Wildcats Knock Off Tyrone, 54-46

BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – The Central Mountain boys’ basketball team has been competitive with a lot of good basketball teams this season, but until Monday night wins had been relatively few.

That all changed on Monday as the Wildcats led from virtually the very beginning until the final buzzer sounded in a solid home-court 54-46 win over Tyrone. The victory ended a 2-game skid for the Wildcats and put them at 5-13 on the year. Tyrone fell to 12-7 with the loss.

Junior Conner Soo proved to be the go-to-guy down the stretch as Central Mountain maintained the lead to the very end. Soo made five of six foul shots in the final period and came up with a steal and break-away for a score with 20 seconds to go to put the ‘Cats up by a 53-44 score to all but seal the win.

Soo finished with 12 points on a balanced scoring night for the home team. Jake Skrtich drained four 3-pointers and totaled a team-high 14 points, Collin Jones right behind with 13. Scoring included 14 points off the bench: 8 from Aiden Major and 6 from Zane Probst. Tanner Lavelle contributed a final period foul shot. Soo had a three-pointer on the night and Major had two.

Jones again led CM in rebounds with 11, Major next with 6. Soo led the team with 2 steals. Tyrone was led by Damon Gripp’s 22 points.

Wildcat coach Tyler Bardo lauded his team for keeping its composure as Tyrone pressed and was forced to foul in the final few moments. He said, “The guys understand the situation; they have nothing to lose. I am proud of them for gutting it out.”

The Wildcats will seek to build some late season momentum when they host Heartland Conference foe Jersey Shore (5-15) Wednesday night. Central Mountain holds a 74-61 road victory over the Bulldogs on Jan. 11. The home stand will continue Thursday, Feb. 7 with District 6 Class 5A foe Hollidaysburg (9-8). The Hollidaysburg game will start at 6 p.m., as opposed to the usual 7:30 p.m. starting time.