‘Cats Roll to 51-33 D6 Playoff Victory over Bellefonte

AdminFebruary 19, 2018

3 minutes read

BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – Seventy-two days have passed since Central Mountain and Bellefonte’s last meeting but the outcome was nearly identical. Tonight the Wildcats prevailed 51-33 over the Red Raiders in the first round of the PIAA District 6 5A playoffs before a capacity crowd.

CM set the tone early by running up a 15-5 lead in the first quarter fueled by a 10-2 run and a fast paced relentless attack that could have been potentially worse for Bellefonte had the Wildcats shooting been a bit more accurate. The ‘Cats continued to hustle by creating turnovers and working the boards at both ends of the court in the second quarter to outpace Bellefonte 14-8 for a substantial 29-13 halftime lead.

The Red Raiders picked up the effort in the third quarter and kept pace with Central Mountain with a 11-11 effort, with the Wildcats still holding a comfortable 40-24 lead. The competitive nature of the game slowed a bit in the fourth quarter with Central Mountain making good use of their bench to allow several younger players priceless playoff experience. In the final period, CM outscored Bellefonte 11-9 to set the final score at 51-33.

The entire game was a true playoff atmosphere with plenty of energy and fan participation. That experience was enhanced with the entire Hollidaysburg basketball team and coaching staff in attendance. The Golden Tigers will be Central Mountain’s next opponent in the District 6 5A championship game this Saturday. When the Hollidaysburg contingent were filing out of the game late in the fourth quarter, they received a very friendly and polite “SEE-YOU … SATUR-DAY” chant from the CM student section.

“We talked about keeping things simple, especially on the defensive end,” said Central Mountain head coach Tyler Bardo of his game plan for the Red Raiders, “We wanted to bring a lot of intensity and energy, they did that tonight,” Bardo said of his team.

Colin Jones was strong from the field for Central Mountain, making 56% (9-for-16) of shots attempted for a team leading 18 points. Issiah McCann hit double digits, scoring 12 points for Central Mountain (6-for-6). Also helping the effort for Central Mountain were Trevor Hanna (6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block), Tanner Lavelle (3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal), Jacob Skrtich (3 points, 2 rebounds), Tyler Adair (2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals), Matt Storeman (2 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal), and JT Pentz (2 points, 3 rebounds).

“They did what they’ve been doing all year,” Bardo said of his upper classmen, “Sharing the ball with whoever is open and taking shots when they get them. One of the things we talked about was share early and keep the ball moving. Something they were very receptive to,” Bardo said of his squad.

“Our bench has been doing a great job too,” explained Bardo, “Early in the year when they came off the bench they were getting their feet wet. Now we are at the point where there’s no drop off.”

It should be noted that while several of the Wildcat players may not have scored many points individually, as a team, the ‘Cats played selflessly as exampled by Storeman who had enumerable assists on the night that bolstered the win. Throughout the game, the Wildcats utilized crisp no-look passing until they could find open player.

“He got in the open floor and he made the right play time and time again,” Bardo related of Storeman’s effort.

In all, Central Mountain finished the game with 28 rebounds (14 offensive / 14 defensive), one block and 12 steals.

The Wildcats will have until Saturday to prepare for their 3 p.m. meeting with Hollidaysburg at Penn State Altoona … and with the Golden Tigers in attendance tonight, we asked Coach Bardo if he had a few tricks of his sleeve for the next round.

“We have one game. We’re not looking back,” said Bardo of the Wildcats next goal, “I know they are not looking back either. We’ve got four days to prepare for each other, we’ll see the fruits of that preparation on Saturday.”