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Dragons hurt by slow start

MARTINSBURG – Central stubbed its toe early against Penns Valley in a Mountain League matchup Tuesday night.

The Scarlet Dragons bounced back to play even with the Rams the rest of the way, but it was Penns Valley that came out on top, 52-39, after a 17-4 first-quarter run.

Central is hoping the game mirrors the rest of its season – a slow start followed by plenty of improvement and the ability to play with top playoff contenders.

“We’re pretty much all underclassmen who have had about 10 practices this year,” Central coach Reggie Nevins said. “Every time there is a (Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic) article in the paper, they talk about football. Well, there was five practices difference between us. We had the same season they did, so we missed four weeks of practice. All preseason, all our scrimmages and all everything, we missed them too. It’s never mentioned, but it’s mentioned every article about BG.

“They say their schedule was condensed, but ours was too. We have four games this week, three last week and three next week. You have no time to practice, and it’s hard to get repetitions and hard to work on things, even when you know what the team is going to do, because you can never practice.”

Central, which lost to Penns Valley by 19 on Dec. 18, was much closer Tuesday but never fully recovered from the Rams’ early run. Each starter scored at least one basket for Penns Valley in the first quarter, and the Rams kept the Dragons just far enough away to feel comfortable.

Justin Helsel’s 3-pointer on Central’s first possession in the second quarter cut the Rams’ lead to 19-13, but Penns Valley went into the half up by 10. A 10-0 Rams run to begin the second half seemed to seal the Scarlet Dragons’ fate, but Central got back within 10 with 4:20 to play.

Once again, Penns Valley had an answer, going on a 7-2 run that put the game out of reach.

Ben Alexander led all scorers with 16 points, Zach Engle added 12 points and Andrew Tobias scored 10.

“The seniors play with poise under pressure,” said Penns Valley coach Terry Glunt, who starts four seniors and one junior. “They cut it to six, but we were able to extend it before halftime. We kept them at bay in the second half. We knew the first time we played them that they’d only had a practice and a half, so we knew they’d be better. Reggie does a great job coaching them.

“They were better. It was a tough challenge, and if they’re hitting some shots, I don’t know what the outcome would have been.”

Central shot just 1-of-7 from beyond the arc in the first half, and a few of those attempts were several feet behind the 3-point line.

“We had to take some 3-pointers over their zone,” Nevins said. “They got a 7-foot guy in the middle (6-foot-7 Engle), and he blocks shots inside. At some point, you have to make some shots on the perimeter. We were shooting 2 or 3 feet behind the line instead of getting closer to the line, which I think we could have a number of times. A couple of feet makes a world of difference.”

Kyle Dodson led Central with 13 points, and Josh McKnight, who recently missed some games due to injury, added 10 points.

“We’re getting better and better every day,” Dodson said. “We’ll be better when the playoffs come around. We had a lot of injuries to go along with our late start, so we’re finally just now getting people back and ready for the playoffs.”

The Dragons slipped to 7-8, but Nevins said they have a good chance to improve on that record with five of their final seven games at home.

“Penns Valley is a hard team to beat,” Nevins said. “If we played them 10 times, I wouldn’t expect we’d beat them too many times, but you can beat anybody one time. That’s kind of where we’re at, looking forward to playoffs. A couple years ago, we made a run at the end. You tell the guys, at some point, you only have to beat a team one time, and that’s our goal, motivation and ambition for down the road.

“Most of the games we have left, we think we have a realistic chance to win. Clearfield will be tough, but the rest of them, I think we have a chance to win most nights if we play well.”

PENNS VALLEY (52): Alexander 6 4-6 16, Collison 2 0-0 5, Pearce 3 0-0 6, Tobias 4 2-4 10, Engle 6 0-0 12, Snyder 0 1-2 1, Butts 1 0-0 2, Stodart 0 0-0 0. Totals – 22 7-12 52.

CENTRAL (39): Helsel 2 1-2 7, Buchart 1 0-0 2, Dodson 4 5-5 13, McKnight 5 0-0 10, J. Muthler 3 0-0 7, Karstetter 0 0-0 0, Appleman 0 0-0 0. Totals – 15 6-7 39.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penns Valley19 9 13 11 – 52

Central10 8 10 11 – 39

3-point goals: Penns Valley 1 (Collison); Central 3 (Helsel 2, J. Muthler).

Records: Penns Valley (13-3, 8-1 in Mountain League); Central (7-8, 3-6 in Mountain League).

Officials: Rod Brumbaugh, Sarah Fye, Tracy Cornelius

JV: Central, 48-25. High scorers-Braden Stodart, PV, 7; Preston Karstetter, C, 16.

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