Mirror photo by Michael Boytim
Penn Cambria’s Caden Gibbons wins the tip vs. Mount Union’s Hussan Posey.
By Michael Boytim
CRESSON — Penn Cambria walked off the court at Tyrone Area High School after a 34-point loss on Dec. 28 with a losing record and didn’t look like a team that would qualify for the postseason much less make any noise.
Tuesday night against Mount Union in the first round of the District 6 Class 3A playoffs, the Panthers looked a lot different — because they are.
Finally adjusted from football mode to basketball after many players from the team helped Penn Cambria reach the PIAA semifinals, the Panthers scored the first 18 points of the game and crushed the Trojans, 76-49, to earn a return trip to Tyrone for the District 6 quarterfinals on Friday.
“It took us a while,” Penn Cambria coach Jim Ronan said. “Gavin Harrold right now is playing really good basketball. I think when you look at our kids going from football shape to basketball shape, he’s come a long way. If it took him that long to get into basketball shape, it would have taken the other football kids that amount of time too. But this is the time of the year you want to be playing well. We’re making adjustments quicker, playing with more energy and shooting the ball well.”
Harrold scored 16 points, drilled four 3-pointers and had a team-high five rebounds.
“Basketball is a hard sport to just jump right into,” Harrold said. “We’re definitely clicking, and this time of the year is the best time to start clicking.”
Brandon Rabish, who had a team-high 17 points, had two 3-pointers in the game-opening 18-0 run before Penn Cambria nearly emptied its bench midway through the quarter. Mount Union finally scored when Jamon Ranck made a 3-pointer with 3:10 to play in the first quarter.
“That was our main focus at the beginning of the game to play with energy and use our athleticism and trap them and get easy points,” Ronan said. “The energy is a lot higher when you get out and play defense like that.”
Caison Scott scored a game-high 21 points for the Trojans, who finished their season 10-13.
The sixth-seeded Panthers, who also got 12 points from Caden Gibbons, will play third-seeded Tyrone with a chance to play in the District 6 semifinals on the line and also a shot to clinch a spot in the PIAA tournament.
“We definitely know we’re playing better basketball,” Harrold said. “They got the best of us last game, but we’re definitely ready for them. We’re going to have to play like a team — I know that’s a cliche. But when we’re playing like a team, the shots start falling, defense is better and everything just clicks.”
Penn Cambria has now won five games in a row and seven of its last eight games.
“Our chemistry has come a long way since (Dec. 28),” Rabish said. “(The football players) just needed a little time to get into basketball shape.”
Penn Cambria made 11 3-pointers on Tuesday, a number it would like to match on Friday against a Golden Eagles team that can also light it up from deep. The Panthers also forced 20 turnovers in the first half alone and 28 overall in the game.
“The energy that they brought to that game was maybe the most thunderous that I have seen all year long,” Ronan said. “When they came out to warm up, I felt them and the energy. They were really ticked off, and we have to match that first and foremost. They are athletic, tough kids. They have a lot of football players too. We have to match their physicality and toughness. We can’t expect to come back from 15 down against a team like Tyrone, especially there.”
MOUNT UNION (49): Hooper 4 0-0 9, Ranck 4 0-0 10, Collins 1 1-2 3, Posey 0 0-0 0, Francis 2 0-0 5, Scott 8 4-5 21, Bilger 0 1-2 1, Brumbaugh 0 0-0 0, Hustler 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 6-9 49.
PENN CAMBRIA (76): Harrold 6 0-0 16, Gibbons 6 0-0 12, Rabish 7 0-0 17, Lilly 3 0-0 7, Hite 1 0-0 2, Semelsberger 3 1-2 9, Jones 0 0-0 0, Farabaugh 1 0-0 2, Strittmatter 3 0-1 7, Himmer 0 0-0 0, Marshall 1 0-0 2, Nagle 0 0-0 0, Price 0 0-0 0, Davison 0 0-0 0, Mallory 0 0-0 0, Rice 1 0-0 2. Totals — 32 1-3 76.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Mount Union 8 11 17 13 — 49
Penn Cambria 28 21 15 12 — 76
3-point goals: Mount Union 5 (Ranck 2, Hooper, Francis, Scott); Penn Cambria 11 (Harrold, Rabish 3, Semelsberger 2, Lilly, Strittmatter).
Records: Mount Union (10-13); Penn Cambria (13-8).
Officials: Don Bachota, Bill Holtz, Kevin Charney.
This content is reposted from the source: https://www.altoonamirror.com/sports/local-sports/2025/02/panthers-persona-goes-football-to-hoops-in-victory/
