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EBENSBURG -- Central Cambria basketball has come to be more than talented sophomore JD Brouse.
Senior Brayden Swope took charge in the second half and scored 25 points to lead the Red Devils to a 59-54 victory against Penn Cambria in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference game at Central Cambria Middle School on Wednesday night.
Brouse scored 18 points, including 12 in the first half. But while the Panthers keyed on him, the rest of the team picked up the slack.
"(Brouse) brings everyone together. He does everything for us. Everyone focuses on him and he helps us do everything so much better," Swope said.
Penn Cambria assumed its largest lead, 44-34, with 44 seconds left in the third period.
"And then Brennon McCloskey hit a big 3 to get it back to seven. And we continued to chip away and chip away. They had so much focus on JD that we had our guys trying to drive and hit certain gaps. And they were able to do that, and we were able to convert when they got to the rim," Central Cambria coach Adam Stephan said.
The Panthers still led by 10, 47-37, with 6:49 left in the final period. Penn Cambria coach Jim Ronan was at a brief loss for words when asked to explain how the double-digit lead got away.
"We stopped attacking the rim, and we were getting easy (looks) to the basket. And we didn't run anything different. We just got a little hesitant. And our basketball IQ was a little off down the stretch. And they got some easy buckets because of it," he said.
"We have to get better in that moment, having a 10-point lead and being in a tight game down the stretch. It's nobody's fault. We have to get better as a team and have better chemistry, and that includes myself."
Ridge Kutchman's only basket of the night gave Central Cambria a 54-53 lead entering the last minute of play.
"We've kept saying all year we have to limit their runs, and we have to take advantage of our runs," Stephan said.
Swope, who scored 12 points in the last period, hit 5 of 6 at the free-throw line over the last 40 seconds to spark the Red Devils. His presence proved evident all the way to the final buzzer, when he dove on top of a Panthers inbounds pass with 2.3 seconds left.
"We've been talking all year (about) how our leadership hasn't been where it needs to be. And tonight (Swope) brought everyone together. He kept everyone calm and his play down the stretch sealed the deal," Stephan said.
The Panthers hit eight 3-point field goals to Central Cambria's three. The Red Devils made good on 18 of 22 at the free throw line to Penn Cambria's 2 of 4.
Sophomore Rocco Barra, although he did not score, led the Red Devils with eight rebounds and helped break the press as needed.
Senior Caden Gibbons led the Panthers with 25 points, followed by classmate Landon Semelsberger (14).
PENN CAMBRIA (54): Lilly 1 0-0 2, Semelsberger 6 1-2 15, Gibbons 11 1-2 25, Jones 0 0-0 0, Nadolsky 1 0-0 3, Gides 0 0-0 0, Marshall 3 0-0 9, Himmer 0 0-0 0. Totals - 22 2-4 53.
CENTRAL CAMBRIA (59): Kutchman 1 3-4 5, SInisky 3 0-0 7, Swope 7 10-12 25, Barra 0 0-0 0, Brouse 7 4-4 18, McCloskey 1 1-2 4, Giles 0 0-0 0. Totals - 19 18-22 59.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
Penn Cambria 12 16 16 9 -- 54
Central Cambria 12 11 14 22 -- 59
3-point field goals: Penn Cambria 8 (Marshall 3, Semelsberger 2, Gibbons 2, Nadolsky), Central Cambria 3 (McCloskey, Sinosky, Swope).
Officials: Sean Albright, Devin Richardson, Dan Solomon.
Records: Penn Cambria (12-6, 10-4 LHAC), Central Cambria (8-9, 6-8 LHAC).
JV: CC, 48-39.