If there is anything the Tamaqua girls' basketball team discovered during it is first two games, it may well be confidence.

The way second-year coach Erika Davis and her staff are approaching a revival of the program is by preaching positive and confident play.Saturday afternoon, the Raiders once again played with a swagger in chopping down Catasauqua, 47-30, to win their inaugural Lady Raider Tip-Off Tournament championship.Led by a dynamic pair of freshmen, the winners bolted to a 24-13 lead in the first half and never looked back. For the second straight game, Emma Kuczynski led the way as she poured in 19 points and crashed the glass for 11 rebounds. Classmate Emily Titus added 12 points."We are trying to instill that confidence, and so far we've shown it early in the year, but we have a long way to go," said Davis. "The potential, no doubt, is there and the staff is trying to make that our top priority."Kuczynski, Titus and Courtney Hoffman were at the forefront for Tamaqua to open the game. Kuczynski, who had 29 points in her varsity debut Friday evening, scored half of the team's points in the first quarter, Hoffman used her inate ability to tally a pair of baskets off steals, while Titus and Kristen Jones controlled the pain with four first quarter rebounds apiece."We need to hit the boards," said Davis. "We want to make things happen and turn those rebounds into points. Whether on the offensive side or in transition."So far it has worked."Yes, we miss our share of shots, but at least we're more aggressive," said Davis. "That style is a lot better for us. We need to make things happen with our quick kids. It is a matter of taking advantage of that part of our game."After Kuczynski recycled a missed shot to open the second quarter, Catty cut the deficit to 16-10 after getting buckets from Jade Biviano, and the visitors' leading scorer Makenzie Bradley (11 points).That short spurt was about all the Tamaqua defense would allow, however, as it picked up the pace with an 8-0 run. It started with a Kuczynski rebound basket, followed by two fouls from Hoffman, another put back from Kuczynski and a cool move from Titus with a hook shot. That shot Tamaqua in front 24-13 at the break.That momentum carried right over into the third quarter when Tamaqua outscored Catasauqua 11-4."It's a great start to the season, but we've got a long way to go," said Davis. "I hope we can sustain the momentum. At least we're playing confidently."UP TEMPO ...Despite shooting 17-for-63 from the field, the Raiders forced Catty into 33 turnoves and had another great rebounding game with 46.ON THE HORIZON ...Tamaqua (2-0) meets Shenandoah Valley (2-0) on the road Tuesday and then hosts highly-touted Mahanoy Area (2-0) on Wednesday.CATASAQUAJohnson 1-3-7-5, Gillespie 1-0-0-2, Bradley 5-1-2-11, Garner 0-2-2-2, DeLucia 0-0-0-0, Safadi 0-0-0-0, Biviano 2-0-0-4, Brown 1-0-0-2, Emery 0-0-0-0, Harakel 0-0-0-0, Richards 0-1-2-1, Greenberg 0-0-0-0, George 0-0-0-0, Moore 0-3-5-3. TOTALS: 10-10-18-30.TAMAQUAR. Hromyak, R. 0-0-0-0, Hoffman 2-4-4-8, Zuber 1-0-0-3, A. Hromyak 0-0-0-0, Sherry 0-0-2-0, Jones 0-3-6-3, Coccio 0-0-0-0, Titus 6-0-0-12, Ceci 0-0-1-2, Frederickson 0-0-0-0, Kuczynski 7-5-7-19, Agosti 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 17-12-20-47.Catasauqua 6 7 9 8 - 30Tamaqua 14 10 16 7 - 47Three-pointers - Catty: none; Tamaqua: Zuber 1.