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Central Mountain boys snap a seven-game losing skid

For the past two weeks it has been a rough stretch of games for the Central Mountain boys basketball team. Prior to Tuesday’s game against Hollidaysburg, the Wildcats had dropped seven straight games. That includes three straight single-digit defeats.

Tuesday’s 58-55 victory over the Golden Tigers was a breath of fresh air for the Wildcats. The win snapped a seven-game skid for Central Mountain and gave them some much needed momentum prior to postseason play.

“It feels great. I’m happy for these guys,” Wildcats coach Tyler Bardo said. “I think that it’s a long time coming for them. They have been in so many games like this and each game we get a little bit closer. Tonight, we were able to figure it out.”

The victory for Central Mountain was far from easy. The Wildcats saw their double-digit halftime lead over Hollidaysburg dwindle down to just two points at the conclusion of the third quarter. Although, Central Mountain was able to finish strong and avoid another heart-wrenching defeat. The Wildcats fell on a last-second shot to Montoursville on Saturday.

Bardo said when it comes to crunch time, his team is certainly experienced.

“We are definitely experienced in these situations. We certainly didn’t want another Montoursville situation to happen. I thought offensively we got a little bit away from ourselves. We started to attack space instead of straight-line drives and we kind of stifled ourselves. Not to take anything away from Hollidaysburg,” Bardo said.

It was a team effort that propelled the Wildcats to victory. Jack Hanna and Trevor Adair both scored 12 to lead Central Mountain in scoring. Outside of Hanna and Adair, Cayde McCloskey and Nick Long each added eight. Every Wildcat that stepped onto the court Tuesday night accounted for at least one point.

Bardo said that is the recipe for success is team basketball, and it has been for the entire season.

“It’s been our M.O. all year long. Any win that we get is going to be a team win. There’s no doubt about it. We never have a game where it’s just one guy, it’s so many contributions from everybody on the floor,” Bardo said.

It was entirely a team win for the Wildcats. Everyone on the floor contributed to the victory. But Adair’s individual performance did not go unnoticed Tuesday night.

The senior helped lead the Wildcats with 12 and proved to be solid for his team down the stretch. Adair said the win could not have occurred at a better time.

“It was a long time coming, we just work hard, and we stay the course. We know our record isn’t great, but we beat all the teams we played in our district and that’s all that’s on our mind. Keep going forward for the postseason,” Adair said.

Adair had a strong start to the game, tallying 10 points in the first half. He would go onto score just two more the rest of the way out, but they were at a crucial time. Adair knocked down two free throws with 26 seconds left to stretch Central Mountain’s lead to four and essentially put the game out of reach.

Adair said he was trying to redeem himself from the Montoursville game when the senior split the one-and-one late.

“I was confident. I knew I had to redeem myself from missing the back end from Montoursville and I know the team needed the shots. I was there to make it” Adair said.

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN (58)

Trevor Adair 4 2-2 12, Jack Hanna 4 2-5 12, Cayde McCloskey 2 3-3 8, Nick Long 4 0-3 8, Ashton Probst 3 0-0 6, Brett Gerlach 2 0-0 4, Ryan Pentz 2 0-0 4, Aidan Major 1 2-4 4. Totals 22 9-17 58.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (55)

Mitchell Kratzer 6 0-2 12, Cole Walters 3 0-0 8, Bryce Martellacci 3 2-7 10, Rocco Grassi 2 2-2 7, Jacob Hileman 2 3-4, 7, Jack McGinnis 1 2-4 5, Alan Wedel 1 0-0 3, Atticus Inhoof 1 0-0 3. Totals 19 9-19 55.

Central Mountain 22 17 5 14–58

Hollidaysburg 18 10 14 13–55

3-point goals: Central Mountain 5 (Hanna 2, Adair 2, McCloskey 1), Hollidaysburg 8 (Martellacci 2, Walters 2, Imhoof 1, McGinnis 1, Wedel 1, Grassi 1).

Records: Central Mountain 5-11, Hollidaysburg 4-9.

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