Ironmen Hold Strong Late for 65-51 Win over Wildcats

AdminJanuary 16, 2019Last Updated: January 17, 2019

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BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – It was another tough challenge for the Wildcat basketball team as they hosted conference leader Danville, Wednesday night.

The Ironman brought a perfect 6-0 conference record with them and they completed their task to improve to 7-0, 11-2 overall with a 65-51 win over Central Mountain. However, that win didn’t come easy in the first half.

It was a tight contest in the early going with both teams trading narrow leads. The Wildcats has a slim 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, then Danville dropped in a three pointer just before time expired in the second quarter to hold a 33-31 lead at the half.

“We certainly had a lot of opportunities to make this better,” CM head coach, Tyler Bardo said of the game, “We have to find a consistent game against really solid teams like Danville.”

“We missed some opportunities tonight when we were able to create some foul trouble for them in the second half,” Bardo shared, “Danville is a good team because they are able to play multiple styles of play. I thought we challenged them with some physicality just like we see at practice, but our shots weren’t dropping.”

The third quarter has been an issue for Central Mountain this season and it proved to be the start for Danville to inch forward tonight. The Ironmen extended their lead to 51-44 at the end of the third period then they improved upon that effort in the fourth quarter by outscoring the hosts 14-7 to seal the win with steady ball control offense that also controlled the clock to their advantage.

“That three pointer for them at the end of the half was huge,” Bardo explained, “That made it a two possession situation right from the get-go in the second half. That’s not a huge thing, but momentum wise, it is. We weren’t able to get a lot of stops and we had to go more man-on-man than we wanted to late in the game.”

Collin Jons set the pace for the ‘Cats with 20 points and 7 rebounds, with Conner Soo dropping in 14 points and 2 boards. JT Pentz had 8 points and 4 rebounds with Tanner Lavelle scoring 3, Nick Long with 4 and Zane Probst scoring 2 points.

The loss takes Central Mountain to 3-8 on the season, 3-4 in the PHAC.

The Wildcats will be back for another home game, this time with Shamokin visiting on Friday, Jan. 18, 2018. The game had been originally scheduled for Saturday Jan. 19. The game will also feature Coaches Against Cancer festivities coordinated by CM’s Logan Fisher for his senior project.