February 28, 2026
Martz Hall (Capacity: 4,100)
Pottsville, PA
Tri-Valley Bulldogs vs Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes
Final Score: 82 – 68
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Each February, those playing high school basketball within Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill League aspire to make it to one place: a championship game in Martz Hall. Also known as “The Mecca” or “The Heaven of Hardwood”, Martz Hall opened in 1970 and it’s an iconic venue that oozes history and classic basketball arena vibes. Think “Palestra” at a high school level. It’s the type of building that fosters a great atmosphere. Martz Hall is in Pottsville, a former coal-mining town that is common place in this part of Eastern PA. Despite a population of just 13,000 this is the biggest ‘city’ in the carved valleys of rural Schuylkill County. One thing does make Pottsville stand out from the rest of Coal Region…it is home of Yuengling, America’s oldest brewery. The Schuylkill League is one of three that make District XI (11) within Pennsylvania’s High School Sports organization. That group is called the PIAA and it breaks the state into 12 regional districts. District 11 is out east and includes Schuylkill, Carbon, Monroe, Northampton and Lehigh Counties. From there, schools are divided by enrollment classification, ranging from 1A (smallest) to 6A (largest). These late February tournaments determine District champions, as well as who moves on to the State Championships. Martz Hall hosts a couple of these District 11 title games, most often 2A and that is the one that I went to see on this day.
Prestige Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Location
Pottsville, like many others in the area, has this old, former coal town feel and all the things that usually come with it. Being a relatively bigger city and having Yuengling helps though and downtown’s Centre Street features a decent street-scape of varied buildings. Local restaurants or hangouts are generally lacking here, but I found a great pizza place in Roma Pizza. The highlight of course for out of towners is coming to take a free tour of the Yuengling Brewery. Unfortunately, they aren’t open Saturdays and Sundays during the winter, so I missed out on that highly-acclaimed visit. Martz Hall is attached to Lengel Middle School and the nearby surroundings include Pottsville’s High School and Elementary School. This hilly section about a mile from downtown features a nearby cemetery and the houses on the edge of the Yorkville neighborhood.
Location Ranking: 4.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Pottsville is between two of PA’s primarily highways: Interstate 81 and Interstate 78. From 81, it’s a quicker arrival into town as it takes 15 minutes connecting in via the tree-lined Route 61. Coming down the hill and into the city will feature backup at the traffic light. On the other end, I-78 has a longer hook-up via Route 61 as it takes 25 minutes to reach Pottsville from the south. Driving around the city features potholed streets and a lot of hills. Even walking was annoying as I couldn’t figure out how to get the crosswalks to give me the “Walk” sign when trying to get to the opposite side of busy Centre Street. Martz Hall has two ways of arrival: 16th Street or Laurel Street. The school and gym are on a hill and it actually leads to split parking lots. The bottom (or east side) lot has more maneuverability and leads to an easier exit. The downfall is that you’ll be entering the back of Martz Hall and need to climb a lot of stairs to get to the main seating.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7 out of 8
Exterior
This is one ugly building. The combination of rusted, faded siding with an otherwise sea-green color is not a good one. The primary entrance features an unnecessarily long row of doors. There’s so many that they chain a few up to prevent people from going in, my guess is so they don’t overwhelm the two people right there upon entering that take your ticket. No name signage can be found at this part of the gym, but down the hill on the other side, you will see a sign. Moreso because it is at the connection between the arena and the school.
Exterior Ranking: 2 out of 10
Concourse
If using the lower parking lot, the entrance coincides with the Middle School and you’ll see a bunch of lockers before reaching the gym and the floor-level seating. Otherwise, the concourse is around and behind the upper seating. It is quite wide and spacious, while the door entrances let in natural light. Keeping with the exterior theme, the walls and ceiling inside are coated with a thick mold build-up. Below that, many athletic displays featuring Pottstown Area High School help pass the time when stretching during breaks. There is a separate attachment at the front of the arena that features several tables, making for a good halftime snack place. An inset to the side of this area houses a cafeteria-style concession stand. Bathrooms in the building are enough to accommodate.
Concourse Ranking: 3 out of 5
Food
They had some items that even low-major college basketball teams don’t offer (and super cheap!) Pierogies, Meatball Subs and Mac & Cheese, were the choices that added a little bit of uniqueness. Otherwise, there was Pizza and Hot Dogs, to go along with several snack choices. Missing were Burgers and Chicken Tenders.
