The age old adage – it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish – didn’t apply to Allentown Central Catholic in the semifinals of the District 11 4A playoffs on Wednesday night.

The Vikettes both started and finished strong against Palmerton, defeating the Bombers 55-37 to advance to the championship game Saturday against Blue Mountain.

“We started out slow against Northwestern in the quarterfinals and then we finished strong, so we said to the girls to play that way early in this game; to play how we finished against Northwestern,” said Allentown Central Catholic coach Kathy Davidowich. “I thought we moved the ball really well in the first half. Then the wheels kind of came off for us in that third quarter. Palmerton is a good team and their pressure got to us a little bit. But our girls did respond and settled down in the fourth and they really dug in and played great defense.”

The Vikettes took control of the game early, getting out to a 13-0 lead around the five-minute mark of the first quarter. Front court mates Skyler Taylor (6) and Morgan Seagraves (5) combined for 11 points in the first. Taylor and Seagraves’ length and post presence gave the Bombers issues throughout the game.

Central Catholic held a 19-5 advantage after the first, but the Bombers made their first comeback attempt midway through the second. Inside buckets by Alisyn Green, who had a nice first half for Palmerton, would help close the gap, as the Bombers went on an 11-3 run to cut the Vikettes’ deficit to six (22-16) with 3:16 remaining in the half. Cate Morgan’s three from the top of the key capped off the run.

However, just as it seemed to do throughout the night, Central Catholic finished the second frame strong, going on a 10-0 run, spurred by sophomore sharp shooter Alyssa Hursh, who scored seven points during the run, including a big three from the left wing late in the quarter to extend the ACC lead to 32–16 at the half.

“I’m just really proud of the way our girls fought for the entire game. To spot them 13 points to start the game, you’re really putting yourself in a hole. From there, you’re just trying to chip away and chip away,” said Palmerton coach Jeremy Coleman. “At halftime, we said, let’s just get it to eight points going into the fourth quarter. And they were able to do more than that, getting it down to five points. We were right there. The girls did a great job coming out and pressuring. But when you pressure all out, you sacrifice your legs a bit, and I think once the fourth quarter hit, we just ran out of gas. But again, really proud of our girls and how they fought back.”

The Bombers came out of the half and turned up the intensity, turning to full-court pressure to try and create some offense with their defense, and they executed. Palmerton forced 11 Vikettes’ turnovers in the third, and outscored ACC 18-7 to close within five points going into the fourth. Emma Rex was tough on the boards for Palmerton all game long and had a big third, scoring seven points off transition looks.

But yet again, the Vikettes responded. Central Catholic put the clamps on the Bombers in the fourth quarter. A 10-0 run by ACC to start the quarter made it 49-34 with 4:14 to play. Back-to-back deuces from Annika Spinosa got the run started.

Palmerton was never able to get anything going in the fourth, as the Bombers didn’t score their first points of the quarter until there was just 48 seconds remaining in the game.

SCORING LEADERS… Taylor and Seagreaves led the way for ACC, scoring 14 points apiece. Taylor also hauled in 10 rebounds. For Palmerton, Rex scored 12 points and tallied 11 rebounds. Green chipped in with nine points and seven boards.

FIRST-HALF DEFICIT… The first-half run by ACC was the difference. The Vikettes shot 12-for-23 from the field, while the Bombers went just 6-for-21.

NEXT UP… No. 7 seed ACC will take on No. 8 seed Blue Mountain on Saturday at Easton at 1:15 p.m. Palmerton moves to the consolation game for a chance at the state tournament. It plays North Schuylkill on Saturday at noon at Executive Education.

PALMERTON

A. Barry 1-0-0-3, Rex 3-6-8-12, Rumfield 1-0-0-2, Morgan 3-0-0-7, Green 4-1–2-9, H. Barry 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 13-7-10-37.

CENTRAL CATHOLIC

Roberts 1-3-4-6, Spinosa 4-0-0-9, Kofroth 1-0-0-2, Seagreaves 5-4-6-13, Taylor 5-3-3–13, Molchany 1-0-0-2, Hursh 3-0-0-7, Menecola 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 21-10-13-55.

Palmerton 5 11 18 3 - 37

Central Catholic 19 13 7 16 - 55

Three-pointers: P - A. Barry 1, Morgan 1; ACC - Roberts 1, Spinosa 1, Hursh 1.

Records: Palmerton (17-8); ACC (13-12)