The Whitehall girls basketball team took to the road as they spent the holiday break in Pottsville trying to end 2016 on a strong note.

While they closed out the year with a convincing victory over Liberty, the tourney also presented some problems in the form of Minersville High School, the Zephs first round opponent.

The Battlin’ Miners, a AA school, are coming off a 28-1 season last year, advancing all the way to the second round of PIAA playoffs where they lost to eventual champs Nuemann-Goretti. They’re an experienced team who’s averaging 70 points a game this season.

Minersville was 6-0 heading into the Pottsiville Christmas Tournament. Additionally, they are currently ranked first among 2A schools in the state, and they lived up to that billing, beating the Zephyrs 67-28.

Head coach Dwight Repsher had a simple assessment of Minersville after the game.

“They are that good,” he said.

The Pottsville tourney has been Whitehall’s preferred destination the last three years. After getting bounced by the Battlin’ Miners to put them into the consolation round, Repsher felt his team perhaps went too quietly. They had played three tough teams in a row, and they were a bit battle scarred heading into the tourney. That list included Nazareth, Parkland and Hazleton.

“I knew that going in that this was a stretch of the schedule that we had to get through,” said Repsher who is now preparing his team for their division games this week. “It now gets a little more manageable.”

In the consolation game, the Zephyrs rebounded with an excellent performance, knocking out the ’Canes 52-36.

Repsher said that they jumped out to a 10-point lead but Liberty had cut it to six by halftime. That’s when he decided to apply the press. It was something that he was initially reluctant to do since they hadn’t used it in a while, using practice time to make a series of adjustments to it. But after consulting his players, they opted to roll it out to begin the third quarter.

It tuned the tide as they turned a six-point advantage into a 20-point lead with about six minutes left in the game. While everyone was making contributions, Olivia George made a significant mark in the early part of the fourth quarter to help swell that lead. Repsher said that George scored all her points in the fourth, helping to extend the lead from 36-23 to 43-23. She had two steals and a couple of buckets, including a three-pointer during that stretch, finishing with seven points.

However, once they abandoned their pressure, the ‘Canes began to climb back into the game. Repsher said he went back to the press, something he doesn’t like to do once they’ve gone back to their regular half-court defense. But it helped extend their lead and the Zephs earned their third win of the season.

While they had to fend off that late charge, Repsher felt his team executed extremely well in all phases.

“We played pretty well,” he said.

Alix Buskirk led all scorers with 12 points, while Brianna Smith and Kylee Cunningham each added eight. Additionally, Taylor Rummel dropped in seven points, while Cassie Due and Grace Clary each had three.

Repsher said that they shot the ball well, going 6-15 from beyond the arc. They also played well defensively, generating 11 steals. He also said that Hines did a nice job on the boards, while Rummel, who moved to the frontcourt due to an illness, also played well.

This season has been marked by games in which Whitehall seems in control and then runs into a dry spell that opens the door for their opponent. They had second half leads in both the Hazleton and Allentown Central Catholic games, but faltered in the fourth quarter allowing both teams to surge ahead for the win.

“It seems we lose our concentration and don’t execute during stretches of a game,” he said.

With eight games played, the Zephs are 3-5. Repsher said it’s about where he expected.

“We haven’t put it all together yet,” said Repsher. “We keep plugging away. It’s still a work in progress.”