Can Central Catholic boys make a run in states?

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Getting set for the 4A boys consolation game and tonight's big one -- Pocono Mountain West vs. Parkland for the 4A championship.

It has been awhile since Liberty was the scene of a District 11 championship. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, the district finals always seemed to be at Liberty, but more recent title games have been at Allen, Parkland and Easton.

So, it'll actually be nice to be back at Liberty for a district final again, kinda like old times.

Before digging into a day of 4A, some final thoughts on Central's win in the 3A title game.

I happen to think Central has as much talent as any team in the area, but the Vikings simply are not consistent enough.

They were great for a quarter-and-a-half last night and then very sloppy and ragged for the next quarter-and-a-half.

The Vikings are full of guys who love to attack the basket, that's clear and even if it's not the wise thing to do, they're not going to slow down the tempo,work the clock and work for a good shot.

They're just going to keep shooting and sometimes, like last night, they're going to shoot the other team back into the game.

Rich Fatzinger has his hands full with this team. It's not easy to keep everyone on the same page.

If they can stay on the same page, I think the Vikings can win a couple of state playoff games and once you get to the PIAA's middle weekend, anything can happen.

Here are some comments from last night that didn't make my print story:

"We're definitely going to make a run in states," Seth Stoudt (pictured below against Allen) said. "No matter what team comes in front of us, no matter how talented they are, we're going to fight and battle."Seth Stoudt

"I give Wilson a lot of credit for how they battled; they're a heck of a team," Mike Kammerer said. "We're a young team with a lot of 16 and 17-year-old kids and we're going to get flustered. We're going to get mad at each other, but the most important thing is that we hung together and got the win. We had guys in double digits and we played pretty good defense, too.

"It has been an up and down year. We've had winning streaks and losing streaks. I think we've come together at the right time. We're together right now, but we'ree not complete yet. If we can put four quarters together, I think we can go a long way in states."

Coach Rich Fatzinger gave a lot of credit to Wilson, saying: "They wouldn't quit and made some great shots. It took everything we had to win this game. A little bit of our youth showed again tonight. They see how it works and then they think we can just keep throwing it up there. When we stick to the game plan we're a good basketball team, but there are lapses. That's been a challenge all year, but fortunately we're having less lapses."

CCHS should get a favorable first-round matchup. The Vikings will face Shikellamy, which lost to Danville 62-36 in the District 4 3A title game on Friday night.

The location of the game has yet to be announced, but it will be somewhere close.



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