Williamsport ladies hold onto victory over Wildcats

By rscaife
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Updated: February 11, 2017

By Kenny Varner
LOCK HAVEN – With everything going against them early on against Williamsport, the Central Mountain girls basketball team rallied back from a 23-11 deficit and was able to cut the deficit to just four early in the final stanza.
However, despite the strong play by the Wildcats, the Lady Millionaires came up big down the stretch to hold onto the victory, 45-34 in the front of the Central Mountain fans Friday night.
“We battled tonight. The first half we were kind of sluggish we do come out slow but not at this point of the season. We talked about the three E’s today, Energy, effort, and execution and tonight we did two out of the three. We didn’t execute very well offensively. In the first half we didn’t execute defensively,” said Central Mountain coach Terrance Green. “But I told them they got the game too four. That was a big shot by Sadie McCaleb to get it down to four. We had plenty of time to come back but we just didn’t take care of the ball. Overall we took care of the ball well but there were key spots that I think we settled in a little bit too much and we could not get it going late. I told them the effort was there we just need to take care of the turnovers.”
Leading the offensively for the Wildcats was Elaina Eckley, who netted 14 points. Twelve of her 14 points came via the free throw line. She was the only Wildcat who finished in double-digit scoring.
For the Millionaires, the team was led by the fastbreak speed of Jada Mialey who posted a game-high 22 points. Most of her buckets came in transition.
In the first quarter, Williamsport, with the help of Mialey’s eight points, posted a quick 16-4 advantage.
Things faired much better for the Wildcats in the second quarter as both teams finished with seven points each in the period.
When the buzzer sounded to start the intermission, Williamsport led 23-11.
In the third, Central Mountain scored its highest out out of the game while holding the Millionaires to nine points while posting 13, ending the third quarter scoring, trailing 32-24.
At the beginning of the final stanza, the Wildcats were able to get it to as close to four points before the opportunistic offense of Williamsport caught a wave a momentum, resulting in the 45-34. vIctory.
Central Mountain was successful in the JV contest, winning 31-27.