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Central Mountain boys win District 4-6 Class 5A playoff game against Shikellamy

The Central Mountain boys basketball team is on a revenge tour and one of its stops was in Sunbury Tuesday night. It was 348 calendar days ago when Shikellamy stunned the Wildcats in last year’s District 4-6 Class 5A title game at Bald Eagle Area High School.

Central Mountain didn’t forget about it, instead it used the loss as fuel toward this season.

The fuel ignited something inside as the Wildcats managed to go on the road Tuesday and knock off the 15-7 Braves, 68-53, behind Jack Hanna’s game-high 23 points.

“Last year we (Central Mountain) obviously we suffered a bad loss in the championship. All year we’ve been talking about 59-42–the score we lost by–it’s been our motivation,” Hanna said.

Hanna was spectacular for the Wildcats during their win. The junior connected on three 3s and was productive on both ends of the floor all night long.

Although the win did not easy for Hanna and the Wildcats. They had to battle and overcome an 11-0 deficit at the beginning to earn the win. After a shaky first quarter, Central Mountain went on to outscore Shikellamy, 58-42. A well-known score between the two schools.

“Our schedule prepares us for stuff like this,” Wildcats coach Tyler Bardo said. “We played tough road games and we’ve found ways to win tough road games. Did we want to get down 11-0? Of course not. It was a testament to these guys to stay together–it’s what we talked about early on.”

It wasn’t until the 6:47 mark in the second quarter when someone other than Hanna for Central Mountain scored. Ashton Probst–who posted 16 in the win–dropped a layup in for the basket and then the game flipped.

The Wildcats looked as if they were a completely new team. Shortly after Probst’s basket, Hanna connected on his third three of the night to tie the game at 15.

Shikellamy was stunned.

“They jumped on us right away, we had to persevere and figure things out,” Hanna said regarding his strong first half. I was just trying to answer to that run and give us a little bit of life. It felt good, so I just kept shooting.”

After taking the lead on a Hayden Pardoe layup later in the second, Central Mountain never trailed again the rest of the way out. Pardoe ended his night with 19 total points and went 1 for 1 from the line.

“That’s been him all season,” Bardo said in regard to Pardoe’s performance in the win. “I don’t know if he’s gotten out to a quick start at all this season. He’s just been able to let the game come to him. Defensively is where he picked it up.”

The Wildcats went on to outscore the Braves, 40-34, in the second half.

At one point, it looked as if Shikellamy was going to sneak back into the game. Probst and the Wildcats didn’t allow that to happen as they had one goal in mind. Just win.

Feeling the pressure, Probst dropped a dime-like pass inside to Pardoe for the bucket. It halted the Braves’ run and kept the momentum on the Wildcats side.

“That’s what our goal was,” Probst said after the game. “It was to come to here and beat Shik (Shikellamy).

Even when the Wildcats were making errant passes or allowing offensive boards late, Bardo knew his team was capable of shutting the door.

“We needed to just stay within ourselves. They were getting us a little with their 2-2-1. They did a good job at making it sloppy but ultimately, we were able to stick with it and find our way through it,” Bardo said.

Central Mountain’s 11th victory of the season catapulted the Wildcats into the District 4-6 title game against the Red Raiders of Bellefonte.

A well-known opponent for Bardo and the Wildcats.

Bellefonte, who finished the regular season with an area-high 18 wins, downed Central Mountain earlier this season.

“They’re experienced and they play really well together,” Bardo said regarding Bellefonte. “They’re experienced in their guards, Nick’s (Way) a good ball-handler. Obviously, Blair (Eckley-Jones) is very consistent with what he does. They’re going to give us a lot to look at in two days.”

The two solid teams met very early in the season; in fact, it was Central Mountain’s first game. Since then, both teams look as if they’ve reinvented themselves.

“I think they’re a great team,” Hanna said in regard to the Red Raiders. “They got us the first game for sure, I think things will be a lot closer Friday.”

The revenge tour for the Wildcats continues.

CENTRAL MOUNTIAN (68)

Jack Hanna 8 4-4 23; Essex Taylor 1 0-0 2; Hayden Pardoe 8 1-1 19; Owen Persun 1 0-0 2; Cayde McCloskey 2 0-0 4; Ashton Probst 8 0-1 16; Levi Schelesinger 0 2-4 2. Totals 28 7-10 68.

SHIKELLAMY (53)

Ryan Williams 1 1-2 4; Cam Lenner 5 0-0 10; Scott Miller 2 0-0 4; John Peifer 7 0-0 16; Trey Wallace 0 2-2 2; Mason Deitrich 3 2-2 8; Kaden Hoffman 4 0-0 9. Totals 22 5-6 53.

CM 10 18 16 24–68

Shikellamy 11 8 16 18–53

3-point goals: CM 5 (Hanna 3, Pardoe 2), Shikellamy 4 (Peifer 2, Williams 1, Hoffman 1).

Records: Central Mountain (12-11), Shikellamy (15-8).

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