Feb 19, 2025
Snyder
By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
EBENSBURG — Central Cambria senior Grady Snyder said that Tuesday night marked the first playoff appearance for the school’s current group of boys basketball players.
Snyder and his Red Devils teammates certainly wanted to make the best of it.
Mission accomplished, as Snyder scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to lead Central Cambria to a 61-48 victory over Southern Huntingdon in a first-round District 6 Class 3A playoff game at the Central Cambria High School gymnasium.
“It feels really good,” Snyder said of Tuesday’s victory for the seventh-seeded Red Devils (13-9), who will move on to a quarterfinal-round matchup at second-seeded Bishop Guilfoyle Academy this Friday night. “None of us had ever played in a basketball playoff game, and it feels really good to get a playoff win and move on to the next round.”
Junior guard Brayden Swope scored 14 points and freshman forward J.D. Brouse added 12, including eight in the fourth quarter, to give Central Cambria some much-needed separation.
After 10th-seeded Southern Huntingdon (10-12) had shaved a 14-point second-quarter deficit to five points, 39-34, on a driving bucket by senior Daylin Hamilton, Brouse sparked a 10-2 Central Cambria run that gave the Red Devils a 49-36 cushion.
Swope started the surge with a layup, before Brouse converted a mid-court steal into a layup to put Central Cambria up, 43-34. Brouse was fouled on the drive, and Southern Huntingdon was also assessed a technical foul when one of the Rockets’ players slapped the backboard on his attempt to defend.
Brouse hit two of the three free throws, then followed up with a putback bucket, to make it a 47-34 game. After Hamilton scored a layup for Southern Huntingdon, Brouse worked inside for another bucket to give Central Cambria the 49-36 advantage.
“J.D. getting that steal, going in for the layup, getting fouled, and making two foul shots kind of swung it around a little for us,” Central Cambria coach Adam Stephan said. “That gave us a little extra breathing room.”
Southern Huntingdon got a game-high 20 points from sophomore Cohen Snyder, and the Rockets showed some fight in the second and third quarters after falling behind.
“We came out flat early in the third quarter, but we got their lead down to five and we were still in the game,” Southern Huntingdon coach Stacy Horne said. “We just couldn’t get the run that we needed.”
Central Cambria faces a Bishop Guilfoyle team that defeated the Red Devils, 78-58, in a regular-season meeting Jan. 8 at the Pleasant Valley gymnasium. Guilfoyle won the Laurel Highands Athletic Conference championship last Friday by topping previously unbeaten Johnstown.
“They’re a physical team that is playing really good basketball right now,” Stephan said of the Marauders. “They just won the Laurel Highlands, which is one of the toughest conferences in the state.
“We know that we’re going into a hostile environment that is very challenging for a visiting team,” Stephan added. “But we also know that we have to win on Friday in order to advance.”
SOUTHERN HUNTINGDON (48): Gibbons 2 0-2 4, Trish 3 0-0 6, Hamilton 2 0-0 4, Snyder 10 0-0 20, Lessley 1 0-0 2, Grissinger 3 0-0 6, Oswald 1 0-0 2, Cresswell 1 0-0 2, Pershing 1 0-0 2, Watkins 0 0-0 0, Horne 0 0-0 0. Totals – 24 0-2 48.
CENTRAL CAMBRIA (61): Swope 6 0-0 14, Snyder 7 1-5 17, I. Bradley 3 0-0 6, Brouse 4 4-7 12, H. Bradley 3 0-0 7, Burkett 1 0-0 2, Pittsinger 0 1-2 1, Sinosky 0 0-0 0, Kutchman 0 0-0 0, McCloskey 0 0-0 0, James 1 0-0 2, Barra 0 0-0 0, Dill 0 0-0 0. Totals – 25 6-14 61.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Southern Huntingdon 12 12 8 16–48
Central Cambria 23 8 8 22–61
3-point goals: Central Cambria 5 (Swope 2, Snyder 2, H. Bradley).
Records: Southern Huntingdon (10-12); Central Cambria (13-9).
Officials: Chris Garritano, John Nepsha, Jason Romagna.
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