t didn't hit me until much later Friday night, but Central's domination of Pottsville was so thorough that Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman actually matched Pottsville in scoring by himself. Both had 34.
The difference was that Abdur-Rahkman's Vikings teammates tacked on 30 more points and CCHS coasted to its fourth straight District 11 title.
Hopefully, everyone associated with Central enjoyed this one, because it's undoubtedly the last blowout of the season in a season full of them for the 27-0 Vikings.
Only three teams have been able to stay within single digits of the Lehigh Valley Conference champs. All of the other 24 wins have come by at least 13 points.
Central also became just the fifth boys team to win four consecutive titles, joining:
Coplay, 1949-52
Dieruff, 1966-69
Whitehall, 1989-92
Central Catholic, 1992-95.
Thanks to Service Electric's Mike Zambelli for sharing that information.
As for Abdur-Rahkman, he's now No. 1 in CCHS boys history and has also moved past McCaffrey and into seventh place on the all-time District 11 boys 2,000-point list.
Here are the ten 2,000-point scorers in District 11 history
1. Larry Miller Catasauqua 2,722 1964 graduate
2. Bob Felty Tri-Valley, 2,419 1994 graduate
3. Tom Kresge Lehighton 2,234 1987 graduate
4. Paul Hoffman Hazleton/St. Gabriels 2,209 1968 graduate
5. Ray Barbosa Allen 2,202 2003 graduate
6 Antoine Hubbard Salisbury 2,077 1993 graduate
7. M.A. Abdur-Rahkman CCHS 2,052 2014 playing
8. Billy McCaffrey, CCHS 2,051 1989 graduate
9. Joe Marshall West Hazleton 2,044 1994 graduate
10. Dave Delenick St. Clair 2,018 1973 graduate
Abdur-Rahkman and Barbosa are first-cousins by the way.
From here, however, the only numbers that matter will be on the scoreboard..
You take it a game-at-a-time, of course, but CCHS has won first-round games for three straight years and should be able to get by West York, even though the Bulldogs are 24-4 and just took Berks Catholic to overtime before losing in the District 3 5th-6th place.
After meeeting West York on Friday night, probably at either Allen or Freedom, things get much tougher on Tuesday, March 11. That's when the opponent will likely be District 3 No. 3 Bishop McDevvitt, which is 26-2.
Get through that one, and then the Vikings will likely have the matchup we've anticipated -- and some have feared all year long -- vs. District 12 powerhouse Neumann-Goretti. That game would be played on Friday, March 14.
If the Vikes beat Neumann-Goretti, they'd be 30-0 and entering the final week of the entire Pennsylvania season. Get to that point and the excitement would truly be ratcheted up to a high level.
Another major hurdle would loom in the state semis on March 18 against, in all likelihood, either District One champ Holy Ghost Prep or Lower Moreland or District 12 runners-up Philadelphia Electrical.
Then who knows who would be the opponent at the Giant Center for the state title.
However, one-game-at-a-time remains the way to approach it, no matter how boring, no matter how much of a cliche it is. Can't get too far ahead, even though everyone believes this team is capable of going the distance.
Central Catholic has provided plenty of excellence and memorable moments during this high school boys basketball and truly Abdur-Rahkman has proven to be a once-in-a-decade type of player who we should appreciate having on the local stage.
Do they have five more wonderful memories left?
We shall see.
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