Easton, Central Catholic advance
Red Rovers top Bethlehem Catholic, Vikettes beat Emmaus
The Easton Area High School girls basketball team got over the hump that is postseason semifinal round basketball.
Evalyse Cole, a 6-foot-1 junior guard, scored 16 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked a pair of shots to lead undefeated and top-seeded Easton over No. 5 Bethlehem Catholic 47-34 in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinal game on Monday night at PPL Center in Allentown.
In the first semifinal game second-seeded Allentown Central Catholic defeated No. 7 Emmaus 50-37 behind eight points and nine rebounds from senior forward Madi Szoke and 13 points apiece from junior guards Molly Driscoll and Sammy Roth.
Easton (24-0), which set a school record for consecutive wins, will meet Central Catholic (21-3) at 6 p.m. Thursday at PPL Center in the championship game.
The Red Rovers started last season with 23 straight wins before losses in the conference and District 11 semifinals curtailed their season.
“It’s awesome, and I can’t describe how great it is to get to the finals with this group of girls,” Cole said. “Central is definitely a quick team. We have to make sure they don’t get fastbreaks and grab all the boards we can.”
“We knew this game would be a battle,” 10-year Easton coach Dave Lutz Jr. said. “Our girls worked hard and did a great job. Evalyse brings leadership and is a really good player. We knew we had to win the rebounding battle tonight, and she helped us do that.”
“It’s exciting to reach the championship game,” first-year Central coach Kathy Davidowich said. “Emmaus knows us so well after playing two times so we knew this game would be tougher.”
Easton defeated Central Catholic 46-30 in both teams’ season opener on Dec. 2. That was only the fourth meeting between the two in the last seven seasons since the Rovers beat the Vikettes, 36-30, in 2016. Easton also won 28-20 in the 2019-20 season and 28-27 last season.
“Boxing out is going to be a key to beating Easton because they are so tall and us moving the ball on offense.” Szoke said. “And we have to shut down their 3-point shooters.”
The Red Rovers went through
a 45-season drought between league/conference titles when it beat Parkland for the 2016 title. Now they are seeking their second title in the last eight seasons. Easton has won 51 of 54 games the last two seasons including a school-record 27 last season.
Bethlehem Catholic (15-9) saw its string of five straight EPC titles come to an end. The Golden Hawks were also a fifth seed last season when it defeated top-seeded Easton to snap the Red Rovers’ 23-game winning streak to start the season.
Junior guard Cici Hernandez scored 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field in a game the rest of the Hawks shot poorly throughout.
“You have to give Easton credit,” Becahi coach Jose Medina said. “But we have to be better. We have to execute better. We had some good looks and that’s all you can ask for. Tonight, they didn’t go in.”
Both teams came out cold from the field as Easton shot 2-for-7 and the Hawks 0-for-8. Cole made her second 3-pointer of the quarter to give the Rovers a 9-0 lead. Hernandez scored the Golden Hawks’ first points with two free throws with 1:01 left and followed that with a 3-pointer.
A rebound basket by Cole and 3-pointers by Mallory Elias and Cole gave Easton a 17-5 lead. Becahi was 1-for-17 from the field before Yarian Fernandez hit a jumper from the wing. Hernandez scored from the lane and Mekhyla Britt on a pass from Hernandez for a layup. Easton’s Kourin Carew, who finished with 11 points, closed out the first-half scoring on a 15-footer as the Rovers led 19-11. The Hawks cut the lead to six before Carew converted a three-point play and Cole hit her fourth 3 bomb of the game from the top of the key thanks to a friendly roll for a 30-18 Easton lead after three quarters.
Hernandez opened the fourth quarter with a jumper but baskets by Carew and Staton and a 3-pointer from Mallory Elias bumped Easton’s lead to 37-21.
“Central Catholic has really improved since we opened the season with them,” Lutz said. “We’ll have to attack their defense a lot better than the first time we played. They have a lot of ball handlers and shooters, too.”
The Vikettes smothered Emmaus with their 1-2-2 zone defense early as the Green Hornets were only able to make two of their first 13 attempts. Central closed out a slowpaced first quarter with six straight points as Szoke went the length of the court for a layup, Molly Wolf made a layup from Roth and Szoke scored an inside basket with two seconds left for a 10-3 advantage.
Another coast-to-coast jaunt by Szoke after her fifth defensive rebound of the second quarter gave Central a 16-5 lead before Taylor Griffith finally broke the Hornets’ 0-for-7 snide from 3 and 2-for-13 overall with one from the right wing.
Then Olive Whitney hit another 3 for Emmaus before Whitney scored and suddenly the red-hot Green Hornets were within 21-14 with 50 seconds left in the half. Central led 27-17 following a nice give-and-go basket from Szoke to Abbey Kofroth before Paige Inman went to work for Emmaus.
The Green Hornets senior guard scored on a drive, made two free throws following a steal and scored again on a drive. Another Inman steal turned into a 3-pointer by Griffith and Central’s lead was down to 29-26, Driscoll’s rebound basket made it 31-26 entering the fourth quarter.
Mya Cooper drove for a basket to get Emmaus within 31-28 before Roth scored five straight points on a layup and transition bucket that turned into a three-point play when she was fouled and made the free throw as the Vikes went back up by eight.
Emmaus never got within less than six after that. The Vikettes beat the Hornets twice in the regular season, 57-28 and 69-49. This one wasn’t nearly as easy.
“It was a close game till the end and the foul shots,” said Emmaus coach Kelsey Gallagher, who led her team to a conference semifinal for the first time since 2007. “At one point it was a one possession game in the fourth quarter. I’m super proud of the girls’ effort tonight and just to get here.”
Central Catholic has won 23 league/conference titles and will be looking for its first since winning its fifth straight and 11th in 13 seasons in 2012.
“Easton has very good shooters,” Davidowich said. “So we have to come up with a better way to defend that. Maybe we’ll try and throw a few things at them.”