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Juniata boys falter, will play for third

Quick start devils Indians later

Sentinel photo by TAMI KNOPSNYDER
Juniata’s Bryson Clark fights for control of the ball with Central Cambria’s Billy Davis as Central Cambria’s Evan Bopp defends over the top Monday in Hollidaysburg.

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Juniata got off to a slow start and it came back to be the biggest difference in a 73-42 loss to Central Cambria in a District 6 Class 3A boys basketball semifinal Monday.

Juniata (20-5), which previously clinched a state berth, will play Bellwood-Antis in the tournament’s third-place game on Wednesday.

Central Cambria played a suffocating defense, often double covering the Indians and attempting to take away even in bound passes from the first minute.

That transitioned well with its aggressive offense as the Red Devils jumped out to a commanding 20-4 lead after a quarter and were up 34-9 at halftime.

“We talked about we wanted to start on them early, give them a ton of pressure early, and I think we did,” Central Cambria coach Adam Stephan said. “It just snowballed right there from the beginning. Our lockdown defense turned into transition points offensively.”

Four of the Red Devils’ five starters scored double-digit points; Evan Bopp was the lowest at 13.

“The four teams (left) here aren’t sloppy teams,” Ream said. “They made us look bad in the first half, and we came back in the second half. … I know our kids can play with them, but at the same time, we didn’t handle the pressure they gave us in the first half.”

Matt Holsinger and Nate Gillen set the tone early and finished with a combined 39 points.

On the opposite side of things, Ben Lauver was the only player to score double-digit points for the Indians, finishing with 15.

“We knew they were going to come out aggressive, that’s how they come out and play their game,” Juniata coach Al Ream said. “We worked on handling that press and pressure, and we didn’t handle it.”

Having to play with a big deficit to begin the second half, the Indians went out and played the style of basketball they have been displaying all season. Led by Lauver’s 12-point third quarter efforts, the Indians’ outscored the Devils, 20-19.

“We told them at halftime the game is out of control, probably, right now and you’ve got to come back and we’ve got to fight back — so go out there, play relaxed, play loose and have fun,” Ream said. “That’s what we did in the second half. It was a lot more fun, and the kids played a lot better.”

Though the Indians made the second half more tightly contested — scoring 33 second-half points to the Devils’ 39 — the team’s frustration was evident all throughout the contest.

Despite the Devils jumping out to a commanding lead in the first half, the team continued to play aggressively on both sides of the ball.

The Indians were able to drive to the hoop for a good portion of the contest, but a handful of drives came to end after quick, heads-up Devils’ defense coming up with clean blocks.

The Indians also looked sluggish for much of the contest, and that also helped the Devils setup a great passing game and find the open man regardless of where on the court.

The Devils drained seven three pointers, and looked nearly flawless in the paint despite Juniata having some tall playmakers of its own.

Ream credits the team being tight because the players don’t have much playoff experience under their belt, but after seeing his team play loose in the second half, has high hopes in the consolation final.

“It’s an honor to get here,” Ream said. “We earned the honor to get here, and now have to go out and enjoy it, enjoy the moment, but also enjoy and learn how to play in the atmosphere.”

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