Northampton stuns Allentown CC in OT
Vikings’ senior Tyson Thomas reaches 1,000 points in the loss
Isaac Harris missed all nine shots he took in the first quarter Friday night at Northampton’s Pete Schneider Gym. “I was out of it,” Harris said.
But Konkrete Kids coach Coy Stampone never took his senior star out of the game or told him to stop shooting and that patience paid.
Harris hit a 3-pointer with six seconds left in overtime to give Northampton a 45-44 lead. Central Catholic couldn’t answer at the other end and the K-Kids posted a thrilling one-point win to extend their winning streak to nine games.
The big shot by Harris somewhat soured the celebration for Vikings’ senior standout Tyson Thomas, who turned a steal into a layup and a threepoint play earlier in the OT to go over the 1,000-point mark in his career.
He became the 18th player in Central boys history and the second this year to reach the milestone, joining teammate Liam Joyce.
A brief ceremony was held with teammates, family, and friends after the game, but the bigger celebration was in the other locker room.
“We’re here to make some noise,” Harris said, who celebrated his 1,000th career point in a game at Allen last week.
Northampton improved to 13-4 overall, 9-4 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, and moved a big step closer to clinching an EPC tournament berth. The Kids also avenged a 59-45 loss at Rockne Hall on Dec. 21.
Central, meanwhile, lost its second in a row after having an 8-game winning streak snapped Tuesday night at Parkland.
The Vikings are 14-3, 11-2 entering a matchup with Pottsville Nativity at 6 p.m. Saturday as part of a much-anticipated tripleheader at PPL Center that begins with Allen-Dieruff at 3 p.m. and a national game between Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth, California, and Camden, New Jersey at 8.
“That’s league play in basketball,” Vikings coach Dennis Csensits said. “You play teams the second time around and everybody knows each other so well. They become grudge matches, and I thought they beat us. We didn’t beat ourselves. They hit two big step-back 3s in overtime and hats off to them.”
Central led 12-2 early and was still up 23-19 at halftime and Thomas scored the first three points of the second half to give his squad a 7-point lead.
But the Vikings would go over a quarter without scoring again, and Northampton was able to go on a 13-0 run to take a 32-26 lead with five minutes left in regulation.
However, Central fought back and held Northampton to eight points in the fourth period. Liam Joyce made one of two at the line with 4.9 seconds left in regulation to tie it and the Kids couldn’t get off a shot at the other end, prompting an additional four minutes.
The Vikings took control early in the OT with two baskets by Joyce, and Thomas got his milestone with 1:13 left. He completed the three-point play to make it 43-36 CCHS and it looked like there would be multiple celebrations.
Instead, Northampton fought back again.
Isaiah Harris kickstarted the comeback with a 3-pointer and then after a missed CCHS free throw his brother Isaac got it to within 43-42 with his first trey of the game with 19 seconds left.
Brendan Reed made one of two at the line to give Central a two-point lead with 18.5 seconds left, setting the stage for the game-winner.
Without a timeout, Northampton got the ball in the hands of Harris, who entered the game averaging 20.7 points per game.
He took a handoff from his cousin Lucas Lesko on the left wing, dribbled to the top of the key, took a step back, and launched the shot over the outstretched arm of Joyce.
With Central also out of timeouts, Thomas hustled down the floor and twisted inside for a layup, but the buzzer sounded before he got off the shot.
“It was a very emotional game,” Thomas said after finishing with 19 and combining with Joyce for 40 of his team’s 44 points.
“It was a game of runs,” he added. “They made their run, we made a run to get it into overtime. We had a comfortable lead in overtime and maybe we got too comfortable. Guys made great plays for them down the stretch, especially Isaac Harris with those 3s. We tip their cap, but now we have to get ready for [Saturday night].”
Harris gave credit to his teammates. Lesko finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“They really picked me up,” he said after finishing 14 points, 10 in the second half. “They gave me the confidence to hit that shot at the end. We had to hold them down defensively and got a couple of shots to go. Really, that was the key.”
As for his game-winner, he said he was surprised Central let him get the ball.
“I can create my own shot,” he said. “I’m a shot creator. That’s what I do. Liam was playing great defense on me. I just got an open look, and he made one step too soon, and I got an open look and made the shot.”
Northampton won despite shooting just 18-for-42 and committing 18 turnovers, including 11 in the fourth quarter and OT.
“We had a six-point lead and the ball in the fourth quarter and we missed a great chance to get it to eight and that would have been a good situation, but that didn’t happen,” Stampone said. “It’s a battle every night. We’ve got Parkland on Tuesday night. It’s a grind, but it’s fun, though. We wouldn’t want it any other way.”
When reminded that Northampton hadn’t won a league title since a Lehigh Valley League crown in 1973, Stampone urged caution.
“We’re trending right, but we have a long way to go,” he said. “We tell the guys all the time we want to play meaningful games at the end of the season and right now we just want to get into the league tournament.”
Central, meanwhile, will look for a better performance at PPL Center after making just one of 19 attempts from 3-point range.
“Nativity is good,” Csensits said. “Becahi had to throw in a half-court shot to beat them, and Nativity beat a good Muhlenberg Township team. So that game won’t be easy. It’s going to be like tonight. It’s going to be hard-fought.”