Rumble at the Golden Corral – Cedar Cliff forges comeback to take down Mechanicsburg in OT
Written by: David Bray on December 19, 2025
Between the two West Shore Keystone teams, there is a little bit of a crosstown rivalry, with only 10 miles separating the distance between the two schools. For Coach Rutherford, it was another homecoming as he was a former Mechanicsburg graduate and the interim head coach for the Wildcats only a few seasons ago. Cedar Cliff packed their gym, with the student section nicknamed the Golden Corral rocking with students ready to see their team attempt to put together another win. Mechanicsburg had recently found themselves in a different situation than last season, with all five starters graduating and one of their returning players, senior Aiden Pinsker, sidelined.
The game tipped off and the gym roared with fans of both the Colt and Wildcat faithful. Mechanicsburg and Cedar Cliff were trading back and forth, with senior forward Jacob Eager playing a key role for the Wildcats early, cashing back-to-back triples after Cedar Cliff hit one of their own from senior forward Mo Ahmed. It was easy to tell what Mechanicsburg’s defensive plan was for the game, with the Colts’ senior guard Jayvion Walker being blanketed by either senior guard Alex Pida or sophomore guard Danny Kurtz. Despite only being up 17-14, Eager dominated the game early for Mechanicsburg, dropping 13 points in the first eight minutes, leading the team, however, an early technical foul for a three-point celebration caused an eruption from the crowd and created some tension early on between the teams.
In the second quarter, Eager continued to erupt for the Wildcats, splashing another pair of threes to increase his point total to 21 points at the break. Eager did have to be careful on the defensive end, holding onto two early fouls along with his teammate junior forward Chase Weiand. After Walker led the team with points in the first quarter with five, Ahmed was able to find some opportunities, leading the Colts into the break with 10 points, as they trailed by three.
The third quarter began the eruption of emotions that poured from the fans and players alike as Eager tried to get a steal after a pass had been floated over to his side of the court. After attempting to tip the ball, the referees called a foul on Eager, his third. When he continued running down the court as his momentum carried him to around the opposite free throw line, the referee called the second technical on Eager, ejecting him from the contest. Mechanicsburg had been up by as much as 11 points in the third, with momentum quickly changing as their leading scorer had been ejected after scoring 27 points in around 14 minutes. Coach Gaffey had to begin to look to their bench with the change, relying on forward Colten Rodgers to provide a spark off the bench.
In the same quarter, junior forward Troy Joray picked up a technical foul, causing Coach Rutherford to make an adjustment as the Colts were making a run to diminish the deficit. As the Cedar Cliff junior forward Amarion Autry and Mechanicsburg’s Kurtz fought for a jump ball under the basket, the two got tangled up and Kurtz was thrown on the floor in front of the Cedar Cliff student section before a whistle was blown to call the play dead. The officials called a flagrant 2 foul on both of the players and were both ejected, causing the crowd to be displeased with the calls on the floor. Ahmed doubled his point total in the third, sparking to 21 points at the end of the quarter.
In the fourth, Cedar Cliff was able to claw all the way back to take the lead after being down significantly, however, Mechanicsburg, led by senior guard Noah Apple. Mechanicsburg held a lead with around two minutes left to go in the quarter, however, a player called timeout when they didn’t have any left, forcing the referees to call their sixth technical foul of the game as Walker sank one of the two free throws. The Wildcats held on, forcing overtime after making a defensive stop with a few seconds left to go, poking the ball free from Joray.
Heading into the four minutes of overtime, the game became a game of free throws between the two teams as Amin Ahmed and Walker had a few opportunities at the line to attempt to put the dagger in Mechanicsburg. The Wildcats held on strong, however, Pida and Weiand fouling out late in the game limited the offensive pressure that could have been added. Pida attacked the basket late in the game, however, an offensive foul was called giving the Colts the ball and fouling him out of the contest, breaking the hearts of the Wildcat faithful. As the clock wound down, Amin Ahmed sank both of his free throws to seal the game for Cedar Cliff and the Wildcats ran out of time.
The Colts took the 76-72 overtime victory as they outlasted Mechanicsburg after a wild game. Despite only playing around 15 minutes, Eager led the game for Mechanicsburg shooting 5 for 8 from three, finishing the game with 27 points and 7 rebounds. Apple finished the game with 10 points and 5 assists, helping the Wildcats stay in the game. Weiand finished behind Apple with 8 points and 5 rebounds. Mechanicsburg shot 13 for 22 from the charity stripe in the loss, with Eager taking the majority with 8 of them.
Mo Ahmed led the Colts with 22 points as he went 3/3 from three, with 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Walker finished the game with 19 points, with most of his baskets coming from the free throw line as he went 11 for 15. Joray had 17 points including two dunks that riled up the home crowd. Amin Ahmed rounded out the double digit scorers for the Colts, adding 10 points in the win. Cedar Cliff had an opportunity to pour on the points, however, they shot 24 for 47 from the free throw line, showing the amount of fouls that were called in this contest.
Cedar Cliff moved to 5-1 after the victory at home and remains undefeated in the Keystone Division. Mechanicsburg dropped to 2-4 on the season after the loss.
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