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Hoy, Verrelli lead Central Mountain to opening win over DuBois

By From staff reports 4 min read

On Wednesday night, the Central Mountain boys basketball team kicked off its 2024-25 season by playing host to DuBois (1-1), who had previously kicked off the season undefeated with a double-digit win over Johnsonburg. That undefeated record didn't last long however, as the Wildcats came out of their home opener victorious by a score of 54-47.

It was a strong start for Central Mountain, who's looking to build off a season where it finished with a 13-10 record. Head Coach Tyler Bardo was pleased with the team's opening performance, giving them credit for really getting things going scoring wise in the second half.

"I was very pleased with how we kind of overcame the early drought, which lasted about two-and-a-half quarters. Battled some nerves and got some really good shots," said Bardo. "We showed really good mental toughness to just keep playing through that and trusting that the shots we were getting were good ones. Eventually, they'd fall."

The game was tight in its early goings, with the Wildcats going into halftime with a one-point, 18-17 lead.

Though DuBois picked up its scoring a bit in the second, Central Mountain picked it up as well, putting up 36 points in the second half and 20 in the fourth quarter. Darius Shade played a big role in that surge, nailing three three-pointers in the fourth to help the team maintain control.

"I thought Darius did a really good job of just staying the course. He understood that the shots he was getting were good shots and they just hadn't fallen. Once they did, he has an ability to hit them by the bunches," said Bardo on Shade. "When you're making shots, that frees things up and allows the game to just flow a little easier for you at both ends of the floor."

Senior Hunter Hoy led the way with 18 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Max Verrelli handled the heavy lifting early, scoring nine of his 15 points in the first half, six coming in a particularly low scoring second quarter for both squads. And Shade and Caleb Mahoney combined for 16.

"Hunter did a good job. I thought he battled through some tough moments shooting the ball, especially at the rim. There in the fourth quarter, he got it going and got himself to the free throw line, which is always important when you're struggling to shoot the ball," said Bardo.

"Overall, everybody turned in really solid performances at both ends of the floor. DuBois is an excellent first opponent and a great introduction to what varsity basketball is like. We had some juniors stepping into varsity roles for the first time that handled themselves very well."

Though it struggled a bit from the line, Central Mountain made up for it behind the arc, hitting five three-pointers on the day to Dubois's two. Overall, the team kicked off the season on a good note, which it'll look to carry forward into the initial weeks of the season.

"The biggest thing is going to be how consistent can we be with the energy we had last night. First game, it's always easy to have that energy, especially first home games," said Bardo. "It's a whole other thing to be able to carry that energy over and carry it over to road games and an environment that's not our own."

For their next game, the Wildcats (1-0) will travel to Warrior Run, with that matchup against the Defenders set for 6 p.m. on Friday.

Central Mountain 54, DuBois 47

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN (54)

Blake Walker 1 0-0 2, Max Verrelli 7 0-0 15; Hunter Hoy 5 7-12 18; Caleb Mahoney 3 1-2 7; Jeremy Reese 1 0-2 2; Noah Wells 1 1-2 3; Darius Shade 3 0-0 9. Totals 21 9-18 56.

DUBOIS (47)

Maddox Bennett 2 8-9 12; Aiden West 4 0-0 9; Noah Farrell 4 4-6 12; Dylan Horner 0 2-2 2; Trey Wingard 4 0-0 9; Thacher Hanzely 2 2-6 6. Totals 16 16-23 45.

3-pointers: CM 5 (Shade 3, Verrelli 1, Hoy 1); DuBois 2 (West 1, Horner 1).

Central Mountain - 10 8 16 20 - 54

DuBois - 12 7 11 16 - 47

Records: Central Mountain 1-0; DuBois 1-1.

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