MILL HALL — Defenses took center stage Monday night at Central Mountain High School where both the Wildcats and up-and-coming Bellefonte put the clamp on the each other’s offense for most of the contest.

In the end, the constant pressure and a very effective full court press was too much for the Raiders as Central Mountain won, 37-22.

“I thought we hustled in the first half. But I actually thought our defense did better in the second half. From a technical stand point I thought we executed better in the second half than the first,” said Central Mountain coach Scott Baker. “I think that is where we were able to get some separation from them.”

Leading the way for the Wildcats was the aggressive prowess of Tara Mader. Mader finished with a game-high 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals in the win.

Teammate Taylor Doyle finished with six points and eight rebounds.

For Bellefonte, Emma Rossman was persistent in the rebounding department, pulling down 11 rebounds.

Leading the offensive punch for the Raiders were Maria Cotter and Madison Ripka, both with eight points.

“I’m very proud of my defense. I told the girls that they played very good defense to win the game today. It’s just the shots didn’t go down tonight,” said Bellefonte coach Marcus Toomer.”There were at least 10-15 wide open shots that we would make in practice. We just didn’t make them today.”

Central Mountain held the edge in the rebound department by a 40-26 margin.

From the opening tip, both teams’ defenses went right to work.

The two combined to score 10 total points in the opening stanza.

Getting the scoring started was Doyle as she drove down the court and laid it in off of a steal from Kiahna Jones.

Minutes later, Mader stole the ball and finished things off with a lay up, making it a 4-0 contest.

With 4:35 left in the first, Doyle scored again, taking it strong to the hoop.

Mader got her fourth point with the quarter winding down. She also posted up inside for the bucket and gave the Raiders an 8-point advantage.

With just 1:20 left in the period, Sydney Hamilton hit a long jumper, cutting it to a 9-2 contest.

In the second quarter, Bellefonte started to warm up its offense and was able to notch seven points in the period.

However, Central Mountain would add 10 in the period to take a 19-9 advantage going into the intermission.

Ripka led Bellefonte with five while Central Mountain was led by Mader with four.

BELLEFONTE (22)

Maria Cotter 3 1-2 8, MacKenzie Ellenberger 1 2-2 4, Sydney Hamilton 1 0-0 2, Madison Ripka 3 0-0 8. Totals 8 3-4 22.

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN (37)

Macy Plowman 1 0-0 2, Danica Kelly 1 0-0 2, Tara Mader 8 3-5 19, Taylor Doyle 3 0-6 6, Chloe Kustenborder 1 0-0 2, Kiana Jones 1 0-0 2, Ava Doyle 1 0-0 2, Jacey Tripp 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 3-15 37.

Bellefonte 2 7 0 13 — 22

CM 9 10 10 8 — 37

3-point goals: Bellefonte 3 (Ripka 2, Cotter 1), CM 0.