While the rest of us were engaged in celebrating the holidays, the local county high school sports’ teams were busy as well. They were playing in any number of tournaments, meets, non-league and even league games.
Here are a few of the highlights of what’s been going on:
The State College Girls’ basketball team got off to a slow start this season, but the Little Lions are doing just fine right now.
The team upped its record to 4-2 with a double-overtime, 65-61, victory over Northampton in the finals of the Kiwanis Holiday Classic on Dec. 29.
The Lions, thanks to 20 points from Taylor Love, took care of Burrell, 51-44, in the opening round game, but the Konkrete Kids proved to be more problematic.
Maya Bokunewicz (12 points), Kayla Hawbaker (13) and Love (13) led the scoring for SC, but it was sophomore Selena Mann who scored the winning bucket in the second overtime.
In the West Branch Girls’ Tournament in Allport, it’s hard to imagine a player being on a better streak than Philipsburg-Osceola guard Halle Herrington.
Herrington led the Lady Mounties to the championship with a 43-point outburst in P-O’s 54-24 victory over Harmony, and then added another 35 in the 49-43 championship-game win over Bald Eagle Area on Dec. 29.
That’s an average of 39 points per game in the tournament for the sophomore guard who was already scoring well over 20 per game coming in.
Teams are trying to adjust by double-teaming Herrington — and more — but nothing seems to work against her yet.
The win lifted the Mounties’ record to 4-4 as it headed back into league play early in the new year.
As for the BEA girls, the Eagles drew West Branch in the opener of the tournament and roared back from a 29-22 halftime deficit to take a 51-41 win and a place in the final. Julia Cingle led BEA with 18 points, but it was the Eagle defense that clamped down on WB in the second half that paved the way to the win.
After a 56-18 win over Moshannon Valley in the opener of the Williamsburg Tournament on Dec. 28, the Penns Valley girls’ team ran into Williamsburg and its 6-foot-3 exchange-student center, Laura Barhacs from Hungary.
Barhacs scored 29 points in the final (15 from the line), but the Rams’ balance was enough to carry the night, 59-49.
Emma Butler paced PV with 15 points, and Maci Ilgen added 10 in the win.
Speaking of hot streaks, over on the boys’ side, State College forward Tommy Sekunda turned it on as his Little Lions took the Kiwanis Tournament championship on Dec. 29.
Sekunda poured in 30 points in SC’s opening night 80-54 victory over Shaler. Then in the championship game against Delaware Valley Charter, Sekunda stayed hot and added another 25 in the Lions’ 63-60 win in the final.
Teammate Dan Friberg added 20 against Del-Val as the Lions took an eight-point halftime lead and then held on for the win. State College moved to 6-2 on the season as it headed back to Mid-Penn play early in the new year.
At the Penns Valley Ram Jam, it was the first meeting between rivals Penns Valley and Bellefonte this season and also the first meeting between head coaches Terry and Kris Glunt on Dec. 28 at PV.
And first-year coach Kris, Terry’s nephew, took the opening hand. Logan Mathieu led the Raiders with 11 points as they rebounded from a poor first half to take a 41-34 win in the tournament’s first round.
Unfortunately for Bellefonte, the magic didn’t last, as Juniata held the Raiders to just nine first-half points on the way to a 46-40 win in the final. Cade Fortney scored 11 for Bellefonte in the loss as the Raiders could not make up for a poor start two nights in a row.
Penns Valley, meanwhile, came back in the consolation game to blanket North East, 44-30, for third place. The Rams defense held North East to just 19 points through three quarters, and PV coasted out to its fifth win of the season.
BEA’s tough start continued in the Carl Trunce Holiday Classic in Punxsutawney as the Eagles fell to the Chucks 60-44 in the opening round.
The consolation game was no easier for BEA, but the Eagles finally broke through for their first win, an overtime 47-46 win over Marion Center.
Jadon Jones tied the game in the last seconds for BEA, while Jordan Jones scored 14 points and Drew Bucha added 10 in the Eagles’ first win of the season.
The Philipsburg-Osceola boys finished fourth in the Williamsburg Tournament after losing to Williamsburg in the opening game, 80-66, and then falling to Northern Bedford, 51-47, in the consolation game. The Mounties fell to 1-7 for the season, but they had a chance to make up ground quickly with three games coming up in the first week of 2017.
WRESTLING
There was lots of action on the mats as well.
In the Manheim Tournament on Dec. 29, Bald Eagle Area finished with five place-winners and in 10th place overall.
Seth Koleno won the title at 138 for the Eagles, and Gage McClenahan (third at 145), Aleck Nyman (third at 113), Garrett Giedroc (fourth at 106) and Garrett Rigg (fifth at 132) also placed.
In the Conestoga Valley Holiday Classic on Dec. 30, Bellefonte placed nine wrestlers on the way to a fifth-place finish in the tournament with 136.5 points.
Brock Port took the individual title at 145, and Sean Irwin, Chase Gardner, Cam Coppolo, Ryan Smith, Cole Stewart, Max Mondy, Lucas McLure and Brien McChesney also place in the tournament.
Philipsburg-Osceola, competing in the same tournament, tied for 20th place out of 26 teams. Chase Chapman finished fourth at 106, Micah Sidorick was fifth at 220, Levi Hughes sixth at 152 and Brad Dunkle was sixth at 285.
In other action, St. Joseph’s Academy finished 20th out of 31 teams in the Mount Mat Madness Tournament in Baltimore on Dec. 30.
Also, Penns Valley had four falls and five bonus-point wins in a 49-18 victory over Mountain League foe Central on Dec. 30 in Martinsburg.