Food Ranking: 3 out of 8
Interior
The intimacy of The Mecca is what makes it stand out as all 4,000 seats feel right on top of the court. The main reason for that is the upper-level. Wrapping around in a square-like fashion with the corners rounded, most of the seating is found here. It’s in fact so close at the ends, that it starts on top of the 10-foot wall, just steps from the baseline. Following a lower walkway, seats in these end areas can’t even see the players down below when they get close to their end. Basket stantions can also disrupt court and scoreboard views. On the sides, things are much better and the proximity to court pays dividends with sightlines aided by a decent row height. The seats are all bleacher and the red / gold planks feature very narrow rows. I literally don’t know how people can squeeze in and would like to see how that works during a sold out game. Down below, cheaper sideline bleachers pull-out 8 rows of seating. The high, slightly arched ceiling adds a bit of a big-game feel…though there isn’t anything special about the overhead white beamed, roof.
Interior Ranking: 8 out of 14
Scoreboard
Above center court is a scoreboard that you would expect at this level: a four-sided, dot-matrix display. It’s old-school, especially with a very simple word display at the bottom that can only have messages with two lines. Above that, it’s a busy board and that makes it kind of tough to find what you are looking for. The background base is red. Behind each baseline, there is also a digital scoreboard.
Scoreboard Ranking: 1.5 out of 4
Displays
The displays aren’t focused on District XI or the Schuylkill League…instead they are justifiably all about the school that owns and plays here. Cases around the concourse feature a variety of honors, achievements and trophies for Pottsville Area High School. Banners near the main entrance hang down for the many titles in various sports, while at court level are more achievements. For the gym, it’s named after Lloyd Martz and a dedication plaque honors his contributions.
Displays Ranking: 3 out of 6
Cost
Tickets are $10 at the door and $8 in advance. I could not believe the food prices as I never imagined they could be this cheap in 2026. A Hot Dog was just $2 and the Piergoies were only $3. Drinks were just a buck. Inflation must not have hit the Coal Region yet.
Cost Ranking: 8 out of 8
Fan Support
High school sports are supported pretty well in this region and the local newspaper covers it extensively since Schuylkill County is an hour away from any professional or DI team. That doesn’t mean Martz Hall is jam packed for all games as it depends on the circumstances. In fact, it was only at half capacity for this District title game. The schools involved (10-30 minutes away from Pottsville) had friends, family, a few locals and a bunch of students, but not the whole school. A few weeks prior to this game, the Schuylkill League Championship did feature a standing-room only crowd as the much bigger Home school (Pottsville) really showed out.
Fan Support Ranking: 5 out of 8
Atmosphere
The Mecca is such a great place for High School Playoff Basketball because the acoustics are great. It is a loud building and it feels like cheers are amplified when it comes to noise. The high ceilings don’t detract from the environment and every basket features an impressive pop. When Schuylkill Valley went on a couple of runs late in this game, the increased noise from parents and students combined for an atmosphere that made it worthy of a top H.S. sports destination. I can only imagine what it is like for a packed Schuylkill League final.
Atmosphere Ranking: 10.5 out of 14
Other Stuff
In addition to hosting the Schuylkill League playoffs and District 11 games, Martz Hall occasionally will also be the neutral site for a state playoff game or two…..Famous players that have played here include Kobe Bryant, Sam Bowie and Gerry McNamara…..The only thing that dampened the game was the absence of a shot clock. I was stunned to learn that not all states use one for High School Basketball. As we got under the six minute mark and the visitors had a 12-point lead, they basically started playing keep away. Then, it was a foul fest. This is incredibly dumb and an entire quarter game flow can be ruined…why not have a Shot Clock!?!
Game
This was Schuylkill Haven’s first Boys 2A title since 1997 and they did it in upset fashion as they knocked off the Tri-Valley Bulldogs (21-3, 14-0). These two went toe-to-toe in the first half as the pace of play was fast and buckets were made seemingly every trip down the floor. Haven came in with a record of 16-8, but they were the better team in the second half as they continued to execute flawlessly and the Hurricanes left Tri-Valley shell-shocked. Putting up 82 points in a 32-minute game is really impressive. Alan Evans joined the 1,000-point club during this one and it was a cool scene as he got a hug from the coach and celebrations with teammates. The win not only gave Schuylkill Haven a District XI championship, but also a berth in the State Tournament.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
