×

Central Mountain Sports Week-In-Review

MILL HALL — The fall sports season hit the mid-way point last week with mixed results for the Central Mountain teams: Boy’s soccer picked up two big wins, golf and girl’s tennis swept their events, girl’s soccer lost four games but showed some improvement, and football, girl’s volleyball and cross-country struggled. Let’s break it all down.

The boy’s soccer team had a busy week with three home contests. On Tuesday night, it was Jersey Shore that visited Malinak Stadium and wow, was it a competitive and exciting contest. Regulation wasn’t enough. Not until the last two seconds of overtime did anyone find the back of the net as CM’s Jeremiah Thomas scored to win a thriller for the Wildcats 1-0. On Wednesday, it was Williamsport visiting Bald Eagle Township and again, it was a very competitive high intensity contest, but this time it was the visitors that walked away with the win by a 3-0 score. The boys finished off their week in fine fashion on Saturday as they defeated Bellefonte by a 3-0 score. When asked about the solid week for his team as well as where he feels they are at this point in the season, head coach Billy Hook had this to say, “Having three home games was a nice boost of energy for us. The late dramatic win against Jersey Shore really ignited us and has sparked the confidence. We played well against Williamsport, but they were just the better team Thursday night. Saturday’s win was everything coming together: trust in each other, playing the right way, being creative. While we still have some things to clean up and continue to work on, I really like where our heads are at and the effort the team is showing.”

For the girl’s soccer team, it was a 0-4 week, but they did demonstrate some improvement in three of the four contests. At Altoona on Monday, the game was very competitive until about 15 minutes remaining when the hosts took control and struck for a couple of goals to put the game away as they won, 4-0. Wednesday night’s game against Montoursville at Malinak Stadium was not as competitive, as the visitors rolled to a 7-0 victory. On Saturday, the ladies headed to BEA for a tournament and faced off with Hollidaysburg in the opening round. This game was as competitive as they come. The two teams were scoreless after regulation and tournament rules called for penalty picks to decide the winner. In the shoot-out round, it was Hollidaysburg that narrowly prevailed by a 3-2 score. A tough way to end a hard fought contest, but one that the ladies need not hang their heads over. In the consolation game, the Lady Wildcats faced off against the Lady Bulldogs from Jersey Shore, and once again it was a tight contest, but CM ultimately fell 2-0 as they dropped to 1-7-1 on the season. Now I’m not a big believer in moral victories, but I do feel strongly about the process of team development. While they were 0-4 this week and have obviously struggled to find victories in the first half of the season, it is my view that some progress is being shown by this very young team in terms of figuring out how to play hard and compete at the varsity level. This week will be key in determining if there is a carry over. A brutal week lies ahead with home games against Williamsport, Mifflinburg, Selinsgrove and Jersey Shore. Williamsport and Mifflinburg each defeated the Lady Cats soundly early in the season.

The golf team is flat out boring to report on. They just keep destroying their opponents. I trust that the readers of this column found the sarcasm in my statement. Yep, it was eight more wins last week for the Wildcats as they swept meets at Susquehanna Valley Country Club and White Deer against PHAC opponents to push their overall season mark to 21-0 (16-0 PHAC). Brady Williams led the Wildcats with a round of 81 on Wednesday while it was Logan Fisher with a 75 on Thursday to lead the way. Also notable for the Wildcats on Thursday was that all six scoring golfers broke 100 with three of those golfers shooting 80 or better. Those numbers are not highly common in local high school golf.

The Lady Wildcats tennis team got back to doing what they do last week as they swept three matches by 5-0 scores over Shikellamy, Selinsgrove and Mifflinburg. The team is now 8-2 (7-1 PHAC) on the season. For sure, the team is getting solid play throughout the lineup.

Football lost 49-7 at undefeated Clearfield on Friday night. Now 0-5 on the season, the Wildcats will head to Shikellamy this week to take on the struggling 0-5 Braves who’ve scored just 20 points on the season. Many will want to say that this will be victory No. 1 for the Wildcats. While I do believe that it will be, it should come with a sense of caution. Two 0-5 teams will both likely be motivated by the fact that they believe their first win is in sight. Therefore, both should be playing with a heightened sense of emotion. In such a game, mistakes will play a huge role. The team that is able to limit their mistakes will win.

In cross country, the boys went 1-3 at Lewisburg on Tuesday. The victory was over Jersey Shore. Corbin Green was the top finisher for the boy’s as he finished in 6th place overall while Cristina Lugg was CM’s top finisher on the girl’s side finishing in 9th place. The girls went 0-4 on the day.

The youthful Lady Wildcats volleyball team was defeated by West Branch at home and then at Hollidaysburg both by 3-0 scores. They traveled to West Branch High School on Saturday for a tournament, but no results were available as of the time of this writing.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Without question, it would be easy to go with both the golf and tennis teams once again. However, this week I’m going to throw some love toward the boy’s soccer team. Coach Hook has his team playing hard and beginning to trust in themselves and each other. The second half of their season should provide loads of fun. I love watching teams progress and this team seems to be doing that right now.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Well, this week it’s not exactly easy to choose. That’s a good thing. However, a decision must be made and it’s golfer Logan Fisher with a low round of 75 at White Deer on Thursday, and an honorable mention to Jeremiah Thomas for his late game heroics vs. Jersey Shore in the Cats’ 1-0 double OT win. Just an FYI, I’m watching those soccer defenders on both the girls and boys teams and I’m seeing some solid play. Could they be chosen next week? We’ll see.

CAT SCRATCHINGS: The amount of communicative talk in the Williamsport and CM boy’s soccer game was impressive. Communication is key in sports and those two teams seem to understand that very well. Lady Cat’s goalie, Haley Swortwood, made some solid stops this week and continues to make strides in her play as the season rolls along.

LOOKING AHEAD: It’s getting to that time of the season that it’s fair to ask, can the golf team go undefeated? It’s never an easy task, but judging by their scores in relation to those of their opponents, it certainly appears realistic. Can the Lady Cats soccer team develop consistency down the stretch? Three out of four games last week provided some hope. This is another case where perhaps we are beginning to see youth growing up. Will it continue? The football team has perhaps its best opportunity of the season for victory on Friday night. Can they avoid the mistakes that have plagued them in the first half of the season and get the win? The answers to these and other questions will be at least partially revealed this week. Hope to see you at the events. For me personally, it will be Lady Wildcats Soccer on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, my first look at volleyball on Tuesday and some open gym hoops on Thursday. Yep, basketball will be here before you know it and I need to get prepared. I am certainly excited.

Go Wildcats!

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $3.69/week.

Subscribe Today