It\u2019s still being called the Cedar Beach Showcase even though it is not being held at Cedar Beach and hasn\u2019t been for several years.<\/p>\n
But for tradition\u2019s sake, the name remains the same as the first high school boys basketball tournament of the month began Friday night across town from Cedar Beach at Executive.<\/p>\n
And when it comes to tradition, Allentown Central Catholic has one of the most renowned basketball traditions in Lehigh Valley sports history.<\/p>\n
The Vikings won their fourth straight District 11 title and 24th overall in February and made the biggest basketball news of the summer last month when coach Dennis Csensits resigned after a legendary career at ACCHS that included a record of 284-102. In addition to a state championship in 2021, his teams won nine District 11 titles, including the last four in a row, and also a pair of league championships.<\/p>\n
His assistants, Dave Gehris and Kevin Keeler, have run the team on an interim basis since his departure\u00a0 and have kept the team together through the uncertainty of who the next coach will be.<\/p>\n
In the tournament at Executive, ACCHS went 1-2 but Keeler said they were missing several players including top returnee Yariel Gonzalez.<\/p>\n
The Vikings lost their first game in the tournament Friday night, falling to Easton 35-28, but stayed alive later with a 53-35 victory over Hazleton as Nate Eddinger scored 17 points. They lost to Executive 49-38 and were eliminated on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough but it\u2019s still Central Catholic basketball and there\u2019s still pride and the mentality of wanting to pass on the tradition,\u201d Keeler said. \u201cDave Gehris has been here for 11 years and I\u2019ve been here for seven. We don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen. I might be done. I might have coached my last game and that\u2019s hard because I\u2019ve been doing this for 44 years. We might find out who the new coach is on Monday, so we just don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keeler and Gehris are two of the candidates and if one gets it, the other would stay on. Csensits said several times that any of his assistants were good enough to be the next head coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s emotional for me because I don\u2019t know if this is it,\u201d Keeler said. \u201cWe have great kids here. We played Easton tough on Friday and we\u2019re throwing stuff in on the run because we haven\u2019t had a lot of continuity. We have transfers that have come in and freshmen playing on the varsity, so we scrimmaged 15 minutes before the game on Friday throwing in some simple stuff they have never seen before.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s different, it\u2019s summer,\u201d Keeler added. \u201cYou take a deep breath and you understand that things are going to get more cohesive when you get closer to November.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bangor beats Parkland, Freedom<\/p>\n
Bangor beat both Parkland and Freedom on Saturday to get to 3-0 in the tournament and advance to Sunday\u2019s winners bracket final against Berks Catholic.<\/p>\n
Landon Childs, a rising junior, scored 17 points against Freedom after he hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Parkland. The shot came from well beyond the halfcourt line and caused one of the biggest celebrations the program has had in years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it left my hands, I knew it was going in right away,\u201d Childs said. \u201cMatt Pinto got a huge rebound and threw it right to me. It was from the 3-point line at the opposite end of the court. I never practiced a shot like that before. At the end of practices, we take halfcourt shots but nothing like that. It was nuts; a great experience. The second it came off my hand, I knew it was going in. It was definitely something I will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the 3-point, game-winner by Childs was the most memorable basket of the day, the Slaters had plenty of other offensive moments.<\/p>\n
