Swope
EBENSBURG — Central Cambria basketball has come to be greater than proficient sophomore JD Brouse.
Senior Brayden Swope took cost in the second half and scored 25 factors to steer the Red Devils to a 59-54 victory towards Penn Cambria in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference sport at Central Cambria Middle School on Wednesday evening.
Brouse scored 18 factors, together with 12 in the primary half. But whereas the Panthers keyed on him, the remainder of the team picked up the slack.
“(Brouse) brings everyone together. He does everything for us. Everyone focuses on him and he helps us do everything so much better,” Swope stated.
Penn Cambria assumed its largest lead, 44-34, with 44 seconds left in the third interval.
“And then Brennon McCloskey hit a big 3 to get it back to seven. And we continued to chip away and chip away. They had so much focus on JD that we had our guys trying to drive and hit certain gaps. And they were able to do that, and we were able to convert when they got to the rim,” Central Cambria coach Adam Stephan stated.
The Panthers nonetheless led by 10, 47-37, with 6:49 left in the ultimate interval. Penn Cambria coach Jim Ronan was at a quick loss for phrases when requested to elucidate how the double-digit lead obtained away.
“We stopped attacking the rim, and we were getting easy (looks) to the basket. And we didn’t run anything different. We just got a little hesitant. And our basketball IQ was a little off down the stretch. And they got some easy buckets because of it,” he stated.
“We have to get better in that moment, having a 10-point lead and being in a tight game down the stretch. It’s nobody’s fault. We have to get better as a team and have better chemistry, and that includes myself.”
Ridge Kutchman’s solely basket of the evening gave Central Cambria a 54-53 lead getting into the final minute of play.
“We’ve kept saying all year we have to limit their runs, and we have to take advantage of our runs,” Stephan stated.
Swope, who scored 12 factors in the final interval, hit 5 of 6 on the free-throw line over the past 40 seconds to spark the Red Devils. His presence proved evident all the way in which to the ultimate buzzer, when he dove on prime of a Panthers inbounds go with 2.3 seconds left.
“We’ve been talking all year (about) how our leadership hasn’t been where it needs to be. And tonight (Swope) brought everyone together. He kept everyone calm and his play down the stretch sealed the deal,” Stephan stated.
The Panthers hit eight 3-point area targets to Central Cambria’s three. The Red Devils made good on 18 of twenty-two on the free throw line to Penn Cambria’s 2 of 4.
Sophomore Rocco Barra, though he didn’t rating, led the Red Devils with eight rebounds and helped break the press as wanted.
Senior Caden Gibbons led the Panthers with 25 factors, adopted by classmate Landon Semelsberger (14).
PENN CAMBRIA (54): Lilly 1 0-0 2, Semelsberger 6 1-2 15, Gibbons 11 1-2 25, Jones 0 0-0 0, Nadolsky 1 0-0 3, Gides 0 0-0 0, Marshall 3 0-0 9, Himmer 0 0-0 0. Totals – 22 2-4 53.
CENTRAL CAMBRIA (59): Kutchman 1 3-4 5, SInisky 3 0-0 7, Swope 7 10-12 25, Barra 0 0-0 0, Brouse 7 4-4 18, McCloskey 1 1-2 4, Giles 0 0-0 0. Totals – 19 18-22 59.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
Penn Cambria 12 16 16 9 — 54
Central Cambria 12 11 14 22 — 59
3-point area targets: Penn Cambria 8 (Marshall 3, Semelsberger 2, Gibbons 2, Nadolsky), Central Cambria 3 (McCloskey, Sinosky, Swope).
Officials: Sean Albright, Devin Richardson, Dan Solomon.
Records: Penn Cambria (12-6, 10-4 LHAC), Central Cambria (8-9, 6-8 LHAC).
JV: CC, 48-39.