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By Nate Ritchey
nritchey@altoonamirror.com
MARTINSBURG -- No stranger to contact in any sport, Central's Hunter Smith is usually the one handing out the hits.
On Monday night, the senior stepped in front of a baseline drive by Hollidaysburg's Mason Goodman and took a hit as he drew a charge on the pass attempt that would have led to a Golden Tiger layup.
Instead, Hollidaysburg was forced to foul two more times to put Eli Muthler at the line where the junior made a pair of free throws to give his team a 3-point edge with 5.4 seconds left.
Jake Hileman's shot from 3-point range for the Tigers hit the back of the rim and Central held on for a 51-48 Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference victory.
"He (Smith) has made winning plays like that in every sport for four years," Central coach Paul Frederick said. "I don't know what else to say -- that's what he does. They (Hollidaysburg) have a layup there if he doesn't take that charge. Then, they are up one with (14) seconds to go. Totally a game-saving play from him."
It's the second time the two teams have met in less than two weeks. The Scarlet Dragons won 48-45 at Hollidaysburg in December.
"That's a good basketball team (Central)," Hollidaysburg coach Brad Lear said. "We're pretty good, too. They made some plays at the end and we didn't."
With Hollidaysburg leading 48-46, Smith came up with a steal on the defensive end.
At the other end, Mark Bettwy drove baseline on the Tigers' defense and before the defender could close off his passing lane, the senior found Nick Garver wide open on the opposite corner for 3-pointer that Garver drilled to give Central the lead at 49-48 with 1:32 left to go.
"Nick's made numerous clutch shots for us this year," Frederick said. "He had the game-winner against Penn Cambria in game number two. He's hit three or four crucial 3's for us throughout the season and he did it again here tonight."
The Golden Tigers were deliberate on their next offensive trip.
With just 14 seconds to go, Goodman was called for the offensive foul -- his fifth of the night -- after he spun and drove when Bettwy went for a steal in the corner.
Goodman's pass wound up in Hileman's hands for a lead-changing layup but it was wiped away on the charge call.
The first half featured five ties and nine lead changes with Hollidaysburg's six-point edge at 21-15 being the largest when Jake Hileman made a layup off his own steal around the five minute mark of the second stanza.
Central responded with a 10-2 run to claim a 25-23 advantage when Troy Butler buried his third 3-pointer of the opening half off with 1:32 remaining.
The Golden Tigers' Kasen Metzger hit a free throw line pullup to knot things up at 25-25 before teammate Carson Rhodes gave his team the lead back on a driving layup.
Smith hit nothing but net on a fadeaway with 3.6 ticks to go to send the contest into the break at 27-27.
Muthler hit a pair of free throws coming out of the break off a steal by Butler to give Central a 29-27 lead.
Hollidaysburg got a trey from Cole Walters, his third of the evening, to take a lead it wouldn't relinquish the entire third and most of the fourth quarter until Garver's eventual game-winner with 1:32 left.
"We threw a lot of different plays at them (Central)," Lear said. "It seemed like in the fourth quarter they just had an answer for everything."
The Tigers took control in the third as they got up by as many as five (37-32) when Hileman made a layup. The Tigers took a 44-39 lead into the fourth quarter where they appeared to lose a little momentum by slowing the game down.
"We were just trying to get some rest when they (Central) would allow us to get some rest. We really weren't trying to milk the clock or anything -- that's not our M.O.," Lear said.
A flip shot inside by Leyton Weimert gave the Tigers a 46-41 edge at 7:25 of the final stanza before Bettwy's layup cut it back to three (46-43) nearly three minutes later.
A Weimert putback wasthe last bucket of the night for the Tigers (48-43 lead).
Smith came back and buried a 3-pointer at 3:17 to bring Central within 48-46 before the late game-ending scenario took place.
HOLLIDAYSBURG (48): Goodman 1 0-0 2, Hileman 6 0-0 12, Weimert 3 0-0 6, Walters 5 0-0 14, Holsopple 1 2-2 4, Rhodes 1 0-0 2, Steiner 2 0-0 6, Albarano 0 0-0 0, Metzger 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 2-2 48.
CENTRAL (51): Garver 3 0-0 9, Muthler 4 4-5 12, Butler 4 0-0 12, Smith 5 0-0 11, Albright 1 0-0 2, Long-Yarrison 0 0-0 0, Bettwy 2 1-2 5. Totals: 19 5-7 51.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Hollidaysburg 15 12 17 4 -- 48
Central 12 15 12 12 -- 51
3-point field goals: Hollidaysburg 6 (Walters 4, Steiner 2); Central 8 (Butler 4, Garver 3, Smith).
Records: Hollidaysburg (8-3); Central (10-2).
JV: Central, 47-44. High scorers — Metzger, Zimmerman, H, 13 each; Heuston, C, 15.