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Wildcats defeat Millionaires for first time since 2013

It is difficult to call it a bounce-back victory, but Central Mountain was able to hop back into the win column Monday night with on the road at Williamsport following a loss Saturday to Mount Carmel.

Ava Renninger tallied a game-high 15 points, Avery Baker added 14 and Kiahana Jones posted a double-double as Central Mountain downed Williamsport, 58-46. It marked the Wildcats’ first win against Williamsport since 2013.

“You don’t want to stack losses. You want to stack wins,” Wildcats coach Scott Baker stated after his team’s 15 win of the season “We played a good ball game on Saturday, we told the girls their effort was tremendous, they had nothing to be ashamed of. Tonight, was kind of a workman like effort. I don’t think we played exceptionally, particularly in the half-court offense. We got the job done; it was nice to get a win.”

Jones got to work early for the Wildcats. The sophomore forward racked up Central Mountain’s first six of eight points to begin the game. Jones ended the night with 10 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.

The combination of Jones on the boards, and the Wildcats’ ability to score out of transition truly decided the game for Central Mountain.

Renninger–who continued her solid season by reaching double-digits in scoring for the 14th time this season–operated Central Mountain’s very well Monday night. The freshman not only dropped a game-high in points but dished out seven assists and grabbed five boards.

Most of the assists came in transition. Baker said transition offense is an area the Wildcats have focused on as of late.

“We have been working some on the transition, we didn’t feel as if we were scoring enough out of it early on. The two areas where we tried to focus on more–in the few practices we’ve been able to–have been baseline out of bounds play, as well as transition,” Baker said.

The attention to detail regarding transition offense certainly paid off. Central Mountain ended the game with 16 points off turnovers.

As for the Williamsport, the Central Mountain backcourt proved to be too much to handle. The Millionaires struggled to get stops late in the game. Williamsport had the Central Mountain lead down to nine at one point in the fourth, but ultimately came up short.

“At times we played a good team game. We did some things that we worked on and we didn’t quit. They were a good team,” Williamsport coach Terrill Seward-Buxton said. “We didn’t keep composure in times we needed to. We missed a lot of layups. Certain things we worked on defensively, we didn’t do, but they (Central Mountain) were able to adjust.”

It was not all bad in the loss for the Millionaires, Kailee Helmrich and Payton Baney both scored 12 a piece to lead the Millionaires offensively. The two also added 10 rebounds each.

Both Williamsport and Central Mountain are set to compete in the PIAA district tournament next week as the two will find out their bracket placement this weekend.

Central Mountain 18 19 11 10–58

Williamsport 15 13 10 8–46

Central Mountain (58)

Ava Renninger 6 2-2 15, Avery Baker 5 3-4 14, Kihana Jones 4 2-2 10, Mia Kopyscianski 2 2-2 8, Quinlynn McCann 3 0-0 6, Alyssa Fisher 1 0-0 3, Reese Doyle 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 9-10 58.

Williamsport (46)

Payton Baney 6 0-0 12, Kailee Helmrich 5 0-0 12, Sarina Beiter 3 2-2- 8, Ella Wilson 3 1-2 7, Alex Chilson 1 2-4 4, A’Niyah Andrews-Hardy 1 0-0 2, Danyse Washington 0 1-2 1. Totals: 19 6-11 46.

3-point goals: Central Mountain 5 (Kopyscianski 2, Renninger, Baker, Fisher), Williamsport 2 (Helmrich)

Records: Central Mountain 15-2, Williamsport 3-11.

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