Wildcats continue best start ever, down Shik, 72-35
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – Central Mountain High School has been around for a little more than a couple decades now and until Wednesday night, no Wildcat basketball team had ever started off 9-0. But this year’s Wildcat squad has so far gone where no previous CM team had gone: a 9-0 start, with seven of those contests on the road.
Central Mountain returned home Wednesday and got a solid team effort on the way to a 72-35 victory over Shikellamy (3-6). Eleven different Wildcats scored, paced by Jack Hanna and Hayden Pardoe with 16 each; the two senior standouts did all their scoring in the first three quarters and sat out the final eight minutes as coach Tyler Bardo was able to clear his bench as the contest went into the mercy rule.
The Wildcats continued their scoring onslaught, their 72 points matching their seasonal average. Dom Longworth came off the bench with 11 points, Hunter Hoy with 8. Other points came from Xavier Persun 5, Darius Shade and Levi Schlesinger with 4, Brady Myers 3, and 2 each from Essex Taylor, Jeremy Reese and Caleb Mahoney.
Central Mountain never trailed and opened a double-digit lead after one at 18-8 over a young Brave team. By halftime it was 37-19 for the home team and the Wildcats went on a 17-point run at the end of period three for a 65-25 lead and reserves finished up.
Coach Bardo, even with the win, said, “There’s a lot of room to grow…looking at building depth.” He said the Wednesday game offered that opportunity, citing improvement too from sophomore point guard Hunter Hoy and improved play from frontline back-ups Brady Myers, Dom Longworth and Xavier Persun, the latter three coming off football season with a truncated basketball preseason.
The Wildcats will be back home Saturday, a 7 p.m. match-up with Milton (4-4).
The Wednesday game was Military Appreciation Night and prior to the game, the school recognized Sadie McCaleb, a 2018 Central Mountain grad and a multi-sport star. She is into her fourth year at the United States Naval Academy and later this year will join the US Marine Corps for ground unit training. She was presented a plaque and a received a standing ovation from those in attendance. She is the daughter of Crystal and Earl McCaleb of Tylersville.
Sh 8 11 6 10 = 35
CM 18 19 28 7 = 72
