Wildcats host first round PIAA playoff on Saturday 5:00 PM Tip-Off
Editors Note: Due to weather concerns Friday the game has been moved to Saturday at 5:00 PM Tip-Off
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – It will be a well-rested Central Mountain basketball team taking the floor on its home court Friday night at 7 o’clock. For the Wildcats it will be their first game since winning their second consecutive District 4-6 title back on Feb. 25.
Friday’s game will be live streamed, audio-video, on therecord-online. Tickets for the contest can be purchased online at PIAA Website; cash will not be accepted at the door.
Friday’s opponent will be Lampeter-Strasburg from Lancaster County, the seventh-place finisher in the PIAA’s mammoth District 3. The Pioneers have been on a break too, but not as long, winning their seventh-place contest over Warwick High School, 70-55, on Wednesday, March 1.
L-S, as how the team is described in sports stories, has a longtime successful program, competing in the Lancaster-Lebanon County League. Their coach is Ed Berryman who has won four conference coach of the year awards since 2018. The Pioneers have been a PIAA playoff team five times in recent years, most recently last year and this year.
L-S lost is best player, Ben Wert, to a season-ending knee injury in mid-January. The 6-3 senior had been averaging 24.1 points per game at the time of his injury. The team has averaged 56 points per game this year, the current top-scorer 5-11 sophomore guard Chase Smucker, averaging 13.9 points per game.
The Pioneers like to fire off 3-pointers, making better than five a game, led by Smucker, 43-of-98 from beyond the arc, or 44 percent. Smucker also leads L-S in steals (1.7) and assists (2.8). 6-3 senior Luke Hines is the leading rebounder at 5.5 per game; Hines is second in scoring with 9.8 points per game.
Central Mountain coach Tyler Bardo termed the Pioneers a great team, adding, “They’re a quality program with a great coach that prepares them well. This time of year, all programs are quality and have earned the opportunity to play basketball in March.”
Friday’s winner will advance to the PIAA 5A second round on Tuesday, March 14, the opponent the winner of a Friday game between the District 7 (WPIAL) runner-up Peters Township (23-4) and the District 3 sixth place finisher, Milton Hershey (19-8).
