By Kenny Varner

MILL HALL – Down to the wire. Monday night’s Central Mountain game against a visiting Penns Valley squad had instant classic written all over it.

After a slow start to the game, the Lady Wildcats found themselves trailing by as many as 12 but the home team came alive in the second half, to take the lead and eventually go into overtime with the Lady Rams.

However, the Wildcats comeback attempt would fall just short as Penns Valley pulled out a nail biting 76-71 overtime contest to go home victorious.

“I thought we lost the game in the first quarter. The first half in general but in the first quarter. Seventeen points in the first half and we end up with 71. Fifty-four points in the half. We battled,”said Central Mountain coach Scott Baker when asked about the team’s second half surge. “We can’t get ourselves down. If we put forth the effort for four quarters that we put forth in the second half, we are going to be a tough team to beat. We really had some warriors there in the second half. We battled foul trouble and really had to work hard.”

Coming into the third quarter, the Adams held a 25-17 advantage but that would be erased by the time the final stanza came around. The combination of Ava Doyle and Macy Plowman launched the Wildcats into the lead of 46-44 as the third quarter finished.

Ava Boyle with her 10 points in the third period alone, came alive on both the offensive and defensive side pulling down a majority of her 14 rebounds in the third. She finished with a double-double on the night. She finished with 14 boards and 16 points in the nail biting loss.

Plowman had nine.  In the third period alone, Central Mountain scored 29 points and outscored Penns Valley by 10 in the period to set up the late game drama.

Going into the final stanza, Taylor Doyle got the scoring g started as she went strong to the basket, making it a 48-44 advantage.

But in less than a minute, Penns Valley got four consecutive e points from Ellie Romig and a field goal by Lilly Smith, putting g themselves back in the lead 50-48,

With one launch of a three-ball by Taylor Doyle, Central Mountain jumped back into the lead by one point.

The two would battle back and forth the entire period, exchanging leads and tying it as well.

With 2:12, the Lady Rams were clinging to a slim 60-58 advantage.

With the ball, Penns Valley worked on the clock. Smith was fouled and sent to the line to add to the small lead. She was clutch under pressure, hitting both shots, extending the lead to four.

But on the following inbounds play, the Wildcats pushed the ball down the court and worked it around finding a wide open Elise McKean. She lined up behind the three-point line and sent it home, pulling the game into a one-point 62-61 contest.

Central Mountain was able to force a turnover, getting the ball down to Taylor Doyle who was fouled going up for a shot. She ended up putting her team ahead in the contest at 63-62 with just less than a minute left in regulation.

Dinges hits 1-of-2 from the charity stripe minutes later, tying things at 63.

When the buzzer sounded on regulation, both were knotted at 65.

Both headed into the overtime period primed and ready to go.

But two consecutive triples by Penns Valley’s Dinges, putting g themselves the game out of reach as the Lady Rams were able to outlast the feisty Wildcats.

In the first quarter, Penns Valley opened with a sizzling 12-0 lead.

However, by the time the two teams went into intermission the Cats were within striking distance at 25-17.

Leading the offense for Penns Valley was Dinges with a game-high 19. Sydnie Dalton finished her night with a hard fought 14 points while both Smith and Ellie Romig rounded things out with 11.

Taylor Doyle led Central Mountain had 17 while Ava Doyle was next with 16. Lena Walker finished 15.

Central Mountain is back in action Friday.

Penns Valley  76 , Central Mountain 71 (OT)

PV   15 10 19 21 11 – 76

CM   6 11 29 19   6 – 71

Scoring: PV – Jadyn Alexander 0 3-5 3, Paige Johnson 2 2-2 6, Audrey Kerstetter 1 1-1 3, Sydnie Dalton 5 2-4 14, Lilly Smith 4 3-4 11, Ellie Romig 5 0-0 11, Jordan Johnson 3 2-7 6, Ellie Dinges 6 5-12 19. Totals 25 10-30 76. CM –   Morgan Davis 0 1-2 1, Elise McKean 2 0-4 6, Macy Plowman 5 1-2 9, Camdyn Weaver 1 5-6 7, Lena Walker 4 3-5 15, Taylor Doyle 7 2-4 17, Ava Doyle 6 4-6 16. Totals 26 16-27 71.

Played but didn’t score: PV –  None. CM –   Jacey Tripp 0 0-0 0, Alaina Carnahan 0 0-0 0.

Three-point shots : PV –  Dalton, Lilly Smith,Romig, Dinges 2, Johnson. CM –   McKean 2, Walker 4, Taylor Doyle 1.