The State College Little Lion girls’ basketball team fell to 6-7 on Jan. 21 with a 59-46 loss at home to Harrisburg.
SC led by four points after one quarter and still by three at halftime. But the Lady Lions went cold in the third quarter and Harrisburg went on a 22-10 run to take control of the game.
SC made a run in the fourth quarter, but Harrisburg pulled away down the stretch for the Mid-Penn Conference win.
Maya Bokunewicz led State College with 10 points while Isabelle Leazier and Elizabeth Czekaj both scored nine points.
Earlier in the week, on Jan. 19, the Lions lost in another Mid-Penn contest, this time at Mifflin County by a score of 56-45. Bokunewicz scored 16 in this one and Kelsey Love had 10, but the Lions again could not overtake Mifflin down the stretch.
Next up for SC will be a trip to Cumberland Valley on Friday, Jan. 26, followed by a non-league game in Ebensburg against Bishop Carroll on Monday, Jan. 29.
ST. JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC ACADEMY
When last we caught up with the St. Joseph’s girls’ team, it had just lost its first two games of the season to P-O and Bald Eagle Area — both games by a single point.
SCJA bounced back nicely, however, with blowout wins over Williamsburg, 53-25, and Harrisburg Academy, 48-8. The wins upped the Lady Wolves’ record to 9-2 for the season.
Against Harrisburg Academy on Jan. 19, SJCA’s defense held Harrisburg to just one basket in the first half as the Wolves built an insurmountable 27-2 lead.
St. Joe’s coasted out from there to post its ninth win of the year with Selena Mann leading the charge with 18 points and Denaya Poston-Cooper adding 11.
Glendale will visit Boalsburg on Jan. 23 for SJCA’s next game, two days before BEA arrives to give the Wolves a chance to avenge one of their losses.
BALD EAGLE AREA
BEA’s struggles this season continued with losses to Penns Valley (59-19) and DuBois (40-24) that dropped the Lady Eagles’ record to 2-11.
Against DuBois on Jan. 20, BEA could not get untracked early and fell behind 23-8 at halftime. The Eagles made a run in the third quarter and closed the gap to within 11 points in the third quarter, but DuBois regrouped and held on for the non-league win.
Sarah Holler scored a game-high six points for BEA.
BEA with next be at Philipsburg for a Mountain League game before going to St. Joseph’s on Thursday, Jan. 25.
BELLEFONTE
The Bellefonte Lady Raiders’ basketball team is also struggling. After picking up their second win of the season with a 40-26 win over BEA on Jan. 17, the Raiders lost at Huntingdon, 75-54, in a Mountain League game on Jan. 18.
The loss put Bellefonte’s record at 2-12 with tough games at Penns Valley on Jan. 23 and against Philipsburg-Osceola on Thursday, Jan. 25, coming up.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA
In Philipsburg, the Lady Mounties have hit a rough patch with four losses in a row that dropped their record to 5-8 for the season.
The latest loss, at league power Tyrone on Jan. 19, saw P-O’s Halle Herrington and forward Lacey Potter combine for 51 points (Herrington had 30), but they were offset by Tyrone’s Sydney Shaw who had a monster 41-point game in the Eagles’ 89-62 win.
Shaw nailed an incredible 13, three-pointers that accounted for 39 of her total points, and her team finished with 18 threes total for the game.
P-O was in the game until Tyrone grabbed control with a 53-point second half and held on for its ninth win of the year and seventh in the Mountain League.
PENNS VALLEY
Tyrone also had another big win when the Eagles outlasted Penns Valley in overtime, 50-45, in a showdown of league powers on Jan. 17 in Tyrone.
Tyrone made up a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime in the game and then outscored the Lady Rams 6-1 in the extra period to take the win. PV point guard Hannah Montminy had 19 points in the loss.
Penns Valley did not have much time to rue the loss, however, because the Rams had to travel to BEA two days later for another Mountain League contest.
It turned out to be just what the Rams needed as they rebounded for a 59-19 win over the Lady Eagles.
The win helped PV keep pace with Tyrone in league play at 7-1, and it set up an important stretch of six league games in the next two weeks that will go far in deciding the championship. That stretch culminates Friday, Feb. 9, with a home rematch against Tyrone in what will be the final Mountain League game for both teams.
