Boys Basketball: Lions are top cats, beating 'Cats

Broadfording Christian Academy took advantage of its early-season playing time on Thursday against Williamsport, which was just opening its season.

The Lions roared to a convincing 67-49 victory over the Wildcats for their seventh straight win to start their campaign.


If Williamsport was ready to come out and play, Broadfording took immediate measures to dampen things for the Wildcats.

The Lions raced to a 7-0 lead in the first 90 seconds on two field goals by Mawdo Sallah and a 3-pointer by Moni Anderson, and never looked back.

“You could tell in the first four minutes they had played six games and we hadn’t played,” Williamsport coach Scott Mowbray said. “But take nothing away from them, they showed athleticism.”

Sallah had a first quarter that many players would consider a good game. The 6-foot-7 center had 10 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots in the opening eight minutes as the Lions forged a 21-8 lead.

“We wanted to pressure their ball handlers early,” BCA coach Burnie Clutz said. “We wanted to see who could handle the ball.”

Broadfording’s immediate defensive pressure forced Williamsport into three turnovers in its first five possessions.

“We dug a hole early,” Mowbray said. “We played better in the third quarter, cut down the margin, but we ran out of gas.”

A 13-2 run gave Broadfording a 38-15 lead near the end of the first half.

“We told the players that this game was not over,” Clutz said. “We told them (Williamsport) would make a serious run and we just had to continue to execute and weather the storm.”

Williamsport scored the first eight points of the third quarter — four by Riley Arnone — and managed to slice the deficit to 38-25.

After Sallah had a pair of buckets, Sterling Christy finished a monster slam and Arnone made two free throws that made it 42-30 with 3:54 left in the third.

That’s where Broadfording weathered the storm and the Wildcats ran out of gas.

Sallah had three more goals as Broadfording held on for a 51-38 lead after three, and he scored four points to open the fourth as a 6-0 BCA run opened the lead back to 55-38.

“This was the most aggressive (Sallah) has been all year,” Clutz said. “He got two early personals and then played smart the rest of the way.”

Sallah ended with 33 points and 15 rebounds as Broadfording held a 32-28 advantage on the glass. He hit 11 of 16 from the floor, including a pair of dunks and two jumpers from about 12 feet.

“He’s a good, solid player,” Mowbray said of Sallah.

Isaiah Daniels added 15 points and Moni Adnerson had 14, including three 3-pointers, for the Lions, who made 28 of 52 shots (54 percent) for the game.