D.J. Brown's 24 points sparked Canaries win; Whitehall with big comeback

FROM KEITH GROLLER

D.J. Brown, the one remaining starter from Allen's 2011 District 11 4A title team, gave the current Canaries a chance to repeat on Wednesday night

He scored 24 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, to help Allen hold on for a 55-47 district opening-round win over Liberty in a rematch of last year's district championship game.

Allen will now play top-seeded Emmaus at Easton on Saturday night in the second game of what should a dandy doubleheader. Freedom plays Parkland in the 6 p.m. opener.

Allen had a great start, opening up a 21-9 lead after one quarter. The Canaries (13-10) led 29-13 with 3:55 left in the first half, but Liberty closed the second quarter with an 8-0 run to get within 29-21 at intermission.

However, Liberty (14-9) was just 2-for-11 from the field in the third quarter and scored only five points. Allen was able to take a 40-26 lead into the final period and held on despite 10 turnovers in the final stanza. Brown's 7-for-7 effort at the line in the final period was key.

Brown also had six rebounds and a pair of blocks, while R.J. Fletcher had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Junior Chevon Williams led Liberty with a career-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers.

But the Hurricanes, who made six consecutive trips to the state tournament, are packing away the uniforms at least 2.5 weeks earlier than normal.

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Meanwhile, Whitehall staged an incredible fourth-quarter rally to beat Bangor, 52-43 after trailing 37-30 entering the final stanza. The Zephs will now play No. 2 seed Pocono Mountain West on Saturday night at 7:30 at East Stroudsburg South.

Chris Moran scored 14 of his 21 points and 14 of the Zephs' 22 points in the final stanza to lead the comeback.

In other scores, let's just say it was a real tough night for the Mountain Valley Conference.

Pottsville 60, Stroudsburg 57.

Easton 51, Pleasant Valley 31.

Parkland 59, Pocono Mt. East 37

Freedom 72, ES South 42.

The Easton-Pottsville game will be played at Blue Mountain on Saturday at 7:30.

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