Wildcat Basketball

2008-2009 Wildcat Basketball Highlights (1st Half)

2008-2009 Wildcat Basketball Highlights (2nd Half)

PHAC-I named their All-Star Teams:

First Team:

• Brantley Osborne - Shikellamy senior (15.5 ppg)
• Curtis Klein - Danville senior (23.2 ppg)
• Stephen Carsto - Shamokin senior (14.3 ppg)
• Foster Renn - Shamokin senior (12.8 ppg)
• Fred Rogers - Jersey Shore senior (17.1 ppg)
• Vincent Molesky - Montoursville senior (19 ppg)

Second Team:

• Zac Hoy - Mifflinburg sophomore (14.8 ppg)
• Ryan Reichard - Danville junior (10.8 ppg)
• Zach Potter - Jersey Shore senior (12.8 ppg)
• Andrew Mantz - Shikellamy senior (10.2 ppg)
• Nick Ferguson - Milton senior (15.6 ppg)
• Matt Salsman - Selinsgrove senior (12.3 ppg)

Honorable Mention:

• Jim Sowers - Mifflinburg junior (11.3 ppg)
• Johnny Carter - Milton senior (12.6 ppg)
• Dave Krezmer - Montoursville senior
• Cory Briggs - Selinsgrove junior (10.1 ppg)
• Ryan Keiser - Selinsgrove junior (10.2 ppg)
• Mark Forbes - Shikellamy senior (10.8 ppg)
• Scott Marcinek - Shamokin senior (11 ppg)
• Brent Forbes - Shamokin junior (10 ppg)

**Kaleb Snyder was recognized by the PHAC-I coaches as

an All-Defensive selection.

ON THE MOVE — Mifflinburg point guard Zac Hoy drives past Montoursville’s Curtis Jacobson in the Heartland Conference Division I game on Monday. Hoy led the Wildcats with 25 points. Photo by Barb Krohn/Standard Journal.

BY BARB KROHN

Published:

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

MONTOURSVILLE — It was simple really. Monday night Mifflinburg coach Eldon Hoy challenged his young team to play hard and stay positive on its road trip to Montoursville.
They did. And funny thing, the Wildcats came up with a big win over the Warriors, besting the home team 62-55 in overtime.
Mifflinburg improves to 7-11, 3-7 in the Heartland Conference Division I while Montoursville fall to 9-8, 5-4.

The two teams met last Monday in Mifflinburg in a snow makeup game and although the Wildcats started out well enough that night the Warriors were able to put up big numbers in the second half for the easy win.
Hoy still thought his team could pull out a win.
“This is a team that we were very competitive with,” he said. “I told the guys if you go out and play hard, and play positive, which we did, you have a shot.
“It’s the inconsistency emotionally that causes the problem.”
It didn’t hurt that Mifflinburg started out on a tear from 3-point land midway through the first quarter.
Zac Hoy opened the Wildcat scoring with a trey with 5:30 left in the opening period and 20 seconds later Corey Murtha nailed another. Hoy followed up with a deuce and Murtha hit another 3 to finish a two-and-a half minute, 11-0 run against the Warriors. By the end of the first quarter Jim Sowers had chipped in a bucket to make it 13-6 Mifflinburg.
“I started out hot because I knew I played them well last time,” said Zac Hoy who finished with a game-high 25 points.
Sowers, who has in the past admitted to some emotional ups and downs in games, didn’t think his team looked ready in warmups but changed his mind in a hurry.
“We came out during warmups and I thought we might be in for a long night,” he said. “But we had a strong start and we battled the whole game.”
And Mifflinburg needed to battle because after the first period Montoursville started hitting shots equaling its opponents in the second period.
Although Mifflinburg went into the locker rooms up 26-19, the lead was quickly erased after the intermission when Montoursville hit three unanswered 3-pointers to take its first lead since the opening bucket of the game.

FOR THREE — Corey Murtha was hot from the 3-point line on Monday night hitting two treys in a row at one point. Photo by Barb Krohn/Standard Journal.

