Emmaus beats Central, 59-54, in lone LVC boys game of night

FROM KEITH GROLLER

A packed house at Emmaus, featuring several local coaches who would have been busy themselves but had the night off because of snowouts, witnessed an old-fashioned Lehigh Valley Conference bruiser Friday night.

Rivals Central Catholic and Emmaus went at it hard and the Green Hornets used a tough defensive stand down the stretch to post a 59-54 victory.

Dan Kinek scored eight points in the fourth quarter and fed Tim Sullivan for the go-ahead layup as Emmaus broke a 48-all tie to go up 55-49 and then held on down the stretch.

Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Central's talented freshman who was coming off a 28-point performance against Freedom, was held to seven points.'

He missed a large chunk of the second half because of foul trouble and eventually fouled out with 1:59 left.

Kevin McKellick tried to pick up the slack with a game-high 19 points for CCHS, including eight in the fourth quarter.

But the Vikings couldn't overcome 25 turnovers.

"We're still in the process of figuring out who's playing where and at what position," CCHS coach Rich Fatzinger said. "If we're still playing like this next Saturday, I'll be disappointed. But not tonight. Give Emmaus credit. They really played well and executed. They were physical and took us out of what we're going to run."

Emmaus got offensive contributions from different guys at different times.

Greg Bobal carried the team early with six points in the first quarter en route to 11 overall.

Derek Tannous hit two big 3-pointers in the second period as part of his 14-point night, and then Kinek had the eight-point fourth quarter. Tim Sullivan, who joins Kinek as Emmaus' lone seniors, scored all nine of his points in the second half.

"That's what we're about," Emmaus coach Steve Yoder said. "We have a deep bench. I keep a plus-minus chart on every kid and everyone was in the positive tonight. That's our identity. That's what we embrace. Danny and Tim Sullivan were tremendous in the fourth quarter and you win in this league with senior leadership and they gave it to us tonight."

Emmaus, which improved to 7-2 overall and 2-2 in the LVC despite being without one of its top players in Matt Wiseley, can't celebrate for long. The Green Hornets travel to unbeaten Bangor on Saturday night.

"This was good for the kids, good for the program tonight," Yoder said. "My concern is more physically than mentally concerning going to Bangor tomorrow night. This was a physical game. But these kids are mentally tough and they'll be ready to go. Plus, Bangor knocked us out of the summer league playoffs last year and the kids haven't forgotten that."

CCHS, which had a four-game win streak snapped, fell to 6-3 overall, 2-2 LVC. Shane McNeely, an all-league player last year, made his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury in the state football semis against Archbishop Wood on Dec. 10. He scored six points and grabbed five rebounds in his debut.

The Vikings are off until Tuesday when they host Bethlehem Catholic.

Individual point totals

CCHS -- Abdur-Rahkman 2 3-3 7, Sandherr 3 1-2 7, Kammerer 0 4-4 4, Stoudt 1 0-0 3, Nosovitch 3 1-2 7, McNeely 2 2-5 6, Brochu 0 1-2 1, McKellick 7 2-2 19, Snyder-Scipio 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 (4 3s) 14-20 54.

Emmaus -- Jaindl 3 1-2 7, Sullivan 2 4-7 9, Bobal 4 3-511, Kinek 2 4-4 8, Gigler 1 0-2 2, Bitto 1 2-2 4, D. Tannous 4 2-2 14, Harris 0 2-2 2, Fatzinger 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 (5 3s) 18-26 59.

CCHS 13 15 10 16 -- 54

Emmaus 11 14 15 19 -- 59


http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/