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By Kevin Petrochko
For the Mirror
MARTINSBURG -- Led by senior Eli Muthler, the Central Scarlet Dragons boys basketball team stayed unbeaten at 3-0 in the young season as they secured a 73-48 victory over the Central Mountain Wildcats on Friday night.
Muthler led all Dragon scorers with 34 points, including seven 3-pointers.
"Our offense really moved the ball well," Muthler said. "We were able to make shots as a team."
Central started off well in the first quarter, scoring 26 points en route to a 26-8 lead after one.
However, the Wildcats responded well in the second quarter with 13 points, leaving the score at halftime, 33-21 Central.
"We did a lot of good things," Scarlet Dragons coach Paul Frederick said. "We played as hard as we could the whole night."
In the second half, junior forward Christian Heuston went 3 of 4 from the foul line and nailed a 3-pointer for the Dragons. They outscored the Wildcats, 21-9, making it 54-30 heading into the final frame.
"I missed a couple shots early on," Heuston said. "But then I started picking it up."
Josh Beltz, Bentley Dickson and Lukas Black contributed four points each for the Dragons' 19 total points in the fourth quarter.
Three games into the young season, the Central focus is on getting better in practice to prepare for league play according to its coach.
"It's nice to be 3-0," Frederick said. "We're just trying to put together good practices and then play as well as we can during these games. These early games, it's nice to win them, but we're focusing on trying to get better as a team."
Central Mountain coach Tyler Bardo knows his team has to play better if it wants to stay in games like this on its schedule.
"They made a lot of shots, and we did not." Bardo said. "That's been something that we're struggling with, just being able to score the basketball."
The Scarlet Dragons will travel to Bellefonte on Tuesday. Central Mountain will face Loyalsock Township on Wednesday.
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN (48): Walker 0 2-2 2, Vervelli 4 1-1 11, Hoy 1 2-2 5, Mahoney 2 2-4 6, Reese 1 0-0 2, Wells 4 2-4 10, Dorman 2 0-0 6, Shade 2 0-0 6. Totals: 16 9-15 48
CENTRAL (73): E. Muther 13 1-3 34, Byler 2 0-0 6, Black 2 0-0 4, J. Muthler 3 0-1 8, Heuston 2 3-4 9, Lingenfelter 1 0-0 2, Beltz 2 0-0 4, Dickson 2 0-0 4, Member-Meneh 1 0-1 2. Totals: 28 4-9 73
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central Mountain 8 13 9 18 - 48
Central 26 7 21 19 - 73
3-point field goals: Central Mountain 7 (Vervelli 2, Hoy 1, Dorman 2, Shade 2) Central 13 (E. Muthler 7, Byler 2, J. Muthler 2, Heuston 2)
Records: Central Mountain (1-5), Central (3-0).
Officials: Rich Gergely, Randy Burkett, Jarryd Burkett
JV: 58-25 Central