alvarez) is a very special player for them, and they’ve got some really good guard play. But we’re going to be alright, we’re going to win games.”

It sure looked as if Tamaqua was going to win this game, especially the way it opened the home stretch.

Ansbach — who was teetering on fouling out with his fourth foul early in the fourth quarter, — sliced his way to the iron with a nifty move for a deuce and a 53-49 lead to open the quarter. Pottsville never shriveled, turning to unsung Derek Watkins, who just kept coming up with big buckets throughout the evening.

Watkins drove inside to help his team get an all-important bucket during a key part of the contest. Even though Tamaqua got a huge putback from Kane for a 55-54 lead — the last for the Tams — JuJu Bainbridge tickled the twines for a huge trey, Watkins drained a deuce and Alvarez flicked one in from close range.

London Ivy, the 6-5 Tide center, added a basket before Watkins delivered the dagger to secure the win.

SHOOTING IT UP … Both teams shot very well from the floor. In this early season showdown, the Tide went 25-of-51, including 16-of-23 in the first half. Tamaqua finished the night 23-of-56 after a 13-of-25 first-half.

OFF THE GLASS … Tamaqua had (HELD) the rebounding edge with 31-28 advantage. The Raiders were led by Ansbach (11) and Kane (nine). The Tide’s Alvarez pulled down nine boards.

POTTSVILLE

Bainbridge 1-0-0-3, McGinley 0-0-0-0, Watkins 4-3-6-11, Alvarez 6-0-1-17, Montrone 6-2-4-15, Bowers 3-0-0-9, Flucker-White 0-0-0-0, Ivy 4-1-1-9. TOTALS: 24-6-12-64.

TAMAQUA

Ansbach 6-3-3-15, McCabe 5-0-1-10, Mateyak 6-2-3-20, Vecolitis 0-0-0-0, Davis 0-0-0-0, Schickram 1-0-0-2, Kane 5-1-5-12, Tamagini 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-6-12-59.

Pottsville 18 20 11 15 - 64

Tamaqua 15 19 17 8 - 59

Three-pointers: Pottsville - Alvarez 5, Bowers 3, Bainbridge 1, Montrone 1; Tamaqua - Mateyak 6, Kane 1.