MILL HALL – The growing pains for Central Mountain girls basketball continued in its latest outing, but so did the flashes of progress.

On Thursday night, the Wildcats (4-13) played host to Milton (11-8) for their annual Senior Night. Seniors Morgan Davis and Elise McKean were honored prior to the action before each making an impact in their own right on the court.

“Great kids,” said Central Mountain head coach Scott Baker on the pair. “They’ve been through some winning days and some losing days, but more than anything, they come to work every day. They don’t complain about anything. They’re good teammates and great people.”

In terms of the basketball itself, there were positives and negatives for Central Mountain. A two-point second quarter put the team in a bind heading into halftime, but surges in the remaining quarters kept it interesting, as it fell to the Black Panthers by a score of 50-36.

It was a game Central Mountain head coach Scott Baker was optimistic about despite the outcome. Milton has been on a tear, having now won four in a row, but the Wildcats managed to lead after one and put itself back within striking distance in the second half.

“I’m looking out there in crucial moments and watching three freshmen on the floor, but there’s some good things happening,” said Baker. “Oftentimes, it’s not going to show on the scoreboard or win-loss column, and I’m okay with that as long as we’re keeping and continuing to get better.”

In the early goings of the third quarter, hints of a potential blowout were on the horizon. The Wildcats were coming off a two-point stanza, and Milton extended its lead to 32-16 with two quick layups to open the period.

But rather than get sloppy as it traversed its way towards another loss, Central Mountain kept at it. It would respond with its largest run of the night – a 9-0 run – to narrow the gap to seven just past the midway point of the third.

Camdyn Weaver hit a mid-range leaner to kick off the run and one possession later, she’d narrow the gap to ten with a putback layup. Payton Williams added a putback layup of her own to dip said deficit below double figures. Then, Weaver found Elise McKean open for her third three-pointer of the night, cutting the deficit to seven points.

From there, the run would be stifled, as Milton’s Carrie King (26 points) briefly put her team on her back with four straight buckets to re-up their lead to 14 heading into the fourth. But the Wildcats kept fighting, even as their lead grew to 18 three minutes into the final quarter.

There, Shailynn Fullerton would convert back-to-back layups to jumpstart a brief 6-0 run that narrowed the gap to 12, with one of those layups coming off her own steal. Payton Williams capped that closing spurt with a fastbreak layup on an assist from Weaver, as the Wildcats closed out the loss on a high note.

Camdyn Weaver and Elise McKean each finished with 12 points to lead the way for the Wildcats, with McKean converting all three of the team’s three-pointers. Payton Williams scored all six of her points in the second half while Weaver had three assists and two steals through the final two quarters.

Overall, one of the goals moving forward is to continue building on its ability to maintain that level of success. Central Mountain’s success tends to come and go in waves, a product of inexperience and a small bench. But there are signs they’re improving in that regard.

“We’ve had this problem quite often this season, where we’ve had a really good quarter before kind of doing nothing for a quarter,” said Baker. “We had three good spurts in the game. The young kids just need to learn how to play for four full quarters. We haven’t figured that part out yet, but in spurts, we’re showing some good things.”

The Wildcats will look to continue that progression on Saturday, as they travel to face off against Heartland-I foe Selinsgrove (7-14). That game is set for 1 p.m.

Milton 50, Central Mountain 36

MILTON (50)

Hayden Snyder 2 1-2 6; Lainey Snyder 1 0-0 2; Carrie King 10 2-2 26; Jaslene Holder 3 0-0 6; Liz Schrock 4 1-2 9; Camryn Hoover 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 4-6 50.

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN (36)

Elise McKean 3 3-4 12; Alaina Carnahan 1 0-0 2; Shailynn Fullerton 2 0-0 4; Camdyn Weaver 6 0-0 12; Payton Williams 3 0-0 6. Totals 12 3-4 36.

MIL 13 15 14 8 – 50

CM 14 2 10 10 – 36

Three-pointers: Milton 4 (King 3, Snyder); Central Mountain 3 (McKean 3).