Teams vie to stay alive for five
11 squads are in state tournament, which starts Friday
It’s the 40-year anniversary of Allentown Central Catholic’s first PIAA boys basketball state title.
The Vikings would follow it up with another state gold in 1986, and did it again in 2021.
But the first one was a bit improbable. That’s because the 1984 ACCHS team had lost to Pottsville in the district semifinals at Lehigh’s Stabler Arena and needed to beat Salisbury in a consolation game in overtime just to get into the state tournament.
Charlie Post was a Vikings boys assistant at the time working with head coach Bob Schlosser, and as he would do many times over the years as one of Mike Kopp’s Central girls assistants, he came up with a catchy slogan to motivate the team.
His slogan in 1984: Stay Alive for Five.
It stuck as the Vikings, led by Penn State recruit Mike Peapos, and future Stanford and NFL star and famous father Ed McCaffrey, did, indeed, stay alive for five wins and beat Warwick, Selinsgrove, York Catholic, Bishop Hoban and Hampton for the 3A crown.
Post was always reminded of Stay Alive For Five, and once said he wished he patented the slogan, even though no boys team has been able to live up to the phrase since Central Catholic in 1986.
Even the 2021 ACCHS state championship team had to win only four state games due to the pandemic reducing the field.
But as the state tournament begins this weekend, every coach and player may want to take Post’s phrase to heart and focus on finding a way to survive five, often very difficult, games.
The Lehigh Valley has 11 boys teams entering the PIAA tournament, which culminates over three days in Hershey, March 21-23.
The road to the Giant Center begins with first-round action. Here’s a look at the matchups involving local teams: