Wildcats stun Bellefonte for D-6 hoop crown!
WINGATE, PA – To call Central Mountain’s District 6 title win improbable would be an understatement. Their chances ebbing in the final couple minutes, trailing 52-48 into the final minute of play, Central Mountain somehow rallied to pull out a heart-stopping 53-52 win over top-seeded Bellefonte.
The Raiders, Mountain League champions and 19-4 coming into the contest, had built the 52-48 lead when Raider D. J. McCaslin made the first of two foul shots; but he missed the second and the Wildcats got the rebound and then a clutch corner 3-pointer from Ashton Probst to get within 52-51 with 13.6 seconds remaining.
Central Mountain stepped up its defensive pressure and knocked the ball away from Bellefonte in the Wildcats’ forecourt. Jack Hanna ended up with the ball and was fouled as he went up for a shot with 2.1 seconds remaining. That meant Hanna, who had been kept in check for much of the night by an aggressive Raider defense, had a chance to tie or give the Wildcats the lead.
The usually sure-handed junior missed his first foul shot but a Raider had stepped into the lane before the ball was released so Hanna got another opportunity. He drained the first one to tie the game at 52-52, then swished the second one to give Central Mountain the lead at 53-52. With just 0.02 seconds showing on the clock at that point, Bellefonte had no time to get off a decent shot, a three-quarter court heave well short of the mark and the Wildcats had their second district title in school history.
Pandemonium ensued as the team fell into a pile on the far end of the court and a large and raucous Wildcat following stormed the court and erupted in cheers.
The win continued a remarkable second-half-of-the-season turnaround for Coach Tyler Bardo’s team. 4-9 at one point, the Wildcats have won nine of their last 11 games to move to 13-11 on the year. The three-seeded ‘Cats knocked off the top seed in Bellefonte (19-5) and the win followed last week’s 68-53 road win over number two seed Shikellamy (15-8).
But Monday night’s win in the Bald Eagle Area gym did not come easily. The Wildcats were making a good percentage of their shots in the first half, riding to a 32-27 lead, junior Hayden Pardoe leading the way with 11 points. But scoring became more difficult in the second half as a veteran Bellefonte team (starting five seniors) fought its way back. The Raiders tied things up at 38 late in period three but Central Mountain took a 43-40 lead at the end of the quarter, punctuated by a Probst slam just before the buzzer.
The game was tied several times during the final period, the last time at 48-all with just over four minutes remaining. Points were hard to come by over those final minutes, Bellefonte was up 51-48, trying to run out the clock and the claim the district crown. Then the Raiders missed the second end of a foul shot opportunity, Probst drained his three and Hanna provided the tying and winning foul shots and the Wildcats went from losing a nail-biter to winning a district title.
Probst finished with 16 points, Pardoe with13. Cayde McCloskey was next with 8, Brett Gerlach with 7; Hanna followed with 6 and Essex Taylor provided 4 off the bench. Blair Eckley-Jones led Bellefonte with 18 points, Gannon Brungard with 10.
The win moves Central Mountain into the first round of PIAA play, scheduled to meet the fifth place team out of the WPIAL (District 7) on Tuesday, March 8, the game likely somewhere within District 6.
It should be noted Hanna’s last minute heroics came on the same date, Feb.28, as a District 6 title for the Lock Haven High team 24 years ago. His father, John Hanna, was a key player on that 1998 Bobcat squad which downed Central High School at Saint Francis University.
B 18 9 13 12 = 52
CM 19 13 11 10 = 53.
