Wildcats hold off Hollidaysburg, 68-60; advance to D6 final
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – It was a game marked by runs from both teams and when the contest was on the line Monday night, Central Mountain had the most important one, eight straight points down the stretch, leading to a 68-60 win over visiting Hollidaysburg. The Golden Tigers had used a 12-point run of their own to close within 56-54 in a furious rally to start the final period. With the game in doubt, the Wildcats used foul shots from Cayde McCloskey, Aidan Major and Jack Hanna and 2-point field goals from Hanna and Major to open up a 64-54 lead en route to the win.
With the victory the Wildcats move to the District 4/6 Class 5A title game Thursday, the location to be confirmed Tuesday. The opponent will be Shikellamy (8-12), which edged Bellefonte 39-37 in the other semifinal contest on Monday. Central Mountain (7-12 and winner of three of its last four games) owns two regular season wins over the Braves, 49-41 at home on Feb. 3 and 63-57 at Shik on March 1. Hollidaysburg saw its season end with a 3-14 record.
Central Mountain trailed early against Hollidaysburg, but McCloskey got hot towards the end of the first period, scoring nine of his 15 total points in period one; Central Mountain led, 24-18 after one. The game stayed close in period two, the Tigers taking a 31-29 lead at one point, but CM closed with a rush for a 37-36 half time lead.
It looked like the Wildcats would put the game away in the third period, pressing the visitors and outscoring them, 17 to 3, to take a 54-39 lead into the final period. Hollidaysburg had other ideas and behind full-court pressure made its run to get within two points. But a variety of Wildcats stepped up down the stretch and CM moves on to Thursday’s title game, hoping to win the school’s second district championship and first since the first one in 2017.
‘Cat Coach Tyler Bardo, asked about the win, said “As always, it’s not one guy” but a team effort. He did make mention of Major and his play on both ends of the floor, including a 3-pointer he drained just before the buzzer to end the third period. Bardo noted his team has not had to play with large leads down the stretch, and did enough to answer the Golden Tiger run and come away with the win.
As for Thursday’s match-up with Shikellamy, Bardo he “likes the opportunity to play another game.”
Central Mountain had balanced scoring, Hanna and McCloskey both with 15;Ashton Probst had 11, Trevor Adair with 10, Brett Gerlach and Major with 8 and Nick Long with 2.
CM 24 13 17 14 = 68
H 18 18 3 21 = 60
