HOLLIDAYSBURG — Letting games get away early in the season was an issue for the Penn Cambria High School boys basketball team.
It isn’t so much the case any more.
Penn Cambria has learned how to keep its foot on the pedal for four quarters, and on Thursday night, a strong second half lifted the Panthers to a 55-42 non-league win over Hollidaysburg at the Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School gymnasium.
In a game in which momentum pinballed back and forth for the better part of three quarters, Penn Cambria took command by scoring the last six points of the third quarter and carrying the fourth quarter, 16-8 to win a matchup that was a lot more tightly-contested than the final score might indicate.
“In our first two games this season we had leads and lost both of them, but tonight, we put together a pretty solid second half,” said Penn Cambria coach Jim “Scooter” Ronan, whose team squared its season record at 5-5. “We just had the will to win, and we never lost our composure.
“Those first two games threw us for a loop, and it’s taken us time to get back on track to become the team that we thought we could be.”
After Hollidaysburg (1-5) took a 34-33 lead when senior forward Rocco Grassi ducked under a defender for a layin late in the third quarter, Penn Cambria responded with an inside bucket by sophomore Zach Grove, a wide-open layup by junior forward Mason McCarthy, and a field goal off a drive by sophomore forward Garrett Harrold to take a 39-34 lead into the fourth quarter.
Hollidaysburg drew to within one point, 39-38, on a 3-pointer from the left side by senior forward Rocco Grassi and one of two free throws by junior forward Mitchell Kratzer early in the fourth quarter, before Penn Cambria closed with a 16-4 run to put the game on ice.
Grove started the surge with a 3-point play, scoring a layup and free throw after being fouled on the shot, but Grassi’s putback pulled Hollidaysburg to within 42-40.
Penn Cambria then rattled off eight straight points and 13 of the game’s last 15 to win going away. A 3-point field goal by senior guard Jake Tsikalas from the left side, McCarthy’s 3-point play on a field goal and foul shot, and Harrold’s driving floater put Penn Cambria ahead, 50-40 with under two minutes left.
After Kratzer’s field goal, Penn Cambria scored the game’s final five points. McCarthy, who scored a game-high 21 points, made four of four free throws around one of two free throws from Harrold to set the final score.
“It was a great team effort,” McCarthy said. “We never stopped fighting. We wanted this game, and we worked very hard to get it.”
Ronan gave McCarthy plenty of props.
“Mason McCarthy is a tremendous leader for us both offensively and defensively,” Ronan said. “He got a lot of big buckets when we needed them tonight, and a lot of big rebounds when we needed them.”
Harrold added 13 points for Penn Cambria. Hollidaysburg, which was led by junior forward Jake McGinnis’ 15 points and Grassi’s 12, didn’t take proper care of the basketball, according to Golden Tigers coach Brad Lear.
“We had at least 20 turnovers, maybe 25,” Lear said. “We were getting pretty much every shot that we wanted, but we had too many turnovers and missed layups. You can’t come down the floor and turn the ball over on half of your possessions and expect to have success.
“That’s been a problem for us all season,” Lear added. “We haven’t been very good at either dribbling or passing the ball, and our decision-making has been lacking, too.”
Young role players off the bench stabilized Penn Cambria late in the second quarter, when the Panthers reeled off nine straight points to take a 28-23 halftime lead.
After McCarthy’s inside bucket and a steal and a layup by Tsikalas, freshman Easton Semelsberger – who scored 29 points in Penn Cambria’s junior varsity victory – hit a 3-pointer from the right corner, and McCarthy converted a reverse layup to cap off the Panthers’ 9-point surge.
Grove, Semelsberger, and sophomores Vinny Chirdon and Kyle Reese all lent the Panthers a steady hand off the bench in the second quarter.
“We had some young kids who came in and gave us a tremendous spark in the second quarter,” Ronan said. “Give them all credit for jump-starting us and getting us going.”
Penn Cambria visits Bishop Guilfoyle in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference game tonight, while Hollidaysburg hosts Johnstown Saturday afternoon.
PENN CAMBRIA (55): Harrold 6 1-3 13, Smith 0 0-0 0, Karabinos 0 0-0 0, McCarthy 8 5-5 21, Tsikalas 3 0-0 8, O’Donnell 0 0-2 0, Semelsberger 1 0-2 3, Reese 1 0-0 2, Grove 3 2-4 8, Chirdon 0 0-0 0. Totals – 22 8-16 55.
HOLLIDAYSBURG (42): Kratzer 3 1-2 7, Martellacci 0 0-0 0, McGinnis 5 3-4 15, Imhoff 1 0-0 2, Grassi 5 1-3 12, Wedel 2 0-0 6, Hileman 0 0-0 0, Rhodes 0 0-0 0, Goodman 0 0-0 0, Holsopple 0 0-0 0, Naugle 0 0-0 0, Walters 0 0-0 0. Totals – 16 5-8 42.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penn Cambria 11 17 11 16 — 55
Hollidaysburg 9 14 11 8 — 42
3-point goals: Penn Cambria 3 (Tsikalas 2, Semelsberger); Hollidaysburg 5 (McGinnis 2, Wedel 2, Grassi).
Officials: Frank Garritano, Chris Garritano, Keith Fry.
JV: Penn Cambria, 59-48. High scorers–Easton Semelsberger, PC, 29; Cole Walters, H, 14.
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