D-11 3A Boys’ Basketball: Catasauqua rolls past Williams Valley in quarterfinal game
Williams Valley's Brady Shomper (left) and Evan Achenbach (middle) play defense as Catasauqua's John Pushkar puts up a shot during Saturday's District 11 Class 3A quarterfinals boys' basketball game at Lehighton Elementary School. The Rough Riders defeated Williams Valley 58-44 (photo by Eli Doyle).
LEHIGHTON — It didn’t go how Williams Valley hoped it would.
Frankie Pujols scored a game-high 25 points and added six rebounds as Catasauqua rolled past Williams Valley 58-44 in a District 11 Class 3A quarterfinals boys’ basketball game Saturday at Lehighton Elementary School.
“(Williams Valley) played a great zone to start the game and they were well prepared, well versed to deny our shooters and our cutters,” Rough Riders head coach Eric Snyder said. “Our press speeds things up and we’ve talked about it all year, we can’t get caught in a half-court game or we’re going to struggle. Fortunately, we have a lot of speed and quickness, and it picks up. There are games that it doesn’t. (The Vikings) were doing a great job and then all of a sudden, we got a little bit of run and got it up to 20, and we got a little sloppy and they were making their shots.”
If you weren’t expecting these two teams to be prepared, you’d be mistaken as each squad wasn’t short on coaching experience. Snyder has been a head coach for 33 seasons, while Williams Valley’s Denny Casper has been at the helm for 30 seasons. A combined 63 years of basketball coaching knowledge on display.
Points weren’t easy to come by early as Brady Shomper broke the ice as after he was fouled as his layup fell with 4:18 to play in the first quarter. Shomper missed the and-1 free throw but nailed a three on a second chance opportunity to put Williams Valley (9-13-1) ahead 5-0. Catasauqua (16-10) kept it close and chipped away before going on a 6-0 scoring run to lead the Vikings 12-9 at the end of the first.
In the second, the Rough Riders found their stride offensively and complemented their stifling press defense.
Pujols scored eight of his game-high 20 points as Catasauqua outscored the Vikings 20-8 in the frame. Reece Lopez and Hammed Jenkins each added a 3 for the Rough Riders, while Manny Bolmer chipped in six points in the quarter. On the flip side, Williams Valley struggled to surpass Catasauqua’s press and capitalized on turnovers and steals.
“Our whole season was very up-and-down,” Casper said. “We played decent against good teams and played terrible against not so good teams. We had a good two weeks of practice. The kids are nice, they’re great kids. The thing is, they just need more time to play. And we emphasize that.”
The third quarter was all Vikings as Achenbach, Shomper, Brayden Crisswell and Bryce Zilinski took advantage of the Rough Riders taking their foot off the pedal. Achenbach led Williams Vikings with nine points in the frame, Shomper chipped in six, Zilinski totaled four points and Crisswell added a bucket. The Vikings outscored Catasauqua 19-15 and closed the deficit to 11 points.
Both squads exchanged empty possessions before Lopez nailed his second 3 to open the fourth quarter. After another exchange in empty possessions, Achenbach found Kryzanowski slashing the lane for a bucket. The Rough Riders turned up the press and went on a 5-0 run to go ahead 50-38 with 3:39 left to play.
Pujols fouled out with 2:00 remaining, but Catasaqua held steady and secured a 58-44 victory to advance to the semifinals. The Rough Riders will face No. 1 seed Mahanoy Area on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Martz Hall.
For the Vikings, Shomper netted 17 points and Achenbach added 13.
“These kids all play football and it shows,” Casper continued. “So we get them in December, and it shows. There is not enough basketball time in the offseason. We stress that as much as we can and the kids play hard. I cannot fault them for that. It’s just we need to get better. We’ll work on that. Our kids play three sports, which we encourage. Its good stuff, we like that.”