Hoy broke the Mifflinburg drought with a trey of his own and from there on out it was an out-and-out battle.
And it was a battle where the Wildcats were clearly outsized.
Sowers, who played the entire game, had to battle the tag team of Blake Berresford and Jason Marshak.
How big was the mismatch? Let’s just say that Sowers would never be remotely in the same weight class if they were wrestling.
“He was totally outsized,” said Hoy. “And they kept throwing fresh bodies at him.
“He was also guarding the screen and then he was to hustle and try to box out a kid that much bigger than he is.”
Kaleb Snyder also had a big defensive assignment — Vince Molesky.
Molesky, Montoursville’s leading scorer, did finish with 18 points but they were hard earned.
“The most important thing Kaleb did was that he guarded Molesky very well,” said Hoy. “He had to work for every point and that was due to Kaleb.”
Snyder, who is not known for his scoring, found himself in an unusual position Monday night — being on the foul line when it counted.
At the end of the third quarter he hit two freebies to give his team a one point lead, and in the middle of the fourth he again recaptured the lead for his team from the charity stripe.
“I just said (to myself) they’re going to go in” said Snyder who finished with 11 points. “It was a big relief (when they did.)”
But if Snyder was solid from the free throw line Hoy was amazing.
Hoy took six trips to the line — many times after some pretty hard fouls that sent him flying. But the point guard seemed unfazed knocking down 10 of 12 shots, half of them coming in overtime.
With under a minute to play the Warriors, down by three, attempted to shake up the Wildcats transition with a full-court press and at one point Hoy had to dribble through a triple team.
No problem.
It turns out that those are the times Hoy lives for.
“That’s always what I’ve loved to do ever since second grade,” he said. “I’m little for a reason.”
The intentional foul and freebies that followed put Mifflinburg up 60-55. After Molesky who had four fouls on him, was assessed with a technical, Hoy took the shots for the final score.
Joining Hoy and Snyder in double figures were Sowers and Travis Trutt who each had 10 points.
“It was a nice win,” said Eldon Hoy.
Mifflinburg is back in action Wednesday when it travels to Jersey Shore.

SELINSGROVE — Coaches preach it constantly. You can’t always control your shot, but you can play tough defense and you can go hard to the glass.

Mifflinburg’s Kaleb Snyder and Jim Sowers took the mantra to heart in the second half of the Heartland Conference Division I matchup against Selinsgrove Friday night. Snyder grabbed six defensive rebounds in the third quarter to limit the Wildcat bleeding during an extended dry spell. And two huge offensive rebounds by Jim Sowers that resulted in putbacks that made the difference in overtime as Mifflinburg beat the Seals 54-52 at home for the first time in several years.

With the win, Mifflinburg improves to 6-7, 2-3 HAC-I while Selinsgrove drops to 3-6, 1-4.

“A lot of times they are unsung heroes,” said Mifflinburg coach Eldon Hoy. “Kaleb had all those defensive boards in the third. And Jim had the winning shot on a put back.”

The Wildcats were up 26-24 at halftime but it was largely on the basis of a big first quarter when they scored 18 points to the Seals 10. Selinsgrove turned the tables in the second outscoring Mifflinburg 14-8 and using a zone defense to prevent them from scoring a field goal for the last 5:51 of the half.

“If we don’t shoot the ball well in a zone it’s a problem,” said Hoy. “We wanted to come out aggressively

PENETRATION — Mifflinburg’s Travis Trutt penetrates the Selinsgrove defense Friday at Selinsgrove. Trutt finished with 11 points, including three treys.

and it worked. When they started the zone we slowed down and didn’t shoot well.”

Things didn’t improve offensively the Wildcats after the break when the Seals came out and scored eight unanswered points to make it 32-26. In fact, it could have been it for the away team except for Snyder.

“We talked about aggressiveness before the game,” said Snyder. “They were a physical team. I knew that we had to get after it.”

Zac Hoy, who finished with a game-high 17 points, was finally able to break what turned out to be an over eight minute field goal drought with just over five minutes left in the third quarter and Snyder kept pulling down D boards. Snyder finished with 12 rebounds on the night.

Three minutes later Sowers hit a deuce and Travis Trutt drained a 3-pointer to get the Wildcats to within three points by the end of the quarter.

Selinsgrove and Mifflinburg traded shots in the fourth but then midway through the last period of regulation Sowers got a bucket and Trutt hit consecutive treys to put the Wildcats up 45-42. The Seals’ Jarrett Shaffer made it a one-point differential and then Sowers hit the first of two from the charity stripe for what would prove to be Mifflinburg’s final score in regulation. The Wildcat big man made a key stop as time was winding down when he blocked a layup attempt but Matt Salsman, who finished with 16 points for the Seals, nailed a basket with 4.2 seconds left to send the game to overtime.

