Central Catholic survives to stop losing streak

FROM THE MORNING CALL

As Nazareth returned to the floor after a final timeout, coach Rich Bickert watched the play develop just as he hoped.

Central Catholic covered the players the Blue Eagles sent long as they prepared to inbound the ball from the sideline. That left leading scorer Erika Livermore to come back and catch a pass a couple of steps in front of midcourt.

Despite Livermore's propensity to push the ball to her strong hand, Central Catholic allowed her to get to her left. She stayed to that side as she drove through the lane and flipped a layup attempt over a couple of Vikette defenders.

Livermore's shot fell short just before the final buzzer, leaving the Blue Eagles with another tough loss against an elite Lehigh Valley Conference team.

Central Catholic exited thrilled with its great escape. Ten fourth-quarter turnovers could not keep the Vikettes from a 42-41 girls basketball win Tuesday at Rockne Hall that ended a rare two-game losing streak.

Kerry Kinek scored a game-high 21 points for Central Catholic, including the deciding free throw with 9.7 seconds to go. Jenna Kocsis added 12 points as the Vikettes (12-3 overall, 7-1 LVC) rebounded from losses to Villa Maria Academy and Northampton, the latter coming Monday night. They had not lost back-to-back games before that since Jan. 27 and 30, 2007, when they fell to Pottsgrove and Parkland.

"We all felt bad after we played against Northampton and we let them get the best of us," Kinek said. "We know that we want to compete for the LVC title, and Nazareth also wants to compete for the LVC title. They're a great team, and we just wanted to come out with the win tonight."

Said Central Catholic coach Mike Kopp: "We really needed to win this game to get us back on track. It was just our second game in 10 days really. It's just a great win."

After playing three-plus strong quarters to open a 37-30 lead with 7:08 to play, the Vikettes went into survival mode. They managed just one more field-goal attempt and scored only five points, all from the foul line, as Nazareth (10-3, 6-2) started to trap them at every opportunity.

Central Catholic appeared to be in good shape when Abbey Guman hit both ends of a one-and-one — she banked the first free throw — to extend its lead to 41-35. But Nazareth's Morgan Calabrese came off the bench to drill two 3-pointers in a nine-second span, the second coming with 14 seconds to go after the Vikettes committed their 24th and final turnover.

After a timeout, Central Catholic scrambled up court against the Blue Eagles' pressure and got the ball to Kinek. She made the first of her two foul shots but missed the second, giving Nazareth an opportunity to win in regulation.

The Blue Eagles got a great look, but Livermore's miss ended a rough night for her and her teammates. She finished 2-for-15 from the field while scoring 10 points and grabbing seven rebounds, losing her individual battle with Kinek (21 points, nine rebounds, eight blocked shots).

Nazareth has now lost to Northampton and Central Catholic, the LVC's other elite teams, in the last 10 days despite having first-half leads in both games. Caitlyn Gary led the Blue Eagles with 11 points.

"This is a tough place to win," Bickert said. "We were there. We were there again. They fought their butt off, so I can't ask for anything more."

After playing Northampton and Nazareth in the last two days, Central Catholic now has a couple of days to prepare for another set of back-to-back games in what may be its toughest week of the regular season. The Vikettes face a struggling Whitehall team on Friday before hosting Holy Redeemer on Saturday.

"We were fortunate in a lot of aspects to pull this one out," Kopp said. "At the same time, I'm really proud of our kids with how they hung in there."