Central Catholic headed to Souderton for showdown with Neumann-Goretti

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

FROM KEITH GROLLER

It was a big victory on Tuesday night for unbeaten Lehigh Valley Conference and District 11 champion Central Catholic.

But there's no time to celebrate.

The Vikings (29-0) were set for a 5 p.m. practice tonight at Rockne Hall in which preparations began in earnest for the game that everybody has been waiting for -- CCHS vs. Neumann Goretti. That's No. 3 in the state in 3A against No. 1.

The game will be played at Souderton High School, the former home of Central center Brendan Wagner.

The school is located at 625 Lower Road, Souderton. Google has it 27 miles and an approximate 41-minute ride from downtown Allentown.

As for Central's road, it figures to get much bumpier.

The Vikings are coming off a huge, turnaround 82-55 victory against Bishop McDevitt.

Trailing 22-13 a minute and 10 seconds into the second quarter, CCHS calmly regrouped and went on an amazing 33-6 run.

Over the final 6:50 of the second quarter and the entire third period, CCHS gave up just 14 points.

And remember, the Crusaders were averaging a shade under 77 points per game.

"I don't want to look at the film right now, but I don't quite understand it," McDevitt coach Jeff Hoke said. "Central is very good. They're undefeated for a reason. They play with confidence. They're very similar to us. When they made their run, they just steamroll. Muhammad [Ali Abdur-Rahkman] is just phenomenal. He's the best player we've played all year by far."

But again, Hoke went back to the defense.

"We only had two quarters all year in which we were held to single digits and one of them came after I took all of the starters out," he said. "We average 20 points per quarter and were held to 10 each in both the second and third quarters by Central. They deserve a lot of credit. They played a matchup zone, but they played it aggressively. We drove to the basket, but they defended very well."

The defense can't rest against Neumann-Goretti.

The Saints (24-4) outscored Wilkes-Barre GAR 26-11 in the third quarter on Tuesday night en route to a 73-55 win (the wrong score was inserted into my story in today's print edition of The Morning Call).

Miami recruit Ja’Quan Newton led the Saints with 19 points.

More on Neumann-Goretti and the challenge that awaits CCHS in the next two days.