Mifflinburg’s clear strategy in overtime was to get the ball into the hands of Hoy and he nailed his first shot, a 3-pointer, in the extra period. Selinsgrove went on a mini-run to gain a 52-49 advantage.

The Wildcats stuck to their game plan getting the ball to Hoy and the sophomore point guard put up a trey which missed the mark but Sowers was there for the rebound and was fouled on his successful  putback. After cashing in the freebie, the score was tied 52-52.

After stopping Selinsgrove the away team went once again to Hoy who went up for three, again unsuccessfully, and again, Sowers was there for the putback which proved the game-winning bucket.

The Seals got one last possession with four seconds left but a smothering Wildcat defense broke things up with Sowers left holding the ball.

“They said it was like N.C. State when they won the national championship,” said Zac Hoy.
“When we were in the huddle (before the last Mifflinburg possession) the only thing coach Powell said is, ‘Look for the offensive rebound.’”
For Sowers who finished with 14 points, it was a roller coaster of a game.
“They played great defense,” he said. “I was emotionally up and down throughout the game.”
The win over the Seals at home was a sweet one for both Hoys.
“We never play well down here,” said Zac Hoy. “Maybe these younger guys don’t know our history.”
“Anytime you win on the road this year, it’s sweet,” said Eldon Hoy.

Mifflinburg is back in action Tuesday at Shamokin.

For 16 minutes of the second half, the youthful Wildcats did just that, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit as Danville escaped the ‘Cats’ Den with a 58-51 Heartland Conference-I victory.

Danville improved to 7-2, 2-2 in league play, while Mifflinburg fell to 5-7, 1-3 in league play.

Danville was methodical on offense in the first half and got to the foul line 13 times, converting on 10 of those freebies. Mifflinburg shot less than 50 percent from the line in the first half and was careless with the ball.

MILTON — Milton’s home floor has never been that kind to opposing teams, however that message never quite made it to the young Wildcats of Mifflinburg, who looked right at home in “The Jungle” Friday night.

For the second time in two years, Mifflinburg escaped Milton with a road victory, posting a 45-27 Heartland Conference-I win Friday.

The Wildcats improved to 5-5, 1-1 in league play, while Milton fell to 8-2, 0-2 in HC-I action.

“To come into Milton and get a win always feels good,” said Mifflinburg coach Eldon Hoy. “We felt we always play Milton well here, but to come in with a group of guys that don’t necessarily know ‘The Jungle’ — well, maybe that’s a good thing.”

Poor shooting and early foul trouble plagued Milton but Mifflinburg’s defense stepped up big at various points of the game and frustrated the veteran Milton players.

The Black Panthers managed just five field goals against 11 turnovers in the second and third quarters.

“We weren’t as aggressive enough early in the game,” said Milton coach Walt Patynski. “It hurt that (Todd) Postie and (Johnny) Carter were in foul trouble early. That took a lot of the spark out of our offense.”

Up 11-10 after the first quarter of play, Mifflinburg grew its lead to five at halftime. Sophomore forward Matt Kurelja scored eight points in the first half and junior forward Jim Sowers had a key offensive rebound and putback off a pair of missed free throws to grow that lead to five before the break.

“Our defense got us off to a good start,” said Hoy. “After that, our forwards did a nice job making decisions, especially when they were double teamed. They knew when to kick it out.”

Mifflinburg held the Panthers without a point through the first 5:12 of the third quarter and grew its lead to 28-16 before Milton senior Nick Ferguson scored with 1:48 left in the quarter.

“We wanted to stay in front of them and force them into jump shots,” said Hoy, “try to match up and take away Nick and keep Johnny away from the rim.”

Armed with a 10-point edge heading into the final stanza, Mifflinburg sank 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the game.

Sophomores Zac Hoy and Travis Trutt were 4-for-4 and 6-for-6 from the line for the game.

“We really wanted to make it a defensive game,” said Zac Hoy. “We had trouble with that early in the year, but we finally came through. We played good on-the-ball defense.”

Offensively, Trutt and Kurelja finished with 10 points, Hoy added nine and Sowers had seven and a team-high eight rebounds.

