Recap of Friday night scoreboard: What's wrong with Allen?

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/ FROM KEITH GROLLER In recapping the scores from Friday night's boys basketball action, the one score that jumps out is Nazareth's 57-41 win over Allen. The Canaries have now lost three in a row and four of their last five and that one win was over a struggling East Stroudsburg North team. At 3-5 in the Lehigh Valley Conference, Allen is three games behind both Emmaus and Central Catholic in the West Division standings. They are out of the LVC tournament picture and at 7-7, the focus now has to be on getting the four wins that will qualify them for the district tournament. The Canaries play Rutgers Prep in one of those special one-day shootout events today and also have Pocono Mountain East left on their nonleague schedule. They should be able to beat Dieruff, Northampton and PM East, but at this point, nothing is certain. When the Canaries lost to Liberty last Friday night, coach Doug Snyder talked about the team becoming too dependent on 3-point shooting and that continues to be the case. In the loss to Nazareth, Allen made six treys, but shot just four free throws which indicates a team that is not taking the ball to the basket. Nazareth, meanwhile, boosted its district hopes with the win and got big performances from Grant Searfoss (23 points) and Colin Kassis (20). In other scores: LEHIGH VALLEY CONFERENCE Liberty 57, Dieruff 41 -- Getting Deshawn Oyeniyi back at full strength is important for the Hurricanes. Oyeniyi and Greg Noack combined for 29 points and 20 rebounds in this one. Central Catholic 54, Northampton 39 -- Right now, the Vikings are playing better than anyone. Jean Lee Baez had just six points, but enjoyed what might be his first career dunk. Parkland 53, Freedom 50 -- No one would say it on the record for fear of getting reprimanded, but I sensed that the Patriots were strongly displeased with the officiating in this one. Whitehall 56, Becahi 51 -- Zephyrs play Wilson of West Lawn today, and have won four in a row to get to 8-6. Still need to win three games for districts and other than one more meeting with Northampton, the schedule is fairly daunting. Easton 48, Emmaus 34 -- Had a feeling Green Hornets would encounter a letdown after big win over Parkland. Red Rovers obviously dicated the tempo. But foul shooting continues to be a concern. Even in winning by 14, they missed 10 freebies. COLONIAL LEAGUE Wilson 69, Bangor 62 -- Slaters kept this competitive despite missing at least four key guys due to either injury or a disciplinary action over something stupid being posted on the Internet. Could see each other again on Feb. 15 in the league championship game. Salisbury 71, Palmerton.35 -- One more round of cross-division games are left. The Falcons host Northern Lehigh on Tuesday night. Catasauqua 52, Palisades 44 -- Roughies need just one more league win to secure district berth. Notre Dame 64, Pen Argyl 45 -- Crusaders coach Pat Boyle expressed appreciation for his friend Danny Eddinger and the Northwestern administration being willing to move Tuesday's game back one day so he can get back from a family funeral in Florida. Northern Lehigh 52, Southern Lehigh 40 -- Dibilio and Eden scored 19 apiece as the Bulldogs moved within a win of securng a district berth. Saucon Valley 59, Northwestern 36 -- Resurgence continues for the Panthers, who are 5-3 after an 0-7 start. MOUNTAIN VALLEY CONFERENCE Lehighton 55, Pocono Mt. East 48 -- Sophomore Tyler Crum had 24 for the Indians, who are now 7-7 and have a terrific shot at doing something that was unthinkable at the start of the season -- qualify for districts. Pocono Mt. West 73, Stroudsburg 65 -- The Panthers are now very unlikely to lose in the MVC. Looks like this was a frustrating defeat for the Mounties, who, realistically, are the only team capable of beating Pocono West in the MVC. Pleasant Valley 55, ES North 46 -- This game featured 32 more points being scored than their first meeting in December. SATURDAY PREDICTIONS A big batch of nonleague games today. What to expect: PM West over Northampton Wilson West Lawn over Whitehall Saucon Valley over Moravian Academy Prep Charter over Pius X Parkland over Glasgow, Del., at Harriton HS ES South over Honesdale Rutgers Prep over Allen Liberty over Reading Emmaus over Boyertown Easton over PM East Lehighton over Pen Argyl Lincoln Leadership over New Hope .