This season, Luke Keppel has experienced his shares of highs and lows – manly highs - with his teammates. Keppel has been his team’s leading scorer averaging roughly 16 points per game, and the Zephyrs were once the talk of the Lehigh Valley with their 11-2 start.
Since then, Whitehall has come back down to earth. The Zephyrs have maintained a high level of play even though they ended the regular season with an overall 15-7 record. They did manage to qualify for the East Penn Conference (EPC) playoffs, but they fell to Emmaus, 58-55, in the quarterfinal round.
Against Emmaus, Keppel had 14 points, and teammate A.J. Hines led the team with 19. It was a defeat that certainly stung.
“We certainly were disappointed with the result of our game against Emmaus,” stated Keppel. “One of our goals this year was to give ourselves the opportunity to play in and win playoff games. Emmaus is really good, and they brought the best out in us.”
Yet, Keppel and his teammates will be primed for the district playoffs that will begin next week. The Zephyrs are the second seed in the Class 5A bracket.
“The positive for us now is we have some time to get some much-needed rest to regain our focus prior to the district tournament,” Keppel said. “We are a committed and hungry group. We will use this time to resharpen our mental approach, focus on skill work, and probably have a scrimmage or two.”
Head coach Jeff Jones was impressed with his team’s comeback against Emmaus, noting Keppel’s contributions as well as a strong supporting cast.
“Emmaus held an eight-point lead after the first quarter,” recalled Jones. “We cut it to 21-20 at the half, as we had five players in the scoring column. Emmaus regained the lead in the third quarter despite Keppel’s nine points in the quarter.
“We had a valiant comeback in the final quarter that fell short. Keppel and Talon Dogmanits attempted three-pointers to try to tie the game in the finals seconds, but neither of them would fall. A.J. Hines had a big fourth quarter for us.”
Jones stated that his team is off until the district semifinals on Feb. 27. The Zephyrs likely will face East Stroudsburg North. Jones also indicated the Zephyrs are looking for a scrimmage before the district playoffs.