Wildcats hold off Tigers in D6 semifinal, 49-44
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – On a night when both teams had trouble getting the ball to go through the basket, the Central Mountain boys’ basketball team did what it had to do down the stretch, holding off a young and aggressive Hollidaysburg team for a 49-44 win.
The win moved the Wildcats into the District 6 5A championship game Saturday at 3 p.m. at Mount Aloysius in Cresson, the opponent Bellefonte. The Raiders won the other district semifinal Wednesday by a 49-38 score over Selinsgrove.
Seniors Essex Taylor and Levi Schlesinger came through in crunch time for Central Mountain, scoring 11 of the Wildcats’ 17 fourth quarter points as the home team overcame a 34-32 deficit at the end of three to pull out the win.
Both teams were tight at the outset, but CM did enough to open an 11-3 lead midway through the opening period, the score 11-6 after one. But the Golden Tigers put up an 11-point run to take the lead at 14-11 and hold that lead into halftime at 23-18.
The Wildcats trailed by as many as six points in period three but clawed back to tie the game at 32 near the end of the period and at 34-all early in period four. They last trailed at 40-38 but a Schlesinger bank shot tied the game at 40-all. From there on Central Mountain took and maintained the lead, making 6-of-9 foul shots in the final period when the Tigers were forced to foul.
Taylor put up 7 of his 9 points in the final quarter, Schlesinger in with 4. Sophomore Hunter Hoy also swished two key foul shots in the final period, finishing with 11. Schlesinger ended up with 6. The Hollidaysburg zone defense kept Jack Hanna at bay, holding him to 5 points. Hayden Pardoe finished with a team-high 15 points as he and Schlesinger held their own on the boards.
Both teams had trouble from 3-point range, the Wildcats with two, one from Pardoe and one from Dom Longworth coming off the bench. Hollidaysburg could only can one 3-pointer, from Carson Rhodes. Leyton Weimert led the Tigers with 14 points. Neither team was sharp from the line, Hollidaysburg 7-for-13 (including 0-3 in the final quarter) and CM 12-for-21 (but 6-for-9 in the final quarter with the game on the line).
‘Cat coach Tyler Bardo was pleased with the win but indicated his team could play better and said, “There are some things to work on” in practice the next two days.
Hollidaysburg finished at 10-13. Almost lost in the game excitement the fact that Central Mountain is now 23-2, a new school record for single season wins, the previous mark by the 2000-01 Wildcat team which finished 22-3, coached by Steve Turchetta.
Central Mountain, defending district champs, has defeated Saturday opponent Bellefonte twice this season, both in December, 72-51 and 59-47. Bellefonte, after a strong second half to its season, is 13-10. Selinsgrove finished at 14-9.
CM 11 7 14 17 = 49
H 6 17 11 10 = 44
