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Revisiting Central Mountain boys basketball’s first District Championship season

(EXPRESS FILE PHOTO) In this Feb. 25, 2017 photo, the Central Mountain Wildcats are all smiles and decked in gold medals after winning the District 6 Championship, 65-63, over the Hollidaysburg Golden Tigers. The championship was the program's first district crown in school history.

By SHAREIK FLOWERS

sflowers@lockhaven.com

MILL HALL- Former Central Mountain boys basketball coach Scott Baker knew he had a district championship-worthy roster entering the 2016-17 season.

The 13-member team possessed an ideal-combination of athleticism, depth, ball handling, perimeter-shooting skills and most importantly senior leadership. In fact, when the 2017 seniors were in junior high the coaching staff determined they sported the capabilities to compete for a championship in high school.

“Going back to seventh grade we really did think that if things fell into place, and that things went the way that we hoped, that we would have a shot,” Baker explained. “To kind of have it work out the way it did was almost magical.”

The coaching staff’s assessment seems almost prophetic in retrospect. The group of seniors, Justin Neff, Kyle Everhart, Brody Baker, Wyatt Bumbarger, Nicolas Carpenetti, Yash Adroja and Landon Breon — who was sidelined his senior year with a labrum injury but served as a team manager — all profoundly progressed during their athletic pilgrimage from junior high prospects to high school ballers. The accumulated talent, and home-grown aspirations to succeed, resulted in Central Mountain prospering over Hollidaysburg, 65-63, to win the District 6 Championship on Feb. 25, 2017

The win catapulted the team into the Central Mountain history books as it was the first district crown in the program’s history. Four years prior Cole Renninger nearly led the Wildcats to its first district title in school history, but they dropped a heartbreaking 63-59 double overtime loss to State College in the championship game back on Feb. 27, 2013.

The 2012-13 squad finished the year with 16 wins, and the 2016-17 boys basketball team upped them by one victory– with the extra win culminating into a gold medal. The title team’s cohesiveness separates them apart from past Wildcat squads.

“I think it had really good balance,” Baker said. “We didn’t have a lot of size but we had really good balance in terms of scoring. And I think the other thing that made them successful was that they really played well together.

“For the most part the group was together from the time they were in third or fourth grade, and with an addition here and there it was pretty much the same core group who moved all the way through. I think that was a big factor as well. The balance and the fact that they really played well together.”

Central Mountain excelled in nearly all aspects of the game that season as they ran an offensive-system that was “very much guard-oriented.”

Brody Baker was the team’s primary ball handler at the point guard position, while Kyle Everhart, the school’s No. 1 all-time 3-point scoring leader, led the team with 14.5 points per game. Wyatt Bumbarger was also an effective-outside shooter, and Justin Neff, although undersized for his position, typically handled the big-man duties in the paint.

Central Mountain’s bench equally contributed to the title as much as the starters did. The reserves played key roles — adding valuable assets as nine members of the team played at least 22 games that season.

“Even a kid like Isaiah McCann, who was a junior that year, while he didn’t get a ton of minutes, there were a number of games where he would come in and we would switch to a one-three-one and he would play the point for us and create some turnovers [on defense,” Baker said.

Sophomore Collin Jones was just beginning to scratch the surface of his high school career that season. Along with Tanner Lavelle and Jacob Skrtich, Jones was one of three sophomores that season to see playing time on the varsity team. He averaged just four points per game that season but developed to expand his talent and win the conference MVP award his junior and senior season.

“(Collin’s) offensive-game wasn’t where it ended up being as junior and a senior, but we knew he was athletic at that point,” Baker said of Jones. “At that point he was just a young kid, but he had a good body and he gave us some quality minutes.”

The Wildcats finished the regular -season with a 15-8 record that year — securing an opening round home-playoff matchup versus Bellefonte — a team it had beaten by 30 points in its regular-season opener. Central Mountain led 28-16 at halftime, and by as many as 16 in the second quarter, before a near second-half collapse almost derailed its championship aspirations. CM fumbled the lead as Bellefonte took a 44-42 edge late in the fourth. Brody Baker responded with a three of his own and Everhart knocked down a pair of clutch free throws to send the Wildcats to the title game, 47-44.

“To be honest, we were very fortunate to be (in the district championship),” Scott Baker explained. “In the first game of the season we beat Bellefonte by 30 in the opener. They had us on the ropes at home. We were beating them pretty good at halftime, and then we did nothing in the third quarter and they got us pretty good. Then the fourth quarter we were able to do just enough to survive it.”

Central Mountain’s win secured them a third showdown with Hollidaysburg that season in the district championship game. CM dropped the first two meetings that year against the Golden Tigers — each by seven points, and the third meeting continued an immensely-competitive series between the competing schools.

The nature of the game was back-and-forth action as both teams matched their opponents’ scoring and defensive stops for the duration of the first half. But by the end of the third quarter, the Wildcats’ offense surged before taking a 46-38 lead into the final period.

Suddenly, with their backs against the wall, the Golden Tigers finally exploded on offense. They scored nine unanswered points in the fourth and evened the game at 54-all with 2:15 remaining.

“It could have easily been a “here we go again” kind of thing when Hollidaysburg went on that run,” Baker explained. “But we made a couple plays here and there, whether it was a bucket or defensive-stop, and came away with the thrilling finish.”

Both teams exchanged threes before Wyatt Bumbarger’s trey recaptured Central Mountain’s lead, 63-60 with 40 seconds remaining. Matt Storeman converted a pair of free throws and Hollidaysburg’s last-second three was too little too late as CM secured the victory, 65-63.

“We’ve been working on this since sixth grade,” an enthusiastic Bumbarger said in his post-game interview. “The pressure’s been put on us, but we worked hard, fought hard and we got it.”

Scott Baker says it’s a thrilling victory and the memories will last eternally.

“It was an experience that I’ll honestly never forget,” he said. “Obviously I’ll forget a lot of the little nitty-gritty details, but it’s certainly a moment in coaching that I’ll never forget.”

Central Mountain ended its season two weeks later with a 55-46 loss to Cathedral Prep in the first round of the state tournament — but the loss did nothing to erase the overwhelming joy created by the year’s success.

Since then every member of the 2016-17 team have graduated — and some have continued their athletic careers at the collegiate levels.

Collin Jones just recently completed his freshman season as a member of the Lebanon Valley College men’s basketball team, while Brody Baker utilizes his talents at Penn College. Justin Neff plays football at Penn State and Trevor Hanna competes on the Penn State DuBois baseball team.

A coach’s bond with his players forges a long-lasting impact on their life. To this day, Baker monitors the careers of his former athletes and often shares words of encouragement with them.

“It’s neat to see them mature,” Baker said. “I follow Collin’s career, talk to him when I see him and sometimes send him a text that says ‘good game’ or whatever. But it’s neat to see them mature into young men. You just hope that as a high school coach you had a little bit to do with the success that they’re having now.”

The 2016-2017 Central Mountain Boys Basketball Roster

SENIORS

Yash Adroja , Brody Baker , Wyatt Bumbarger Nicolas Carpenetti , Kyle Everhart , Justin Neff.

JUNIORS

Tyler Adair, Trevor Hanna, Isaiah McCann, Matthew Storeman.

SOPHOMORES

Collin Jones, Tanner Lavelle, Jacob Skrtich.

STAFF

Scott Baker-Head Coach

Tyler Bardo-Varsity Assistant

Abby Weaver-Manager

Skylar Falls-Manager

Makenzie Peters-Manager

Alexis Soo-Stats

Landon Breon-Stats

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