It took some Zach and Jack for the Whitehall boys basketball team to power past the Spartans in the opening round of the District 11 playoffs.

No, Zach and Jack is not an energy drink. But what Jackson Buskirk and Zachary Gilbert did during the game certainly energized the team as they helped lead the Zephs to a 49-44 victory at Southern Lehigh. The victory pitted them against Bangor in Saturday’s 4A quarterfinals, where the Zephyrs lost 53-49.

Buskirk was all over the court it seemed, whether it was cleaning up errant shots and putting them back for two points, grabbing a crucial rebound, or spotting up for a jumper, his all-around play was the catalyst the Zephs needed to prevail against a pesky Spartan squad that rebounded after trailing by 12 points at the end of the first quarter.

And it was Gilbert’s trey from beyond the arc with just under two minutes to play which gave the Zephs a 44-41 lead, a shot from which the Spartans would never recover as they fell to an opponent on their home floor for the first time all season.

The big shot came after Colonial League all-star Jacob Cassel had just tied the game on a power move inside, prompting Whitehall head coach Jeff Jones to briefly turn away, imploring his team to get a stop.

His exasperation quickly turned into exhilaration when Mikey Esquilin motored down the court and kicked the ball to Gilbert who spotted up and calmly sank the three from the baseline.

The ability to wipe away everything that transpired before that play was critical for Gilbert who had missed a couple of shots from beyond the line before that moment.

“I was rusty all game, we haven’t played in two weeks, and I just shot it,” said Gilbert. “If that’s the one shot I make, that’s fine with me because that really turned the corner a little bit and were up by three with a minute left.”

From that point, the Zephs made most of their foul shots to keep the Spartans at bay, as Southern Lehigh was forced to put the Zephs on the line to try and claw back into it But Esquilin, Charles Hudson and Logan McGinley went a combined 5-6 down the stretch to seal the deal.

Gilbert said they were all just scrapping the entire game, doing everything they could to get points against Southern Lehigh.

Jones likes to substitute offense for defense down the stretch, with Gilbert offering more of an offensive threat, while Devin Martinez provides more of a defensive presence. That came into play once Esquilin had it in his mind to carve his way into the heart of the Spartan defense before kicking it out to an open Gilbert.

“Thankfully, he was able to hit that shot,” said Jones.

Jones said Gilbert has emerged as a long range shooter this season and has that shooter’s mindset.

“Guys who shoot well, continue to shoot,” said Jones. “I’ve never told them to not take a shot.

“He’s a pretty good shooter, so I trust him to take shots.”

As for Buskirk, it was just another day at the office. His ability to impact the outcome was simply in the flow of his usual game.

“I just play my game,” said Buskirk who finished with 12 points. “I just do what I can to help us win.”

He’s also defined by his hustle, and that hustle paid huge dividends, often leading to points. In fact, the game included a number of Johnny-on-the-spot, or rather, Jackson-on-the-spot moments, as he worked his way inside among Southern Lehigh’s bigs and converted those offensive rebounds into points.

“Jackson got some key offensive rebounds,” said Jones. “He made some key shots. He’s kind of the glue. It’s hard to take Jackson off the floor because he does a good job on the defensive end.”

Jones also said he’s willing to take the initiative offensively as well.

“There’s not a shot he backs away from,” Jones said.

McGinley, the team’s emotional leader, led the team with 14 points. He knew it wasn’t a perfect game by any stretch.

“We let the game get away from us a little bit,” said McGinley. “But we had to settle down and stay mentally strong and persevere.”

McGinley also has to mix it up inside with much taller opponents, and that was the case once again against the Spartans as both Cassel and Jack Zamichielli are listed at 6-5 and 6-4, respectively.

“Size is just a number,” he said. “You can play big, you can always play big. That was our motto last year in honor of coach [Ron] Madouse. As long as you can jump high and play physical, that’s all that matters.”

Jones said that Spartan head coach Ben Tannous had his team ready to play.

“They really played hard,” he said. “They gave us all we could fight for.”