Shik Edges Wildcats 70-65 in Tough PHAC Battle

AdminJanuary 27, 2018

2 minutes read

BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – It was another tough, hard-fought contest for the Wildcat basketball team. This time it was 32 minutes of constant hustle against visiting Shikellamy in a key PHAC matchup. The Braves would survive the battle, edging Central Mountain, 70-65.

“The game was a credit to both teams,” said CM head coach, Tyler Bardo, “Everything that was going on for both teams was just phenomenal.”

Central Mountain (8-5, 6-2) was keeping pace with the Braves in the early going then midway through the first quarter the ‘Cats found themselves in foul trouble which changed the look and personnel on the court. After the first 8 minutes Shik (9-7, 4-3) had a 24-18 lead.

“The foul situation changes things a bit for us, but it wasn’t something we haven’t seen before this season,” said Bardo, “We can’t say that didn’t bring on something we haven’t seen in 13 games.”

In the second quarter, CM battled back outscoring three guests 13-10 but still trailing the Braves 34-31 at the break. The Wildcats would outpace Shikellamy in the third quarter 15-13 to close the gap to 47-46 and were stallion striking distance with one period remaining.

“At the end of the day, we did miss some easy buckets around the rim and our free-throw shooting struggles a little bit,” Bardo commented, “Early on they slowed us down a little bit, so we adapted. We got some quality opportunities.”

It was a back and forth contest in the final quarter when finally, Central Mountain knotted the score at 62-all with 1:41 remaining in the game. The effort was a result of creating several turnovers and converting those opportunities into points. It was outside shooting from Tyler Adair and Trevor Hanna on the perimeter along with Collin Jones, Isaiah McCann and Matt Storeman woking the paint and the baseline.

Try as they might, Central Mountain had difficulty closing the effort and Shikellamy would not yield, edging the hosts 23-19 in the fourth quarter to set the 70-65 final.

McCann led the Wildcats with 15 points followed by Hanna with 15 and Jones had 12. Adair put up 8 points on the night with Storeman and Jake Skrtich each had 7. J.T. Pends had 2 points for CM.

Central Mountain finished the game with 31 rebounds (13 offensive / 18 defensive) and nine steals.

Central Mountain will next see action on the road at Altoona in a non-conference game on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018.