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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
EBENSBURG -- Penn Cambria won its fifth consecutive championship in the Ron Davidson Roundball Classic at Central Cambria High School Saturday afternoon.
Panthers coach Jim Ronan said the thrill never gets old.
Penn Cambria captured first place in the four-team tournament by building on a very strong second quarter and staving off host Central Cambria, 64-53, in the championship game.
"No it doesn't,'' Ronan said when asked if winning the tournament championship ever feels like a mundane event. "This is the 16th straight season I've brought our team up to this tournament. It's a fun tournament. We really enjoy it here.''
Senior guard Easton Semelsberger, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, and junior guard Gavin Harrold, who also earned an all-tournament selection, shared game scoring honors with 19 points apiece for Penn Cambria (2-0).
After Central Cambria bolted to a 16-8 lead after one quarter, Penn Cambria gained the upper hand by carrying the second quarter, 27-12, to take a 35-28 lead at intermission.
Semelsberger scored 11 points and Harrold seven during Penn Cambria's second-quarter surge, in which the Panthers closed the quarter on a 13-2 run.
Harrold's driving layup pulled Penn Cambria to within a point, 26-25, before Semelsberger came up with a steal and a layup, then drained a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to put Penn Cambria ahead, 30-26.
After a bucket by Central Cambria senior guard and all-tourney selection Connor Serenko temporarily interrupted Penn Cambria's outburst, the Panthers got two free throws from Harrold and a 3-pointer on a shot from the left corner by senior Blake Lilly for the seven-point halftime advantage.
"I thought that we played well as a team today,'' Semelsberger said. "I think we just got off to a slow start and we were playing a little scared at the beginning, but then we realized that we could actually lose this game and that we needed to pick it up, and we got a couple shots to fall for us.''
Penn Cambria unleashed its running game in the second quarter after switching defenses.
"In the first quarter, we were in a defensive setup that slowed us down offensively,'' Ronan said. " We got out of that defense in the second quarter, and we got into our running style and that freed up our athletes to make plays.
"That's when the game turned around for us,'' Ronan added.
Even so, Central Cambria (1-1) did not go away quietly. Led by Serenko's team-high 18 points and 12 from junior guard Grady Snyder, who was also an all-tournament selection for the Red Devils, Central Cambria used defensive pressure to shave a 55-41 early fourth-quarter deficit all the way down to just five points, 58-53, on Serenko's 3-pointer from the top of the circle and a free throw from senior Joe Iacano with just under two minutes left to play.
But Harrold came up with a big layup with just over a minute remaining after Penn Cambria beat Central Cambria's press, giving the Panthers a 60-53 lead, and Semelsberger and Harrold both made two of two free throws in the final minute to salt the decision away for the Panthers.
"Penn Cambria is a very hard team to defend, and they're hard to stop when they get rolling,'' Central Cambria coach Adam Stephan said. "Their constant defensive pressure just caught up to us, but I am happy with the way that our guys competed today.
"Our guys battled and competed all the way to the end,'' Stephan added. "This was a very good test for us, and hopefully, we can continue to improve.''
With junior Tommy Plunkett grabbing seven rebounds and Harrold and senior Carter McDermott corralling six apiece, Penn Cambria fashioned a 29-17 edge on the boards. Central Cambria senior George Dill had a game-high eight rebounds.
"I thought that we played better today than we did (Friday) night,'' said Harrold, whose Panthers won their tournament opener Friday, 75-47, over Cambria Heights. "We definitely rebounded better, and we played better defense.''
Game notes: Penn Cambria converted 22 of 52 floor shots for a 42.4 percent clip, while Central Cambria made 20 of 41 for 48.8 percent ... Other all-tournament selections were Cameron Abrams of Cambria Heights and Jon Updyke of Conemaugh Township ... In Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference games scheduled for Tuesday night, Penn Cambria visits Johnstown and Central Cambria travels to Bedford.
PENN CAMBRIA (64): Harrold 5 6-6 19, E. Semelsberger 7 2-4 19, McDermott 3 1-2 7, Gibbons 3 1-2 7, Farabaugh 1 0-0 2, Cherico 2 0-0 5, Lilly 1 0-0 3, Plunkett 0 2-4 2, L. Semelsberger 0 0-0 0, Rabish 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-0 0, Strittmatter 0 0-0 0. Totals - 22 12-18 64.
CENTRAL CAMBRIA (53): Serenko 8 2-4 18, Snyder 3 5-6 12, Iacano 3 1-2 7, Swope 4 0-0 10, Dill 2 0-1 4, Pittsinger 0 0-0 0, Ray 0 2-2 2, Muldoon 0 0-0 0. Totals - 20 8-13 53.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penn Cambria 8 27 18 11-- 64
Central Cambria 16 12 13 12 -- 53
3-point goals: Penn Cambria 8 (Harrold 3, E. Semelsberger 3, Cherico, Lilly): Central Cambria 5 (Serenko 2, Swope 2, Snyder).
Records: Penn Cambria (2-0), Central Cambria (1-1).
Officials: Randy Burkett, Shawn Sinclair, Anthony Brezovic.