CATASAUQUA – The “supposed” walk in the park for Allentown Central Catholic in the girls Class 4A semifinals against upstart Lehighton was a little bit tougher than expected.

ACC was pushed to the limit for three-plus quarters on Wednesday evening. But with a little over six minutes to play in a physical, knock down, drag out battle, the favorites finally got to do what they do best.

The Vikettes used their defensive prowess, quickness and ability to dictate the tempo to secure a 36-21 victory over the Indians.

The wins thrusts Central Catholic into the championship game Saturday against top-seed Jim Thorpe, which dispatched Schuylkill League rival North Schuylkill 63-44 in the other semifinal.

“Oh, I knew we were in for a battle; they’re physical and they play extremely hard,” said legendary Central Catholic coach Mike Kopp.

On the opposite side, Lehighton’s Joe Berezwick had a game plan that would keep his team in the foray. He used three of his five timeouts in the first half, and spent the last two before the fourth quarter rolled around.

Berezwick threw just about every type of defense he could draw up to keep the favored Vikettes under control. The Indians used a diamond-and-one, three different types of zone defense, and some man-to-man.

“I thought the kids played extremely well, but you have to credit Central Catholic with their defense, because we knew it was going to be swarming and it was,” said the veteran Lehighton mentor.

The Tribe trailed only 10-7 after a quarter, then rallied late in the second quarter behind Hailey Miller and Taylor Bowman to cut an 18-7 deficit to 18-13 at the respite.

ACC fired off five quick points to open the second half when Molly Driscoll drained a triple and Hanna Hoeing recycled a missed shot to up the lead 23-13. However, the Indians didn’t back down thanks to their one-two punch of Miller and Bowman, who both added buckets to make it 23-17.

Armani Brickhouse came to the rescue for Central Catholic with four quick points that made it 27-19 after three quarters.

Miller again hit for Lehighton to open the final period and cut the margin to six.

Finally, ACC took command for keeps going as it went on a 9-0 run from the 6:43 mark of the final quarter to the last minute of the contest. Hoeing fueled the start, while Madi Szoke nailed a pair of fielders and Brickhouse and Abbey Kofroth all had a hand in the offense.

“We kept after it, and stayed the course,” Kopp said. “We lost our best player (Julia Roth), so some other players had to step up, and Brickhouse was one of them.”

Roth incurred a possible hip injury early in the first quarter and was lost for the game. That forced Kopp to shuffle some of his players.

“We have some depth, but losing Julia is a big loss for us,” Kopp said.

NOT DONE YET ...

Three teams advance to the PIAA State Tournament in Class 4A, which means Lehighton gets another chance to keep its season alive when it faces North Schuylkill on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Martz Hall in Pottsville in the 4A consolation game.

BY THE NUMBERS

… The Indians went 9-for-26 from the`floor, while ACC was 12-for-38. ACC had the better of it off the glass, 29-17.

GUTTY GUTSO

… Miller and Bowman were junkyard tough throughout the contest for Lehighton. (A) big game-changer for ACC was the play of Brickhouse off the bench.

QUOTABLE

… “Our league got us ready to play the postseason. That’s a tribute to Jim Thorpe and North Schuylkill,” said Berezwick.

LEHIGHTON

Repsher 1-0-0-2, McHugh 0-0-0-0, Williams 1-0-0-3, Miller 4-0-0-8, Bowman 2-2-4-6, Wojton 0-0-0-0, Fisher 1-0-0-2, Houser 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 9-2-4-21.

CENTRAL CATHOLIC

Brickhouse 1-3-4-5, Hoeing 4-0-0-8, S. Roth 1-0-0-2, J. Roth 2-0-0-4, Szoke 3-0-2-6, Kofroth 4-0-0-8, Driscoll 1-0-2-3. TOTALS: 16-3-7-36.

Lehighton 7 6 6 2 – 21

Central Catholic 10 8 9 9 – 36

Three-pointers: Lehighton - Williams 1; ACC - Driscoll 1.