Allentown Central Catholic Stuns Blue Mountain

The Morning Call's Keith Groller has probably forgotten more about basketball in the past 24 hours than I'll learn in the rest of my life, but I'm delighted to tell you he got this one wrong. He picked the 19-5 Blue Mountain Eagles to win the District XI 5A PIAA boys' basketball championship this year. But last night, they were eliminated by Allentown Central Catholic 51-48 in an exciting game that was only decided in the final second.

Jordan McChristian, who moments before was kicking himself over a foul that allowed the Blue Eagles to tie the game, managed to sink a three-point buzzer beater and give the Vikings a victory.

At first, I thought Groller would be right. Blue Mountain steamrolled over the Vikings with 7 points before anyone knew what was happening, but then Dat Lambert and Jay Vaughan started scoring as teammates provided assists and screens. Chris Ocasio and Kevin Kern did the heavy lifting under the boards, with Keyshawn Kelman (Remember that name!) relieving both of the big guys throughout the night.

Jordan McChristian put it away. 

A stingy Viking defense surprised and confused Blue Mountain, and I thought they tired throughout the night. But in the fourth quarter, they caught their second wind and the lead seesawed back and forth as the clock wound down. Jordan McChristian was tagged with a foul in the closing seconds that enabled Blue Mountain to tie the game.But then he tore down the court and, thanks to a KevinKern assist, scored a three-point buzzer beater to win the game.

Central will face East Stroudsburg North on Monday night, while Bangor will take on Pottsville in the 5A semifinals.

Central Boys wait for the Blue Devils' game to finish

Central Scoring: Dat Lambert - 17 (3 3FGs , 4 FGs, 2 steals, 2 assists), Jay Vaughan - 10 (1 3FG, 5 assists, 2 steals and 3-3 on FTs) Chris Ocasio - 9 (2 FGs and 5-5 FTs); Keyshawn Kelman - 3 FGs, 2-5 FTs, 4 rebounds, 2 steals); Jordan McChristian - 5 ( 1 FG, 1 3FG, 0-2 FTs), Kevin Kern - 2 (1 FG, 0-2 FTs, 6 rebounds)

I received a complaint today from someone I won't mention (Don Ringer) that I need to pay more attention to Allen. I'll be watching them play against Easton on Saturday and will watch Beca play Friday night.