HOLLIDAYSBURG — When the clock was winding down at the end of the first half, Hollidaysburg boys’ basketball coach Brad Lear saw a key offensive chance for senior Jayden Wolfe.

“We just felt like tonight was a night where we needed someone to stretch the defense because they play like a pack line sagging defense, and then try to contest shooters’ shots,” he said. “I saw an opportunity there at the end of (the first half) to skate him up the sideline off a little drag screen and get the ball out quick, and it worked out.”

Wolfe knocked down a key buzzer-beating 3-pointer going into the half and in the fourth hit two more critical 3s for the Golden Tigers as they hung for the win over Central on senior night, 51-45, at the HAHS gym. Wolfe scored a team-high 13 points.

“They made a few big shots there at the end, credit to (Jayden Wolfe), hits two big 3s there,” Central coach Paul Frederick said. “Great job on senior night on his own floor, the kid stepped up. We made plenty of big shots throughout the game. They played their butts off, we played our butts off. It was a great high school basketball game.”

The Dragons started strong as Christian Heuston drained a 3-pointer of his own and later Jesse Muthler off a turnover converted on a fast break layup for an early 11-2 lead. Muthler finished with a game-high 20 points.

Hollidaysburg chipped away at that lead after a timeout as Tyson Delerme hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit down to 13-9 after the first as he finished with 10 points.

“We were much more controlled on offense tonight,” Frederick said. “They’re really hard to score against. They’re long, they’re athletic, it’s a really good team. For us to do what we did with the ball tonight was much better.”

After trailing by one at the half, the Tigers took control as Vince Albarano buried the putback early in the third. Kasen Metzger later added a fade away 3-pointer and Ben Zimmerman later took an Albarano feed for the bucket to give Hollidaysburg a 39-32 lead after three.

The Dragons didn’t go quietly in the fourth as Muthler and Dylan Hoover — who finished with 11 points — scored from downtown to cut that deficit down to one.

But in the fourth it was Wolfe who took over as he scored on a fast break which helped the Tigers pull away for good.

“We have been really good in a lot of spots and we’ve been up and down in some spots,” Lear said. “We’ve not played a game where we’ve been totally flat, but we’ve had some games where we played good for a period of the game, and then let up.

“We showed some resiliency and that’s been our M.O. Last week had three really good games against three top teams in the state, won all three. We had three subpar games, won all three. That’s what I’m going to hang my hat on tonight.”

The road doesn’t get any easier for the Dragons as they will meet up with Bishop Guilfoyle Academy this afternoon as they look to keep a hold on the top seed in the District 6 Class 4A bracket.

“All it will do is if you have the right approach is give you a chance to work on things and get better for the playoffs, which is our No. 1 focus,” Frederick said.”

The Tigers will meet those same Marauders on Monday on the road as they look to keep control over the top spot in the 5A bracket.

CENTRAL (45): Muthler 7 2-2 20, Beltz 1 1-2 3, Heuston 1 2-3 5, Hoover 4 0-0 11, Dickson 3 0-0 6, Rhodes 0 0-0 0, Decker 0 0-0 0, Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Scott 0 0-0 0. Totals — 16 5-7 45.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (51): Stultz 1 4-4 6, Albarano 3 2-2 8, Metzger 3 1-2 8, Zimmerman 3 0-0 6, Wolfe 4 2-2 13, Delerme 4 0-0 10, Frazier 0 0-0 0. Totals — 18 9-10 51.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central 13 14 5 12 — 45

Hollidaysburg 9 17 13 12 — 51

3-point goals: Central 8 (Muthler 4, Heuston, Hoover 3), Hollidaysburg 6 (Delerme 2, Metzger, Wolfe 3)

Records: Central (12-7), Hollidaysburg (17-3).

Officials: Brock Kauffman, Jason Moschgat, Kevin Laird

JV: Central, 38-35. High scorers — Scott, Kasun, C, 8; Rhodes, H 13.