A few close misses sink Blue Jays
SUNBURY — Central Columbia saved its best for last, opening the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run. However, it was too late to mount any comeback against Shamokin in a 57-32 loss in the District 4 Class 4A semifinals on Tuesday.
With the loss, the Blue Jays will play Mount Carmel in the consolation game for a trip to the state playoffs at a date, time, and location to be determined.
Central could have used that run a frame earlier when opening the second half down only by nine. Instead, Shamokin, which seemingly had two kids around a Central ball carrier or for the rebound all night, took matters into its own hands with a 14-4 run.
"They're really good personnel-wise, they're extremely well coached, and they made it hard on us," Central Columbia coach Chris Snyder said. "That said, I feel we still executed on things we wanted. We had some shots that just rimmed out. Had they gone, the game would have looked a little differently, but they didn't. They're the No. 1 seed for a reason. If all things were clicking for us, it would have been closer, but they weren't for us."
Snyder credits that difference-making third quarter to the Jays getting tired. He also credits the Indians for making the necessary adjustments to get Joe Hile involved in the offense. Hile was held scoreless in the first half, getting defended by Hank Roesch all game. He was getting open on nearly full-court passes by Jenssyn Shuey and had to make great moves under the basket to get some open looks. He scored 10 of his 12 points in the frame.
Roesch accounted for all four Blue Jays' points in the span en route to posting a team-high 14 points.
"Hank is such a warrior out there. He's not only defending the best player, but he's our point guard and handling the ball under duress the entire time," Snyder said. "Joe had a great third quarter, and that decided the game, but Hank, and really, the entire team, played such a great game defensively. We play like we did tonight, and we'll do great things the rest of the year."
Cam Humphrey also had a double-digit scoring performance for the Blue Jays, coming away with 12 points — all via the 3-pointer.
The Indians, meanwhile, got a game-high 16 points from Shuey. He used his size under the hoop to make layups, driving a few Blue Jays with him. He also showed his range as a scorer, making a pair of 3-pointers and free throws. Teammate Case Litchey had a field goal every quarter to come away with 10 points.
Despite things not going Central's way, plenty of optimism radiated from Snyder postgame as the Blue Jays still have a shot at punching their tickets to the state tournament.
"They beat us tonight. It wasn't a case of we lost the game — both teams played well, and they beat us," Snyder said. "We're lucky, and I told our team '75% of the teams in District 4 have already folded up their uniforms and completed ended of the season reports. Kids are already in the batting cages for baseball season. We get to practice again [today] and play another game for a chance to go to the state tournament.'"
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