WHITEHALL - It's critical to have a fast start on a big stage.

During the District 11 Class 4A quarterfinal between Tamaqua and Allentown Central Catholic on Saturday at Whitehall High School, it was the Vikettes that had a perfect start.ACC was firing on all cylinders in the initial period, jumping out to a 15-0 lead on their way to a 42-26 victory."If we don't come out like that, it's a different ballgame," said Tamaqua head coach Erika Davis. "The girls could have put their heads down and have easily given up, but they fought and competed. Kudos to ACC though, they really came out strong in the first quarter."While the Raiders couldn't buy a bucket, the Vikettes were on fire. They drained three three-pointers in the first quarter."I think that we were just hot," said Allentown Central Catholic coach Mike Klopp. "We had a great rhythm and everyone took shots in our offensive set. We just jumped on them early and we just gained confidence."I think that Tamaqua is going to be an unbelievable team the next couple of years, they've got some talent and I was very impressed with their whole team."Jess Davis tallied a game-high 20 points for ACC. She drained a pair of three-pointers during the big first quarter."She only had two days of practice since her last game," Klopp said. "I'm very pleased. She's just an unbelievable kid and she loves basketball so much."I could never have imagined that she played the game she did. I don't think I took her out. My plan was to take her and Diana out because they both had injuries. They were both cleared on Wednesday, so I was really cornered."Tamaqua finally got on the board at the 5:25 mark of the second quarter when freshman Emma Kuczynski took a steal and went coast-to-coast. She scored six of her team's eight points during the period, and finished with a team-high 15."She played very calm and cool," said Davis. "We go how she goes. We did play timid overall, like we were shocked at first, but rightfully so. There are no more excuses now. They're no longer freshmen this coming season."The Raiders dug in during the second half and outscored the Vikettes by three points during the final two periods. However, ACC was disciplined with the ball and its shot selection. Tamaqua closed the gap to a dozen in the fourth quarter, but ACC's efficient basketball made it too much to come back from."This is an eye-opening experience," said Davis. "A lot of people don't get to experience districts. It's a different atmosphere. Hopefully now that we have our feet wet, we can build off it."WHAT A TURNAROUND … The Raiders (11-12) earned nine more wins this season than they did last year. "After a 2-20 season, I was anxious to get this season started," Davis said. "We had a bunch of newcomers, and it was nice to see how they meshed with the upperclassmen. They really grew together, and we're hoping that fine-tuning some things (in the) offseason can lead to bigger and better things for us."FAB FROSH … Kuczynski finished the season averaging a shade over 18 points per game, third best in the TN area. "This whole year they brought a lot of intensity and have improved from start to finish," David said. "This is a step in the right direction for our program, and we're going to build on it and get better for next year."NEXT UP … ACC will battle second-seeded Northwestern on Wednesday at Whitehall at 6 p.m. in the semifinals.TAMAQUAHromyak, R. 0-0-0-0, Hoffman 0-0-0-0, Zuber 1-0-0-3, Hromyak, A. 0-0-0-0, Jones 2-0-0-4, Kupchinsky 0-0-0-0, Titus 2-0-0-4, Ceci 0-0-0-0, Frederickson 0-0-0-0, Kuczynski 5-5-8-15, Agosti 0-0-0-0, Reinhardt 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 10-5-8-26ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLICFaust 0-0-0-0, Arevalo 0-0-0-0, Wert 0-0-0-0, Davis, 7-4-6-20, Kidd 0-0-0-0, Eripret, 6-2-5-14, Szmigiel 0-0-0-0, Kocsis 2-0-0-5, Roberts 1-1-4-3, Dietz 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-7-15-42.Tamaqua 0 8 11 7 - 26Central Cath. 15 12 5 10 - 42Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Zuber 1; Central - Davis 2, Kocsis 1.