One of these nights, the Tamaqua boys' basketball team is going to figure out how to put a charge into its battery early - and take the stress away from coach Jim Barron.

Yes. The Blue Raiders continue to win.Yes. The Blue Raiders continue to make Barron call a wakeup timeout before the first quarter's time has expired.But when all is said and done, this team continues to scale upward, and the best may be yet to come.Wednesday night, Tamaqua improved to 5-1 after dispatching Kutztown 50-46 in a non-league game."We were a little sick tonight," said Barron about his team's lackluster start. "Our inside guys were not feeling right, so I kind of get it."I know we missed some easy shots inside, but we did get some pretty solid play from our defense."Tamaqua's man-to-man pressure forced the Cougars into a baker's dozen turnovers on the night, while forcing the visitors from Berks County to shoot just 38 percent (17-for-45) from the floor."Our defense was very active. I liked the way we doubled at times, and played smartly most of the time," said Barron. "We did a pretty decent job of rebounding, so that was another big factor in the way we played overall."After scoring only four points for the first six minutes, Tamaqua came out of its drag when freshman Brayden Knoblauch drained two straight triples to lift his side to a 10-8 lead after a quarter of play."Brayden did a nice job of stepping up and hitting a couple of those shots," said BarronTamaqua put the pedal to the floor in a second period run that felt scintillating. After Kutztown's Lorencz Jean-Baptise drained a side jumper, the Raiders went on a roll, scoring 10 unanswered points to zoom in front 20-10. Lucas Gregoire sank two free throws before Casey Rother broke free inside off an assist from Thad Zuber. Zuber then sank a pair of foul shots in the rally before Gabe Gregoire poured in four unanswered points to cap the run.But, the Cougars never quit and made it interesting in the second half, closing to within 29-28 late in the third quarter. Zeke Wassell gave the Raiders some breathing room after he nailed a triple from the wing just before the buzzer.Ahead 32-28, Tamaqua methodically started to build a cushion. Riding the shoulders of Gabe Gregoire, Josh Inama and Knoblauch, The Raiders built a 50-40 lead with 1:58 left to play, before the Cougars closed with a late rush, only to come up short."I didn't care for the way we played at the end," said Barron. "We've got to be able to close better."SHOOTING STARS ... Knoblauch led the Raiders with 11 points, including three treys. Gabe Gregoire shoved in 10 points.SWEEP ... The Blue Raiders won the JV game 56-35. Mike Bonetsky led the Raiders with 15.KUTZTOWNFegely 3-0-0-6, Tucker 2-0-2-5, Schell 0-0-0-0, Fegely 4-1-1-9, Baptiste 3-5-7-11, Eck 0-0-0-0, Seifert 1-0-0-3, Fenerty 1-2-4-4, Angstadt 3-2-2-8. TOTALS: 17-10-16-46.TAMAQUABonetsky 1-0-0-3, Stianche 0-0-0-0, Wassell 2-0-1-6, Zuber 1-4-5-6, Knoblauch 4-0-0-11, Rother 1-0-0-2, Inama 4-0-0-8, G. Gregoire 4-2-5-10, L. Gregoire 1-2-2-4. TOTALS: 18-8-13-50.Kutztown 8 10 10 18 - 46Tamaqua 10 12 10 18 - 50Three-pointers: K - - Tucker 1, Raisner 1, Siefert 1; T - Knoblauch 3, Wassell 2, Bonetsky 1.