Hoping fall comes before rise
Success in autumn league gives jolt of confidence to Becahi
The Allentown Central Catholic football team will play in the PIAA Class 4A semifinals Friday at Bald Eagle Area High School,.
The Vikings boys basketball season will begin 20 hours later with a game against Cardinal O’Hara at Rockne Hall.
Both programs have won three state championships and both always carry high expectations, and those expectations won’t change for the Vikings this winter on the court despite the fact the two all-state players who helped the team win its last PIAA gold in March 2021 are now gone.
But there will be life for ACCHS in the post-Tyson Thomas/Liam Joyce era, and it will be a good life if many of the program’s younger players step up and emerge as go-to guyss.
In contrast to the end of the 2020-21 season, in which the Vikings won four state playoff games by a total of 11 points, ACCHS lost the close ones at the end of last season. Central dropped three of its final four contests by a combined nine points.
It started with an overtime loss to Parkland in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinals and continued with a low-scoring defeat against Bethlehem Catholic in the District 11 4A semis. That was followed by a one-point setback to West Philadelphia in the first round of the state tournament.
“That’s the challenging message we’ve sent to our kids,” said coach Dennis Csensits “There is such a fine line between winning and losing basketball games.
“For a long time we were winning the close ones; last year, all of a sudden, we were on the other end of the close ones. Your margin for error is thin and there’s very little difference some nights between winning and losing, so you’ve got to do all of the little things.
“We don’t have a lot of guys who got meaningful minutes last year, but the guys who do return understand the importance of those little things.”
Csensits said he likes this group because it’s largely an unproven bunch that will now have a chance to show what it can do. Central won a fall league at East Side Youth Center and had other summer successes.
“It’s a talented group,” he said. “It’s just that they haven’t done it before.
“It’s one thing to do it in the offseason in the summer tournaments, but it’s very different once the lights go on during the winter season. There’s a different level of execution and preparation by the coaches. So these guys are going to get a lot of on-the-job training and they’re going to have to figure things out as they go.”
Jahrel Vigo was The Morning Call Rookie of the Year after becoming a starter and key contributor as a freshman. He scored 5.4 points per game in the league and will join with Nico Pulieri, Griffin Patridge, David Fridia, Lucas Mushrush, Anthony Jones and others as key parts of a lineup that will look for leadership.
“We’re working really hard and just trying to get better every day,” Pulieri said. “We have a great team with a lot of guys who can play.
“We have 12 guys that are interchangeable and can play different positions. A lot of different people are going to play probably every night.”
“We’re a young team, but we’re very together and [we] play together as a team,” Jones said. “We’ve just got to rebound and finish plays.”
Here’s a capsule look at the 2022-23 Vikings:
Allentown Central Catholic
Coach: Dennis Csensits (11th season, 202-69)
Last season: 21-6, 14-2 EPC. Beat Emmaus 38-24, lost to Parkland 52-49 in EPC tournament; lost to Bethlehem Catholic 46-41 in the D11 4A semis, beat North Schuylkill 65-15 in 4A consolation; lost to West Philadelphia 59-58 in PIAA 4A first round. Season opener: 3 p.m. on Saturday, vs. Cardinal O’Hara
EPC opener: Dec. 6, at Northampton
Nonleague games: Dec. 3, vs. Cardinal O’Hara; Dec. 9, play Berks Catholic in Exeter Township tournament; Dec. 10 play Exeter Township in tournament; host holiday tournament; Dec. 27-28 holiday tournament featuring Springside-Chestnut Hill, Roberto Clemente, and LaAcademia; Jan. 14 at Pottsville Nativity.
Players to watch: Cole Cook (6-2, Jr. G); David Fridia (6-8, Jr. F); Tim Spinosa (6-0, Jr. G); Will Csensits (6-0, Jr. G); Nico Pulieri (6-3, Sr. G); NaSean Davis (5-9, Jr. G); Aidan Gibson (5-11, Jr. G); Anthony Jones (6-2, Sr. G); Griffin Patridge (6-2, Sr F); Jahrel Vigo (6-1, So. G); Lucas Mushrush (6-0, So. G); Ja’Keir Ensley (6-0, Jr. F); Harry Stewart-Smith (6-3, Sr. F);
Alistair Stewart-Smith (6-2, Sr. F).
Take note: Brian Busolits, who coached at Allen and Southern Lehigh, is a new freshman coach. The rest of the staff remains intact: Steve Neikam, Kevin Keeler, Dave Gehris, and Brandon Lister . ... After Rockne Hall underwent many renovations in recent years, there’s nothing new this year. There is something new on the floor, however, and that’s a logo commemorating the career of retired girls basketball coach Mike Kopp, who ended his career as the state’s all-time girls leader in wins with 1,045. Csensits, who is also the school’s athletic director, said there will be a ceremony at some point this season to dedicate the gym floor as Mike Kopp Court.
Why the Vikings are Top 10 material:
The Vikings return six of their top nine scorers from last year, and while it will be tough to replace Joyce and Thomas, who averaged a combined 29 points per game, there will be plenty of offensive balance and 3-point-shooting ability. Vigo, Pulieri amd Patridge combined for 63 3s last season. Pulieri also shot 85% from the foul line but only got there for 21 attempts in 27 games.
The calling card for ACCHS will be its defense. The Vikings led the EPC in fewest points allowed last season, giving up just 37.6 ppg in 16 league games and 40.6 overall. Final word: ”We’ve got some athleticism and we’ve got to take advantage of that,” Csensits said. “We’re going to have to take a lot of pride in our defense. I think our half-court offense is going to take a little while to develop.
“We’re going to have some struggles early in the season until we get a chance to build some chemistry and develop.”