Two ~ Unbeatens Tango it out...
Posted: December 24th, 2005, 11:37 pm
Two un~beatens tango it out...
Central Cambria holds off Windber....
By MIKE MASTOVICH
The Tribune-Democrat
EBENSBURG —
Central Cambria overcame Windber’s fast start with a big second quarter and won an inter-conference match up of unbeaten teams Friday night.
The 6-0 Red Devils edged the visiting Ramblers 54-49 in a fast-paced, often physical meeting of Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference and WestPAC contenders.
“That was pretty intense, and we needed one of those,” said Windber coach Kevin Charney, who felt that the 4-1 Ramblers eventually will benefit from facing the Devils. “We needed to play against some good competition in the area. Central Cambria is a fine team, a well-coached team. I think this opened some of our kids’ eyes that we need to perform a little better going into our league play and the Windber Rotary Tournament.”
Windber led 5-0 early and held a 17-15 first-quarter advantage. The Ramblers tallied the first six points of the second quarter.
Then the Devils put together a 23-13 advantage that included a 14-0 run. Central Cambria led 38-30 at halftime.
“Windber really took it to us early in the game,” Red Devils coach Steve Traino said. “Their kids were excited and they were outrebounding us and outhustling us. We rotated a few kids in and got some of the starters a little bit of rest. They just came in and picked it up.
“I think both teams had reached a little fatigue point, and our kids just made that little spurt. Our kids gutted it out and that got us that little cushion. Those young kids coming in and resting our starters was big.”
Central Cambria’s Justin Davidson scored a game-best 18 points. His 3-point field goal at 4:07 of the second quarter tied the score at 25-all and started the 14-point run.
“Justin is a senior, a leader,” Traino said. “He’s been great with the young kids. He’s been great at practice. He’s a fine player in big games. He stepped up big for us.”
Jon Wirfel had 12 points for the Devils, and Ben Peacock had nine rebounds.
Windber’s Matt Wilson had a team-high 12 points.
He and Joe Swinger each had seven rebounds as the Ramblers outboarded the Devils 32-28. Windber had 15 of those rebounds early in the first half. Central Cambria grabbed 21 of its boards in the final three quarters.
“That was just an attitude adjustment,” Traino said. “They came out really intense. It was a tremendous atmosphere. You had two undefeated teams. The student bodies were here. They wanted it a little more early.
“Without rebounds, we had no transition game. Once we got that going, we got some easy baskets.”
Charney agreed that Windber briefly held an emotional advantage, but the Devils maintained their composure long enough to eventually take charge.
“We told our kids we needed to control the tempo,” Charney said. “If they got control of the tempo, then we were going to be playing catch up. Our guys came out strong at first and we did have the tempo for a while. It slowly slipped away in the second quarter. Then in the second half it was back and forth.”
"THE CHOPS".
Central Cambria holds off Windber....
By MIKE MASTOVICH
The Tribune-Democrat
EBENSBURG —
Central Cambria overcame Windber’s fast start with a big second quarter and won an inter-conference match up of unbeaten teams Friday night.
The 6-0 Red Devils edged the visiting Ramblers 54-49 in a fast-paced, often physical meeting of Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference and WestPAC contenders.
“That was pretty intense, and we needed one of those,” said Windber coach Kevin Charney, who felt that the 4-1 Ramblers eventually will benefit from facing the Devils. “We needed to play against some good competition in the area. Central Cambria is a fine team, a well-coached team. I think this opened some of our kids’ eyes that we need to perform a little better going into our league play and the Windber Rotary Tournament.”
Windber led 5-0 early and held a 17-15 first-quarter advantage. The Ramblers tallied the first six points of the second quarter.
Then the Devils put together a 23-13 advantage that included a 14-0 run. Central Cambria led 38-30 at halftime.
“Windber really took it to us early in the game,” Red Devils coach Steve Traino said. “Their kids were excited and they were outrebounding us and outhustling us. We rotated a few kids in and got some of the starters a little bit of rest. They just came in and picked it up.
“I think both teams had reached a little fatigue point, and our kids just made that little spurt. Our kids gutted it out and that got us that little cushion. Those young kids coming in and resting our starters was big.”
Central Cambria’s Justin Davidson scored a game-best 18 points. His 3-point field goal at 4:07 of the second quarter tied the score at 25-all and started the 14-point run.
“Justin is a senior, a leader,” Traino said. “He’s been great with the young kids. He’s been great at practice. He’s a fine player in big games. He stepped up big for us.”
Jon Wirfel had 12 points for the Devils, and Ben Peacock had nine rebounds.
Windber’s Matt Wilson had a team-high 12 points.
He and Joe Swinger each had seven rebounds as the Ramblers outboarded the Devils 32-28. Windber had 15 of those rebounds early in the first half. Central Cambria grabbed 21 of its boards in the final three quarters.
“That was just an attitude adjustment,” Traino said. “They came out really intense. It was a tremendous atmosphere. You had two undefeated teams. The student bodies were here. They wanted it a little more early.
“Without rebounds, we had no transition game. Once we got that going, we got some easy baskets.”
Charney agreed that Windber briefly held an emotional advantage, but the Devils maintained their composure long enough to eventually take charge.
“We told our kids we needed to control the tempo,” Charney said. “If they got control of the tempo, then we were going to be playing catch up. Our guys came out strong at first and we did have the tempo for a while. It slowly slipped away in the second quarter. Then in the second half it was back and forth.”
"THE CHOPS".