Bears Outlast Wildcats in Season Opener

The Central Bears Varsity Basketball team tipped off the 2024 season against the Spring Hill Christian Wildcats on Monday night. The Navy and Silver would lead much of the night, at times by double digits, and emerged victorious from their matchup 48-46 on opening night.

While he was happy to get the win, Bears Head Coach Jeff Diangelo felt his team did not play flawlessly down the stretch as evidenced by the close final tally. “To be honest, I feel we didn’t necessarily play our best game,” he said. “It’s good when you could not play your best and still win, but frustrating because I know our boys could play a lot better than that.”

The first period would be a back-and-forth affair with the visitors holding a one-score lead going into the first break. A rebound and layup by Matthew Hyde, a three by Andrew Hahn, and a layup by Alex Hahn within the span of a minute gave the Wildcats the 15-12 lead late in the quarter.

The lead changes continued until the Bears took control late in the second stanza. Trailing 20-18 with less than four minutes remaining before the half, Diangelo’s squad began a run that would extend past the intermission.

Across more than seven minutes of game time, the home team would outscore the Wildcats 14-2 until midway through the third frame. Brayden Prospero would be responsible for a whopping 10 of Central’s points during this stretch. He slammed down the first of two impressive dunks during this span as well.

Despite being a senior, though, Poole had never played high school basketball previously. He is the starting quarterback for the Bears, though, and this likely helped him take the lead and maintain composure while on the court.

“He’s the only senior,” said Coach Diangelo. “It’s also the first time he’s ever played organized basketball in high school. For a kid in that position, he’s a super smart kid. He’s intelligent. He holds himself to a high standard, too, but he is a kid who can facilitate the ball and be a bit of a general out there when he needs to be. [He’s] still growing too. It’s the first regular season basketball game of his career.”

Coach Diangelo’s young roster currently has little to no varsity experience, either. So, it was encouraging to see the players close out an opponent despite the green nature of the depth chart. A pass inside from Poole led to an Alvin Cortez score that put the home team up 8 with 1:34 remaining. This gave the Bears the lead necessary to drain the clock and weather the storm, trading time for points as the clock struck 0:00.

As the season wears on, Coach Diangelo looks to see improved defense and rebounding as well as increased speed and toughness from his crew. “We’ve been working hard all summer, but I think you can’t simulate experience,” said Central’s coach. “They’re getting it now.”