An offensive outburst provided a strong opening for Whitehall High School’s boys basketball team on Saturday afternoon.
The Zephyrs defeated Easton 69-46 in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference cross-divisional contest and regular-season opener for both programs at Easton Area Middle School.
“We were really pleased with the way we played offensively,” Whitehall coach Jeff Jones said. “Last year, we averaged somewhere in the 40s (per game). I’m not sure we’re going to score 69 points every game, but I think we have a little more offensive power than we’ve had the past couple years.”
Indeed, the Zephyrs registered 45.6 points per contest in 2021-22 and only scored at least 69 points in one of their games during a 7-15 campaign.
Junior Luke Keppel indicated that the team is eager to turn some heads after being picked to finish last in the EPC West Division by the Allentown Morning Call.
“We played great as a team,” he said. “Not many people expected us to come out here like this. I know in the rankings, we were the last team. We’re here to prove people wrong.”
Whitehall outscored the Red Rovers 23-11 in the final 6 minutes and 42 seconds of the second quarter.
Keppel sparked the rally with a couple 3-pointers, including one that was turned into a four-point play thanks to an Easton foul. Junior Ethan Ringenberger also knocked down a pair of 3s during the run.
The Zephyrs scored the first eight points of the second half to take an 18-point lead. Ringenberger hit consecutive 3s to push the score to 45-27 with 5:14 left in the period.
Ringenberger, who didn’t tally a varsity point last season, finished with 14 points on Saturday.
“I’m really excited with the way he played, knocking down perimeter shots and giving us an offensive boost,” Keppel said about his classmate. “I think he’s really going to help us this year as we continue to build.”
The Zephyrs offense got on a roll once it adapted to the pressure from Easton’s defense.
“We handled that great and got out in transition a couple times,” Keppel said. “AJ Hines and Gavin Roberts stepped up big in the paint, getting offensive rebounds and kicking out for outlets.”
Jones said playing against Whitehall’s own 1-2-2 and 2-2-1 press in practice helped sharpen the team for Saturday’s challenge. Preparation, however, has presented its own difficulties during a short preseason. The Zephyrs football players ended their season Nov. 26, meaning the athletes who also play hoops only joined the team on Monday.
“I called a set at one point and one guy, who is a football player, looked at me and was like, ‘I have no idea,’” Jones laughed.
Keppel, who also had a strong game defensively, paced the visitors with 21 points. Junior Gavin Roberts added 13 points; sophomore AJ Hines had 10 points and protected the rim defensively.
“There are only four guys on our roster who had a varsity uniform last year,” Jones said. “It’s a relatively young group. It’s going to take a little bit of time, but we’re really pleased with where we’re at right now.”
Easton effort
Saturday marked Game 1 of Eric Jacobs’ head coaching tenure with the Easton boys.
Jacobs, who starred for Easton as a player in the 1980s, was hired in May. He previously served as head coach of the Phillipsburg and Delaware Valley Regional boys and Easton girls.
“I love how hard they played,” Jacobs said. “We gave a great effort. All we can ask the kids to do is play extremely hard and give 110% at all times, and they did that ... I thought they really gave a great effort and stayed with it until the last second of the game.”
The bright spot for the Rovers was a nine-point spurt in the first quarter, which put the hosts ahead 13-10. Unfortunately for Easton, its defensive intensity during that stretch also resulted in nine team fouls during the opening period.
“It’s going to be a process. It’s going to take some time,” Jacobs said. “The only thing I was disappointed in was I didn’t think we executed offensively as well as we could have. We had too many turnovers. And the foul game really hurt us. We had way too many fouls, and we couldn’t make our (shots) from the foul line.”
Easton was 11-for-19 from the charity stripe. Junior Ryan Cornish led the Rovers with 16 points.
Jacobs was excited to get things officially underway at his alma mater, but knows it will be an uphill battle for Easton, which only has one player with varsity experience (Jordan Alston).
“I played a long time ago here. I’m honored to be the head coach. It was just a thrill,” Jacobs said. “... I could just see that we have a lot of work to do. My job is to get these kids to play at a higher level by the end of the season. We’re going to keep battling.”
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Kyle Craig may be reached at kcraig@lehighvalleylive.com.