“We knew what we are capable of doing all year round with this competitive nature and how well we’re playing,” said Central Mountain coach Tyler Bardo. “We find that we have to take these opportunities in practice. We talk about those situations and work on those situations all the time.”

Offensively Central Mountain was able to distribute the ball for different shooters getting a chance to put their names in the scorebook. Defensively the Wildcats held their own as they pulled down 23 boards while Tyrone tallied 28.

Taking the nod as leading scorer for the home team was Hunter Hoy who finished with a game-high 27 point performance. Teammate Caleb Mahoney followed up with 12 while Blake Walker rounded out double-digit scorers with 11.

Shade hit two triples for Central Mountain while Verrelli and Hoy both nailed the Trey. Offensively the high-flying Golden Eagles were led by Sam Crilly who netted 22. He was followed in scoring by Andrew Escola and Kendall Lehner’s 12. Rounding things out for Tyrone was Eli Woomer who tallied 11.

TIM WEIGHT/Special to the Sun-Gazette Central Mountain's Max Verrelli shoots a free throw against Mount Union.

In the final stanza, the Wildcats held a 55-49 advantage.

Lehner got the scoring started in the fourth as he took the ball straight to the hoop, cutting the lead to 55-51. Hoy took Central Mountain’s possession and also took it strong in the hole. He was hacked in the process and he went to the foul line. He made both to extend the lead back to six.

With the pace of the game starting to heat up so did the scoring.

With five minutes left to go in the game, Tyrone made consecutive buckets to cut the Wildcats lead to just two. They cut the lead thanks to a bucket by Lehner and Escola.

The two scores caused Central Mountain’s possession to call a time out at 5:10 left. Coming out of the break, the Golden Eagles forced a turnover and would tie the game on a drive in traffic by Sam Crilly.

TIM WEIGHT/Special to the Sun-Gazette Darius Shade of Central Mountain shoots against Mount Union on Monday.

Back came the Wildcats as they continued to take the ball to the heart of the Tyrone defense. Scoring on the play was Verrelli with 4:33 left. Tyrone was relentless on the court, scoring on another fast break attempt by Lehner.

With 3:51 left, Noah Wells took his turn at taking the ball in strong. He was fouled in the act and went to the charity stripe. He hit 1 of 2, making it a close 60-59 advantage.

Tyrone took the lead on their next possession when Woomer pulled down a clutch rebound and put it back in. But the Wildcats refused to give up the lead quite yet as Caleb Mahoney would score the next two consecutive buckets for Central Mountain, making it a 64-61 with just over two minutes to go.

Lehner hit a short jumper to put the Wildcats lead to within one.

After a Central Mountain time out, Hoy was fouled sending him to the line. He hit one-of-two, extending things to a 2-point Central Mountain lead.

TIM WEIGHT/Special to the Sun-Gazette Central Mountain's Hunter Hoy attempts to make a layup against Mount Union on Monday.

While pressuring Central Mountain on the next possession, Crilly was able to steal the ball at the midcourt and took it in for the bucket to tie things at 65 with 1:44 left.

However, the Golden Eagles forced a turnover and got the ball to Woomer and he sent a triple that put his team up with 54 ticks left. Hoy cut the lead to one as he made a runner in the lane with 47 seconds.

But the Tyrone defense held from there as they would not give Central Mountain a good look the rest of the way and held on for the hard fought victory. Both teams opened the game sizzling from everywhere on the court. When the buzzer sounded on the first, Central Mountain led 22-21.

The Wildcats kept their momentum in the second when they outscored the Golden Eagles 17-12.

Tyrone 70 , Central Mountain 67

TIM WEIGHT/Special to the Sun-Gazette Central Mountain's Noah Wells competes against Mount Union on Monday.

TYRONE (70)

Sam Crilly 8 2-8 22; Ashton Walk 1 0-0 2; Andrew Escola 5 1-2 12; Kendall Lehner 6 0-0 12; Ashton Emigh 3 1-4 7; Landon Hamer 1 0-0 2; Eli Woomer 4 0-0 11; Mason Emigh 0 0-2 0. Totals 29 5-16 70.

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN (67)

Blake Walker 2 7-8 11; Max Verrelli 3 1-1 8; Hunter Hoy 10 5-6 27; Caleb Mahoney 6 0-3 12; Noah Wells 1 1-2 3; Darius Shade 2 0-0 6; Isah Dorman 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 16-20 67.

Tyrone 21 12 16 21 — 70

Central Mountain 22 17 16 12 — 67

3-point goals: Tyrone 6 (Woomer 3, Crilly 2, Escola 1), CM 4 (Shade 2, Hoy 1, Verrelli 1).