Central Catholic edges Tamaqua

WHITEHALL — Young talent was on display for both Tamaqua and Allentown Central Catholic Wednesday night at Whitehall High School.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, it was Central freshman Emily Vaughan who hit the biggest shot of the night in a game of big plays and big shots by underclassmen on both teams.

Vaughan nailed her third three-pointer of the night with just 1:45 left to play to give the Vikettes the lead enroute to a 44-42 win over in the District 11 Class 4A semifinal game.

“I’m proud of the girls and their effort. I feel we turned a whole different page these past two or three weeks,” said Tamaqua coach Erika Davis. “They looked so much more composed and comfortable. They didn’t look like they ever had a fear in their eye for this game. Nobody would have given us a chance to be in the position we were in tonight.”

Three-pointers played a huge role for Central Catholic. The Vikettes hit on a total of nine from outside the arc, including three from Vaughan and a second-half tirade from junior Jess Davis, who hit three three-pointers in the second half and finished with a team-high 13 points after failing to score in the opening half.

Tamaqua (12-12), seeded seventh in 4A, looked to upset third-seeded Central Catholic.

With a good start, the Blue Raiders were tied at the end of the first quarter and went on to take a 21-18 lead at halftime.

But the Vikettes came out hot in the second half and hit their first three shots, including three-pointers from Davis and Margaux Eripret, to grab a five-point lead.

Just when it looked like Allentown Central Catholic was going to put the game away, the Raiders would go on a nice run to pull themselves right back into the game. Tamaqua came out shooting in the fourth quarter and went on an 11-3 run to take a 40-37 lead, but Davis stepped up and hit a three-pointer to tie the game with three minutes remaining in the game.

After Tamaqua grabbed a 42-40 lead, Vaughan delivered her big shot with under two minutes remaining. The Raiders then had a couple of empty possessions while Eripret added a free throw for ACC.

Trailing by two in the final seconds, Tamaqua’s Emma Kuczynski had a highly-contested shot from the baseline come up short.

“Their defense was tough and unfortunately, we had a couple holes in the third quarter that they were able to take advantage of,” said Davis. “We put out a good effort, but in the end, they were able to get a big shot.”

Central Catholic (17-10) advances to play Bethlehem Catholic for the 4A district championship on Saturday. The win also clinched a spot for the Vikettes in the PIAA Tournament. Beca beat Blue Mountain 49-27 to win the other semifinal matchup in 4A.

STARTING OFF WILD ... The first half saw Tamaqua hit on 7-of-13 shots on its way to grabbing a 21-18 lead at the half. The two teams were tied five different times through the first 16 minutes of the game.

ANOTHER STEP UP ... Sophomore Kuczynski’s 19-point night moved her another rung higher on Tamaqua’s all-time scorers list. She came in needing 18 points to catch Barb Koch (class of 1979) for 15th on the list of scorers. In two seasons, Kuczynski has now scored 859 points and will come into next season just nine points behind Betsy Yacobenas from the class of 1995.

CLASS OF ONE ... Tamaqua loses just one player, senior Kirstin Jones to graduation. Jones finishes her high school career with 560 points.

TAMAQUA

Zuber 2-0-0-6, Hromyak 1-0-0-2, Jones 1-0-0-2, Titus 4-2-2-10, Frederickson 1-1-1-3, Kuczynski 7-5-6-19, TOTAL: 16-8-9-42

ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC

Vaughan 4-0-0-11, Reed 1-0-0-2, Davis 3-4-4-13, Eripret 4-3-7-12, Szmigel 0-0-0-0, Kocsis 2-0-0-6, Dietz 0-0-0-0, TOTAL 14-7-11-44

Tamaqua 9 12 8 13 - 42

Central Catholic 9 9 16 10 - 44

Three-pointers: T – Zuber 2. ACC – Vaughan 3, Davis 3, Kocsis 2, Eripret 1.