Allentown Central Catholic Boys Varsity Basketball Back on Track

Keeshawn "the beast" Kellman
with Dat Lambert

After two losses in a row, Allentown Central Catholic Boys Varsity Basketball is back on track after a convincing 72-55 victory over the East Stroudsburg North Timberwolves on Friday night at Rockne Hall  The Vikings' record now stands at 14-2. Despite winning the District XI title last year, that was then. The Timberwolves have struggled this season.

Central Catholic's slide began last Saturday, when they allowed themselves to be rattled by Dieruff. They always plays tough on their home turf. Then Vikings starting forward Kevin Kern suffered an injury to his foot, and the team began questioning themselves. They played without confidence against Northampton's Konkrete Kids on Thursday night, hesitating instead of shooting. It cost them the game.

On Friday, it looked as though the Vikings might face their third loss in a row. They were only up by one going into the half  despite the heroics of Keeshawn "the beast" Kellman. He scored 14 points in the first half alone, and I lost track of his rebounds. He also had several blocks, and after one of them, shook his head No.

He was in beast mode, and appears to have recovered completely from a back injury that had sidelined him a few weeks. Without him, Central would be in trouble.

Then, in the third quarter, Jay Vaughan exploded. Three from downtown. Swish!! Just the jump start everyone needed. Jay finished the night with 12, all from beyond the arc. More importantly, he had 8 assists and 2 steals.

Kellman added 3 field goals to his 14 points in the first, and finished as high scorer with 20. He thrilled the crowd when he dunked his final bucket.

Dat Lambert returned to his scoring ways. He finished the night with 14, including two 3s. He was 4/4 on the foul line, and his aggressive defense caused four turnovers by East Stroudsburg North.   

Nick Filchner scored 10, including two 3-point shots.

Chad Kratzer finished with 7, including 3 out of 4 from the foul line

Vinnie Lynch, a crowd favorite, scored 6, and delighted the crowd with an unexpected tray

So did Sammy "the iceman" Vaughan, Jay's brother.

Central shot ten from downtown for the night.

On the other side of the equation, ESN's Ameni Mills was high scorer with 20, followed by Isa Abu, who had 11.

Central will host surging Parkland on Tuesday night at Rockne Hall, then it's off to face Evil Empire Becahi on Friday night in a Holy War that will ripple throughout the EPC.

Central was stunned by Northampton on Thursday night. On Friday night, Northampton also upset Becahi by one point. Aiden Elwood has cemented the Konkrete Kids into a formidable team, and don't count Parkland, Whitehall or any of these teams out.