Tamaqua's Lauren Ligenza puts up a jumper during a game earlier this season (Photo by Danie Mae Photography).

CATASAUQUA — The Tamaqua girls never had the feel Saturday afternoon that they were equally matched with Allentown Central Catholic in their District 11 Class 4A quarterfinal at Catasauqua High School.

The Vikettes’ ability to peck and hunt with pick and rolls and use the length of 5-foot-8 junior Morgan Seagraves were the big reasons ACC pulled out a 45-31 victory that ended the Blue Raiders’ season.

Tamaqua (18-7) never could gather momentum to overtake the fourth-seeded Vikettes (13-10) although a third-quarter run gave the fifth-seeded Blue Raiders some hope.

The Raiders trailed 26-21 at halftime. After Tamaqua’s Lauren Ligenza and ACC’s 5-10 center Milly Wolf traded baskets at the start, Tamaqua got a quick shot in the arm when Samantha Plasha came up with two steals, leading to buckets by Millie Black and Plasha.

Suddenly it was 28-27, Tamaqua down a point with 4:28 to play in third quarter.

“That was a nice run, but to be honest, we never had the momentum to sustain (the rally),” Tamaqua coach Erika Davis said. “Our problem, we turned it over far too much in key situations. We (played) flat and just couldn’t put the ball in the bucket.”

The Blue Raiders failed to hit a basket after the Vikettes got a breath of fresh air, closing the third quarter on a 6-0 run. Seagraves, who led all scorers with 16, scored four points in the run as ACC built a 34-27 lead.

Things slowly got away from Tamaqua, even though senior point guard Kolbe Robb scored to open the final period. Things took a dour look for the Raiders thereafter: The Vikettes could feel the swing of momentum when they went on a 6-0 run thanks to the lanky Seagraves, who sank a pair of foul shots, then rolled to the basket getting an assist from Taylor. With 5:38 to play, the Vikettes’ lead sat at 40-29.

There was 2:28 to play when Ligenza kissed one off the glass, although one could feel things were not going in favor of Tamaqua. The eventual winners used the charity stripe nailing five straight shots.

Ligenza finished with 12 points to lead Tamaqua, while slick point guard Annika Spinosa had 12 points for Central Catholic.

“They got a lot more second-shot opportunities,” Davis said, noting ACC’s 31-23 rebounding advantage. “There was a lot of emotions afterward. We thanked our seniors and all their accomplishments.”

The victory advances Central Catholic to Wednesday’s semifinals, where they will play top-seeded Northwestern Lehigh, a 34-28 winner over Blue Mountain, at 7 p.m. at Northern Lehigh.

Game Summary

District 11 Girls’ Basketball

Class 4A Quarterfinals

At Catasauqua

TAMAQUA (31) — Robb 3-0-0-8, M. Black 1-0-0-2, Plasha 1-2-4-4, Ligenza 5-2-2-12, Miller 1-0-0-3, L. Black 1-0-2-2. Totals 12-4-8-31.

ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC (45) — C. Seagraves 0-0-0-0, Roberts 1-2-4-5, Spinosa 4-2-2-12, M. Seagraves 7-2-2-16, Taylor 2-1-4-6, Wolf 3-0-0-6, Hursh 0-0-0-0. Totals 17 7-12 45.

Tam (18-7)             7 … 14 … 6 … 4 — 31

ACC (13-10)          15 … 11 … 8 … 11 — 45

3-point FGs: Robb 2, Miller, Roberts, Spinosa 2, Wolf

Officials: Melnick, Onushco, J. Adams