Moon Area knocked down 10 3-pointers and used a balanced scoring attack to defeat Central Valley, 65-53, Saturday at the PBC Hall of Fame Boys Basketball Classic at Montour High School.
The Tigers, coming off a huge win over Chartiers Valley the previous night, unleashed a 14-0 run to start the game, with all of the points coming from Jackson Bauman and Caden Kopay.
Bauman, who fueled the Tigers by racking up 20 points – including four 3-pointers – said ball movement early in the game was a huge factor.
“We want to play in transition and share the ball, and we did a great job of that to start the game,” he said. “That’s why we were able to build such a big lead.”
AJ Buford added 15 points, Kopay tallied nine and Brody Bauman scored eight for Moon, which improved to 14-3 overall.
“I had 15 points, but it was really just my teammates finding me,” Buford said. “Whether it was in the corner or on cuts. We were sharing the ball, moving it around and everyone was able to score.”
The Tigers racked up 17 team assists. Jackson Bauman said he’s proud of the team – and proud of the way his younger brother Brody stepped up.
“He hit some big shots last night and made timely plays today,” he said. “I’m proud of him — he’s playing with confidence and doing what he’s capable of.”
The Tigers led 16-5 at the end of one quarter and didn’t let up, using a 21-point second quarter to go into halftime with a 37-14 lead.
Buford led the charge on the defensive side.
“Our defense really fuels our offense,” Buford said. “When we’re locked in defensively, it helps us get out in transition and makes everything easier on the offensive end.”
Central Valley battled back, using an 8-0 run to cut it to 48-38. But a layup from Brody Bauman and then a Buford buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent Moon into the fourth quarter up 53-40.
The Warriors were led by Ryan Conti and Wyatt Clark, each of whom scored 13 points.
Moon coach Gino Palmosina said he thought Central Valley played hard.
“You’ve got to give Central Valley a lot of credit,” he said. “Coach (Brandon) Ambrose, their staff, their players — they came out in the second half and really punched us in the mouth. We weren’t ready for it and didn’t respond well.”
Moon, however, did enough to stay ahead and is now riding a two-game win streak after defeating Chartiers Valley.
“This win means a lot for us,” Buford said. “Saturdays haven’t always been our best, and we’ve struggled at times in second halves, but we cleaned some things up and got the job done. Beating Central Valley is big, and now it’s just on to the next game as we head back into conference play.”
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