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Golden Tigers fight off Dragons

MARTINSBURG — In what has been a mediocre season to date, Hollidaysburg Area High School boys basketball coach Brad Lear was yearning to see the type of performance that his team put together Monday night.

Led by senior guard Sam Servello’s 23 points, the Golden Tigers put three players in double figures and clipped county rival Central, 56-43, in a non-league game at the Central High School gymnasium.

“I’m just tickled to death,” Lear said after watching the Tigers square their season record at 8-8. “We’ve known that we can play like that. I told the kids that when they’re in a tight game, mistakes become magnified, but if you’re scoring the ball well, you can get through a couple mistakes.

“This year, we’ve been playing behind a lot,” Lear said. “Tonight, we were playing from ahead, and we were able to keep the lead.”

Hollidaysburg gained the upper hand by carrying the second quarter, 24-12, to take a 32-24 lead at intermission. Servello had 15 points in the second quarter, including four 3-pointers. His 3-pointer from the right side just before the buzzer gave the Golden Tigers the eight-point halftime lead.

Central (11-3) scored the first seven points of the third quarter to pull to within 32-31. Junior Braden Kitt, who led the Scarlet Dragons with 16 points, scored a field goal from the paint and a 3-point shot from the right side, and sophomore Hunter Klotz added an inside bucket, during the Scarlet Dragons’ rally.

But Hollidaysburg promptly responded with a 10-2 run to close the third quarter with a 42-33 lead.

Junior forward Jaden Delerme, who scored 14 points, got the Golden Tigers rolling with a 3-pointer that gave Hollidaysburg a 35-31 lead. After senior Owen Batzel hit a jumper from the key to put Hollidaysburg ahead, 37-31, Servello got free from the left side in transition and buried a 3-pointer to stake the Tigers to a 40-31 lead.

After Central freshman Tyrell Rolle hit two free throws, Delerme’s putback right before the buzzer gave Hollidaysburg the 42-33 lead at the three-quarter pole.

“That 10-2 run was pretty big,” Lear said. “Sam (Servello) hit that (3-pointer) from the top wing. I thought that was a pretty big big shot.”

Servello and Lear both thought that the Tigers played solid defense on Monday.

“We played really good team defense, and we played well offensively as a team,” said Servello, who had six 3-pointers in the game. “Everybody was getting shots, and everybody was scoring. We really stress defense in every game. We want to make that our strong point.”

Lear felt that the Tigers’ defense, which has generally been solid all year, was the biggest factor in Monday’s game.

“The difference was the way we played defensively,” Lear said. “This was a good win against a team that is very well-coached.”

Hollidaysburg started the fourth quarter strong and expanded its lead to as many as 15 points, 50-35, on another Servello 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 3:45 left in the game. It capped off an 8-2 surge that also featured two field goals and a free throw from Delerme.

Junior Josh Holsopple, with 12 points, was the third Golden Tiger to reach double figures.

“We usually have two in double figures,” Lear said. “We were waiting for a game where we got three in double figures. I guess tonight was the night for that to happen.”

Hollidaysburg controlled the boards, fashioning a 24-15 edge in rebounds, with Delerme grabbing a game-high eight.

Central coach Reggie Nevins felt that the Tigers’ rebounding, particularly on the offensive boards, went a long way in determining the outcome of the game.

“I thought the story of the game was their rebounding,” Nevins said. “They killed us on the offensive boards in the first half. Rebounding has been our strong suit, but we didn’t box out well tonight, and they got several second-chance opportunities.

“We let Servello get shot after shot after shot in the second quarter,” Nevins said. “He scored 15 points in the second quarter, and got every shot that he wanted to.”

It was a good overall effort, and a solid victory, for Hollidaysburg.

“It was a good team win,” Delerme said. “We played a lot better offensively, and defensively, we got some big stops.”

All of which left Lear extremely pleased.

“We knew that we would have a challenge tonight,” Lear said. “But I think our kids stepped up and played really well.”

Hollidaysburg visits Central Mountain Wednesday night, while Central hosts Bald Eagle Area in a Mountain League game Wednesday.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (56): Batzel 3 1-2 7, Delerme 6 1-1 14, Servello 8 1-1 23, Holsopple 5 0-0 12, Barton 0 0-4 0, Yeager 0 0-0 0, Gildea 0 0-0 0, Stevenson 0 0-0 0. Totals — 22 3-8 56.

CENTRAL (43): Kiotz 2 0-0 5, Albright 0 0-0 0, Muthler 3 2-2 9, Kitt 6 2-5 16, Kling 1 0-0 2, Eberlin 1 0-0 2, Ferry 1 0-0 2, Liebal 0 0-0 0, Rolle 2 2-2 7. Totals — 16 6-9 43.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Hollidaysburg 8 24 10 14 — 56

Central 12 12 9 10 — 43

3-point goals: Hollidaysburg 9 (Servello 6, Holsopple 2, Delerme); Central 5 (Kitt 2, Muthler, Klotz, Rolle).

Records: Hollidaysburg (8-8); Central (11-3).

Officials: Bill Pfeffer, Joe Bilka, Sean Albright.

JV: Hollidaysburg, 47-43. High scorers–Shane Gildea, H, 13; Tyrell Rolle, C, 21.

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