Bellefonte boys have strong second half in win over Juniata

By Kenny Varner

BELLEFONTE – Monday night there was a rematch from the Penns Valley high school’s Ram Winter Jam.

In the title tilt, Bellefonte went up against Juniata.

The Red Raiders won the first contest 53-29.

“We had the last two days off and it took us a while to shake off some of the rust off. But I was pleased with the ball movement and the unselfish play. We found our bigs underneath and we were able to shoot the ball well from the outside,” Bellefonte coach Kris Glunt said. “I’m real pleased with the win.” 

For the Indians it was a chance to redeem themselves and for the Red Raiders it would be a chance to sweep the spunky team from Juniata County.

In the end, Bellefonte came out victorious with 53-36 victory over Juniata. 

Leading the way offensively was Nate Tice with a game-high 16 points. Teammate Noah Badger finished with a double-double, posting 10 boards and 15 points in the victory.

Juniata got 10 from Bryson Clark who also had eight rebounds.

A nice surprise coming off the bench was the play of Emmanuel O’Donell with a 9-point effort.

Jamie Bailer just missed hitting for double figures with eight points.

Holding onto a 20-10 advantage going into the third, the Red Raiders found themselves in a shootout in the third that would see a combined 35 points in the period.

“We came out of the lockeroom with a good mental state. After a Bellefonte basket we hit nine points in a row and felt we were back in it. Then they made their run,” Juniata basketball coach Al Ream said. “Basketball is a game of runs. You have to keep those runs limited for the other team, you need to have more runs. Tonight they had more runs in them then we did. Inside they hurt us with their high posts and their hi-low action. They are a good team. They are a very good team. 

Badger got the scoring started as he went hard to the basket and was fouled in the process. He hit the free throw, putting the Red Raiders ahead 23-10.

Back came the Indians as they posted three consecutive triples to cut the lead to just 23-19. 

Hitting the triples were Jacob Condo, Bailer and Clark with 6:03 left in the period.

But basketball is a game of runs and Bellefonte had a run of its own, hitting two triples and a field goal, extending the lead to 12.

In the run, Tice hit two triples while teammates Badger hit a bucket off a offensive board.

Clark cut things back to 10 as he went to the heart of the lane, cutting it 31-21 with 3:13 left.

Bellefonte’s defense went back to work and the group started to feed the ball inside to Caleb Rockey. Rockey has the hot hand and forced fouls on two consecutive buckets and free throws to keep the Red Raider momentum going, making it 37-21 with 2:05 left in the third.

After Rockey hit 1-of-2 from the line on his next shot attempt, the Indians once again battled to put itself back in the game.

O’Donell led the spark with a bucket and a foul shot on an old fashioned three-point play.

Rounding out the period, Clark got a good look at a three-point shot and banked it in to end the third, 38-27.

Bellefonte had all the momentum going into the final stanza and used it to their advantage, posting a 15-9 period.

O’Donell led the Indians on the scoreboard, posting six of the Indians nine points. 

In the first quarter, both teams started out very slowly as they moved the ball around looking for the best shot possible.

The Red Raiders scores first on a triple by Tice to get the scoring started with 6:36 left.

Juniata retaliated with a trey of its own when Jamie Bailer stepped behind the three-point line and hit nothing but net, tying it.

From there the Bellefonte defense controlled things while its offense went on a 8-0 run.

The scoring spurt started with triple from Ben McCartney.

After a Juniata turnover, Isiah Nadolsky went strong to the hoop where he sunk the bucket and went to the line. 

Despite the miss, Bailey Decker got the ball and put it up right before the buzzer.

Defenses took center stage in the second quarter as the Red Raiders outscored the Indians 9-7, making it a 20-10 advantage.

It also led up the the explosive third quarter. 

In the JV contest, the Indians also fell to the Red Raiders 36 -34.

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