POTTSVILLE – The die had been cast long before the third meeting between Tamaqua and Pine Grove began.

These two teams were well aware of each other — and Saturday’s playoff setting did nothing to change what happened in the previous encounters.

The Blue Raiders swiftly took care of business on their way to a 51-40 victory at famed Martz Hall in the first round of the District 11 Class 4A girls’ tournament.

Tamaqua’s victory sends it up against another familiar foe in unbeaten Jim Thorpe. The third matchup this season between the Raiders and Olympians will take place on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. back at Martz Hall in the 4A semifinals.

Despite a couple of victories against Pine Grove during the regular season, Tamaqua refused to just go through the motions on Saturday. It played hard and got a zesty performance from Jamie Zuber, who poured in a game-high 18 points and led her team from the outset.

“When you’re on, you’re on, said Tamaqua coach Erika Davis about Zuber’s blistering hot performance. She nailed two straight triples to open the game and led her team to a 15-7 first quarter lead, then quickly ignited the fires in the second quarter by drilling two more triples and scoring seven of her teams’ 14 second-quarter points.

“She was feeling it tonight,” offered Davis of the slick junior point guard, who kept getting open looks and didn’t hesitating. Zuber’s open looks came in part because Pine Grove was trying its best to keep high-flying Emma Kuczynski in check.

“(Pine Grove) did a great job on Emma. We needed balance and other players to step-up,” said Davis.

Kuczynski did end up getting her points — 18 to be exact — but there were plenty of other contributors for the Raiders. Rebekah Homyak flourished with 10 points, while unsung heroes Jen Fredrickson and Emily Titus both scored eight points. The latter two had a gold rush of their own early on getting looks from point-blank-range.

“Emma drew a lot of attention,” said Davis. “Having played them twice and also watching a lot of film on them, we thought when we dribble penetrated, we could get the kick out and that worked for us a lot.”

Tamaqua flashed a quick six points in the middle of the first quarter to build a 15-7 lead. The Raiders then spurted to open the second quarter on the wings of Zuber and Kuczynski for a 23-11 lead and took a 29-17 lead into the break.

“We struggled as a team to consistently shoot the ball,” said Pine Grove coach Bill Evans. “Points don’t come easily for us.”

Tamaqua maintained its double-digit lead in the third quarter, and eventually stretched the lead to 51-34 in the first four minutes of the final quarter.

“It wasn’t that tough for the girls to get up for this game,” said Davis. “This is a great atmosphere to be playing in.”

CHITTER CHATTER … Without a doubt, Zuber’s play kick-started the offense for Tamaqua. Kuczynski pulled down 12 of the BlueRaiders’ 31 rebounds.

LETTING IT FLY … Tamaqua shot well, going 18-for-38, including 9-for-17 in the second half, whereas Pine Grove, struggled, shooting just 14-for-40.

EYEING IT UP … Zuber’s five triples give her 37 on the season, which leads the team.

UP NEXT ... The Raiders are now 21-4, with two of those losses to Thorpe and two to Mahanoy Area. Against the Olympians, the Raiders lost the first meeting 55-49, and the second matchup 66-58.

TAMAQUA

Kane 0-0-0-0, Zuber 5-3-4-18, Hromyak 4-0-0-10, Boyle 0-0-0-0, Titus 3-2-4-8, Hope 0-0-0-0, Frederickson 4-0-0-8, Kuczynski 2-4-5-8, Reinhardt 0-1-2-1, Frederick 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-10-15-53.

PINE GROVE

Hunkapiller 0-0-0-0, Donmoyer, 4-2-2-11, Butler 4-2-2-12, Jacoby 1-0-0-3, Olt 0-0-0-0, Betz 2-2-2-7, Frew 1-2-3-4, Brown 2-0-2-4, Dorson 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-8-11-41.

Tamaqua 15 14 13 11 - 53

Pine Grove 7 10 11 13 - 41

Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Zuber 5, Hromyak 2; Pine Grove - Butler 2, Donmoyer 1, Jacoby 1, Betz 1.