SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — The tale of the tape was mostly about one thing when Tamaqua faced Schuylkill Haven on Monday: Who was going to turn the ball over more, or better yet, who was going to protect the ball better?

In this case, it was the Haven girls.

The Hurricanes, however, looked lackluster during a second quarter in which they didn’t register a point.

They shot 0-of 12 from the floor in the period, which presented Tamaqua a grand opportunity to take control and perhaps force the home team to play catchup. While the Blue Raiders did have a few bright moments in the quarter, they never could sustain enough firepower for a long period of time and suffered from a number of turnovers.

The Blue Raiders, who led by four at the half, stumbled badly in the third and fourth frames and eventually dropped a 47-34 decision against a team that seems ready to make a bona fide run at a Schuylkill League title.

The Hurricanes are only one game behind Division I frontrunners North Schuylkill (8-0). It was the second time this season Haven hung a loss on the Raiders, who are now 5-3 in the league.

“We struggled from the field in that second quarter, that’s for sure,” said Schuylkill Haven head coach Tony Sanders.

He also pointed out the key for his team to get back in the game came from Kylie Siket, who buried 20 points — 11 of those coming in the opening quarter.

“Kylie Siket had a really nice game for us,” Sanders said. “(But) we knew coming in that we had to stop (Kolbe) Robb and (Lauren) Ligenza, and we did a very good job of keeping them under control.”

While Ligenza did harness 16 points and 10 rebounds, Robb was held scoreless by a tenacious and aggressive Haven defense.

Tamaqua’s bright spot started in the second quarter when it poured in 12 points, and took advantage of eight Haven turnovers. Ligenza poured in eight points during the period, while freshman Mille Black dropped in four.

“We are not effective when we need to be, and we are making a lot of mental and physical mistakes,” said Tamaqua mentor Erika Davis. “You know we go over film, and we still make the same errors. When we are double and triple teamed, we don’t kick it out. And we are (afraid) to take shots from the outside, and it is getting (very) frustrating.”

That showed in the second half, although the Raiders were easily within striking distance, trailing just 27-25 after three quarters.

Haven went on an 11-2 run during the third to get off its shooting snide, but Tamaqua regained its balance when Veronica Scott hit a pair from the free throw line and Ligenza powered inside for a deuce.

“We stepped it up in the third quarter, and we were able to convert (baskets),” Sanders said, as his team took advantage of 33 Tamaqua turnovers, eight of them coming in the third quarter.

When the home stretch picked up, it was all Hurricanes.

Ligenza sank one of two foul shots to begin the quarter, making it 27-26. After that, Haven put the pressure on at full throttle going on a 13-1 run.

First, Siket bombed away for a trey. Then it was McKenna Runkle and Anna Schaeffer chiming in to gain the lead and dash Tamaqua’s hopes.

“Point of emphasis; nobody wants to handle the ball, and we are getting weak on many levels,” Davis said. “We’ve got to figure it out and move forward.”

For sure, Haven is now at the top of its game, while the Raiders are in search mode at a critical juncture of the season.

CUREABLE … The Raiders need to shrug things off and regroup. They had 37 turnovers in the first meeting with Haven in a 40-30 loss.

BY THE NUMBERS … Tamaqua went 11-of-40 from the field, while the Canes were 18-of-50. Haven also had an edge in rebounding, 36-35.

STEADY AS SHE GOES …. If Tamaqua can find a way to control the tempo on offense, it will settle things down. There were too many unforced errors, which is now its Achilles’ heel.

VERY TOUGH OUTFIT … Schuylkill Haven is well-coached and has more than just two kids that can score. It’s scrappy in the paint, and hits the glass on all cylinders.

TAMAQUA

Robb 0-0-0-0, M. Black 3-3-7-9, Scott 0-3-4-3, Plasha 1-2-4-4, Ligenza 6-4-10-16, Miller 0-0-0-0, L. Black 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 11-12-25-34.

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN

McDonald 0-0-0-0, Hutchinson 1-1-2-3, Siket 8-0-2-20, Schaeffer 3-3-6-9, Haag 0-0-0-0, Terefencko 0-0-0-0, Ulsh 0-0-0-0, Runkle 3-1-4-7, Goehring 0-0-0-0, Porter 3-1-1-8. TOTALS: 18-6-15-47.

Tamaqua 8 12 5 9 - 34

Schuylkill Haven 16 0 11 20 - 47

Three-pointers: Tamaqua - None; Schuylkill Haven - Siket 4, Porter 1.

Records: Tamaqua (12-3; 5-3); Schuylkill Haven (10-3; 7-1).