EBENSBURG - Often times when teams from different conferences play each other in an early season tournament there will be a feeling out process as each team tries to figure out what the other team is trying to do offensively and defensively.
However, that was not the case in Thursday's night's opening round of the County Seat Tournament at Central Cambria High School.
Central Cambria and Penns Manor played each other 19 days ago on the same floor in the first round of the Ron Davidson Roundball Classic, with the Red Devils prevailing by 28 points. This time, Central Cambria took advantage of the knowledge it gained in its previous matchup with the Comets. The Red Devils used a stifling press that led to turnovers and easy baskets, and kept Penns Manor from getting into any kind of offensive rhythm in a 61-17 victory that propels them into the title game of the County Seat Tournament.
"We talked about that from seeing them earlier in the year," said Central Cambria head coach Adam Stephan of his team's full court press defense. "We thought that was one area that we could exploit, getting some easy buckets with the press and not letting them get into any kind of a flow offensively. It seemed to work the whole first half."
The Red Devils will battle Bishop Carroll in the title game of the tournament Saturday afternoon.
"Carroll is good," said Stephan. "They come out and pressure a lot. They are a well coached team. We are going to have to be able to handle the pressure. Watching them tonight, and seeing them on film a couple of times, they like to bring a lot of pressure. Their kids can shoot. They get out and they run a motion style offense, so we are going to have our hands full, but the kids will be up for the challenge."
BC earned the right to play Central Cambria for the tournament title with a 71-43 win over Blairsville in the first game.
Both CC and PM struggled at the start of the game. Penns Manor held a 3-0 lead 2 1/2 minutes into the game before Scott Holsinger put the Red Devils on the board with a basket. Holsinger scored on Central Cambria's next possession to give the Red Devils their first lead, 4-2. They never relinquished the lead.
Penns Manor's Mitch Hamilton scored the Comets' final points of the quarter with 4:19 left in the opening frame to cut the Central Cambria lead to 6-5. The Red Devils then closed the quarter on a 14-0 run to grab a 20-5 lead after eight minutes.
Even more impressive for Central Cambria was that they were able to make the run with their leading scorer, Tanner Ambrisco, struggling from the field in the first quarter. He finished the frame with six points, but did not score until there was only 1:42 left in the opening quarter. Trevor Zearing put a punctuation mark on the 14-0 Red Devils run with a three pointer just before the buzzer that gave Central Cambria a 15 point lead after eight minutes.
BISHOP CARROLL 71, BLAIRSVILLE 43
BLAIRSVILLE (43): Sisitki 0 1-2 1, McMillen 1 0-0 3, Held 2 0-2 4, R. Horchar 1 0-0 3, Williams 10 2-11 22, Henderson 1 3-4 5, Ratkus 0 0-0 0, Rydbom 1 1-2 3, A. Horchar 0 2-2 2. Totals 16 9-23 43.
BISHOP CARROLL (71): Madonna 1 0-0 2, Martinazzi 10 2-2 24, Shuty 0 0-0 0, Lee 8 2-3 18, Maruca 1 2-3 4, Ranck 5 1-1 11, Sukinos 4 4-4 12, Lucas 0 0-0 0, Woo 0 0-0 0, Burk 0 0-0 0, Ratchford 0 0-0 0, Swatsworth 0 0-0 0, Repko 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 11-14 71.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Blairsville10 9 12 12-43
Bishop Carroll16 27 11 17-71
3-point field goals: Blairsville 2 (McMillen, R. Horchar); Bishop Carroll 2 (Martinazzi 2).
Records: Blairsville (4-5); Bishop Carroll (4-2).
CENTRAL CAMBRIA 61, PENNS MANOR 17
PENNS MANOR (17): Hamilton 2 0-0 4, Kowalski 0 1-2 1, Rizzo 1 0-0 2, Horwat 0 4-7 4, Jewart 2 0-0 4, Tomayko 0 0-2 0, Popavich 1 0-0 2, Alter 0 0-0 0, Foreback 0 0-0 0, Sink 0 0-0 0, Carrick 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 5-11 17.
CENTRAL CAMBRIA (61): Seymour 5 2-3 12, Bowman 0 1-2 1, Holsinger 4 0-0 0, Hodgson 1 3-3 5, Ambrisco 6 4-4 18, Zearing 3 0-0 7, Tsikalas 3 0-0 6, Homan 2 0-0 4, Berzonsky 0 0-0 0, Magley 0 0-0 0, Leary 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 10-12 61.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penns Manor5 6 2 4-17
Central Cambria20 25 10 6-61
3-point field goals: Penns Manor 0; Central Cambria 3 (Ambrisco 2, Zearing).
Records: Penns Manor (0-6); Central Cambria (2-6).
