Shade pounds CC! Wow

[southpaw]

Panthers, Tigers headed for Mountain Cat title tilt
BY CORY ISENBERG
The Tribune-Democrat

Shade and Hollidaysburg moved into the championship of the 31st Annual Mountain Cat Tournament for high school boys with first-round wins on Friday night.

The Panthers earned their first shot at a tourney title with a 75-44 victory over defending champion Central Cambria while the Golden Tigers roared to a 63-42 win over Bishop McCort to earn their third straight chance at the crown.

In the opener, Joel Kaminsky and Josh Barnes each scored 17 points and Garrett Berkey added 15 for Shade (3-2), which shot 51.7 percent for the game.

Barnes also had nine rebounds.

The Panthers, who held Central Cambria ace Jordan Miller to 14 points, limited Miller to just three free throws in the first half. The senior guard scored his first field goal at the 7:08 mark of the third quarter.

“We’ve emphasized the importance of coming out and playing with some defensive intensity and I think we responded,” Shade coach Wade Fyock said. “We had a little bit of a reality check the first week of the season and have played a lot of basketball in the last nine days.”

The Red Devils led 12-6 after the first quarter, but the Panthers came storming back in the second, outscoring Central Cambria 23-11 for a 29-23 lead at the half.

“I think nerves played a factor for both teams,” Fyock said. “I thought we settled in and started to see the floor a little better offensively and I think that was the difference.”

Shade continued to press its advantage in the third quarter with a 27-8 surge, taking its largest lead of 31 points in the frame. The Panthers finished with a 19-13 advantage in the fourth.

Blake Bussard supplied 10 points for the Red Devils (2-2), who also got eight rebounds from Caleb Handlon.

“I think Shade is very, very good,” Central Cambria coach Steve Traino said. “I told them I think it’s the best team we’ve played to this point. They spread the ball out and outhustled us.”

In the second game, the Crimson Crushers led just once, 7-6 at the 3:31 mark of the first quarter. The Tigers ended the quarter on a 15-4 run to take the 21-11 advantage and never looked back.

Bishop McCort trailed by 15 at the half and cut into the Hollidaysburg lead to trail by 11, 45-34, after three quarters.

The Tigers outscored the Crushers 18-8 in the fourth.

“Hollidaysburg was much better in the transition game than we were,” Bishop McCort coach Pat Hollern said. “I thought we did some things well. We’re a work in progress. We’ll get better.”

Luke Ottaway led all scorers with 21 points for Hollidaysburg (2-0) with Jordan Swauger adding 13 and Luke Rhodes supplying 12. The Crimson Crushers got 12 points from Josh Penrose and 11 rebounds from Bill Dill.

“It’s just the second game of the year,” Hollidaysburg coach Nick Pentoney said. “We do a great job of getting after it and covering up our mistakes.”

Congrats to the Shade Panthers! A huge win for Coach Fyock and his team. Good luck against the GT's.

Kind has a Hoosier feel to it. Shade knocking off CC and now plays H-burg.

[whozisgonnab]

There are other teams touted on this board for which the game is a 'me' thing. One thing that stands out is the way Shade played together, moved the ball around and frustrated CC completely.They play as a team and no one tried to be the hero or standout. Each had their roles and did their thing. Can't forget the coaching. Wade Fyock had them prepared and ready to take em on.

Congratulations. Its an accomplishment that so many other schools would luv to have to their credit.

[FBD]

i always said shade was good, and i always said that westpac basketball is not like westpac football, there are actually decent teams

[nash112358]

The Panthers, who held Central Cambria ace Jordan Miller to 14 points, limited Miller to just three free throws in the first half. The senior guard scored his first field goal at the 7:08 mark of the third quarter.

Any team that does that will beat CC.

[Dfense wins games]

Yeah, but how many teams will be able to?

[whozisgonnab]

...Well, that depends on how many teams decide to call upon the Shade coach to ask him how a team of boys from Shade did it! Seems to me that is the one thing that is lost on so many of you who post here. It isn't the Byers, or the Millers or the Abramovichs--or the "whomever", its a TEAM that's doing it.

Note to Self: Gotta get our coach to move to a TEAM mentality!

DON'T BE :mrgreen: BE:

-One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Shade proved that against CC!

[vikingz91]

Shade completely dominated that game, cc didnt know what to do. jordan miller was held basically scoreless all on great coaching on wade fyocks part. seemed like the denied the ball to jordan miller and if he caught they trapped to have him give it up. props to the shade panthers and coach fyock on their win.

[Sleepy Floyd]

It's hard to believe that Conemaugh Township, Penn Cambria, or Westmont's coach didn't employ this strategy this year.

Props to Coach Fyock. You can bet on Coach Hollern from McCort using that tactic tonight. I am sure he would have even if Fyock had not done it last night.

[DrJerkyllMrHide]

The refs for both the consey and championship games at the MountainCat Tourney did a nice job. I'm no fan of some of the refs that took the floor, but gotta give credit when its due.

[MegaCoolMan]

The refs for both the consey and championship games at the MountainCat Tourney did a nice job. I'm no fan of some of the refs that took the floor, but gotta give credit when its due.

From what i understand, the McCort junior high coach got to ref the McCort/Holidaysburg game. How in the world did that happen?