That’s One!
Lady Wildcats Celebrate Senior Night with 43-38 Win over Shik
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – Coach Terrance Green and the Lady ‘Cats have been seeking their first victory since early December to no avail. Tonight, the drought ended as Central Mountain earned one for the win column in a tough, physical contest defeating Shikellamy 43-38 for a 1-17 overall record, 1-7 in the Heartland conference.
“I told them we worked our behinds off for 18 games and if they kept working, kept working, kept working we would get it,” CM head coach Terrance Green said after the game, “There were times in previous games where turnovers hurt us and tonight, especially in the second half, we took care of the ball.”
Back on Jan. 11, Shikellamy had their way with the Lady Wildcats with a dominating 49-18 win. This time around, CM stepped up and kept pace with the Lady Braves.
Central Mountain only trailed by one point, 11-10 at the end of the first quarter, with a back-and-forth lead change most of the way. In the second period it was more of the same with Shik managing to pull ahead ever so slightly for a 33-28 lead the intermission.
“Obviously the girls were fired up early on because it was senior night, comment Green, “I told them we have to come out punching hard, keep up the intensity and set the tempo.”
In the third quarter, fortunes changed with the Lady’Cats chipping away at the Shikellamy knotting the score at 29-all after three quarters.
The Lady Wildcat defense stepped up their effort tonight for a balanced attack forcing several key turnovers and jump ball calls to keep the Shik offense off balance.
“This was a team win tonight with our defense keeping the pressure on. Our defense was phenomenal tonight,” said Green, “Even when Shikellamy closed it to one point, the defense kept their composure. We took the lead and held it for nearly 8 minutes in the fourth quarter. Our press was working ,” Green added about the defensive play.
In the final 8 minutes, Central Mountain solidified their effort with some very key field goals and vital shooting from the penalty stipe to secure the win. The Lady Braves had already given Central Mountain bonus status late in the third quarter offering the hosts the opportunity to pad their lead late in the game with Averie Pringle, Elaina Eckley and Bethany Dolan sinking enough free throws to extend the margin out of reach for Shikellamy in the closing seconds of the game.
In all, Pringle was on fire with 24 points, hitting 7 field goals and pounding out 10 of 14 from the foul line on the night.
“I told her in the second half that she needed to take over,” Green said of his instructions to Pringle. That she did, responding to her mentor’s encouragement with 16 of her 24 points in the second half.
Dolan had 6 points and Eckley with 5 in total on the night.Taylor Fletcher scored 4 points while Morgan Wetzel, and Sadie McCaleb each contributing 2 points.
Next week is another full slate with a road trip to Selinsgrove on Monday, Jan. 6, then home with Shamokin on Tuesday, Jan. 7 then hosting Williamsport on Friday, Jan. 10.