In the win over Parkland, Lincoln Rehrig scored 18 points.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love our effort,\u201d Slaters coach Colin Kessler said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been battling all summer. We haven\u2019t had the record we wanted [1-11 while playing in the big-school division of the summer league]. I told our guys that this is basically our playoffs for the summer, so let\u2019s make the most of it. The guys have been showing up all summer long, working in the weight room four days a week, participating in open gyms, driving down here to play games. It\u2019s paying off. You can tell by how they\u2019re playing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kessler, whose team was 11-13 last season, said it\u2019s all about learning how to play together and getting better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the summer, you win games, you lose games, but at the end of the day it\u2019s all about getting ready for the regular season,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be able to tell during the season when we actually have everybody. Bron [Holland] took the program over and turned it into a championship team. We lost in the league championship my first year [2020] and we both the league and district title in my second year and we haven\u2019t been back since. Ultimately, our goal is to win championships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Becahi\u2019s boss<\/p>\n
Sammy Barona was in his first tournament since replacing Scott McClary as the new coach at Bethlehem Catholic. The Golden Hawks beat Salisbury and lost to Southern Lehigh in the small-school bracket.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings are going well,\u201d he said. \u201cI have been excited to be a part of this program and now I\u2019m really excited to the leader of these young men and I\u2019m excited about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Becahi was 12-11 last season and lost its first district playoff game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe only have one or two players coming back with varsity experience, but we have a lot of other players who are going to surprise people,\u201d Barona said. \u201cThey are very competitive and have a lot of skill. About half of our team are a combination of football and basketball players. I love the strength and physicality of what they bring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barona said the goal this summer is simply improvement.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day we\u2019ve got to be better than the last time we stepped on the court,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to focus every open gym, every lift, every game we play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barona has an inspiring to bring his kids. He was cut by his eighth-grade basketball coach, but used other paths to become a prominent pro player for 10 seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis opportunity is a testament to my faith and to what God has always been in my life,\u201d Barona said. \u201cHe always decides how things are going to go and to not have played EPC high school basketball, but now be a coach in the EPC makes me love how God does his thing and writes his story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Play in the 21-team tournament (nine big school, seven small school and five JV) continued throughout Saturday afternoon and will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday. It will culminate with three championship games beginning at 3 p.m. with the JV finals followed by the small-school title game at 4 and the big-school game at 5.<\/p>\n
Friday night\u2019s scores<\/p>\n
Big School Bracket<\/p>\n
Easton 35, Allentown Central Catholic 28. \u2026 Saboor Houser 12 points<\/p>\n
Berks Catholic 53, Executive 49 \u2026 Carmelo Harper 14 points<\/p>\n
Bangor 48, Hazleton 38 \u2026 Landon Childs 12 points<\/p>\n
Freedom 51, John Bartram 35 \u2026 Vinny Golas 24 points<\/p>\n
Allentown Central Catholic 53, Hazleton 35 \u2026 Nate Eddinger 17 points<\/p>\n
Small School Bracket<\/p>\n
Becahi 55, Salisbury 48 \u2026 David Hubany 15 points<\/p>\n
Notre Dame-Green Pond 55, Bethlehem Christian 44 \u2026 Emmett Reiland & Jameson Kopp 12 points each<\/p>\n
Pen Argyl 37, Innovative Arts 29 \u2026 Derek Stuckey & Kaen Kaiser 11 points each<\/p>\n
JV Bracket<\/p>\n
Easton 30, Allentown Central Catholic 29 \u2026 Jayden Ham 9 points<\/p>\n
Saturday scores<\/p>\n
Big school bracket<\/p>\n
Berks Catholic 49, Easton 32 \u2026 Carmelo Harper 17<\/p>\n
Bangor 47, Parkland 44 \u2026 Lincoln Rehrig 18<\/p>\n
Executive 49, ACCHS 38 \u2026 Cam Michel 18<\/p>\n
John Bartram 41, Parkland 36 \u2026 Samir Frazier 18<\/p>\n
Bangor 48, Freedom 24 \u2026 Landon Childs 17<\/p>\n
Small School Bracket<\/p>\n
Southern Lehigh 52, Bethlehem Catholic 38 \u2026 Parker Spigelmyer 16<\/p>\n
Innovative Arts 48, Bethlehem Christian 46 \u2026 Burchell Douglas 17<\/p>\n
Notre Dame-Green Pond def. Pen Argyl by forfeit<\/p>\n
Salisbury def. Pen Argyl by forfeit<\/p>\n
JV Bracket\u00a0<\/p>\n
Parkland 44, Easton 37 \u2026 Leiyton Graham 12<\/p>\n
Executive Education 66, Southern Lehigh 40 \u2026 Max Simpson 13<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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