“It was just about moving,” said Trutt of the Wildcats’ offensive effort. “It was making the extra pass. Whatever it took to help us win.”

Milton was paced by Ferguson’s 19, 17 of which came in the second half. Matt Stuck finished with 12 points and eight boards. Ferguson and Stuck accounted for all but four of Milton’s points.

“The 8-2 run to cut it to four or five never materialized,” said Patynski. “Every time we had an opportunity to make a run we’d miss a lay-up, commit a foul or turn it over. We were spinning our tires.”

Mifflinburg returns home to host Montoursville on Tuesday. Milton is back in action Tuesday at home against Danville.

Standard Journal     by Chris Brady

Lakeview (Ga.) 63
Mifflinburg 52

ORLANDO, Fla. — Fouls and poor foul shooting doomed the Wildcats in a game that was decided in the fourth quarter at the KSA Holiday Classic at Orlando, Fla.

Mifflinburg (4-4) carried a 41-36 lead into the final stanza but the combination of four players fouling out and an 18-for-37 performance at the charity stripe sealed the Wildcats’ fate.

“It was nip and tuck the entire way,” said Mifflinburg coach Eldon Hoy. “It came down to the foul situation and we had four guys foul out and shot 18 of 37 from the line.”

Zac Hoy and Jim Sowers led the Wildcats with 14 points apiece. Travis Trutt added eight.

Mifflinburg is back in action this morning against Briarwood, Ala.

Braves jump up early, fend off ‘Cats   By Chris Brady

Published:  Wednesday, December 24, 2008 10:23 AM CST

SUNBURY — Mifflinburg coach Eldon Hoy learned a lot about his team Tuesday night when it went head-to-head with a veteran-laden Shikellamy team on the Braves’ home floor.
Hoy learned first that his team has no quit in it and secondly, he learned his team can battle with the best of them.
Shikellamy scored the 60-44 Heartland Conference-I victory but did so with the Wildcats clawing at them the entire way.
The Braves improved to 5-1, 1-0 in league play while the Wildcats fell to 3-3, 0-1.

After jumping out to an 18-2 lead on the strength of a 17-0 spurt that saw Mifflinburg go without a point for five minutes, the Braves had a fight on their hands.  “We got out to the quick start then I think we got a little complacent,” said Shikellamy coach Tim Foor. “You’ve gotta credit their kids. They didn’t quit. We found out we were in a game.”
Shikellamy senior standouts Brantley Osborne, the sharp-shooting guard, and Andrew Mantz, the 6-7 power forward, did most of the heavy lifting for the Braves. Osborne scored 16 points, with 10 of those coming in the first half. Mantz scored all but two of his 16 points in the second half. Mantz was 10-for-12 from the charity stripe and pulled down 11 rebounds.
“They’ve been starters four years,” said Foor. “They’ve been there. We need to be consistent to improve. We need to be consistent so that we don’t take a step back in January.
“This league is going to be very competitive.”
For Mifflinburg, which went 1 for its first 13 from the field, it was a matter of hanging tough.
The Wildcats, after digging the hole early, clawed back to within 10 early in the third quarter. Sophomore Travis Trutt had a couple of early buckets in the third and sophomore Matt Kurelja came off the bench to spark the Wildcats in the second quarter and beyond.  Kurelja finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and three impressive blocked shots.  Trutt finished with 16 and Kaleb Snyder added nine for the Wildcats.
“Take away the first quarter and that’s a battle against one of the elites of this league on their floor,” said Mifflinburg coach Eldon Hoy. “We told the kids before the game the key word was going to be ‘battle’, and it was.  “We told them, ‘You’re undersized and underaged. The first quarter concerned me and we called a couple of early timeouts and to their credit, they responded.”
Shikellamy nearly got the lead to 20 in the third quarter. A Mantz follow-up flush off a Cody Daddario miss and a running floater by Osborne gave the Braves an 18-point lead, but the ‘Cats scratched back again closing it to 14 at the end of three.
“We’re realistic about the season,” said Hoy. “There are a couple of elite teams and there’s a bunch of teams that are battling. In my mind, we’re one of those teams.
“Tonight we went right at one of the elites on their home floor.”
Mifflinburg is back in action Saturday and Sunday in tournament action in Florida.

By Standard Journal

Published: Monday, December 22, 2008 9:57 AM CST